A sealant, in particular for rubber articles, preferably for motor vehicle tires, comprises: 30-90 wt-% of at least one natural rubber latex dispersion; 0.1-10 wt-% of at least one ionic and/or non-ionic emulsifier and/or dispersing agent; 0.0001-10 wt-% of at least one protease; 5-40 wt-% of at least one aqueous adhesive resin dispersion; 1-50 wt-% of at least one antifreeze agent; 0.01-12 wt-% of decomposition products of a deproteinizing reaction; 0-30 wt-% of additional additives.

Pneumatic tires in particular suffer damage in the form of tears or holes when they run over sharp objects, the result being loss of air pressure within the tire. Sealants are known for providing a seal as reliable as possible of this type of damage, at least temporarily, that is, for a certain period, until the pneumatic tire can be replaced. These sealants are introduced into the tire, for example, with the aid of a device using a pressure source and a sealant, after unscrewing the valve insert, or directly via the valve.
Sealants of this type are well known from the related art, and mention is made here of the following European patent publications by way of example: EP 0 988 960 B1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,992,119, U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,837; EP 0 584 597 B1; and, German patent publication DE 197 53 630 B4.
EP 0 988 960, DE 197 53 630 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,992,119 disclose sealants based on rubber latex. In these publications, non-deproteinated natural rubber latex is used and dispersing and emulsifying agents are optionally admixed with the sealant. In the sealant based on non-deproteinated natural rubber latex, it is not possible for the dispersing or emulsifying agents to develop their full effect, so that there are therefore only limited possibilities for improving the temperature stability at elevated temperatures, and improvement of susceptibility to coagulation. The presence of proteins in the natural rubber latex moreover causes an increased allergenicity potential.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,837 and EP 0 584 597 disclose deproteinated sealants based on natural rubber latex. Here again, dispersing or emulsifying agents are optionally admixed with the sealant. The use of natural rubber latex that has been previously deproteinated improves the temperature stability at elevated temperatures, and improves susceptibility to coagulation, while at the same time reducing allergenicity potential. The deproteinated natural rubber latex here is produced in a separate, complex, multistage process starting from non-deproteinated natural rubber latex. However, in this process it is not possible to remove completely the proteins within the natural rubber latex, and although the allergenic potential can be reduced, it cannot be eliminated.
It is also known that synthetic latices can be used for means of temporary sealing inflatable articles. However, it has been found that these means generally exhibit poorer sealing action than those based on natural rubber latex.

Sealant, in particular for rubber articles


The invention generally relates to methods for analyzing nucleic acids. In certain aspects, methods of the invention involve obtaining a sample including a nucleic acid template. A plurality of molecular inversion probes are tiled across a portion of the template. The probes are designed such that immediately adjacent probes hybridize to opposite strands of the nucleic acid template and probes on the same strand hybridize to the template in an overlapping manner. A region between targeting arms of a plurality of the molecular inversion probes is filled-in with nucleotides, and the filled-in region of a plurality of the probes is analyzed to obtain sequence information about the nucleic acid template.

Information about the genotype of a subject is becoming more important and relevant for a range of healthcare decisions as the genetic basis for many diseases, disorders, and physiological characteristics is further elucidated. Medical advice is increasingly personalized, with individual decisions and recommendations being based on specific genetic information.
For cost-effective and reliable medical and reproductive counseling on a large scale, it is important to be able to correctly and unambiguously identify the allelic status for many different genetic loci in many subjects. Numerous technologies have been developed for detecting and analyzing nucleic acid sequences from biological samples. A commonly used analysis technology is sequencing. Massively parallel DNA sequencing technologies have greatly increased the ability to generate large amounts of sequencing data at a rapid pace.
As sequencing has increased the ability to probe many genomic loci at once, molecular protocols have been developed to selectively enrich for loci of interest. One such protocol uses molecular inversion probes. A molecular inversion probe is composed of a common linker sequence and two unique targeting arms that hybridize to genomic regions flanking a target. In a capture protocol, probes are tiled across a region of a nucleic acid template to ensure overlapping coverage. The hybridized probes are then filled-in with polymerase and the circularized probe is closed with ligase. Following circularization of the probes, the remaining linear (un-captured) genomic DNA is digested away with exonuclease (leaving only the captured targets within the circularized probes). The probes are then sequenced and sequence data is assembled together. That assembled sequence is analyzed for mutations.
A problem with tiling is that multiple probes contain a portion of the same sequence on the same nucleic acid strand, and therefore compete with each other to bind the same region on the same strand. That competition results in fewer capture events per targeted genomic region and thus decreases capture efficiency.


A method for providing to a consumer a visualization of the effectiveness of coloured stain removal of a cleaning composition on a substrate comprising the steps of: providing a first substrate having a first coloured stain, treating the first coloured stain with a first cleaning composition formulated to generate a foam, allowing the generated foam to act on the first coloured stain, and allowing the consumer to visually assess effectiveness of coloured stain removal of the first cleaning composition.

Consumers would like to be reassured upfront and before buying a cleaning product that it will perform effectively. Therefore, the goal of any demonstration is to convince consumers to buy the cleaning product by showing its cleaning effectiveness against the targeted task and/or its superior performance over the competition.
One key challenge that remains in the dish detergent industry is convincing consumers that their cleaning product is effective at the removal of cooked-, baked- or burnt-on coloured soil, particularly grease soils, from soiled dishware. Typically, these types of soiled dishware require long soaking times and/or heavy mechanical agitation to achieve the desired cleaning results. Unfortunately, both requirements can be difficult to incorporate into demonstrations. For example, most on air advertising copies or live in-store demonstrations last between thirty seconds to few minutes and therefore would not provide sufficient time if any substantial soaking period is needed. Additionally, it is useful if the articles used in the demonstrations are portable to various sites and require minimal space. Therefore, demonstrations that employ heavy machinery to provide the required physical agitation would not be useful. One common way to overcome these problems has been to provide time lapsed video demonstrating the treatment process with the cleaning products. However, consumers tend to regard the use of time lapsed video in demonstrations, particularly with live demonstrations, with skepticism because of the perception that they might have been doctored or visually enhanced to unfairly show the cleaning effectiveness and/or favor the demonstrator's product over the competition.
Accordingly, the need exists for a method for demonstrating to the consumers a real time viewing of the effectiveness of the composition on coloured soil removal from dishware. The need also exists for a generated foam composition, which can provide a performance signal (i.e., gradual colour change of the generated foam) to the consumers to reassure them of the cleaning efficacy of the composition.

Method of demonstrating the effectiveness of a cleaning composition


A blade assembly includes a main body vertical blade portion and a pair of wings pivotally mounted at the ends of the main body. A hydraulic cylinder attached to each wing pivotally moves each wing relative to the main body, the cylinders being operatively connected in series. Each wing is configured to rotate through a range of rotation substantially equal that of the other wing but includes a different radius of rotation than the other wing.

A wide variety of blade configurations for vehicles such skid steerers, tractors or the like for plowing or scraping material such as snow are available and in use. These include straight bladed plows of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,250,026, and center-hinged, V-plows of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,944. Other straight bladed plows have been devised with one or both ends being slidably extendable as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,064. Yet other plows have included straight blades with pivotable, non-extendable ends as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,425,196, 6,412,199, and 2,556,592. U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,071 shows one plow having permanently forwardly angled plow ends, wherein the entire plow swings from side to side so as to angle the entire plow left or right.
While each of the above types of prior known plows is useful in one or more situations, a blade design flexible enough to be used in a wide variety of different applications has been lacking in the art.
The type of blade configuration that has a variable width has proven to be useful in the art for a number of different reasons. Besides providing the ability to plow and scrape sites of varying sizes such as parking lots or narrower sidewalks, this type of a configuration has facilitated the transport of the vehicles carrying such blades. For example, for vehicle-mounted plows which must be transported from one site to another for clearing snow or other plowable materials, it is necessary that the plow be narrow enough to allow transport on public highways which have limited lane width. However, when actually engaged in plowing, it is very desirable that the plow have an extended width so that larger areas such as parking lots or other sites can be cleared of snow more quickly.
Another type of a blade configuration, one utilizing pivotable ends, has proven useful in preventing spillover of plowable material from the blade edges. In this type of a blade design, it has been considered essential to provide for independent pivotability of each end such that one end can be pivoted in while the other pivoted out for angled plowing operations where the snow is directed to one or the other side.
While many innovative blade configurations have been developed in the art, a design that makes it possible to effectively and easily clean areas such as the edge of a wall or a dead end alleyway by pulling a charge of material backwards from a confined area has been lacking.
What is needed in the art is a blade configuration flexible enough to combine all the known useful features of the current plow designs with the ability to plow materials from sites such as dead end alleyways. Such needs include a short enough plow length to allow transportation on public highways, a long enough length for fast, efficient clearing of a large job site, means to carry or push plowable material from one area to another without letting the plowed material slip off the plow ends, at the same time allowing for angled plowing, and the ability to effectively clean all the way up to walls and sites such as dead end alleyways. All of these needs should be met while minimizing the cost, size, and space required for the plow in each of its arrangements.
The present invention addresses the described deficiencies of prior art blade configurations for material plowing and scraping by providing a relatively simple, reliable, and cost effective blade assembly flexible enough to be used for a wide variety of applications.


