An eyesafe laser (10) transmitter having a single resonator cavity (16) for both the pump laser and the optical parametric oscillator (22). A Nd:YAG rod (24) provides gain for light at a first wavelength. A combined Q-switch/Brewster plate (26) Q-switches the light to increase its intensity and polarizes the light so that its polarization plane is perpendicular to the Z-axis of a KTP crystal functioning as the optical parametric oscillator, thereby providing type II phase matching conditions. The optical parametric oscillator transforms the light at the first wavelength to light at a second wavelength which is output thorough a partially reflective outcoupler at a wavelength which will not harm the eyes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to laser systems which include an optical parametric oscillator to shift the wavelength of light emitted by the laser and, more particularly, to a laser system which utilizes the same optical resonator cavity for both the pump laser and the optical parametric oscillator.
2. Prior Art
Eyesafe laser transmitters of the type discussed herein typically include two resonator cavities. A first resonator cavity operates in conjunction with a pump laser operating at a pump frequency, and a second resonator cavity operates in conjunction with an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) which converts the pump frequency output of the laser to an eyesafe frequency. The two resonator configuration requires a total of three resonator mirrors for operation of the laser. The use of three resonator mirrors significantly complicates alignment of the mirrors.
In addition to alignment considerations, typical eyesafe lasers include a relatively short OPO cavity which results in high Fresnel numbers, thereby reducing the overall quality of the laser beam. Further, the spatial overlap of these cavities is often significantly limited by the present arrangements.
An uncoated U.sup.4+ :SrF.sub.2 Q switch aligned at Brewster's angle has been demonstrated in the resonator cavity of an Er:glass laser operating at an eyesafe frequency (1533 nm).

Eyesafe laser transmitter with brewster angle Q-switch in single resonator cavity for both pump laser and optical parametric oscillator


A process of correcting display unevenness of a liquid crystal panel 40 of the present invention includes following steps. (1) Supply image data to the liquid crystal panel 40 and display the liquid crystal panel 40. (2) Capture an image of a display area of the liquid crystal panel 44 with a camera 66. (3) Generate correction data for the liquid crystal panel based on a captured image result. (4) Store the correction data in a volatile storing device. (5) Generate corrected image data with using the correction data stored in the volatile storing device. (6) Supply the corrected image data to the liquid crystal panel and display the liquid crystal panel 40. (7) Executed repeatedly the processes from (2) to (6).

A high quality display device such as a large screen television is widely used. In such a display device, unevenness in brightness and color occurring in a display image (referred to as display unevenness including unevenness in brightness and color) greatly affects image quality. Therefore, display unevenness is necessary to be corrected effectively.
A technology of correcting display unevenness has been disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1). In a correction device of a related art, an image displayed on the display panel is captured by an image capturing device. Correction data is generated based on the captured result and the correction data is written in a non-volatile storing device. In correcting the image data, the correction data is read from the non-volatile storing device of the correction device and the image data is corrected with using the correction data.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-75542

Method of correcting unevenness of display panel and correction system


An open magnetic circuit multilayer coil component includes a laminate with magnetic layers, a coil, and a nonmagnetic layer provided within the laminate so as to cross a magnetic path formed by energization of the coil. A nonmagnetic material constituting the nonmagnetic layer is a Zn—Cu-based ferrite nonmagnetic material, and a magnetic material constituting the magnetic layer is a magnetic material containing 100 parts by weight of an Ni—Zn—Cu-based magnetic ferrite material and 0.1 to 2.0 parts by weight, in terms of Co3O4, of Co added to the Ni—Zn—Cu-based magnetic ferrite material.

Multilayer coil components suitable for reduction in size have been widely used in recent years. These components have a structure formed by stacking a plurality of conductor patterns for a coil and a plurality of magnetic layers with a coil conductor provided in the laminate.
Among these multilayer coil components, closed magnetic circuit multilayer coil components have a problem that when a superimposed direct current is gradually increased, the inductance is substantially constant or gently decreased up to a certain current value, while beyond the current value, magnetic saturation is caused to rapidly decrease the inductance.
Thus, in order to remedy this problem, it has been known that multilayer coil components are made to have an open magnetic circuit by inserting a nonmagnetic layer near the center of a coil in the stacking direction of a laminate composed of stacked magnetic layers.
As such open magnetic circuit multilayer coil components, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-311944 (Patent Document 1) proposes a multilayer coil component in which a nonmagnetic layer (an insulating layer) composed of B2O3—SiO2-based glass or Al2—O3—SiO2-based glass is inserted between magnetic layers composed of an Ni—Zn—Cu—based ferrite material.
However, the shrinking behavior during firing is different between the Ni—Zn—Cu-based ferrite material and the B2O3—SiO2-based glass or Al2O3—SiO2-based glass, leading to a problem that defects such as cracks are likely to occur.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-259774 proposes an open magnetic circuit multilayer coil component in which a nonmagnetic layer composed of a Zn—Cu-based nonmagnetic ferrite material is inserted between magnetic layers composed of an Ni—Zn—Cu-based ferrite material.
In the case of this open magnetic circuit multilayer coil component, there is no significant difference in shrinking behavior during firing between the nonmagnetic layer and the magnetic layer, thus allowing the occurrence of defects such as cracks to be suppressed. However, since the nonmagnetic layer contains no Ni, Ni is likely to be diffused from the magnetic layer to the nonmagnetic layer, leading to a problem that the temperature characteristics of inductance for the multilayer coil component is degraded due to the diffusion of Ni (the rate of inductance change with temperature is increased). In particular, when the thickness of the nonmagnetic layer is designed to be small, the open magnetic circuit multilayer coil component has a problem that the temperature characteristics of inductance are significantly degraded due to diffusion of Ni from the magnetic layer to the nonmagnetic layer. In an open magnetic circuit multilayer coil component, while it is preferable to reduce the thickness of the nonmagnetic layer as much as possible in order to increase the initial inductance, the temperature characteristics of inductance is actually significantly degraded when the thickness of the nonmagnetic layer is reduced to 40 μm or less.

Open magnetic circuit multilayer coil component and process for producing the open magnetic circuit multilayer coil component


A directional coupler according to the present invention includes a primary line for transmitting a transmission signal; an input port for inputting the transmission signal to the primary line; an output port for outputting the transmission signal from the primary line; a secondary line for electromagnetically coupling with the primary line to extract part of the transmission signal; a coupling port provided at one end of the secondary line; an isolation port provided at the other end of the secondary line; and a low pass filter unit having a function of low pass filter, disposed between the secondary line and the coupling port.

The present invention relates to a directional coupler and a wireless communication device, and more particularly, to techniques for providing a flat frequency characteristic for the degree of coupling in the directional coupler.
A directional coupler (hereinafter simply referred to as the "coupler"), which enables extraction of part of power propagated on a transmission line, has become an indispensable component for designing a transmitter circuit of a variety of wireless communication devices such as portable telephones, wireless LAN communication device, communication devices of Bluetooth standard, and the like.
Specifically, a coupler forms part of an adjuster means for controlling a transmission signal to maintain at a certain level. The adjuster means comprises a power amplifier (hereinafter referred to as the "PA") capable of controlling a gain; a coupler for detecting the level of a transmission signal; and an automatic output control circuit (hereinafter referred to as the "APC circuit"). An inputted transmission signal is amplified by the PA, and subsequently outputted through the coupler. The coupler provides the APC circuit with a monitor signal which is at a level corresponding to the level of the transmission signal outputted from the PA. The APC circuit controls the gain of the PA such that the output of the PA remains constant in accordance with the level of the monitor signal (i.e., the level of the transmission signal). Such feedback control of the PA facilitates stabilization of transmission output.
The foregoing coupler comprises a primary line and secondary line which are disposed in close proximity to each other to make electromagnetic coupling therebetween. The primary line for transmitting a transmission signal comprises an input port at one end thereof, and an output port at the other end thereof, respectively. The secondary line for detecting the level of a transmission signal comprises a coupling port at one end thereof and an isolation port at the other end thereof, respectively. Then, part of a transmission signal transmitted through the primary line is extracted by the secondary line, and is outputted to the APC circuit through the coupling port, as a monitor signal.
Main characteristics of a coupler may include insertion loss, degree of coupling, isolation, and directivity. The insertion loss is a loss caused by the coupler, and is desired to be lower. The degree of coupling indicates the ratio of power propagating in a forward direction (direction from an input port to an output port of a primary line) to power extracted to a coupling port. The isolation indicates a leakage of power propagating in a reverse direction (direction from the output port to the input port of the primary line) to the coupling port, and is desired to be higher (a smaller leakage). The directivity, in turn, indicates the difference between isolation and degree of coupling, and a better coupler is defined to exhibit a higher directivity (larger absolute value), allowing for the formation of a satisfactory APC circuit with few detection errors. For this reason, the directivity is generally required to be 20 dB or more.
On the other hand, portable terminals represented by portable telephones and smart phones employ different communication frequency bands depending on countries and regions, so that communication devices which can employ a plurality of frequency bands have been recently provided in order to flexibly accommodate such a circumstance of frequency. For example, there are a dual-band system which can employ two frequency bands; a triple band system which can employ three frequency bands; even a quad-band system which can employ four frequency bands, and so on.
The following patent documents relate to such a coupler:
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2002-280812;
Patent Document 2: JP-A-2011-61440; and
Patent Document 3: JP-A-2009-27617.

