Abstract: The present invention relates to a distribution aiding system, a distribution aiding server, a distribution aiding method, and a distribution aiding program capable of selling articles without individual trading conditions being known to a maker, other users or other dealers, and is so configurated that a user retrieves or selects a necessary article, the user registers order information according to the selected article, and a dealer in charge of the user registers order-acceptance condition information to be added to the order information, and notifies the user of the order-acceptance condition information.

Abstract: The invention provides a polishing pad by which optical materials such as lenses, reflecting mirrors etc., or materials requiring a high degree of surface planarity, as in the polishing of silicone wafers, glass substrates or aluminum substrates for hard disks, or general metal polishing, can be flattened with stability and high polishing efficiency. The invention also provides a polishing pad for semiconductor wafers, which is superior in planarizing characteristic, is free from scratches and can be produced at low cost. There is provided a polishing pad which is free from dechucking error so that neither damage to wafers nor decrease in operating efficiency occurs. There is provided a polishing pad which is satisfactory in planarity, within wafer uniformity, and polishing rate and produces less change in polishing rate. There is provided a polishing pad which can make planarity improvement and scratch decrease compatible.

Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a polishing pad having excellent planarization performance and wear resistance and to provide a method for manufacture thereof. The invention is directed to a polishing pad including a polishing layer including a polyurethane foam having fine cells, wherein the polyurethane foam is a cured product of a reaction of (1) an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer (A) that is capable of reacting with 4,4?-methylenebis(o-chloroaniline) to form a non-foamed polyurethane having a tan ? peak temperature of 100° C. or more, (2) an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer (B) that is capable of reacting with 4,4?-methylenebis(o-chloroaniline) to form a non-foamed polyurethane having a tan ? peak temperature of 40° C. or less, and (3) 4,4?-methylenebis(o-chloroaniline), and the isocyanate-terminated prepolymers (A) and (B) are mixed in an (A)/(B) ratio of 50/50 to 90/10 (by wt %).

Abstract: A polishing pad capable of maintaining a high level of dimensional stability during absorption of moisture or water includes a polishing layer including a polyurethane foam having fine cells, wherein the polyurethane foam includes a cured product of a reaction of an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer (A), a polymerized diisocyanate, and a chain extender, and the isocyanate-terminated prepolymer (A) includes an isocyanate monomer, a high molecular weight polyol (a), and a low molecular weight polyol. A method for manufacturing such a polishing pad includes mixing a first component containing an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer with a second component containing a chain extender and curing the mixture to form a polyurethane foam. The pad so made is used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.

Abstract: A plastic optical fiber cable includes: a bare optical fiber including a core made of a poly(methyl methacrylate) or a copolymer including methyl methacrylate as a major component and a cladding layer including, at least in the outermost layer, a layer made of a certain fluorine-containing olefin-based resin; and a coating layer provided on the outer surface thereof. The coating layer includes a protective coating layer, a light blocking coating layer, and a functional coating layer, the layers being provided in the order mentioned from inner side. The protective coating layer is made of a certain resin material. The light blocking coating layer is made of a nylon-based resin including, as a major component, nylon 11 or nylon 12, the nylon-based resin containing monomer and oligomer compounds derived from the nylon-based resin in an amount of a certain range.

Abstract: Pictures can be encoded such that no display wait occurs or a decoding side. Pictures are re-encoded such that their encoding order is changed. As a result, picture B3 is detected as picture Na+1 (FIG. 11A) that is decoded later than picture I1 (picture Nd) by two pictures. Thus, picture P3 (picture Na+2) (a picture displayed later than picture I1 by two pictures) is contained in picture sequence {I1, P2, B3}. As shown in FIG. 11C and FIG. 11D, picture B3 is decoded at a time corresponding to its displaying time. Thus, picture B3 can be displayed at its displaying time.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a polishing pad excellent in optical detection accuracy in a broad wavelength range (particularly at the short-wavelength side) and capable of preventing a slurry from leaking from the boundary between a polishing region and a light-transmitting region. Disclosed is a polishing pad including at least a transparent support film laminated on one side of a polishing layer including a polishing region and a light-transmitting region, wherein the light transmittance of an optical detection region containing at least the light-transmitting region and the transparent support film is 40% or more in the overall range of wavelengths of 300 to 400 nm.