A switchable high frequency bandpass filter includes an input node and an output node, a switchable LC resonator, and a switch signal input interface circuit. The switchable LC resonator is coupled between the input node and the output node for providing a plurality of high frequency signals having different frequencies with a plurality of switchable filter transfer functions. The switch signal input interface circuit is coupled to the switchable LC resonator. A switch signal is supplied to the switchable LC resonator through the switch signal input interface circuit for controlling the switchable LC resonator to provide the plurality of high frequency signals having different frequencies with a suitable one of the plurality of switchable filter transfer functions, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high frequency bandpass filter and, more particularly, to a switchable high frequency bandpass filter, in the field of high frequency communication technology, for providing two high frequency signals having different frequencies with different filter transfer functions, respectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's high frequency communication technology, multi-frequency communication electronic products such as dual-frequency or triple-frequency mobile phones have been developed in order to enlarge an available range of frequency for communication. Typically, it is necessary for multi-frequency communication electronic products to design suitable component circuits in accordance with each of the multiple operational frequencies, thereby satisfying specific requirements of individual operational frequency. As a result, the multi-frequency communication electronic products require a large number of component circuits, not only preventing reduction of size but also increasing production cost.
To reduce the size of the multi-frequency communication electronic products, it is intended that the same component circuits can be commonly employed for multiple operational frequencies so as to minimize the number of necessary component circuits. However, each component circuit has its own distinct high frequency characteristic and therefore cannot be applied to multiple operational frequencies. In other words, if multiple signals with different operational frequencies are commonly processed by the same component circuits, some harmful interference problems may result between the operational frequencies.
For example, a high frequency bandpass filter is generally employed in a high frequency communication system to perform a function of frequency selection. In the multi-frequency communication electronic products, in order to provide each of operational frequencies with an optimum function of frequency selection, it is necessary for every operational frequency to design a dedicated high frequency bandpass filter, thereby providing high frequency signals having different frequencies with different filter transfer functions. However, as described above, such a manner does not only prevent the reduction of size of the multi-frequency communication electronic products but also increases the production cost.

Switchable high frequency bandpass filter


A device is presented including a host controller. A host controller driver is connected to the host controller. The host controller arranges queue element transfer descriptors (qTDs) in a circularly linked order. Also presented is a method including determining whether execution of a first queue element transfer descriptor (qTD) in a first bank including many qTDs results in a short packet condition. Following an alternate pointer in the first bank that points to a second bank if execution of the first qTD resulted in the short packet condition. Following a next pointer to a second qTD in the first bank if the execution of the first qTD completed normally. Also executing the second qTD in the first bank. The qTDs in the first bank and the second bank are circularly linked.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a universal serial bus (USB) environment, and more particularly to a method and apparatus to improve an enhanced host controller interface (EHCI) performance for USB devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many of today's processors and systems, such as personal computer (PC) systems, there exist USB ports for connecting various USB devices. Many USB devices are frequently used by PC users. For example, USB devices may be printers, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drives, CD-ROM writer (CDRW) drives, digital versatile disc (DVD) drives, cameras, pointing devices (e.g., computer mouse), keyboards, joy-sticks, hard-drives, speakers, etc.
Different standards of USB technology have different bandwidths. For example, Universal Serial Bus Specification, revision 1.1, Sep. 23, 1998 (USB 1.1) devices are capable of operating at 12 Mbits/second (Mbps), and Universal Serial Bus Specification, revision 2.0, Apr. 27, 2000 (USB 2.0; also known as high-speed USB) devices are capable of operating at 480 Mbps. USB 2.0 defines a multiple speed-signaling environment where a single high-speed bus may support one or more USB 1.1 classic busses through a USB 2.0 hub (Transaction Translator). In this environment, system software (the Host Controller Driver) must allocate and manage the bandwidth of USB 1.1 classic busses.
The Enhanced Host Controller Interface (EHCI) specification for a Universal Serial Bus, revision 0.95, Nov. 10, 2000 describes the register-level interface for a host controller (HC) for USB 2.0. The USB 2.0 HC is a bus master on the peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus. The HC independently traverses linked memory structures created and maintained by the HC driver to initiate transactions on the USB. In the USB EHCI specification, two data structures known as the queue head (QH) and the queue element transfer descriptor (qTD) are defined.
The QH contains all of the endpoint specific information required. The QH also contains links to a list of qTDs. A qTD represents all or part of a buffer passed to the HC driver from a higher level driver, or user level application. The QH contains all of the endpoint specific information required. The QH also contains links to a list of qTDs. A qTD represents all or part of a buffer passed to the HC driver from a higher level driver, or user level application.
The qTD data structure is only used with a QH. The qTD is used for one or more USB transactions. A qTD can, at most, transfer 20,480 (5*4,096) bytes. When the HC completes execution of a qTD, it will follow the next-pointer. When a USB device returns less data than requested by the qTD, a short packet condition results. When the HC receives a short packet, the HC follows the alternate-pointer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for high throughput short packet transfers with minimum memory footprint


A system consistent with the present invention reduces the number of redundant class descriptors that are sent during remote method calls by using serialization contexts. “Serialization contexts” are dictionary objects that map a class descriptor to a corresponding integer handle. When possible, the integer handle, rather than the full class descriptor, is passed, saving processing time in RMI calls.

Distributed systems can be made up of various components, including both hardware and software. A distributed system (1) allows its users to share services and resources over a network of many devices; (2) provides programmers with tools and programming patterns that allow development of robust, secured distributed systems; and (3) simplifies the task of administering the distributed system.
A distributed system can be implemented using an object-oriented programming language, such as Java™. The Java™ programming language is typically compiled into a platform-independent format, using a bytecode instruction set, which can be executed on any platform supporting the Java™ virtual machine. The Java™ programming language is described in greater detail in The Java™ Language Specification by James Gosling, Bill Joy, and Guy Steele, Addison-Wesley, 1996, which is incorporated herein by reference. Java™ and Jave-based trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
Distributed systems require that programs running in different address spaces be able to communicate with each other. In a system using an object-oriented programming language, such as the Java™ programming language, this communication can be achieved by passing an "object," which represents an item or instance manipulated by the system, from one program to another. In such a system, a "class" provides a template for the creation of objects having characteristics of that class. The objects in each class share certain characteristics or attributes determined by the class. A class thus defines the type of an object. Objects are typically created dynamically during system operation. Methods associated with a class are generally invoked on the objects of the same class or subclass.
In a Java™ distributed system, an object is referred to as being remote when its methods can be invoked from another address space, typically a Java™ virtual machine on a different computer. A remote object is described by one or more remote interfaces, which are Java™ interfaces that declare the methods of the remote object. Remote Method Invocation (RMI) is used to invoke a method of a remote interface on a remote object. RMI is explained in, for example, the Remote Method Invocation Specification, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (1997), which is incorporated herein by reference.
As part of RMI, Java™ objects are passed between a client and a server. Before being passed, a Java™ object is converted into a serialized representation of itself. The serialized representation of the object contains enough information to enable the recipient to identify and verify the Java™ class from which the contents of the object were saved and to restore the contents to a new instance. A serialized object contains two main parts: the object data and a class descriptor. The class descriptor describes the content and format of the object data.
When a serialized object is passed, the object data and the class descriptor are transmitted across the network. Although the object data may change over time, the class descriptor remains the same. Therefore, multiple remote method calls can result in passing the same class descriptor multiple times to a recipient who already has a copy of the class descriptor. This is expensive in terms of processing time as well as wasted network bandwidth. It is therefore desirable to reduce the number of times that a class descriptor is sent to a recipient.