Directional coupler and wireless communication device


An inner door assembly for a drum washing machine includes an inner door internal shell formed of plastic and including a rim portion and a projecting portion projecting from the rim portion; and an inner door external shell formed of metal and including a rim portion and a projecting portion corresponding to the rim portion and the projecting portion of the inner door internal shell, wherein the inner door external shell is combined not to be separated from the inner door internal shell.

The present disclosure relates to a drum washing machine. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an inner door assembly and a door for a drum washing machine, and a drum washing machine having the same.
Generally, a washing machine is an electric device that removes contaminants attached to laundry by chemical decomposition and mechanical impact. Such a washing machine may be classified into a pulsator washing machine that impacts laundry by a pulsator, and a drum washing machine that drops laundry by rotation of a drum to impact the laundry according to a method of impacting laundry.
The drum washing machine is widely used because the drum washing machine may reduce its height compared with a pulsator washing machine in which a rotating washing tub is disposed in a vertical state and tangling of the laundry may be minimized.
The drum washing machine is provided with a laundry loading opening for inserting and removing laundry and a door for opening and closing the laundry loading opening in a front surface of a washing machine body. Therefore, the door for the drum washing machine is hinged to one side of the laundry loading opening.
Further, the door for the drum washing machine is formed in a convex shape projecting toward the inside of the drum washing machine body, and the convex portion is formed of a transparent glass material. Accordingly, a user can see the laundry contained in the drum washing machine through the transparent glass of the door for the drum washing machine.
However, since the door for a drum washing machine according to the related art is formed of a glass material, the machinability is poor. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to make various designs of the door.
In addition, since the conventional door for a drum washing machine is heavy in weight of glass, the drum washing machine is not easy to handle and the manufacturing cost is high.
Further, since the conventional door for the drum washing machine is made of a transparent glass, it is difficult to further dispose another part inside the door.

Inner door assembly and door for drum washing machine and drum washing machine having the same


Embodiments of the present invention generally provide a field-mountable process device that receives digital information from one or more process devices, and provides an associated analog output. Embodiments of the present invention include providing a wireless interface to the field-mounted process device such that configuration and/or diagnostic information can be communicated between the field-mounted process device and one or more additional devices. In some embodiments, the field-mounted process device can be completely powered by the digital process communication loop to which it is coupled. Finally, embodiments of the present invention also include generating and storing within the field-mounted process device a mapping between one or more field devices communicating in accordance with a digital process communication protocol and an analog output of the field-mounted process device.

The present invention relates to process devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to field-mounted process control and measurement devices.
Process devices are used to measure and control industrial processes such as the refining of petrochemicals, the processing of food, and a number of other processes. Process measurement devices include process variable transmitters, which measure a process variable such as pressure or temperature and communicate the measured variable to a process controller. Another type of process device is an actuator, such as a valve controller or the like. Generally, process control is accomplished using a combination of transmitters, actuators, and a process controller that communicate across a process control loop. Both types of process devices interact with the physical process through process interface elements. Process interface elements are devices which relate electrical signals to physical process conditions, and include devices such as sensors, limit switches, valve controllers, heaters, motor controllers, and a number of other devices.
The process controller is typically a microcomputer located in a control room away from the process. The controller can receive process information from the process measurement devices and apply a suitable control signal to one or more process control devices to influence the process and thereby control it.
In order to couple to the process, transmitters and actuators are generally mounted near the process in the field. Such physical proximity can subject the process devices to an array of environmental challenges. For example, process devices are often subjected to temperature extremes, vibration, corrosive and/or flammable environments, and electrical noise. In order to withstand such conditions, process devices are designed specifically for "field-mounting." Such field-mounted devices utilize robust enclosures, which can be designed to be explosion-proof. Further, field-mounted process devices can also be designed with circuitry that is said to be "intrinsically safe", which means that even under fault conditions, the circuitry will generally not contain enough electrical energy to generate a spark. Further still, electrical isolation techniques are usually employed to reduce the effects of electrical noise. These are just a few examples of design considerations, which distinguish field-mounted process devices from other devices, which measure sensor characteristics and provide data indicative of such characteristics.
Aside from the environmental considerations listed above, another challenge for field-mounted devices is that of wiring. Since process devices are located near the process far from the control room, long wire runs are often required to couple such devices to the control room. These long runs are costly to install and difficult to maintain.
One way to reduce the requisite wiring is by using two-wire process devices. These devices couple to the control room using a two-wire process control loop. Two-wire devices receive power from the process control loop, and communicate over the process control loop in a manner that is generally unaffected by the provision of power to the process device. Techniques for communicating over two-wires include 4–20 mA signaling, the Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART®) Protocol, FOUNDATION™ Fieldbus, and others. Although two-wire process control systems provide wiring simplification, such systems provide a limited amount of electrical power to connected devices. For example, a device that communicates in accordance with 4–20 mA signaling must draw no more than 4 mA otherwise the device's current consumption would affect the process variable. The frugal power budget of two-wire process devices has traditionally limited the functionality that could be provided.
While the development of field devices that communicate digitally over a process communication loop has marked a significant advance in the art of process industry measurement and control, there remains a significant difficulty. Specifically, many installations of field-mounted process devices have tens if not hundreds of various process devices coupled to the process at various locations and interacting with the process under the control of one or more controllers.
In the not too distance past, all field devices were analog-based field devices. Thus, at one point, the process industry applications had, or still have, a significant investment in a vast array of analog-based process field devices. Even in the advent of significantly advanced digital devices, such as those that communicate in accordance with the FOUNDATION™ Fieldbus process communication protocol, owners of analog installations are somewhat frustrated from simply adopting the new technology due to the time and investment involved in switching over their entire installation to the new technology.
There exists a significant need in the art to provide a device or system that facilitates implementation of digital process control and measurement technology without requiring an owner of such an installation to completely adapt their system to the new technology.

Field-mounted process device with programmable digital/analog interface


A system includes a differential circuit, multiple cross-coupled transconductance circuits. In some implementations, the differential circuit may include an inductor coil in a balun or transformer. The cross-coupled transconductance circuits may act to reduce the internal resistance of the differential circuit to increase the quality factor of the differential circuit. The cross-coupled transconductance circuit may be connected at differential points along the differential circuit and be engaged and disengaged to linearize the quality factor of the differential circuit.

Baluns may accept a differential input and produce a single-ended output. In some cases, power amplifiers may produce a differential output for use with an antenna that may accept single-ended inputs. A balun may be used to convert the signals between the power amplifier and antenna. Baluns and other circuits using differential inductors may be formed on integrated circuits. In some cases, a signal may experience power loss while traversing the differential inductors. Flexible balun solutions that are robust to power loss may be desirable.


