SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE

In the present invention, a thin film transistor is formed on a plastic film substrate (1) having anisotropy of thermal shrinkage rate or coefficient of thermal expansion in in-plane directions of the substrate. A channel is formed such thatthe direction (7) in which the thermal shrinkage rate or the coefficient of thermal expansion of the substrate is largest is nonparallel tothe direction (8) of a current flowing through the channel of the thin film transistor. Then, a thin film transistor having stable and uniform electrical characteristics, which is formed on the plastic film substrate, is provided.

Coated surgical staples and an illuminated staple cartridge for a surgical stapling instrument

A coated surgical fastener is provided for an easy visualization within tissue. The coated surgical fastener includes a core and a relatively non-reflective coating applied about the core. There is also disclosed an illuminated staple cartridge for use with a surgical stapling device having a light source. The illuminated staple cartridge includes a transparent insert and a relatively nontransparent U-shaped outer channel at least partially surrounding the transparent insert. Windows formed in sides of the U-shaped outer channel allow defined amounts of light to project from the sides of the illuminated staple cartridge.

Articulation and firing force mechanisms

There is provided a surgical instrument incorporating driving force mechanisms capable of transmitting a driving force through an articulated section of the surgical instrument. In one embodiment, a series of racks connect with a transfer gear to pass forces around the articulated section. In an alternative embodiment a series of cable sections and wheels or pulleys are provided to transmit a driving force through the articulated section of the surgical instrument.

Navigation Apparatus

A navigation apparatus includes: an input operating unit; a map image storage member; a current position detecting member; a destination determination member; a visiting order determination member which determines a visiting order of each of the plurality of destinations in an revisable manner; a display control member which displays on the display member the map image on which the current position of the user and positions of all of the plurality of destinations are displayed; and a route calculation member which calculates a route from the current position by way of all of the plurality of destinations according to the visiting orders.

Organic electroluminescent device having an azatriphenylene derivative

Azatriphenylene derivatives and their use in the electron-transporting layer of an electroluminescent device that comprises an anode, a spaced-apart cathode, and at least one electron-transporting layer disposed between the spaced-apart anode and cathode. Such EL devices provide lower drive voltage, improved power efficiency, and longer operational lifetime.

Virtual pooled account for mobile banking

A virtual pooled account is used in operating a system having multiple financial partners. In a specific implementation, the system is a mobile banking system. Instead of maintaining separate general ledgers for each financial institution, the system will keep one general virtual pooled account. This will reduce the settlement and operational costs of the system. The owner of the virtual pooled account will receive the float on the virtual pooled account, and this float will be distributed to the multiple financial partners according to a formula.

Disposable cartridge for use in a gastric volume reduction procedure

A cartridge containing a fastener, wherein the cartridge releasably connected to a fastener deploying device. The cartridge has a housing which houses at least one tissue penetrating member. The penetrating member at least partially houses a fastener. The fastener has at least two rigid anchors connected together by a flaccid member. The cartridge further includes a means for removably attaching the cartridge to a deployment device.

Systems and methods for storing, analyzing, and retrieving medical data

Physiological information can be stored in a dynamic round-robin database. Parameter descriptors may be used to identify parameter values in the records. The parameter values can be dynamically updated by changing the parameter descriptors. In addition, the size of files used in the database can be dynamically adjusted to account for patient condition. In certain implementations, the round-robin database can be adaptive, such that an amount of data stored in the database is adapted based on patient condition and/or signal condition. Additionally, medical data obtained from a clinical network of physiological monitors can be stored in a journal database. The medical data can include device events that occurred in response to clinician interactions with one or more medical devices and device-initiated events, such as alarms and the like. The journal database can be analyzed to derive statistics, which may be used to improve clinician and/or hospital performance.

Authentication of lottery tickets, game machine credit vouchers, and other items

Credit vouchers from a wagering game machine can be authenticated. This may be accomplished by receiving credit information at a server, the credit information including information indicating a player's balance at the wagering game machine. A security key may be created for the credit voucher. A secured document token may be created by encrypting a document token including the credit information with the security key. This document token may sent to a server which supplies a credit response. A modified security key may be created by combining the credit response with the security key. The credit voucher may be provided, the credit vouchers including the credit information, the credit response and the modified security key.

Interactive complex task teaching system that allows for natural language input, recognizes a user's intent, and automatically performs tasks in document object model (DOM) nodes

A system which allows a user to teach a computational device how to perform complex, repetitive tasks that the user usually would perform using the device's graphical user interface (GUI) often but not limited to being a web browser. The system includes software running on a user's computational device. The user “teaches” task steps by inputting natural language and demonstrating actions with the GUI. The system uses a semantic ontology and natural language processing to create an explicit representation of the task that is stored on the computer. After a complete task has been taught, the system is able to automatically execute the task in new situations. Because the task is represented in terms of the ontology and user's intentions, the system is able to adapt to changes in the computer code while still pursuing the objectives taught by the user.