Method and system for passing objects in a distributed system using serialization contexts


There is provided a measurement circuit including a main amplifier that generates a direct voltage in accordance with an input voltage and applies the generated voltage to a device under test, a feedback element that feeds back the direct voltage to the main amplifier and controls the direct voltage generated from the main amplifier to a voltage according to the input voltage, a current detecting circuit that outputs a detecting voltage according to a current value of the direct current, and a clamping circuit that restricts the current value of the direct current output from the main amplifier, in which the clamping circuit includes a first limiting-voltage output section that outputs a limiting voltage according to a limiting value of the direct current, a first bias generating section that generates a bias voltage making use of the input voltage as a reference voltage based on a magnitude relation between the limiting voltage and the detecting voltage, and a limiting-current supplying element that is provided between a connecting point between the main amplifier and the feedback element and the first bias generating section and supplies a limiting current restricting the direct current to the device under test via the feedback element in accordance with a voltage difference between a voltage in the connecting point and the bias voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a measurement circuit for measuring a device under test and a test apparatus including the measurement circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a measurement circuit for performing voltage-application current-measurement or current-application voltage-measurement.
2. Related Art
A direct-current test for a device under test has been known as a test item for the device under test such as a semiconductor circuit. Moreover, as a direct-current test, there is known a test for deciding the quality of a device under test based on a measurement result of voltage-application current-measurement for measuring a direct current supplied to the device under test when applying a predetermined direct voltage to the device under test and a test for deciding the quality of a device under test based on a measurement result of current-application voltage-measurement for measuring a direct voltage supplied to the device under test when supplying a predetermined direct current to the device under test.
Moreover, when performing this direct-current test, a measurement circuit including a circuit that restricts a direct current supplied to a device under test is known in order to prevent excess currents from being supplied to the device under test. FIG. 5 is a view exemplary showing a configuration of a conventional measurement circuit 400.
When applying a predetermined direct voltage to a device under test 300, the measurement circuit 400 is a circuit for measuring a direct current supplied to the device under test 300. A DA converter 402 generates a direct voltage to be applied to the device under test 300, and inputs it into a main amplifier 406. The main amplifier 406 generates an applied voltage according to this direct voltage, and applies it to the device under test 300. Moreover, this applied voltage is fed back to an input port of the main amplifier 406 in order to control the applied voltage output from the main amplifier 406 to a predetermined voltage.
A voltage detecting amplifier 412 detects a voltage of both ends of a current detecting resistor 408, and outputs a detecting voltage Vim obtained by amplifying this voltage. A DA converter 428 and a DA converter 416 output voltages according to a lower limit and an upper limit of a direct current supplied to the device under test 300.
For example, the DA converter 416 outputs an upper limit voltage according to the upper limit of the direct current. The upper limit voltage and the detecting voltage Vim are voltages having different polarity. Moreover, a voltage difference between the upper limit voltage and the detecting voltage Vim is divided by a resistor 418 and a resistor 420, and is input into an amplifier 414. For example, if an absolute value of the detecting voltage Vim becomes larger than an absolute value of the upper limit voltage, a positive voltage is input into a negative input terminal of the amplifier 414. As a result, the amplifier 414 outputs a negative voltage, and thus the state of a diode 424 becomes ON.
In this case, electric currents flow from the DA converter 402 to the diode 424. Since a voltage on the resistor 404 descends, an applied voltage applied to the device under test 300 descends, and a direct current flowing into the device under test 300 is restricted.
Now, since a related patent document is not recognized, the description is omitted.
However, in the conventional measurement circuit 400, a voltage output from the amplifier 414 is changed from the neighborhood of a power supply voltage of the amplifier 414 to the neighborhood of 0V. Since the fluctuation of voltage in a power point of the amplifier 414 is large, it was difficult that the conventional measurement circuit 400 performs current limiting at high speed.


The battery pack has a laminated body in which unit cells are laminated one on another, a cell case having a first opening and containing the laminated body, and a first lid member to tightly close the first opening. The first opening is positioned to face, in connection with a unit cell laminated direction, a first face of the laminated body. The first lid member is configured to, if an internal pressure of the cell case is lower than atmospheric pressure, deform while keeping the tightly closing state, come into contact with the first face of the laminated body, and apply a pressure based on a differential pressure between atmospheric pressure and the internal pressure of the cell case to the contacting face.

In recent years, it is strongly required, for environmental protection, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The automobile industry is concentrating in introducing electric cars and hybrid electric cars to anticipate reducing carbon dioxide emissions. To extend a cruising distance, there has been proposed a battery pack having a laminated body in which unit cells are laminated together (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1).


A new method is provided for the processing of metals, most notably copper, such that damage to exposed surfaces of these metals is prevented. During a step of semiconductor processing, which results in exposing a metal surface to a wet substance having a pH value, a voltage is applied to the metal that is exposed. The value of the applied voltage can, dependent on the value of the pH constant of the wet substance, be selected such that the exposed metal surface is protected against alkaline effects of the wet substance.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the fabrication of integrated circuit devices, and more particularly, to a method to prevent corrosion of copper.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In the creation of semiconductor devices, device elements are interconnected with metal traces, as are completed devices, for the performance of complex processing functions. Conventionally, aluminum has been used for the creation of interconnect traces. With increased device density and continued demands for device performance improvements, a substitute for aluminum has been explored and is at this time being used by using copper for the creation of interconnect traces. Other materials that are useful for the creation of conductive interconnect traces are tungsten, titanium, polysilicon, polycide or alloys of these metals.
Copper is increasingly used for interconnect traces due to its relatively low cost and low resistivity. Copper however has a large diffusion coefficient into silicon dioxide and silicon. Copper from an interconnect may diffuse into surrounding dielectric such as a silicon dioxide layer, causing the dielectric to become conductive and decreasing the dielectric strength of for instance the silicon dioxide layer. Copper interconnects are therefore typically encapsulated by at least one diffusion barrier to prevent diffusion of the copper into the silicon dioxide layer. Silicon nitride is a diffusion barrier to copper, but the prior art teaches that the interconnects should not lie on a silicon nitride layer because it has a high dielectric constant compared with silicon dioxide. The high dielectric constant causes an undesired increase in capacitance between the interconnect and the substrate. Also, copper has low adhesive strength to various insulating layers, and presents difficulties inherent in masking and etching a blanket layer of copper into intricate circuit structures.
In practical applications of creating conductive interconnect traces, the metal layers of Integrated Circuit (IC) devices are prone to be corroded and oxidized by various chemicals that are used during the processing of the IC devices. For example, copper is corroded if it is exposed to a strong alkaline solution. The invention provides a structure of preventing this corrosion of copper, using the Pourbaix diagram of copper and therewith applying a method of impressed-current cathodic protection. A process will be highlighted that further explains the exposure that is suffered by copper that is used as part of the creation of an interconnect bump. The invention provides a structure of impressed-current cathodic protection to prevent corrosion of the metal that is used for the creation of for instance interconnect traces or interconnect studs or bumps.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,274,504 B2 (Sanderfer et al.) shows a process to minimize corroding during post metal solvent clean.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,551 B1 (Yang et al.) is a related strip process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,371 (Chung et al.) shows a photo-resist stripper tool that reduces corrosion.
The Pourbaix diagrams that are discussed as part of the invention are further detailed in the publication "Atlas of Electromechanical Equilibria in Aqueous Solution", published 1974, ISBN 0-915567-98-9.

Application of impressed-current cathodic protection to prevent metal corrosion and oxidation

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A controller of an optical measurement apparatus causes, in a condition that a rotational speed of a rotary body is controlled so that the speed is a specified value, a light source to generate light having a constant intensity and apply the light to an irradiation region, and acquires first timing information based on a change with time of an intensity of reflected light or transmitted light that is output from a second detection unit receiving the reflected light or transmitted light of the applied light. The controller causes the light source to periodically generate pulsed light in accordance with the first timing information and apply the pulsed light to the irradiation region, and acquires second timing information based on a result which is output from the first detection unit whose measurement is periodically enabled in accordance with the first timing information.