Various computer-implemented methods are provided. One method for sorting defects in a design pattern of a reticle includes searching for defects of interest in inspection data using priority information associated with individual defects in combination with one or more characteristics of a region proximate the individual defects. The priority information corresponds to modulation levels associated with the individual defects. The inspection data is generated by comparing images of the reticle generated for different values of a lithographic variable. The images include at least one reference image and at least one modulated image. A composite reference image can be generated from two or more reference images. The method also includes assigning one or more identifiers to the defects of interest. The identifier(s) may include, for example, a defect classification and/or an indicator identifying if the defects of interest are to be used for further processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer-implemented methods for detecting and/or sorting defects in a design pattern of a reticle. Certain embodiments relate to a computer-implemented method that includes generating a composite reference image from two or more reference images and using the composite reference image for comparison with other sample images for defect detection. Other embodiments include sorting defects using priorities, defect attributes, defect appearance and background information. Additional embodiments relate to assisting the user in locating the relevant and unique defects based on background appearance and other characteristics combined with wafer design data and knowledge of process modulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following description and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
The rapid decrease in k1 (line-width=k1 (λ/NA)) in lithographic manufacture of semiconductor devices has necessitated the use of Resolution Enhancement Techniques (RET). These RET include, but are not limited to, Optical Proximity Corrections (OPC), Phase Shift Masks (PSM), and assist bar corrections. Although they are implemented in semiconductor device designs to facilitate low k1 lithography, these RET make reticles more difficult and consequently more expensive to manufacture.
Semiconductor device design and reticle manufacturing quality are verified by different procedures before the reticle enters a semiconductor fabrication facility to begin production of integrated circuits. The semiconductor device design is checked by software simulation to verify that all features print correctly after lithography in manufacturing. Such checking is commonly referred to as "Design Rule Checking." The output of this design rule checking can produce a potentially large set of critical points, sometimes referred to as "hot spots" on the reticle layout. This set can be used to direct a point-to-point inspector, such as at a Review SEM, but this can be highly inefficient due to the number of critical points. The reticle is inspected at the mask shop for reticle defects and measured to ensure that the features are within specification. Marginal RET designs not noted by simulation checks translate into electrical failures in wafer fabrication, affect yield, and possibly remain unnoticed until wafer fabrication is complete.
Traditional methods employed in the inspection of complex mask patterns place tremendous demand on reticle inspection tools. One technique for performing image qualification entails using focus exposure matrix techniques. Performing an inspection of a conventional focus exposure matrix introduces a complication in that every exposure field is different. Die-to-die comparison is performed between adjacent local exposure fields. Any pattern change that may occur at a defocus position that is physically located farther than one exposure field from the nominal exposure field will not, therefore, be detected as different because the nominal exposure field is no longer factored in the comparison. Moreover, current reticle inspection techniques cannot detect the presence of an error in the design database. Prior art single die reticle inspection entails implementation of a design simulation technique in which a signal derived from an actual reticle is subtracted from a simulated design reference.
What is needed, therefore, is an inspection technique that is effective in locating pattern anomalies in a single die or a multi-die reticle and detecting reticle design errors resulting from errors in the design data base.
Methods have been invented to address the above-described needs. These methods are often referred to as "Process Window Qualification" Methods or "PWQ" Methods and are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2004/0091142 to Peterson et al., which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. Software packages that are configured to perform methods such as those described by Peterson et al. are commercially available from KLA-Tencor, San Jose, Calif. In general, the methods can be used to find design elements of a reticle that will fail in lithographic processing when used with lithographic variables (e.g., focus, dose, etc.) that are within a normal process window for the reticle.
PWQ methods are often performed using wafer inspection tools such as any of the wafer inspection tools that are commercially available from KLA-Tencor. In one example, a wafer is printed with columns of dies, each containing the design pattern on the reticle, in an N-M-N pattern. The "N" dies are those dies that are printed with a "nominal" lithographic variable (which may also be commonly referred to as a "nominal lithography parameter," a "nominal lithographic process parameter," or a "nominal process condition"). The "M" dies are printed with a value of the lithographic variable that is different than the nominal lithographic variable. In other words, the M dies are printed with a modulated lithographic variable. The nominal lithographic parameter may be the value of the lithographic parameter known to represent the "best condition" for exposure of a wafer with the reticle. Alternatively, the nominal lithographic parameter may be assigned a different baseline value of the lithographic parameter. The lithographic variable can be modulated positively and negatively with respect to the nominal lithographic variable in rows of dies printed on the wafer.
After exposure of the wafer with the reticle, the wafer is inspected by comparing the modulated die to the two nominal dies on either side of the modulated die. Adjacent dies are compared after both of the adjacent dies have been imaged. Therefore, the comparison is performed sequentially in the order in which the dies are imaged. Differences between the adjacent dies can be stored as potential defects.
Positively modulated dies and negatively modulated dies may be handled separately for purposes of analysis. In addition, the defects that are detected in the modulated dies may be analyzed to determine the priority or relevance of the defects. Furthermore, the user may be able to review the defects to find the critical or important defects that were detected.
Although the above-described PWQ methods have proved successful in meeting the needs outlined above, these methods can also be improved. For example, in the inspection process, the modulated dies are compared to exactly two nominal or reference dies. Randomly occurring defects in either or both of the reference dies may adversely affect the results if they result in reducing the priority of defects in the modulated dies. In addition, using a three die comparison (i.e., two reference dies for each modulated die) results in the use of most of the wafer area for printing the reference dies.
In the PWQ software used today, potential failure points in the design pattern are identified by looking for repeating defects. Unfortunately, by its very nature, the experiment can produce an overwhelming number of unimportant repeating defects, particularly in the dies that are highly modulated. Automatic defect classification (ADC) is one way to reduce the number of candidate defects. However, the inline ADC (iADC) method that is available for PWQ uses additional information about the defect itself, and much of this information is irrelevant to finding the most likely failure points. A newer version of the iADC method as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/954,968 to Huet et al., which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, provides the capability of focusing on background features. However, in these methods, a user selects background features from the complete set of available features that are used to classify defects thereby creating an extra step in the setup of the inspection. Additionally, in current methods for reviewing defects, it is difficult to obtain multiple examples of potentially interesting defects.
The PWQ methods may also be altered to use a stored "golden die" image for comparison to the modulated images. A "golden die" image may be generally defined as an image of design pattern information on a reticle that is known in some manner to be free of defects. Therefore, by using a golden die image, the number of nominal reference dies printed on the wafer may be reduced, or even eliminated, thereby allowing more modulated dies to be printed on the wafer. However, there are disadvantages to using such a golden die image. For example, a detailed golden die image can require hundreds of Gbytes of storage. On the other hand, the detail of the golden die image may be reduced, but compromising on the detail of the golden die image compromises the effectiveness of the inspection method. Furthermore, a golden die image most likely is not formed under the same processing conditions as the test die, particularly if the golden die image is generated by simulation or if the golden die image was obtained from a different wafer than the wafer on which the modulated dies are printed. The differences in formation of the golden die and the modulated dies may result in false defect detection during inspection of the modulated dies. Moreover, reading the golden image from storage media can be slower that reacquiring the golden image from an image computer or another computer system.
Accordingly, it may be advantageous to develop computer-implemented methods for detecting and/or sorting defects in a design pattern of a reticle that allows accurate defect detection while using relatively few nominal reference dies, increases the accuracy of the defect detection by reducing the adverse effects of defects in the nominal reference dies on the accuracy of the defect detection, allows rapid identification and removal of unimportant repeating defects so that these defects do not obscure the defects of interest, allows multiple examples of interesting defects to be found relatively easily, allows classification of defects in a substantially automated manner, or achieves one or more of the above improvements without using a stored golden die image of the design pattern on the reticle.

Computer-implemented methods for detecting and/or sorting defects in a design pattern of a reticle


A method of one way transmission of information is provided. Preferably, the method steps include analyzing customer supplied information to determine a format to be selected, transmission priority, available transmission resources, and transmission destination. The preferred steps also include, determining a media transport method based on the transmission priority, transmission destination, and available transmission resources, and scheduling transmission of an information payload portion of the customer supplied information as a pre-emptible data reservation, based on a determined media transport method. The steps further preferably include, transforming the information payload into a selected format, storing the information payload in its formatted form on a non-volatile storage medium, encapsulating the information payload in its selected format within a media transport format, and transmitting the encapsulated information payload to the transmission destination.

As demands for the transfers of large blocks of information across the information network backbone (including real time transfer of information laden with video content) continue to increase and pricing pressures continue to bear down on service providers more efficient and cost effective methods of information transmission are demanded by the market.
Accordingly, challenges remain and a need persists for improvements in methods and apparatuses for use in accommodating effective and efficient deployment and use of information system networks, information transmission methodologies, and transmission service pricing.


A positive photoresist composition comprising an alkali-soluble resin, a 1,2-quinonediazide compound, an organic solvent, and a fluorinated organosilicon compound of formula (1) serving as a surfactant can be effectively coated to uniformity over large areas and is improved in resist pattern profile. Rf is a C5-C30 perfluoroalkyl group containing at least one ether bond, Q is a polyether group consisting of an ethylene glycol and/or propylene glycol polymer chain, R is H or C1-C4 alkyl, X is a divalent linking group exclusive of oxygen, Y is a divalent linking group, p is an integer of at least 3, and 0<n<3.

JP-A 3-22619 discloses a positive photoresist composition comprising an alkali-soluble resin and an alkali-insoluble 1,2-quinonediazide compound. When this composition is exposed to UV through a mask and developed with a developer in the form of an aqueous alkaline solution, the composition can form a resist pattern faithful to the mask pattern at a high resolution because the composition is scarcely dissolvable or swollen in an aqueous alkaline solution as the developer. Spedifically, the 1,2-quinonediazide compound in the exposed areas is converted to alkali-soluble indene carboxylic acid while the unexposed areas to form the resist pattern are little changed during development. In the current industry requiring higher integration of ICs, positive photoresists featuring resolution are used most often.
In the field of manufacturing liquid crystal display devices using small-size glass substrates, the resist applying method used is a spin coating method of dropping a resist solution at the center of a substrate and rotating the substrate. The spin coating method ensures coating uniformity. In the case of large-size substrates of the 1×1 meter square order, however, considerably large amounts of resist solution are spun off during rotation and thus discarded. The high-speed rotation also causes substrates to be broken and raises a problem in taking a cycle time. Since the coating ability of a spin coating method involving central dropping and rotation depends on the rotational speed and the coating weight of resist solution, a problem arises if the spin coating method is applied to more large-sized substrates of the fifth generation (of approximately 1,000 mm×1,200 mm to 1,280 mm×1,400 mm). That is, there are available no general-purpose motors capable of acceleration as needed. Customizing a special motor leads to increased part costs. Because the performance parameters required for the coating process including a coating uniformity of ±3% and a cycle time of 60-70 sec per substrate remain unchanged even when the substrate and the apparatus become enlarged in size, the spin coating method involving central dropping and rotation is difficult to accommodate the requirements other than coating uniformity.
Under the circumstances, a resist coating method of nozzle injection is proposed as a new resist coating method that can comply with large-size substrates of the fifth or later generation.
Meanwhile, surfactants are added to positive photoresists for the purposes of improving coating efficiency and striation as well as the developability of radiation-exposed areas after dry film formation. Among others, fluorochemical surfactants and fluorine-silicon surfactants are widely utilized for leveling and coating characteristics.
JP-A 2000-181055 discloses a positive photoresist composition suitable for liquid crystal device manufacture comprising a non-ionic fluorine-silicon surfactant having specific fluorine and silicon contents, which can be effectively coated without striation, drying unevenness and dripping marks, and are good in resist pattern profile as essentially required for compositions of this type. However, this photoresist composition is still unsatisfactory in that streaks can form on a coating if the composition is applied by the nozzle injection coating method referred to above.
While continuous demands for larger size and higher definition are imposed on substrates, it would be desirable to have a positive photoresist composition which ensures coating uniformity even when coated over large areas and are improved in resist pattern profile as essentially required for compositions of this type.