Abstract: A polishing pad provides excellent optical detection accuracy properties over a broad wavelength range (particularly at the short-wavelength side). A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes a process of polishing the surface of a semiconductor wafer with this polishing pad. The polishing pad has a polishing layer containing a polishing region and a light-transmitting region, wherein the light-transmitting region includes a polyurethane resin having an aromatic ring density of 2 wt % or less, and the light transmittance of the light-transmitting region is 30% or more in the overall range of wavelengths of 300 to 400 nm.

Abstract: When image data to be encoded is divided into image data items in a plurality of hierarchies and an image data item in a given hierarchy among the divided image data items in the plurality of hierarchies is to be encoded as an intra picture, an image encoding apparatus and an image decoding apparatus provided by the invention allow improvement in efficiency of encoding the image data item in the given hierarchy. When input image data is divided into image data items in a plurality of hierarchies for encoding and a higher hierarchy image data item is to be encoded as an intra picture, a control circuit switches a switch so that reference data is supplied to a subtracting circuit. The subtracting circuit subtracts the reference data from the higher hierarchy image data item outputted from a preprocessing circuit. Encoding is performed on the subtraction result of the subtracting circuit, i.e. differential image data.

Abstract: The present invention provides a polishing pad used for planarizing inter layer dielectrics and the like by CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a method of producing the polishing pad and a method of producing a semiconductor device by using the polishing pad. The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer polishing pad having grooves in a polishing surface and formed from a foamed polyurethane, wherein a processed surface of the groove comprising a side surface and a bottom surface has a surface roughness Ra of not more than 10.

Abstract: A vehicle navigation apparatus that is capable of quickly providing information about a new facility to a user when the new facility is set up. The vehicle navigation apparatus includes information about a newly added facility. When a vehicle is approaching the new facility, an image representing the existence of the new facility is displayed on a map.

Abstract: The invention provides a polishing pad by which optical materials such as lenses, reflecting mirrors etc., or materials requiring a high degree of surface planarity, as in the polishing of silicone wafers, glass substrates or aluminum substrates for hard disks, or general metal polishing, can be flattened with stability and high polishing efficiency. The invention also provides a polishing pad for semiconductor wafers, which is superior in planarizing characteristic, is free from scratches and can be produced at low cost. There is provided a polishing pad which is free from dechucking error so that neither damage to wafers nor decrease in operating efficiency occurs. There is provided a polishing pad which is satisfactory in planarity, within wafer uniformity, and polishing rate and produces less change in polishing rate. There is provided a polishing pad which can make planarity improvement and scratch decrease compatible.

Abstract: A vehicle navigation apparatus and a method of searching for and displaying a neighborhood facility are provided for enabling an effective search for a neighborhood facility with a searching range having a directivity according to a user's intention. The vehicle navigation apparatus comprises a display unit, an information input unit for entering information designated by a user, a storage unit for storing map information including information about facilities, and a controller for controlling information sent to or from these components. While a map image is displayed on a screen of the display unit based on the map information, a base point for search and a genre of a facility of interest for search are designated by the user, and a desired searching direction viewed from the search base point is also designated.

Abstract: A supply apparatus supplies a semi-solid metal to a molding apparatus having an injection sleeve formed with an opening portion and a plunger provided progressively/regressively at an inner portion of the injection sleeve. The supply apparatus includes a crucible in a shape of a cylinder containing a semi-solid metal, a carry arm for grabbing to move the crucible, and a control apparatus for controlling the carry arm. The control apparatus inserts a front end portion of a gutter mounted to the crucible into the opening portion of the injection sleeve by a predetermined angle to inject the semi-solid metal to a side of a direction of advancing the plunger more than at a position formed with the opening portion at inside of the injection sleeve.