A process for forming a film (mostly a thin film) on a base such as resin film or semiconductor substrate using any film deposition process is known. A method has been proposed for measuring characteristic values, such as film thickness, of a material produced by means of such a film deposition technique. For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2013-019854 (PTD 1) discloses a method for measuring the thickness of a thin film in a measurement chamber in which the humidity is adjusted to be lower than the humidity of the outside, by connecting an oscillator to a detection unit and oscillating the oscillator in the measurement chamber.
A technique for optically measuring characteristics of a material produced by means of a film deposition technique as described above is also known. An optical measurement scheme can be employed to measure not only the film thickness but also a variety of optical characteristic values such as transmittance/reflectance, extinction coefficient, and refractive index.

Optical measurement apparatus and optical measurement method


Methods for forming a memory cell are disclosed. A method includes forming a source-drain structure in a semiconductor substrate where the source-drain structure includes a rounded top surface and sidewall surfaces. An oxide layer is formed on the top and sidewall surfaces of the source-drain structure. The thickness of the portion of the oxide layer that is formed on the top surface of the source-drain structure is greater than the thickness of the portion of the oxide layer that is formed on the sidewall surfaces of the source-drain structure.

Consumer electronic products such as televisions, digital cameras, cellular telephones, media content players, etc., help to satisfy consumer demand for basic communications and entertainment services. Data storage components play an important role in the operation of these devices. Data storage devices include RAM, ROM, flash memory products, etc.
An important feature of data storage devices is memory cell density. There are many approaches to increasing the memory cell density of memory arrays. One approach involves reducing the channel length between the source and the drain of transistors associated with memory cells in a memory array. This allows the size of each memory cell to be reduced which in turn facilitates the provision of denser memory arrays. Another approach to increasing memory cell density is embodied in a commercially available flash memory product called MirrorBit™ Technology from Spansion, located in Sunnyvale, Calif.
In flash memory arrays that use MirrorBit technology, the use of MirrorBit memory cells effectively doubles their intrinsic density by storing two physically distinct bits on opposite sides of the memory cells. Each bit that is stored within a cell serves as a binary unit of data (either a logic one or zero) that is mapped directly to the memory array.
An exemplary MirrorBit™ memory device includes a semiconductor substrate with spaced apart source and a drain regions (both typically having N-type conductivity) formed in a substrate. An oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) layered stack is formed on the top surface of the substrate between the source and drain regions. A gate electrode, which typically comprises an N or N+ polysilicon layer, is formed over the ONO stack to provide a silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide (SONOS) structure. The ONO stack includes a first or bottom dielectric layer (often referred to as a bottom tunnel oxide), a charge storing nitride layer, and a second or top dielectric layer of oxide.
Some challenges associated with SONOS devices are related to structural and functional features of the device. For example, it can be difficult to reduce the size or pitch of the cell because the storage element of the above-mentioned flash memory cell can be planar (the oxide, nitride and oxide layers are all horizontal layers formed one on top of the other on the silicon substrate). Moreover, during the erasure of a SONOS memory cell such as by hot hole injection, because hot holes bombard the interface between the substrate and the bottom tunnel oxide, the interface as well as the bottom tunnel oxide can be damaged causing undesirable interface states and degraded reliability over program/erase cycling.
Some conventional SONOS devices use shallow trench isolation (STI) structures that define the device active area. Conventional fabrication methodologies that form such structures can yield results that can affect the operation of the fabricated SONOS devices. Problematic features of devices fabricated from conventional methodologies include localized electron injection at the corners of the active area STI structures when these structures feature uniform bottom oxide coverage. This localized electron injection can degrade reliability. In particular, it should be appreciated that localized electron injection at corners between the top surface of an STI structure and its sidewalls can contribute to early breakdown.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional ONO memory structure 100. Memory structure 100 includes semiconductor structure 101, bottom oxide 103, nitride layer 105 and top oxide 107. It should be appreciated that as devices such as ONO memory structure 100 are made smaller, localized electron injection at corners (see A and B in FIG. 1) of semiconductor structure 101 becomes more severe. As discussed above, such localized electron injection can contribute to breakdown of bottom oxide 103 at these points. It should be appreciated that a breakdown of bottom oxide 103 can cause a loss of charge for the charge storage cell structure. As a result, the reliability of the device suffers as programmed data can be lost.
As can be seen from the above discussion, conventional approaches to fabricating memory cells can provide poor results. These approaches can yield devices with features that negatively affect device function and degrade reliability.

Sonos memory cells having non-uniform tunnel oxide and methods for fabricating same


An electronic voting identity authentication system and method employing a voting kiosk is provided for facilitating electronic voting using a three-part voter identity authentication thereby enhancing voter identity authentication and the reduction of voter fraud. The voting kiosk employs a palm vein scanner and a QR code reader that employ a user profile comprising at least a DNA sample, a set of genealogical information and a palm vein scan that are specific to a particular registered voter. Upon arriving at a polling site to vote, the registered voter employs the voting kiosk to capture a palm vein scan that is employed to authenticate the identity, of the voter.

The right to vote is a cornerstone of democracy. Government officials are concerned about the credibility of elections and want assurances that voting systems are designed to count every vote properly. Elections allow the populace to choose their representatives and express their preferences for how they will be governed. Naturally, the integrity of the election process is fundamental to the integrity of democracy itself. The election system must be sufficiently robust to withstand a variety of fraudulent behaviors and must be sufficiently transparent and comprehensible that voters and candidates can accept the results of an election. Unsurprisingly, history is littered with examples of elections being manipulated to influence their outcome. In the United States of America, the presidential elections of 2000 and 2020 highlighted, to the public, many problems associated with mechanical voting systems and associated voting issues such as claims of voting fraud. Unfortunately, in the annals of US election history, these elections will be remembered neither for any substantive policy nor historically significant political issues, rather for the now infamous controversy surrounding hanging chads and multiple recounts (in 2000) and claims of voter fraud (in 2020). In 2020, the election saw a record number of ballots cast early and by mail due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of a large number of mail-in ballots, some so-called voter swing states saw delays in vote counting and reporting. This led to major news outlets delaying their projection and high-levels of vitriol between the respective presidential candidates and their respective political party. Another flaw in the current voting systems is the concern of people voting multiple times, of deceased voting (i.e., dead, or non-existent people voting) and/or unregistered/unqualified voters voting in an election. This is mainly a result of the local voting personnel using archaic methods for verifying the voter. Various techniques are used, but it is relatively easy to fake ID or possibly vote in multiple locations. Other issues such as absentee ballots, receipts verifying electronic votes, etc., confuse the issue even further. Consequently, confidence in the ability of the government to administer elections was substantially eroded.
Traditionally, voting systems in place around the world typically involve either paper ballots or mechanical counters. The paper ballots used in some areas may be as simple as a form onto which the selected candidate's name is written or on which an "X" is placed to indicate the candidate selected by the voter. Alternatively, the paper ballot may have holes punched therein adjacent to the desired candidate or ballot issue. With such ballots, the only time the voter is required to write on the ballot is if a write-in candidate is selected. There are many disadvantages to such paper ballot systems. One is the fact that paper ballots can become physically damaged, or altered, between the time the voter makes the selection and the time a ballot-counting machine eventually reads the voter's selection on the ballot. Another disadvantage is that voters can inadvertently punch the hole or place the "X" next to a different candidate than was intended by the voter. When this goes unnoticed by the voter, the voter ends up casting, a vote which was not intended. In addition, write-in votes must be manually read by an election official, which is time consuming and may be exceedingly difficult, depending upon the legibility of the voter's handwriting. In many cases, the name written in cannot be read and the vote does not count. Also, paper ballots must be custom printed for each election, with at least one ballot printed for each potential voter. Since these ballots are specific to a particular election, the costs are significant for each election.
Legislatures and other government officials are scrambling to find affordable replacements for outmoded, and costly voting systems such as controversial punch-card voting machines, costly optical reader systems, and other voting methods currently in use. Many states took notice of the problems associated with mechanical voting systems and responded by examining and, in some instances, installing new types of units, including electronic voting machines. However, there are problems associated with the adoption and use of electronic voting machines. One such problem concerns the significant monetary investment. Since most jurisdictions use mechanical voting systems, the adoption of electronic voting machines requires the purchase of all new equipment. Economic efficiency militates against this solution. However, as the opportunity to use improved technology expands the range of choices, new solutions become feasible.
The design of a "good" voting system, whether electronic or using traditional paper ballots or mechanical devices, must satisfy several sometimes, competing criteria. The anonymity of a voter's ballot must be preserved, both to guarantee the voter's safety when voting against a malevolent candidate, and to guarantee that voters have no evidence that proves which candidates received their votes. The existence of such evidence would allow votes to be purchased by a candidate, for example. The voting system must also be tamper-resistant to thwart a wide range of attacks, including ballot stuffing by voters and incorrect tallying by insiders.
In addition to the significant costs associated with replacing mechanical voting systems and with the purchasing of electronic voting systems, concerns have been raised about the trustworthiness of electronic voting systems. A primary question raised is whether the electronic voting systems, or their suppliers, can be trusted to provide the technology needed to accurately record each voter's vote. Commercial interests, partisan politics and conflicts of interest exist and persist to cloud these issues. Public confidence is an essential element and remains sorely lacking today, hence the need for improvements and better systems. The number of these negative reports coupled with the lack of "openness" of the technology (i.e., most, if not all, electronic voting systems use proprietary technology, which is not open to public examination), has led to a mistrust of available electronic voting technology, and the specific electronic voting machines used. No sufficient degree of improvements has been forthcoming, leading to the conclusion that longstanding needs remain to be addressed.
Accordingly, there is need for an improved electronic voting system that enhances voter identity authentication and the reduction of voter fraud, and/or identity fraud associated with the use of and access to any third-party applications.