The invention relates to a machine having a driven gear, service access to which is partially obstructed. An aspect of the invention involves an aperture permitting access to the driven gear through a spatial area away from the obstructed region. The driven gear includes a plurality of arc-like segments mounted on a spider for removal individually and the dimensions of at least one segment and the aperture are cooperatively selected to permit a segment to be removed through the aperture to the spatial area. Segments of the driven gear may thereby be removed for service while yet avoiding removal of the driving gear or other substantial disassembly. A method for replacing the driven gear includes forming the aperture, detaching a segment and removing the segment through the aperture to the spatial area.

Machinery powered by electric motors or internal combustion engines (typically referred to as "prime movers") often use gears, shafts and the like to form what is referred to a drive train providing power to perform an end-use function. Automobiles, metal cutting and shaping machines, toggle-type presses and construction and earth-moving machines are but a few examples of such machinery.
As more specific examples, such machinery drive trains uses gears and shafts in speed reducers to reduce speed (from that of the motor or engine output shaft) and increase torque and/or to change the direction of power flow. Shafts interconnect "stages" of gearing or connect a final gearing stage to an output device such as automobile wheels, press head or, in the case of an earth-moving machine known as a walking dragline, to a "walk leg" drive.
In such machines, the drive train components (gears, shafts and the like) range in size from a few pounds to several thousand pounds. Another characteristic of certain types of machines, e.g., toggle presses and walking draglines, is that certain machine functions tend to load (and wear) drive train components unevenly. For example, the drive train of a toggle press (especially that portion driving the toggle press head mechanism) is most heavily loaded over only that fraction of a revolution relating to the final, piece-forming part of the press stroke. In a walking dragline, the walk leg drive is most heavily loaded only during that part of a revolution, nominally about 120.degree. or less, during which the dragline is being lifted to take a "step."
To keep the machine functioning efficiently and in condition to satisfactory perform its task, worn parts need to be replaced or repaired. However, with larger machines, maintenance and parts replacement can be an imposing challenge, especially if the parts are large and unwieldly. And the problem of repair and replacement is often aggravated in that access to gear train parts is obstructed. There may be other machine components which, unless major parts of the machine are dismantled, prevent access to such parts along any direction except through a relatively small open spatial area. Nowhere is this more true than in large mobile machines such as earth-moving and earth-excavating machinery.
Such machinery is available in a wide variety of types ranging from the familiar rubber-tire mounted and crawler-mounted to the less-common dragline and the invention is described in connection with an exemplary dragline.
A dragline is often used for removing top soil and "overburden" to expose a valuable mineral, e.g., coal, beneath but near the earth's surface. Draglines are equipped with an angularly-extending boom from which is suspended a "bucket" having an open mouth and digging teeth, both pointing toward the main portion of the machine.
Overburden is removed by placing the bucket on the ground at a point distant from the machine and pulling it toward the machine, filling the bucket in the process. Once filled, the machine pivots about a central axis and the bucket emptied at a spoil pile somewhat away from the area being excavated.
Smaller draglines are crawler mounted (much like a military tank) and capable of movement in the same way albeit at much slower speeds. However, as draglines (and their digging buckets) increased in size, crawler mounting was found to be impractical and in the early 1900's, the "walking" dragline was developed. The walking dragline is so named because it takes short "steps" and uses a "walk leg" mechanism (which resembles a human leg) to do so. A difference is that in a walking dragline, both legs step simultaneously.
To give some perspective to the following discussion, an exemplary large walking dragline----made by Harnischfeger Industries of Milwaukee, Wis.----has a main housing portion (including the machinery deck, operator's cab and the like) which is about 105 feet long, about 80 feet wide, about 40 feet high and weighs about nine million pounds. The boom extends about 300 feet and the capacity of the digging bucket is about 80 cubic yards. The walk legs of such dragline take steps about seven feet in length. For reasons that will become apparent, the arrangement of such exemplary dragline prohibits access, except by major disassembly, to certain components of the walkleg mechanism.
An invention facilitating expedited, relatively easy repair of a drive train component having a region through which access to the component is obstructed would be an important advance in the art.

Apparatus and method for repairing a gear


The present invention relates to novel compounds, the use of said compounds as a medicament as well as for the manufacture of a medicament for treatment of disorders relating to the binding of galectin to receptors in a mammal. Said galectin is preferably a galectin 3.

The galectins are a family of proteins defined by shared sequence elements and by affinity for β-galactosides (Barondes et al., 1994). There are now ten known mammalian galectins (FIG. 1), but biochemical analysis of tissues as well as the accumulation of partial DNA sequences from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) suggest that there are many more (Cooper and Barondes, 1999). Galectins occur at high concentration (usually 0.–1% of total soluble cell protein) in a limited range of cell types, different for each galectin.
All galectins bind lactose and other β-galactosides, but they differ in their affinity for more complex saccharides (Leffler and Barondes, 1986, Barondes et al., 1994). This suggests that galectins may play a role in decoding the information in complex carbohydrates at the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix. A review of the data up to 1999 is given by Leffler (2001). By cross-linking cell-surface and extracellular glycoproteins (e.g. laminin, integrins, and IgE receptors), extracellular galectins are known to modulate cell adhesion and induce intracellular signals. By the adhesion modulation, galectins may play roles in maintenance of tissue integrity and in cancer metastasis. By the signaling activity, galectins may induce a variety of responses including apoptosis in T-lymphocytes, oxidative burst in neutrophil leukocytes, and through these activities be important in inflammation and immune regulation. In addition, galectins may have intracellular functions; there is evidence for binding to intracellular non-carbohydrate ligands, and roles in RNA splicing and modulation of apoptosis have been suggested.
The best studied are galectin-3 and galectin-1. The present invention relates mainly to galectin-3, but its principles may be applicable also to other galectins.
Potential Therapeutic Use of Galectin-3 Inhibitors. Galectin-3 has been implicated in diverse phenomena and, hence inhibitors may have multiple uses. It is easy to perceive this as a lack of specificity or lack of scientific focus. Therefore, the analogy with aspirin and the cyclooxygenases (COX-I and II) is useful. The COXs produce the precursor of a wide variety of prostaglandins and, hence, are involved in a diverse array of biological mechanisms. Their inhibitors, aspirin and other NSAIDs (non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs), also have broad and diverse effects. Despite this, these inhibitors are very useful medically, and they have several different specific utilities.
So if galectins, like COXs, are part of some basic biological regulatory mechanism (as yet unknown), they are likely to be 'used by nature' for different purpose in different contexts. Galectin inhibitors, like NSAIDs, are not expected to wipe out the whole system, but to tilt the balance a bit.
Inhibition of Inflammation.
There is now ample evidence that galectin-3 is proinflammatory (reviewed by Leffler, 2001). Its expression is induced in macrophages and other cells during inflammation (Perillo et al., 1998). It has various proinflammatory effects on other cells in the inflammatory site (Sano et al., 2000; Karlsson et al., 1998). Galectin-3 gene null-mutant (knock-out) mice have decreased inflammatory responses (Hsu et al., 2000) and knock-out mice of Mac-2BP, a galectin-3 ligand, have increased inflammatory responses (Trahey et al., 1999). Inflammation is a protective response of the body to invading organisms and tissue injury. However, if unbalanced it also frequently is destructive and occur as part of the pathology in many diseases. Because of this there is great medical interest in pharmacological modulation of inflammation. A galectin-3 inhibitor is expected to provide an important addition to the arsenal available for this.
Treatment of Septic Shock.
The idea of a possible role of galectin-3 in septic shock comes from our own studies (Almquist et al., 2001). Briefly the argument goes as follows. It is known that septic shock involves dissemination of bacterial lipopolysaccharide into the blood stream, and that the pathological effects of this are mediated via neutrophil leukocytes (Karima et al., 1999). LPS does not activate the tissue damaging response of the neutrophil. Instead it primes the neutrophil, so that it is converted from unresponsive to responsive to other, presumably endogenous, activators. In septic shock this priming happens prematurely in the blood stream. Endogenous activators could then induce the tissue damaging response in the wrong place and time. Several candidates have been proposed as these endogenous activators, including TNF-alfa. Inhibitors of these have been used in treatment schemes without much success (Karima et al., 1999). Since our own studies indicate that galectin-3 is a good candidate as an endogenous activator of primed neutrophils (Almquist et al., 2001), galectin-3 inhibitors may be very useful in septic shock.
Treatment of Cancer.
There is a whole other body of evidence suggesting that induced expression of galectin-3 (and perhaps other galectins) promote tumour growth and/or metastasis (reviewed by Leffler, 2001). The evidence is on one hand correlatory—more galectin in more malignant tumours. The direct evidence comes from animal models, mainly by Raz et al, but also others. In paired human tumour cell lines (with decreased or increased expression of galectin-3), the one with more galectin-3 gives more tumours and metastasis in nude mice (Bresalier et al., 1998). A polysaccharide, which inhibits galectin-3 can inhibit tumours in vivo (Pienta et al., 1995). Although there may be different explanations for the effects of galectin-3, inhibition of its activities is expected to be beneficial in cancer.
Galectin-1 and galectin-9 have been shown to induce apoptosis in activated T-cells. Also, galectin-1 is frequently over-expressed in low differentiated cancer cells, and galectin-9 (or its relatives galectin-4 and galectin-8) is expressed in certain cancer types. Hence, these galectins might help the tumour to defend itself against the immune response raised by the host (Perillo et al., 1998; Leffler, 2001). Inhibitors of the galectin would be expected to block such an effect and thereby be useful in cancer treatment.
Known Inhibitors
Natural Ligands.
Solid phase binding assays and inhibition assays have identified a number of saccharides and glycoconjugates with the ability to bind galectins (reviewed by Leffler, 2001). All galectins bind lactose with Kd of 0,5–1 mM. The affinity of D-galactose is 50–100 times lower. N-Acetyllactosamine and related disaccharides bind about as well as lactose but for certain galectins up to 10 times better. The best small saccharide ligands for galectin-3 were those carrying blood group A-determinants attached to lactose or lacNAc-residues and were found to bind up to about 50 times better than lactose. Galectin-1 shows no preference for these saccharides.
Larger saccharides of the polylactosamine type have been proposed as preferred ligands for galectins. In solution using polylactosamine carrying glycopeptides, there was evidence for this for galectin-3 but not galectin-1 (Leffler and Barondes, 1986). A modified plant pectin polysaccharide has been reported to bind galectin-3 (Pienta et al., 1995).
The above described natural saccharides that have been identified as galectin-3 ligands are not suitable for use as active components in pharmaceutical compositions, because they are susceptible to acidic hydrolysis in the stomach and to enzymatic degradation. In addition, natural saccharides are hydrophilic in nature and are not readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract following oral administration.
Synthetic Inhibitors.
Thiodigalactoside is known to be a synthetic inhibitor approximately as efficient as N-acetyllactosamine (Leffler and Barondes, 1986). Saccharides coupled to amino acids with anti-cancer activity were first identified as natural compounds in serum, but subsequently synthetic analogues have been made (Glinsky et al., 1996). Among them, those with lactose or Gal coupled to the amino acid inhibits galectins but only with about the same potency as the corresponding underivatized sugar. A divalent form of a lactosyl-amino acid had higher potency in a solid phase assay (Naidenko et al., 2000). Starburst dendrimers (André et al, 1999) and glycopolymers (Pohl et al, 1999), made polyvalent in lactose-residues, have been described as galectin-3 inhibitors with marginally improved potency as compared to lactose. The aforementioned synthetic compounds that have been identified as galectin-3 ligands are not suitable for use as active components in pharmaceutical compositions, because they are hydrophilic in nature and are not readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract following oral administration. Dendrimers and glycopolymers are too large to be absorbed and large enough to produce immune responses in patients. Furthermore, dendrimers and glycopolymers are susceptible to acidic hydrolysis in the stomach and to enzymatic hydrolysis.
Thus, there is a considerable need within the art of inhibitors against galectin, in particularly to galectin 3.