Abstract: An OSD plane circuit reads one pixel at a time from OSD plane image data stored in a memory and outputs to a compositing unit. A background selecting unit, referring to background selecting data, selects the output of one of a first background data outputting unit and a second background data outputting unit, which output background data different in color, and outputs to the compositing unit, which composites data from the OSD plane circuit and data from the background selecting unit on a per pixel basis and outputs to the display unit. The background selecting data has a pixel corresponding to each pixel of the OSD plane image data, data of the pixel indicating either the first background data outputting unit or the second background data outputting unit.

Abstract: When image data to be encoded is divided into image data items in a plurality of hierarchies and an image data item in a given hierarchy among the divided image data items in the plurality of hierarchies is to be encoded as an intra picture, an image encoding apparatus and an image decoding apparatus provided by the invention allow improvement in efficiency of encoding the image data item in the given hierarchy. When input image data is divided into image data items in a plurality of hierarchies for encoding and a higher hierarchy image data item is to be encoded as an intra picture, a control circuit switches a switch so that reference data is supplied to a subtracting circuit. The subtracting circuit subtracts the reference data from the higher hierarchy image data item outputted from a preprocessing circuit. Encoding is performed on the subtraction result of the subtracting circuit, i.e. differential image data.

Abstract: When image data to be encoded is divided into image data items in a plurality of hierarchies and an image data item in a given hierarchy among the divided image data items in the plurality of hierarchies is to be encoded as an intra picture, an image encoding apparatus and an image decoding apparatus provided by the invention allow improvement in efficiency of encoding the image data item in the given hierarchy. When input image data is divided into image data items in a plurality of hierarchies for encoding and a higher hierarchy image data item is to be encoded as an intra picture, a control circuit switches a switch so that reference data is supplied to a subtracting circuit. The subtracting circuit subtracts the reference data from the higher hierarchy image data item outputted from a preprocessing circuit. Encoding is performed on the subtraction result of the subtracting circuit, i.e. differential image data.

Abstract: The invention provides a polishing pad by which optical materials such as lenses, reflecting mirrors etc., or materials requiring a high degree of surface planarity, as in the polishing of silicone wafers, glass substrates or aluminum substrates for hard disks, or general metal polishing, can be flattened with stability and high polishing efficiency. The invention also provides a polishing pad for semiconductor wafers, which is superior in planarizing characteristic, is free from scratches and can be produced at low cost. There is provided a polishing pad which is free from dechucking error so that neither damage to wafers nor decrease in operating efficiency occurs. There is provided a polishing pad which is satisfactory in planarity, within wafer uniformity, and polishing rate and produces less change in polishing rate. There is provided a polishing pad which can make planarity improvement and scratch decrease compatible.

Abstract: The invention provides a polishing pad by which optical materials such as lenses, reflecting mirrors etc., or materials requiring a high degree of surface planarity, as in the polishing of silicone wafers, glass substrates or aluminum substrates for hard disks, or general metal polishing, can be flattened with stability and high polishing efficiency. The invention also provides a polishing pad for semiconductor wafers, which is superior in planarizing characteristic, is free from scratches and can be produced at low cost. There is provided a polishing pad which is free from dechucking error so that neither damage to wafers nor decrease in operating efficiency occurs. There is provided a polishing pad which is satisfactory in planarity, within wafer uniformity, and polishing rate and produces less change in polishing rate. There is provided a polishing pad which can make planarity improvement and scratch decrease compatible.

Abstract: To provide a loudspeaker broadcasting system and a loudspeaker broadcasting apparatus which can perform a loudspeaker broadcasting of appropriate contents at each block without reducing sound clearness. Bi-directional speakers 1 which performs sound-reinforcement having high intelligibility, and fire detecting sensors 3 which detect fire occurrence in a tunnel 10a, 10b and send fire occurrence signals are placed in the tunnel 10a, 10b in the tunnel extending direction. In an emergency such as a fire, emergency broadcasting is performed through each bi-directional speaker 1 at each of the predetermined blocks 5 in the tunnel 10a, 10b. The emergency broadcasting is different in contents at each block, and it is alternately performed at the adjacent blocks 5. Further, the frequency components having a long reverberation time is removed from the loudspeaker broadcasting through the bi-directional speaker 1.