Electronic voting identity authentication system and method


Methods, apparatus, and processor-readable storage media for determining capacity in storage systems using machine learning techniques are provided herein. An example computer-implemented method includes obtaining capacity-related data from a storage system; forecasting, for a given temporal period, capacity of one or more storage objects of the storage system by applying machine learning techniques to at least a portion of the capacity-related data; aggregating the forecasted capacity for at least portions of the one or more storage objects; determining, based on the aggregated forecasted capacity of the storage objects, whether at least a portion of the storage system will run out of capacity in connection with the given temporal period; and performing one or more automated actions based at least in part on the determination as to whether the at least a portion of the at least one storage system will run out of capacity.

Due to increasing data growth, storage systems are commonly prone to running out of capacity. Additionally, contemporary storage systems are increasingly complicated and can be configured, for example, to permit oversubscription across a limited number of pools (for instance, wherein each pool contains hundreds or thousands of storage objects such as logical unit numbers (LUNs) and/or file systems). Yet, such storage objects also present risks related to causing corresponding pools to run out of capacity. Conventional storage management approaches include utilizing capacity threshold alerts and notifications. However, such alerts and notifications are typically rule-based and act exclusively on data at the pool level, which commonly results in false positives and false negatives when predicting capacity exhaustion.

Determining capacity in storage systems using machine learning techniques


Techniques for selecting a serving sector for a terminal based on server selection information in order to balance the load of sectors in a wireless communication system are described. The server selection information for each sector may be set based on the load of the sector and may be used to rank the sector for selection as a serving sector. In one design, a terminal may receive server selection information for multiple sectors. The server selection information for each sector may include an offset used to adjust a measurement made by the terminal for the sector, a priority of the sector for selection as a serving sector, a DRCLock set based on the load of the sector, etc. The terminal may determine received signal qualities of the sectors. The terminal may then select one of the sectors as a serving sector based on the server selection information and the received signal qualities of the sectors.

I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for communicating in a wireless communication system.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems.
A wireless communication system may include a number of base stations that can support communication for a number of terminals. The terminals may be dispersed throughout the system. Each base station may serve one or more terminals at any given moment. It may be desirable to serve the terminals such that good performance can be achieved for the terminals and the system.