Method, terminal device and network device for transmitting channels are provided. The method includes: receiving at least one time domain symbol position information, where time domain symbol position information for first type is used for indicating a relative position between the starting time domain symbol occupied by the channel to be scheduled and time slot where the channel to be scheduled is located, and time domain symbol position information for second type is used for indicating a relative position between the starting time domain symbol occupied by the channel to be scheduled and time domain resources where target control information is located; determining a type of target time domain symbol position information in the at least one time domain symbol position information and then determining a position of the starting time domain symbol occupied by the channel to be scheduled and indicated by the target time domain symbol position information.

In the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, the time domain position of a data channel (such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)) is in units of time slots and subframes. For example, the starting position of PDSCH is relative to the time slot/subframe where PDSCH is located, indicating in the physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) of the subframe that PDSCH starts from the first time domain symbol of the sub frame.
However, in the New Radio (NR) system for the fifth generation (5G), in order to improve the flexibility of resource allocation and reduce the time delay, the flexibility of the time domain position of the channel is greatly improved, and the allocation will be carried out in units of symbols, so the starting symbol position of the channel needs to be indicated.
At present, as for the way to indicate the starting symbol position of the channel, the 5G research has proposed two technical solutions for indicating: the first is to indicate the starting symbol position of the channel based on the starting position of the time slot, but the scheduled channel is always located behind the downlink control channel that schedules this channel. Because it is not known in advance where the downlink control channel is located in the time slot, it is generally only to distribute possible the starting symbol positions as evenly as possible within the time slot. When the downlink control channel is located at certain positions, the scheduled channel generally selects the nearest time domain position behind it, and the position may not be proximate to the downlink control channel, thus low delay scheduling cannot be realized.
The second solution is to indicate the starting symbol position of the channel based on the position of the downlink control channel. When the downlink control channel is located at any position, the starting symbol of the scheduled channel can be configured at a position proximate to the downlink control channel. However, this solution cannot effectively schedule channels that are far away from the downlink control channel. If distance between the starting symbol of the scheduled channel and the downlink control channel exceeds 1 slot, the control overhead using such solution will increase dramatically.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A gait motion display system including: a triaxial accelerometer, attached to the subject, that measures acceleration data of a subject in walking; an imaging unit that takes images of the subject in walking to obtain moving image data showing gait motions of the subject; a recording unit that records the acceleration data and the moving image data in synchronization with each other; an identification unit that converts the acceleration data recorded by the recording unit into horizontal displacement data and vertical displacement data, and identifies, from the moving image data, a representative image corresponding to a representative motion in a gait cycle, based on the horizontal displacement data or the vertical displacement data; and a display that displays an image illustration of the representative motion in the gait cycle, with the representative image identified by the identification unit.

Gait motions of a subject are conventionally shown to the subject, in the fields of nursing care and rehabilitation, to provide coaching for proper gait motions. In a typical method, for example, an observer who is watching the moving image of the subject's gait motions extracts a predetermined image to display it.
Patent Literature (PTL) 1 discloses a three-dimensional motion analyzing device that determines the coordinate positions of each marker from moving image data obtained by taking images of a subject wearing a plurality of markers by a plurality of cameras, and analyzes the gait motions on the basis of the determined coordinate positions. The three-dimensional motion analyzing device disclosed in PTL 1 displays posture diagrams on the basis of the result of the analysis.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


An ultrasonic transducer device includes an ultrasonic element array and a common electrode wiring. The ultrasonic element array has three ultrasonic element rows with each of the three ultrasonic element rows including a plurality of ultrasonic elements arranged along a first direction and electrically connected to each other. The three ultrasonic element rows are arranged along a second direction intersecting with the first direction. The common electrode wiring is configured and arranged to supply a common voltage to at least one of the three ultrasonic element rows. The common electrode wiring extends in the first direction and is arranged between two of the three ultrasonic element rows positioned on outer sides among the three ultrasonic element rows with respect to the second direction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic transducer device, an ultrasonic measurement apparatus, a head unit, a probe, an ultrasonic imaging apparatus, and the like.
2. Related Art
An ultrasonic apparatus is known which emits ultrasonic waves from a front end of a probe toward a target object and detects ultrasonic waves which are reflected from the target object (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-142555). For example, the ultrasonic apparatus is used as an ultrasonic imaging apparatus which is used in diagnosis by imaging inside the body of a patient or the like. For example, a piezoelectric element is used as an ultrasonic element which emits ultrasonic waves.

Ultrasonic transducer device, ultrasonic measurement apparatus, head unit, probe, and ultrasonic imaging apparatus


Carbon dioxide and water vapor are continuously removed by a venting membrane system which employs porous membranes and a liquid amine based sorbent, and which has a partial pressure gradient across the porous membranes. The partial pressure gradient induces absorption of carbon dioxide and water vapor from a gaseous stream, transport of the absorbed carbon dioxide through the pores of the membrane or to a second membrane, and desorption of the absorbed carbon dioxide.

Since exposure to carbon dioxide partial pressures exceeding about 7.6 mm Hg (partial pressure of about 1.0%) for extended periods of time can cause adverse health problems in humans and other mammals, and since mammals biologically produce carbon dioxide, closed environmental systems such as submarines and spacecraft, often require the removal of this carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide produced by other processes. Various removal techniques have been developed using sorbents which remove carbon dioxide and/or water from a gaseous stream by physical or chemical means. These sorbents include supported and unsupported regenerable and nonregenerable carbon dioxide sorbents such as metal oxides, molecular sieves, alkali metal carbonates, alkali metal hydroxides, and combinations thereof, among others.
Important characteristics of these sorbents, especially those utilized in closed environment systems, include regenerability, structural integrity, absorption-desorption cyclical life, energy requirements for regeneration, and volume and weight considerations. Since metal oxide-alkali metal carbonate sorbents can be formed without inert material yet retain structural integrity while possessing an extended cyclical life and high carbon dioxide loadings, they are useful for carbon dioxide removal in closed environments. Some of these metal oxide-alkali metal carbonate sorbents are regenerable and unsupported, having cyclical lives up to or greater than about 100 cycles and carbon dioxide loadings of up to about 20 lb/ft.sup.3.
In the closed environment provided by a submarine, amines, such as monoethanolamine and diethanolamine, are often used to absorb carbon dioxide. These amines are utilized in an aqueous phase, typically 25 to 30 weight percent (wt %) amine. The amine solution enters the top of an absorption tower while the carbon dioxide containing gaseous stream is introduced to the bottom of the tower. The amine intimately contacts the gaseous stream in a countercurrent fashion and chemically absorbs carbon dioxide in the gaseous stream. Desorption of this carbon dioxide is then accomplished in a thermal regeneration process at temperatures in excess of 150.degree. F. During desorption, carbon dioxide and water vapor evolve and are then separated by condensing the water vapor in a heat exchanger. Since the gaseous stream often contains acid gas contaminants which limit the amine based sorbent life through irreversible reaction, the amine sorbent solutions typically possess a life of up to six months of continuous use.
Although the above regenerable sorbents provide useful means for carbon dioxide and water sorption, artisans perpetually seek improved sorbents requiring lower volume and weight penalties, lower energy requirements for regeneration, and possessing high cyclical life and continuous operation. Therefore, what is needed in the art is a carbon dioxide and water sorbent capable of continuous operation at high carbon dioxide removal rates with low volume, weight, and power requirements.

Continuous carbon dioxide and water removal system


A furniture drive for moving a furniture part is mounted in a vertically adjustable manner includes a drive apparatus, which has an electric motor, for moving the movable furniture part, and includes a compensation device which exerts a force which is opposite to the weight force on the movable furniture part. A measuring device is provided for detecting the weight of the movable furniture part. Therefore, the force exerted by the compensation device on the movable furniture part can be variably adjusted as a function of the measured weight of the movable furniture part by an adjusting device which has a further electric motor and can be actuated by the measuring device.

The present invention concerns a furniture drive for moving a furniture part which is mounted displaceably in respect of height, comprising a drive device having an electric motor for moving the movable furniture part and a compensation device which exerts on the movable furniture part a force opposite to the force due to weight.
In addition, the invention concerns an article of furniture having a furniture drive of the kind to be described.
With such furniture drives, a frequent problem is that of ensuring a harmonic pattern of movements even in different loaded conditions of the movable furniture part. More specifically, if the movable furniture part is subject to differing loadings due to items accommodated therein, then the drive device must also apply forces of differing magnitude to the movable furniture part. That, however, requires an electric drive which ensures a dynamic movement of the movable furniture part even at maximum loading. To keep down the power dimensions of the drive device, there is provided a compensation device which exerts a force opposite to the force due to weight, on the movable furniture part, so that the electric drive can be at least partially relieved of load thereby.
The object of the present invention is to propose a furniture drive of the general kind referred to in the opening part of this specification, which even with different loading conditions of the movable furniture part, permits a uniform regular pattern of movement.


An improved cord lock provides a mechanism for preventing a moveable slide from being drawn too far into a cord lock body by heavy forces transmitted through the cord being locked. The improved cord lock has a body of standard manufacture, and a moveable slide which has been modified to provide a positive stop to prevent the slide from entering too far into the body. The positive stop may be formed as a number of projections from the moveable slide which make its overall cross section too large to fit within the lock body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to locking mechanisms for cords, and more specifically to a releasable cord lock device which cannot be pulled too far in the locking direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cords of various diameters are used to hold shut many different types of articles. Examples are laundry and garment bags.
To avoid having to tie and untie cords used for these purposes, various types of inexpensive locking devices have been designed. An example of one such device, which is typical within the industry, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,574, issued to 0. W. Boden. This patent describes in detail the mechanical structure of a particular cord lock design.
A cord lock of the type shown in the Boden patent is shown in FIG. 1. The cord lock 10 includes a hollow body 12 and a moveable slide 14. Two cord sections 16, 18 pass through the body 12, and are held in place by the slide 14. When the slide is moved to the left as shown in FIG. 1, the cords are locked into position. When the slide is moved to the right as shown in FIG. 1, the cords are released.
FIG. 2 illustrates a slide such as used in FIG. 1. The slide 14 has a finger loop 20 connected to a main portion 22 by neck 24. Gripping portions 26 are disposed on either side of the body 22 to hold the cords 16, 18 in position against the inside of the lock body 12. To further improve the gripping capacity of the device, feeler arms 28 are also provided to press the cords 16, 18 against the inside of the lock body 12. Operation of this device is described in further detail in the above described patent issued to Boden.
One problem with cord locks of this type is that very large pressures on the cord, to the left as shown in FIG. 1, can cause the slide 14 to be drawn into the lock body 12. If the slide is drawn too far into the lock body, it can become very difficult to disengage. Further, if this should happen while a user's finger is within the finger loop 20, injury can result.
It would be desirable to provide a cord lock which solves the problem of the slide being drawn too far into the lock body.


Provided herein are methods and compositions for enhancing the cognitive performance of a subject in need thereof. A method may include administering to a subject an agent that increases the level of protein or activity of a sirtuin, such as SIRT1.

Learning is a process by which organisms alter and adapt their behavior in response to environmental stimuli. As such learning and memory are mechanisms that are ultimately important for the organism's survival and its biological fitness. In a number of pathological situations, including Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body diseases, mood and anxiety disorders but also during normal aging, cognitive processes such as learning and memory are impaired. It is therefore desirable to identify components that would enhance cognitive function.

Cognitive performance with sirtuin activators

President and Fellows of Harvard College


The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods for directed sanitization of memory. One example method comprises, responsive to receiving a sanitization command, performing a deterministic garbage collection operation on a memory, wherein performing the deterministic garbage collection operation results in physical erasure of all invalid data stored on the memory without losing valid data stored on the memory.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits and/or external removable devices in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can require power to maintain its data and can include random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), among others. Non-volatile memory can retain stored data when not powered and can include NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, phase change random access memory (PCRAM), resistive random access memory (RRAM), and magnetic random access memory (MRAM), among others.
Memory devices can be combined together to form a solid state drive (SSD). An SSD can include non-volatile memory (e.g., NAND flash memory and/or NOR flash memory), and/or can include volatile memory (e.g., DRAM and/or SRAM), among various other types of non-volatile and volatile memory. An SSD can be used to replace hard disk drives as the main storage volume for a computer, as the solid state drive can have advantages over hard drives in terms of performance, size, weight, ruggedness, operating temperature range, and power consumption. For example, SSDs can have superior performance when compared to magnetic disk drives due to their lack of moving parts, which may avoid seek time, latency, and other electro-mechanical delays associated with magnetic disk drives.
In various instances, it can be beneficial and/or desirable to erase data stored in memory (e.g., to delete files or portions thereof that may contain sensitive and/or private information). Some deletion mechanisms may not involve actual physical erasure of the data such that it is possible for the data to be recovered from the memory. For instance, a deletion mechanism might involve physical erasure of memory locations currently storing a particular file, but memory locations which may have previously stored the particular file, or portions thereof, may not be physically erased. Other deletion mechanisms might involve physical erasure of all data stored in memory, which ensures deletion of data targeted for deletion, but also erases data that may not be targeted for deletion.


A computer-implemented method and system utilizing a distributed network for the recommendation of goods and/or services to potential costumers based on a potential customer's selection of goods and/or services and a database of previous customer purchasing history.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the use of computer systems to facilitate the recommendation of goods or services utilizing a distributed network such as the Internet, specifically to provide recommendations of goods or services that may be of interest to potential customers based on a potential customer's selection of goods or services and a database of previous customer history with respect to the selected goods or services.
2. Description of the Background Art
Providing recommendations of goods or services of interest to customers in a computer system environment has been based on demographic profiles and usually requires extensive customer participation and divulgence of personal information (for example, the input of: age, profession, hobbies, gender, . . . . ) to create a user profile, which is then compared against other user profiles to determine possible items of interest to the user. The need for extensive customer input limits the appeal of these feedback systems because they require the user to expend substantial time and effort in addition to revealing personal details in order to obtain the requested information.
The present invention allows potential customers to utilize a computer system interfaced with a distributed network to obtain recommendations of goods or services that may be of interest to them while substantially reducing the degree of customer input required in comparison to prior art systems. Instead of relying on the personal information provided by each potential customer as a basis for determining recommendations, the subject invention utilizes a customer activity history database to facilitate the determination of recommendations.