Load balancing in a wireless communication system


Combustion facilities includes a combustion apparatus having a burner, a fuel control valve disposed along a fuel feeding pipe, a air control valve disposed along an air feeding pipe. An optical sensor detects radiated light originating in combustion flame of the burner, and converts it into a first electric signal. The first electric signal is a composite signal consisting essentially of an intensity signal element reflective of the intensity of the detected light and an oscillation signal element reflective of fluctuation of the turbulent combustion flame caused by the air feeding to the burner. A sensor amplifier, which is connected to the optical sensor, extracts both the oscillation signal element and an intensity factor representative of a real intensity of the radiated light originated in only the combustion flame, from the first electric signal, and generates a second electric signal by dividing the oscillation signal element by the intensity factor. A combustion controller, which is connected to the sensor amplifier, applies frequency analysis to the second signal, and calculates "Oscillation Power" based on the result of the frequency analysis. The oscillation power is closely related to the excess air ratio to be controlled. The combustion controller controls the air control valve based on the oscillation power, separated from the fuel control valve.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for controlling combustion condition in a combustion apparatus such as a boiler or an industrial furnace.
2. Description of the Related Art
A boiler generates steam by heating up water with a burner, and supplies the steam to an equipment such as a heating device. In a system including the boiler and heating device, the steam pressure of the boiler will vary according to the amount of the steam which is consumed by the heating device. Therefore, the operating condition of the boiler should be controlled to maintain the steam pressure constant.
A conventional controller for a boiler includes a valve for controlling the flow of fuel, which is disposed along a pipe for feeding the fuel to the burner, and a valve for controlling the throughput of air, which is disposed along a pipe for feeding the air to the burner. To control the fuel flow to the burner, the controller controls an opening angle of the fuel control valve, via a control motor, so that the steam pressure detected by a pressure sensor approaches a predetermined pressure level. Further, the fuel control valve is connected to the air control valve, via a mechanism such as a link motion, to control the throughput of air in accordance with the fuel flow control. Accordingly, an actuation of the single control motor causes the fuel and air control valves to be simultaneously controlled.
However, it is impossible to achieve precise control of the throughput of air using the conventional controller. Because, the conventional controller is designed to just control the angle of the fuel control valve, and the angle control of the air control valve is therefore considered as a secondary control. In order to avoid air deficiency in any circumstances, the air control valve must be designed in advance to permit the air exceeding a theoretically proper amount to be supplied. Consequently, while the boiler is operating, the excess air supplied to the burner takes the boiler's heat away, and discharges the heat through a high temperature exhaust gas. In other words, the excess air feed reduces the thermal efficiency of the boiler. Such situation is not conducive to achieving high energy efficiency.
To solve the foregoing shortcomings, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 3-294721 discloses a combustion control system which includes a first control motor for controlling an angle of the fuel control valve and a second control motor for controlling an angle of the air control valve. In the control system, the feedback control of the air control valve is executed, independent of the fuel flow control, such that the throughput of air is most preferably controlled according to the fuel flow.
According to the control system, an optical sensor detects the radiated light originated in the combustion flame of the burner, and converts the detected light into a respective electric signal. FIG. 23A shows data relating the electric signal with respect to elapsed time elapsing, at every excess air ratio. The excess air ratio is defined as the ratio of the actual supplied air amount to the theoretical air amount which is required to completely burn a predetermined amount of fuel. The electric signal (i.e., combination signal including various frequencies) transmitted from the optical sensor is processed the well-known frequency analysis. The frequency analysis clarifies the relation between the frequencies (Hz) of each elemental signal of the combination signal and the signal strength (dBV) thereof. FIG. 21B shows the result of the frequency analysis, at every excess air ratio. The signal strength is integrated in the entire analyzed frequency region. This integrated value is referred to as an oscillation power.
In a certain case, the oscillation power, combustion rate and excess air ratio form a following correlation equation (1): EQU .lambda.=c.times.exp (p.times.f(x)) (1)
in which ".lambda." is the excess air ratio, "c" is a constant value, "p" is the oscillation power, and "f(x)" is a function relating to the combustion rate.
According to the equation (1), the excess air ratio (.lambda.) is a monotone increasing or decreasing function with respect to the oscillation power (p), and those elements show a one-to-one correlation. Therefore, the control of the excess air ratio utilizing the function (1) enables efficient combustion control for the combustion apparatus. TOYOTA Tecnnical Review Vol.41 No.2 April 1992 (English Version), Page 42-50 "Study of an Optical Frequency Type Combustion Control Method", written by the inventors of the present invention, describes in detail that the oscillation power calculated through the above-described manner on the basis of the radiated light originated in the burner flame may be utilized as an indicator for excess air ratio control in the combustion apparatus.
This article states the oscillation power as follows:
"The oscillation power as the total sum of turbulence of the turbulent combustion flame was considered the indicator of the intensity of turbulent, and the experimental result suggested that the turbulence is closely related to the combustion state."
However, some types of the combustion apparatuses do not have a one-to-one correlation between the oscillation power and the excess air ratio. It is found that a chart of the correlation has a mountainous shape similar to a negative quadratic function, as shown in FIGS. 25 and 26. This fact suggests that the oscillation power reflects not only the fluctuation of the turbulent combustion flame but also the intensity of radiated light from the combustion flame (or an other factor corresponding to the intensity of radiated light). This point will be described in more detail, referring to an example.
The electric signal corresponding to the radiated light of the combustion flame of the burner, which is detected by an optical sensor, can be divided into a signal element indicative of the intensity of radiated flame light, and a signal element indicative of the oscillation reflecting the fluctuation of the turbulent combustion flame. FIG. 24 shows the relation between the excess air ratio and the signal element of light intensity. FIGS. 28A and 28B show the changes in the respective signal elements of light intensity and oscillation with respect to elapsed time. Furthermore, FIGS. 25, 26 and 27 show the correlations between the excess air ratio and the oscillation power, when the set frequencies for the frequency analysis are 20 Hz, 50 Hz and 300 Hz, respectively.
A comparison of FIGS. 24 and 25, shows there is strong correlation between the oscillation power and the signal element of light intensity, in the case that the set frequency is a relative low frequency such as 20 Hz, where the fluctuation of the turbulent combustion flame is less influenced by the change of the air throughput. The oscillation power is strongly influenced by the intensity of radiated light.
As shown in FIG. 23B, the higher the excess air ratio becomes, the greater the signal strength in the high frequency region becomes, due to the influence originated in the fluctuation of the turbulent combustion flame. Accordingly, when the set frequency for the frequency analysis is set to a rather high value (e.g., 300 Hz), the signal strength in the high frequency region increases as the excess air ratio increases. Consequently, the peak value of the oscillation power (i.e., the summit of the negative quadratic function) is shifted to the high excess air ratio side.
On the contrary, when the set frequency for the frequency analysis is set to generally small value (e.g., 20 Hz to 50 Hz), the peak value of the oscillation power is shifted to the low excess air ratio side as shown in FIGS. 25 and 26. It should be noticed that the peak value of the oscillation power in FIG. 25 (at 20 Hz of set frequency) is located in the lower excess air ratio side, comparing with that in FIG. 26 (at 50 Hz of set frequency which is slightly higher value than that in FIG. 25). The correlation between the excess air ratio and the signal element of light intensity, corresponding to the condition in FIG. 26, may be generally similar to that as shown in FIG. 24.
The reason for the occurrence of these phenomena originates in the proportional change of the amplitude of the oscillation signal element with respect to the change in the intensity of radiated light, that is understandable through the comparison between FIGS. 28A and 28B. As a normal furnace of the combustion apparatus is adiabatic to some degree, the internal temperature of the furnace is increased by the combustion of the fuel and air. The rise of the internal temperature increases the light intensity of infrared rays, which is detected by the optical sensor. As a result, the signal element of light intensity corresponding to the intensity of the detected infrared rays increases, and the amplitude of the oscillation signal element is increased proportionally with respect to the intensity of light.
The signal element which is strongly influenced by the intensity of light is particularly the element having a large amplitude (i.e., low frequency signal). Therefore, when the set frequency for the frequency analysis is set to a low value, the calculation of the oscillation power is greatly influenced by the signal element of light intensity rather than the oscillation signal element. Thus, the characteristic of the oscillation power is coincident with the characteristic of the signal element of light intensity as shown in FIG. 24.
According to the mountainous shaped charts as shown in FIGS. 25 and 26, even when the value of the oscillation power is specified, two solutions (i.e., two excess air ratios) corresponding to the specified oscillation power may exist in the limited range of excess air ratio to be utilized for combustion control. In this case, the oscillation power can not be an indicator of the excess air ratio control. The above-described equation (1) is just effective in a specific limited region of the excess air ratio. Accordingly, the application of the control method for the excess air ratio based on the oscillation power is just limited to some types of the combustion apparatuses.
To improve the practical use of the new method for excess air ratio control, it may be proposed to set the maximum measuring frequency for the frequency analysis to a high value. When the set frequency is 300 Hz as shown in FIG. 27, the oscillation power generally corresponds to the excess air ratio in the one-to-one manner. Then, the excess air ratio control based on the oscillation power can be achieved.
Even in the proposal, however, it has not been solved yet that the influence originated in the intensity of light causes the chart indicating the correlation between the excess air ratio and the oscillation power to become a mountainous shape. Accordingly, even when the frequency analysis in the wide frequency region including the very high frequency region (e.g., several hundreds Hertz through several thousands Hertz) is always carried out, the mountainous characteristic may be still maintained in response to the type of the combustion apparatus or the kind of fuel. Therefore, the conventional method for controlling the excess air ratio based on the oscillation power as an indicator has no wide use.


A high density mapping and ablation catheter includes a tip electrode positioned at its distal end and a plurality of electrodes (e.g., ring electrodes, ring-segment electrodes, spot electrodes, and/or printed traces) disposed proximally of the tip electrode within the distal region. A plurality of conductors extending through the elongate catheter body to electrically connect the tip electrode and other electrodes to a source of ablation energy, an electrophysiology mapping device, and/or a programmable electric stimulator. A switching circuit can be employed, for example to enable a practitioner to selectively activate certain electrodes for ablation, for electrophysiological mapping, for pacing, or to deactivate certain electrodes entirely.

The instant disclosure relates to medical devices. In particular, the instant disclosure relates to multi-electrode catheters that are usable for both tissue ablation and electrophysiological mapping.
Catheters are used in a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, for example to diagnose and/or treat conditions such as atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. For example, a catheter carrying one or more electrodes can be deployed and manipulated through a patient's vasculature and, once located at the intended site, radiofrequency ("RF") energy can be delivered through the electrodes to ablate tissue. Multi-electrode catheters can also be used to generate cardiac geometries/model surfaces and/or electrophysiology maps.
Various extant multi-electrode catheters can have certain specific advantages and shortcomings. For example, ablation catheters often have improved steerability relative to catheters used for electrophysiology mapping, making them well-suited for accessing hard-to-reach areas. Yet, because they have a relatively small number of widely-spaced electrodes (that is, they are relatively low density), they are not as well-suited to gathering electrophysiology data.
Electrophysiology mapping catheters, on the other hand, typically have a higher density of electrodes (e.g., 10-20 electrodes with various inter-electrode spacing), making them well-suited to gathering electrophysiology data, but less maneuverable and less well-suited to the delivery of therapy (e.g., ablation).
Because of these tradeoffs, extant devices generally are not used to perform multiple functions, potentially requiring multiple devices to be inserted into and removed from a patient's body during a single procedure. For example, during an electrophysiology procedure, a high density multi-electrode catheter may be used to generate an electrophysiology map. Once the map is created, the high density mapping catheter can be removed and an RF ablation catheter inserted in its place.
Yet, many practitioners would find it advantageous, for example, to conduct additional electrophysiology assessments (e.g., isochronal activation maps, geometry creation, lesion/scar quality assessments, and the like), both during and after the ablation (e.g., to judge the efficacy of the ablation), and it would be efficient to do so with the same catheter that was used to deliver the ablation in the first instance. It would also be advantageous to use more highly-maneuverable ablation catheters to map the electrophysiological activity in hard-to-reach areas, but without compromising the speed with which electrophysiology maps can be generated when using high density multi-electrode catheters.

High density mapping and ablation catheter

St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc.


A nonwoven web of poly(vinyl alcohol) fibers which is prepared by a method comprising the steps of (1) preparing an aqueous polymer solution of a defined poly(vinyl alcohol); (2) extruding the resulting polymer solution under defined conditions through a die having a plurality of orifices to form a plurality of threadlines; (3) attenuating the resulting threadlines with a defined primary gaseous source to form fibers under conditions of controlled macro scale turbulence and under conditions sufficient to permit the viscosity of each threadline, as it leaves a die orifice and for a distance of no more than about 8 cm, to incrementally increase with increasing distance from the die, while substantially maintaining uniformity of viscosity in the radial direction, at a rate which is sufficient to provide fibers having the desired attenuation and mean fiber diameter without significant fiber breakage; (4) drying the attenuated threadlines with a defined secondary gaseous source; and (5) depositing the resulting fibers randomly on a moving foraminous surface to form a substantially uniform web, the moving foraminous surface being from about 10 to about 100 cm from the opening from which the last gaseous source to contact the threadlines emerges, which fibers have a mean fiber diameter in the range of from about 0.1 to about 30 .mu.m and are substantially free of shot, with the attenuating and drying steps being carried out under conditions of controlled macro scale turbulence.

The present invention relates to nonwoven webs of poly(vinyl alcohol) fibers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of preparing a nonwoven web of poly(vinyl alcohol) fibers.
Continuous filaments of poly(vinyl alcohol), i.e., poly(vinyl alcohol) textile fibers, in general are prepared by either wet spinning or dry spinning. Wet spinning generally involves extruding an aqueous solution of the polymer into a coagulating bath, such as a solution of sodium sulfate in water. Dry spinning, on the other hand, generally involves extruding an aqueous solution of the polymer into air. In this case, though, the polymer solution typically is highly concentrated and the extruded liquid filaments are solidified, dried, hot-drawn, and heat-treated in a gaseous environment. Wet spinning also has been utilized for the production of filaments from a water-insoluble, thermoplastic polymer, poly (ethylene terephthalate); see U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,471 to Ito et al.
Dry spinning is classified into two types: (a) low-draft spinning and (b) high-draft spinning. The two types differ in the magnitude of the draft which is defined as the ratio of the take-up speed of the filaments to the extrusion speed of the spinning solution from the die. For a general discussion of the dry spinning of poly (vinyl alcohol), see Ichiro Sakurada, "Polyvinyl Alcohol Fibers," Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1985, pp. 249-267.
The basic principles involved in dry spinning have been applied to the formation of nonwoven webs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,179 to Bourland et al. describes the production of superabsorbent articles in the form of soft, nonwoven fibrous webs. Such a web is produced from an aqueous fiber-forming polymer solution by first forming the polymer solution into filaments which are contacted with a primary air stream having a velocity sufficient to attenuate the filaments. The attenuated filaments are contacted in a fiber-forming zone with a secondary air stream having a velocity effective to further attenuate and to fragment the filaments into fibers and to transport the fibers to a web-forming zone. The fibers are collected in reticulated web form in the web-forming zone, and the web is cured. Hydrophilic thermosetting and thermoplastic polymer compositions of all types are stated to be useful in the foregoing process. However, such process allegedly has particular applicability when the polymer composition comprises a blend of (1) a copolymer of at least one alpha, beta-unsaturated carboxylic monomer and at least one monomer copolymerizable therewith, and (2) a crosslinking agent comprising hydroxyl or heterocyclic carbonate groups.
European Published Patent Application No. 0 176 316 A2 describes a nonwoven fabric of water-soluble resin fibers. The fabric consists of water-soluble resin fine fibers having a mean fiber diameter of 30 .mu.m or less and a basis weight of 5 to 500 g/m.sup.2. The fabric is produced by extruding an aqueous solution comprising a water-soluble resin or a melt of a water-soluble resin plasticized with water through nozzles, stretching the extruded material to form fibers by a high speed gas flow, heating the fibers to evaporate the water in the fibers, and then collecting the fibers. The water-soluble resins which can be used are stated to include poly (vinyl alcohol), although the application clearly is directed primarily to the use of pullulan, a natural glucan. The high speed gas flow typically consists of air at a temperature of from 20.degree. C. to 60.degree. C. and having a linear velocity of, e.g., 10 to 1,000 m/sec. Drying of the fibers is accomplished by banks of infrared heaters located on both sides of and parallel to the fiber stream.
Other methods of forming fibrous webs or products from a solution of a polymer (or molten polymer) are described in, by way of illustration only, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,357,392 to Francis, Jr.; 2,411,660 to Manning; 2,464,301 to Francis, Jr.; 2,483,405 to Francis, Jr.; 2,483,406 to Francis, Jr.; 2,988,469 to Watson; 3,110,642 to Harrington et al.; and 4,234,652 to Vanoni et al. Such methods typically produce very short fibers and, consequently, differ significantly from the more traditional meltblowing or spunbonding processes which commonly are used to prepared nonwoven webs from molten thermoplastic polymers. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,571,457 to Ladisch; 3,016,599 to Perry, Jr.; 3,073,735 to Till et al.; 3,379,811 to Hartmann et al.; 3,429,953 to Crompton; 3,535,415 to Ultee; 3,689,342 to Vogt et al.; 3,752,613 to Vogt et al.; 3,770,856 to Ueki et al.; 3,772,417 to Vogt; 3,801,400 to Vogt et al.; 3,914,354 to Ueki et al.; 4,011,067 to Carey, Jr.; 4,042,740 to Krueger; 4,043,331 to Martin et al.; 4,103,058 to Humlicek; 4,104,340 to Ward; 4,118,531 to Hauser; 4,137,379 to Schmidt et al.; 4,429,001 to Kolpin et al.; 4,726,901 to Pall et al.; 4,741,941 to Englebert et al.; and 4,755,178 to Insley et al.; British Patent No. 827,644; and Japanese Patent No. 90/2,970B.
The use of steam in fiber-forming processes is illustrated by, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,571,457, supra; 3,110,642 supra; 3,379,811, supra; 4,211,737 to Di Drusco et al.; 4,355,081 to Kinsley, Jr.; and 4,468,241 to Breidenthal et al. Note that (1) U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,367 to Homma et al. describes a water-containing polymeric composition which can be extruded under conditions such that the flashing of water is prevented, (2) U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,227 to Smith describes the formation of fibers using a supercritical fluid solution, and (3) U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,417 to Rydell relates to the spraying of water-imbibed gelled fibers to form webs.
Traditional meltblowing processes are illustrated by, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,016,599 to Perry, Jr.; 3,704,198 to Prentice; 3,755,527 to Keller et al.; 3,849,241 to Butin et al.; 3,978,185 to Butin et al.; 4,295,809 to Mikami et al.; 4,375,446 to Fujii et al.; and 4,663,220 to Wisneski et al. See, also, V. A. Wente, "Superfine Thermoplastic Fibers", Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 48, No. 8, pp. 1342-1346 (1956); V. A. Wente et al., "Manufacture of Superfine Organic Fibers" Navy Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. , NRL Report 4364 (111437), dated May 25, 1954, United States Department of Commerce, Office of Technical Services; and Robert R. Butin and Dwight T. Lohkamp, "Melt Blowing-A One-Step Web Process for New Nonwoven Products", Journal of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 74-77 (1973).
Coforming references (i.e., references disclosing a meltblowing process in which fibers or particles are comingled with the meltblown fibers as they are formed) include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,100,324 to Anderson et al.; 4,118,531 to Hauser; 4,238,175 to Fujii et al.; and 4,442,062 to Fujii et al.
Finally, spunbonding references include, among others, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,341,394 to Kinney; 3,655,862 to Dorschner et al.; 3,692,618 to Dorschner et al.; 3,705,068 to Dobo et al.; 3,802,817 to Matsuki et al.; 3,853,651 to Porte; 4,064,605 to Akiyama et al.; 4,091,140 to Harmon; 4,100,319 to Schwartz; 4,340,563 to Appel et al.; 4,405,297 to Appel et al.; 4,434,204 to Hartman et al.; 4,627,811 to Greiser et al.; and 4,644,045 to Fowells.
Although many advances have been made over the years in the formation of fibers and nonwoven webs from natural and synthetic polymers, there still is a need for improvements. This is particularly true in the formation of nonwoven webs from poly(vinyl alcohol), where known processes have a pronounced tendency to give webs having one or more of a number of deficiencies. Such deficiencies include poor web formation, namely, significant basis weight variation on a relatively small scale defined hereinafter; significant amounts of shot, i.e., small particles of solidified polymer separate from or associated with the fibers making up the web; and highly variable fiber diameters.