System and method for providing recommendation of goods and services based on recorded purchasing history


An apparatus for packaging article goods, such as paper goods, forming a stack comprises a conveyor adapted to carry a continuous stack formed by identical individual articles, such as envelopes, and a displacer device located along one side of the stack advancing path and provided with a detector for a count article constituted by one of identical articles and protruding from the stack. A separator element is adapted to penetrate into the stack for producing a gap between a stack portion to be separated first from the stack and the rest of the stack. The apparatus also includes a pusher element which is located at the front of the separator element in the advancing direction of the conveyor and is adapted to move across the stack advancing path for displacing the stack portion to a further processing unit located along the other side of the advancing path. The separator element is aligned with a gripper which is adapted to clasp the protruding count article and then release it to be left in the stack.

The Finnish patent 87438 discloses an apparatus which utilizes a count object (article) for packaging envelopes in batches of a certain size, the count object (article) being pushed out at fixed spaces when feeding the envelopes into a continuous stack advancing on a conveyor and having the envelopes in a vertical plane. This type of apparatus is also known from the U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,775. The principle in these solutions is the use of a special detector for detecting the arrival of the count object in a separation zone, followed by pushing an elongated separator element through the entire width of the stack transversely to the stack advancing direction for separating from the leading end of the stack a stack portion of a certain size, which is pushed aside for further processing in the operation of packaging the same.
A gap is formed by means of the separator element preferably between the counting object and the leading end of a stack in front of it. In order to separate this stack portion to form a distinctly detached unit, the separator element must produce a sufficiently clear gap. The prior art solutions have employed separator elements which penetrate into a stack through its entire width. In addition, the Finnish patent 87438 discloses a solution in which the separator element is further divided into two horizontal blades for supporting the stack both in the upper and lower part. This ensures that the stack portion remains well separated as the conveyor pushes a continuous stack into the separation zone.

Apparatus for separating a stack portion with a separator element and a device for gripping a protruding marker


In various implementations, an abstraction is generated from an asset associated with an asset-modifying workflow. The abstraction can be embedded into an activity stream generated from an asset-modification application and communicated to a remote server device for collection and analysis. The remote server device, upon receiving at least the abstraction, can determine a contextual identifier for association with the abstraction and the asset associated with the asset-modifying workflow. The remote server device can conduct usage analysis on data received from the activity stream in association with the contextual identifier, and further send a signal to the asset-modification application to customize the workflow based on the contextual identifier determined to be associated with the abstraction and asset.

Collecting application usage data for user research and product development has become commonplace in software applications. Computers and electronic devices generally have access to communication networks, such as the Internet, to freely transmit usage data, among other things, to a server or central usage data repository so that various types of user and/or product analysis can be performed thereon. Asset-modification applications, such as Adobe® Photoshop® or Adobe® Illustrator®, can generate event logs, generally on a very high level, which comprise sequences of user actions within sessions of application activity. For instance, the event logs can include, among other things, references to tools and/or features used on an asset in an asset-modifying workflow, and timestamps associated with each instance of use. In some instances, these event logs can be collected and transmitted to a server through user activity streams, to analyze how the applications and tools provided therein are being employed. The ability to extrapolate meaningful insight into the activity streams is limited, however, without deeper contextual knowledge about the asset or its visual content.

Semantic visual hash injection into user activity streams


A piston for an internal combustion engine in which a land located immediately above an oil-ring groove and/or a pressure ring groove of the piston is provided with an annular groove-shaped recess at least around an intermediate portion of the land. The annular groove-shaped recess gradually increases in depth from zero upward along the axial direction of the piston to form an oil reservoir.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in a piston for internal combustion engines, particularly an improvement in the circumferential surface of the piston.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A prior art piston is illustrated in FIG. 10. The circumferential surface of the piston 1 of an internal combustion engine is provided with piston-ring grooves 5, 6, 7 for mounting one or two pressure rings 2, 3 and ordinarily a single oil ring 4 in the order mentioned starting from the side of the combustion chamber 17. A first land 8 is formed between an end portion of the piston 1 on the side of the combustion chamber 17 and the first ring groove 5, a second land 10 is formed between the first ring groove 5 and the second ring groove 6, and a third land 13 is formed between the second ring groove 10 and the third ring groove 7. More specifically, in case of a two-ring type arrangement having a total of two rings in which there is one pressure ring 2, an oil-ring groove is situated on the lower side of the second land 10. In case of a three-type arrangement in which there are two pressure rings 5, 6, the oil-ring groove 7 is situated on the lower side of the third land 13, as shown in FIG. 10.
If a space (referred to as second-land space 18 or third-land space 19) bounded by the land immediately above the oil-ring groove 7, the inner surface of the cylinder 9 and the piston rings on either side is too small, there is an increase in pressure owing to oil scraped from the piston 1, and leakage of oil occurs on the side of the combustion chamber 17, as a result of which a large amount of oil is consumed. This tendency becomes particularly pronounced when two pressure rings are used.
Furthermore, when the pressure in the above-mentioned space referred to as the second-land space 18 or third-land space 19 suddenly declines, the oil is drawn up into this space via the abutting end faces of the oil ring, the oil pressure rises and the amount of oil consumed increases. When the pressure in this space suddenly rises, the pressure ring immediately overlying it is lifted up, thereby causing a decline in the sealing property of this pressure ring.
Accordingly, in order to prevent a sudden fluctuation in pressure within the land space, the practice in the prior art, which is illustrated in FIG. 10, is to provide the land surface of a land 13 with a flat step 15 that forms a recess toward the side of the central axis of the piston 1 on the side of an oil-ring groove 7. The land 13 is cut away uniformly below the step 20 to increase the land space 19. However, in such an arrangement in which the land is cut away uniformly on the upper side of the oil-ring groove 7, a problem arises in a case where the oil ring is a three-piece assembly comprising upper and lower rails and an expander. Specifically, the problem is that the seating of the upper rail is degraded, thereby leading to a decline in sealability.
In addition to the above-mentioned matter, the demand for high speed rotation, compactness and high load for the internal combustion engines has recently increased year by hear. Furthermore, local regulations for purification of exhaust gas from the internal combustion engines have become stricter. In order to decrease the amount of hydrocarbon in the exhaust gas, the top ring 2 is located near a top crown surface 21 of the piston 1 as much as possible so as to decrease a crevice volume of a top land space 22 bounded by the first land 8, the inner surface of the cylinder 9 and the top pressure ring 2.
It will be easily understood that the top pressure ring 2 must have a suitable thickness (T-dimension) and width (W-dimension) in view of a sealing property and strength of the top pressure ring 2.
In this high top ring piston, the high inertia force of the top pressure ring 2 results from the high speed rotation of the piston 1 and in breakage of the top land 8. The thin first or top land 8 is subjected to a high temperature from the combustion chamber so that a thermal strength thereof is decreased and the top land 8 is likely to be more easily broken. To prevent the breakage of the top land 8, the top ring 2 is decreased in width and an inertia force thereof is made smaller. However, this measure is not suitable for reduction of the amount of oil consumption.


A method and system for determining the bonding quality of a bonded area of a flapped boxmaking blank in a boxmaking apparatus at an assembling station of a production line, where opposite end portions of the blank are bonded together with confronting edges of companion end flaps defining a required gap, in terms of the outline of the gap. The quality determination is accomplished by irradiating sheetlike light onto the bonded area across the gap, forming an image of the irradiated light as a light image line composed of discrete segments which are arranged along a reference line for the flap portions and include at least one line segment located off the reference line, computing a ratio of a length of the off-line segment to the entire length of the light image line to obtain a width of the gap, and comparing the width of the gap with a preset reference value.

a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and system for the determination of a quality of a bonded area in a boxmaking blank with opposite end portions thereof bonded together at the bonded area. In a boxmaking apparatus for continuously assembling boxes from such blanks, the above method and system makes, based on a width of a gap formed in the bonded area of the boxmaking blank, a determination as to whether the bonded area is good or bad.
b) Description of the Related Art
In a boxmaking process for producing boxes (corrugated fibreboard containers) from corrugated cardboard blanks (corrugated fibreboard blanks), it has been the conventional practice to fold each corrugated cardboard blank of a predetermined size, which includes slots formed therein and carries ruled lines, prints and the like applied thereon, to apply a glue on an overlap formed on one of opposite end portions of the corrugated cardboard blank and then to bond the opposite end portions together via the glued overlap, all by a folder gluer.
After the corrugated cardboard blanks already folded and bonded by the folder gluer are corrected in squareness at a squaring unit, they are fed out box after box from a lower part of the squaring unit to a counter unit, where they are bundled in a desired number per bundle and are then ejected.
As is shown in FIG. 13A, for example, each corrugated cardboard blank 1 is provided with gaps 1D in parts of a top flap 1A and bottom flap 1B, respectively, at locations corresponding to a bonded area 1C between opposite end portions of the blank. It is to be noted that, concerning the bonded area 1C and the gaps 1D, the overlapping back-side blank is shown with a portion thereof cut away in FIG. 13B because the bonded area 1C and the gaps 1D are located on the back side of the bonded blank and are hardly visible.
Upon bonding the corrugated cardboard blank at the area 1C, control is performed so that, as is illustrated in FIGS. 13A and 13B, width a,b of the gaps 1D have a predetermined constant value. Namely, production of a corrugated cardboard box of an accurate shape free of off-squareness requires to bond opposite end portions of a blank together in a proper positional relationship. Whether the bonded area of the blank is good or bad can be determined depending on the width of the gap corresponding to the bonded area. It is therefore important to control the gap at a predetermined width.
Attempts have therefore been made to measure the width of such gaps in an automated contactless manner in the course of boxmaking. For example, Prime Technology Inc., Maryland, U.S.A. has already commercialized a system under the name of "Gap Watch system". Further, JP kokai 9-22464 discloses a gap quality determination system making use of a CCD (charged coupled device) camera.
According to such conventional technology, a still image of a bonded area is formed by using a stroboscope or the electronic shutter function of a CCD camera and is then subjected to so-called image processing to extract necessary information.
Described specifically, the system disclosed in JP kokai 9-22464 forms a varied-density image of the bonded area and, based on differences in density, detects edges in the bonded area and determines the width of the gap in the bonded area. In other words, when light is irradiated onto a corrugated cardboard blank, stronger reflection of light is available from a gap-free area of a corrugated cardboard blank, while weaker reflection of light is obtained from its gap-containing area. This system therefore detects a gap by making use of this difference in the intensity of reflection of light occurred for the existence and non-existence of the gap.
However, an attempt to detect a gap from a varied-density image of a bonded area of a corrugated cardboard blank involves a potential problem that, when there is a print on a surface of the corrugated cardboard blank, the printed area may also be extracted erroneously as a gap depending on the color of the print because the printed area is also different in color density and hence in the intensity of reflection of light from a ground color of (a color of a liner on) the corrugated cardboard blank. Accordingly, this system must further perform accurate distinction of a true gap from the gap information so obtained.
Further, the liner color is available with considerably wide variations in color tone, ranging from a very light tone called "white liner" to a significantly dark tone called "K liner". This may result in a variation in the quantity of reflection of light from the surface of a liner in a gap and hence in the density of the surface of the liner in the gap, thereby possibly making it difficult to accurately discriminate a difference from the density of the gap. As a consequence, the measurement of the width of a gap in a bonded area, said measurement performing image processing such as edge extraction by using a varied-density image of the bonded area, has difficulty in making determination at high reliability.

Method and system for the determination of a quality of bonded area in a boxmaking blank


Nonaqueous electrolyte rechargeable cells may contain an excess of negative electrode material to improve the rechargeability. This excess of negative electrode material can form brittle alloys with noncorrosive current collector metals in positive electrodes at low cell voltages. The invention discloses that an excess of current collector material in the positive electrode directly opposite to the negative electrode improves the safety characteristics of the rechargeable cells during overdischarge and multiple voltage reversal abuses.

This invention relates to high energy density electrochemical cells. More specifically, this invention pertains to high energy density rechargeable cells having a novel composition and structural design for the positive electrode to enhance the performance and safety characteristics of the cell during overdischarge and voltage reversal abuses.
In response to an increasing demand for sophistication and miniaturization in energy conversion and storage devices by users in electronics, electro-medical and other industries, many high energy density primary and secondary cells have been developed in recent years. Among these are the ambient temperature nonaqueous electrolyte cells using alkali metals such as lithium or alkaline earth metals such as calcium as anode active materials and insertion compounds such as manganese oxides or soluble oxidizing agents such as sulfur dioxide as cathode active materials. The high energy density permits the miniaturization of the cells without sacrificing performance. On the other hand, cells with high energy densities are susceptible to damage under certain abusive conditions, especially when they are capable of delivering high currents. One such abuse occurs in a multi-cell battery where a cell is overdischarged and driven into voltage reversal by other cells in the circuit. The cause for such an occurrence is that in practice it is difficult to manufacture cells with identical capacities and identical internal impedances. Therefore, it is possible that one cell will exhaust its capacity before the remaining cells in the battery during discharge. Under this condition, the cell with nearly exhausted capacity can be driven to voltage reversal by the remaining cells in the battery. Various electrochemical reactions occur during voltage reversal. In the event that these electrochemical reactions are not controlled, excessive local heating, or more severely, run-away heating will occur leading to cell bulging, venting or rupturing.
Attempts have been made by those who practice in the art to enhance the abuse resistance of high energy density nonaqueous primary cells having an alkali or alkaline earth metal anode. A design feature is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,277 to prevent cells with the spirally wound cell structure from bulging or venting during voltage reversal abuse. The design feature comprises a first segment of exposed inert metal connected to the cathode and a dendrite target of a second segment of exposed inert metal connected to the anode. The two segments of exposed metal are oriented to face each other but are held in physical isolation by the separator interposed between them. During voltage reversal dendrites grow from the first segment of inert metal to the dendrite target thereby forming a least resistance path between the two electrodes for the current to pass through without generating excessive heat. As a result, the cell is safer and more abuse resistant. It should be noted that U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,277 relates to cells containing "inert" metal cathode current collectors (e.g. aluminum). Inasmuch as lithium can form alloys with aluminum at room temperature, aluminum may not qualify as an inert metal in a cell containing a lithium metal or lithium alloy anode, depending upon the relative capacity of the electrodes. It is true that a lithium cell with an anode coulombic capacity not more than the cathode capacity (a balanced or anode limited cell design) has insufficient lithium to alloy with aluminum hardware at cathode potential. Accordingly, aluminum can be regarded as "inert". On the other hand, aluminum may not be "inert" in a lithium cell containing an excess of negative electrode material, i.e. the coulombic capacity of the negative electrode exceeds that of the positive electrode. Indeed, this is the case in high energy density lithium rechargeable cells which are generally designed to contain an excess of negative electrode material to improve the rechargeability.
In high energy density nonaqueous electrolyte cells the cathode materials are strong oxidizing agents. Therefore, the cathode current collectors must be corrosion resistant and compatible both physically and chemically with the cathode and electrolyte. Corrosion resistant metals such as aluminum, titanium, tantalum and niobium are suitable positive electrode current collector materials. Aluminum is the preferred material due to its low cost and compatibility with a variety of cathodes and electrolytes. Although these metals are corrosion resistant and compatible with respect to the cathode and electrolyte materials, some of them often form alloys or intermetallic compounds with alkali or alkaline earth metals. For example, alloys or intermetallic compounds such as AlLi, Al.sub.3 Mg.sub.2, Al.sub.2 Ca and Al.sub.5 Ba.sub.4 have been reported in the literature and phases diagrams of the Al-Li, Al-Ba, Al-Ca, Al-Mg binary systems can be found in "Moffatt, W.G., The Handbook of Binary Phase Diagrams, 1984 Revision, Genium Publishing Corp, Schenectady, N.Y.". In the event that a cell, wherein the anode capacity is higher than the cathode capacity, is subjected to an overdischarge abuse, the excess of anode material will reach the cathode through the electrolyte to form alloys or intermetallic compounds with the accessible current collector material at the stage of cathode exhaustion. These alloys or intermetallic compounds tend to be grainy and brittle, thus their formation may lead to the destruction of the physical integrity of the current collector.
This problem is severe in the case of a secondary or rechargeable cell wherein the current collector of the positive electrode is likely to be attacked by the negative electrode material repeatedly during multiple discharge/charge cycles and multiple voltage reversals. This may lead to the loss of electrical continuity of the positive electrode, formation of dendritic bridges at unpredictable sites and other unpredictable and unsafe situations.
The possibility of alloy formation between Al (cathode current collector material) and Li in primary Li/SO.sub.2 cells has been postulated (see Levy, S. C. and Crafts, C. C. , The Electrochemical Society Fall Meeting Extended Abstract No. 14, Oct. 11-16, 1981, Denver, Colo.) to explain the shock sensitivity of some Li/SO.sub.2 cells after discharge. One of the design changes suggested by Levy and Crafts to alleviate the shock sensitivity of Li/SO.sub.2 cells was to increase the length of the cathode current collector.
It is important to note, however, that in the high energy density rechargeable cell of this invention, an increase in the length of Al current collector in a rectangular positive electrode beyond the positive electrode material coverage would not improve the safety characteristics during overdischarge and voltage reversal abuses. In other words, the added current collector material which is not physically in direct opposition to the active negative electrode (i.e. not locally available) cannot act as a source for the collector material contributing to the enhancement of current collector integrity during abuse. In the event that the geometric area of the negative electrode is large enough to be directly opposite to not only the positive electrode but also a portion of the bare current collector, the bare and uncovered (by positive electrode material) current collector tends to be preferentially "attacked" by the negative electrode to form alloys or intermetallic compounds during deep discharge cycles, especially at the interface line where the positive electrode material coverage ends and bare collector surface begins. Thus, the loss of electrical continuity may occur in the positive electrode even earlier than in an electrode with no extra length of current collector.

Electrode composition and design for high energy density cells

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