Nonwoven web of poly(vinyl alcohol) fibers


An image sensor having a sensor array area, a circuit area around the sensor array area, and a pad area adjacent to the circuit area includes a substrate, a multi-layer wiring structure including a plurality of wiring layers on a first surface of the substrate in the circuit area, at least one well in the substrate in the circuit area, and metal wiring that extends on a second surface of the substrate opposite to the first surface, from the pad area to the circuit area, and extends from the second surface into contacts with the at least one well.

The inventive concept relates to image sensors in general for converting an optical image into electrical signals. The inventive concept also relates to CMOS images sensors and to backside illuminated (BI) image sensors.
A complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor has a pixel array area containing pixels, a circuit area containing circuits for driving and processing the output of the pixels, and a pad area containing wiring for transferring power from outside the sensor to the circuit area and for delivering the output of the sensor. As CMOS image sensors become more highly integrated, the density of the wiring of the CMOS image sensors, i.e., the amount of wiring per unit area, is being increased. As a result, the structure including the wiring for transferring power to the circuit area is becoming more complex, and the length of the wiring is increasing. Thus, it is difficult to provide a highly integrated CMOS image sensor having low resistance wiring.
Also, there is a type of CMOS image sensor known as a backside illuminated (BI) image sensor which includes a substrate having a back side on which light receiving elements are arranged, wiring structure attached to a front side of the substrate, and via contacts that pass through the substrate in the pad area for transferring the power supplied from outside the sensor to the wiring structure and hence, to the circuit area. However, the process of forming such via contacts is complicated and time consuming.


Disclosed is a unison ring assembly. The assembly comprises a first unison ring and a second unison ring concentrically aligned along a principal axis, the first and second unison rings being rotatable about the principal axis. The assembly further comprises a gear mechanism configured to simultaneously rotate the first and second unison rings about the principal axis.

FIG. 1 shows a ducted fan gas turbine engine 10 comprising, in axial flow series: an air intake 12, a propulsive fan 14 having a plurality of fan blades 16, an intermediate pressure compressor 18, a high-pressure compressor 20, a combustor 22, a high-pressure turbine 24, an intermediate pressure turbine 26, a low-pressure turbine 28 and a core exhaust nozzle 30. A nacelle 32 generally surrounds the engine 10 and defines the intake 12, a bypass duct 34 and a bypass exhaust nozzle 36. The engine has a principal axis of rotation 44.
Air entering the intake 12 is accelerated by the fan 14 to produce a bypass flow and a core flow. The bypass flow travels down the bypass duct 34 and exits the bypass exhaust nozzle 36 to provide the majority of the propulsive thrust produced by the engine 10. The core flow enters in axial flow series the intermediate pressure compressor 18, high pressure compressor 20 and the combustor 22, where fuel is added to the compressed air and the mixture burnt. The hot combustion products expand through and drive the high, intermediate and low-pressure turbines 24, 26, 28 before being exhausted through the nozzle 30 to provide additional propulsive thrust. The high, intermediate and low-pressure turbines 24, 26, 28 respectively drive the high and intermediate pressure compressors 20, 18 and the fan 14 by interconnecting shafts 38, 40, 42.
It is commonplace in state of the art gas turbine engines 10 to include variable vanes at various locations in the engine to generally help control the air flow passing through the engine core, thus improving the performance of the engine. FIG. 2 illustrates a typical Variable Stator Vane assembly 210 which is used in various engines for aerospace, industrial and marine applications.
The assembly includes four unison rings 212 coaxially arranged relative to the principal axis 44 of the engine 10 around the exterior of the intermediate compressor 18 (not shown in FIG. 2). Each unison ring 212 has a plurality of lever arms 214 each of which attach to a vane spindle (not shown) via the mounting holes 216 located in the distal end thereof. The aerofoil portions of the vanes are rotatably mounted within the airflow path of the compressor 18 such that they can rotate about the major axis of the vane which is coincidental with the rotational axis of the spindle. The unison rings 212 are arranged such that rotating them around the principal axis of the engine results in the lever arms 214 pivoting about the vane spindles, thereby rotating them and the aerofoil portions within the airflow channel of the compressor 18.
To rotate the unison rings, an input link is provided to engage with a crankshaft which drives the unison rings via link rods. As the levers rotate around the centre of rotation of the vane spindles, the lever arms fixed interface with the unison ring requires that the unison ring translates axially as well as circumferentially as it translates.
This design requires that all the interfaces between moving components have bushes fitted to accommodate the necessary movement. Additionally, to keep the unison rings circular as they accommodate the loads within the system, the rings are fitted with centralising features that contact the casings to maintain roundness. This can be achieved by using mushroom headed bolts or centralising screws which contact pads that are bonded or bolted to the engine casing.
This assembly is unnecessarily complex and heavy. Thus, the present invention seeks to provide an alternative arrangement.


This invention relates in general to the determination of silicon levels in fuel mixtures, such as petroleum products. More particularly, the present invention relates to compositions for use as standards in an x-ray analyzer for the measurement of silicon in various fuel mixtures, and to methods of using these compositions.

There is an inherent need for fuel supplies to be as free of contaminants as possible in order to prevent unwanted effects resulting from their use. Vehicle fuels are often contaminated by silicon, and this contamination can be introduced in a number of ways. For instance, gasoline may contain toluene or other waste hydrocarbon solvents, which may contain silicon compounds. Ethanol fuel blends may become contaminated by the silicon-based antifoam agents used in ethanol plants.
The existence of silicon in fuel supplies can wreak havoc on machines and vehicles that use the fuel. The existence of silicon in gasoline, for instance, can be detrimental to certain parts of an automobile engine, including oxygen sensors, catalytic converters and spark plugs. This often leads to the unwanted cost of repairing and/or replacing these parts. In order to mitigate this damage, there is a great commercial need for a method of analyzing the amount of silicon present in petroleum products and other fuel mixtures.

Compositions, methods of use and systems for analysis of silicon levels in petroleum materials


Embodiments herein include methods for enhancing post-ischemic functional recovery through administration of mitochondria and related devices and methods. In an embodiment, a method for enhancing post-ischemic functional recovery is included. The method can include harvesting somatic cells from a patient or a donor, converting the somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, extracting mitochondria from the induced pluripotent stem cells, and transplanting the mitochondria into the patient. Other embodiments are also included herein.

Ischemia can result from various physiologic events including myocardial infarction, abnormal cardiac rhythms such as tachycardia, bradycardia, etc., blood clots, atherosclerotic plaque rupture, coronary artery spasm and other blockage causing events. Ischemia can also result from certain medical procedures that involve temporary attenuation or obstruction of blood flow.
Mitochondria are essential organelles present in all nucleated cells whose main function is the generation of cellular ATP by oxidative phosphorylation. Mitochondria are also involved in a number of cellular pathways, including calcium homeostasis, apoptosis, heme biosynthesis, and cell signaling. The size, shape, and structural organization of mitochondria, as well as the number of these organelles per cell and their intracellular location, vary considerably depending on the organism, tissue, and physiological state of the cell examined. In the myocardium, mitochondria can constitute 30% of the total myocardial cell volume.
The human mitochondrial genome is a 16,569 base pair circular molecule. It consists of two strands, a guanine-rich strand (H-strand) and a cytosine-rich strand (L-strand).
It has been found that temporary attenuation or obstruction of blood flow can negatively alter myocardial mitochondrial structure and function. These structural and functional changes can persist even after normal blood flow resumes and can lead to decreased myocardial contractile function and myocardial survival.

Mitochondrial epigenetic reprogramming and transplant


A planetary gear train of an automatic transmission for a vehicle may include a first planetary gear set, a second planetary gear set, a third planetary gear set, a fourth planetary gear set, an input shaft mounted with the first, second, and third planetary gear sets at an external circumference of the input shaft, an output shaft disposed in parallel with the input shaft and mounted with the fourth planetary gear set on external circumference of the output shaft, a first shaft, a second shaft directly connected with the input shaft, a third shaft, a fourth shaft gear-meshed with the output shaft, a fifth shaft, a sixth shaft, a seventh shaft, an eighth shaft, a ninth shaft directly connected with the output shaft, a tenth shaft, and transfer gears, each gear-meshed with at least one of the shafts.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic transmission for a vehicle.
Description of Related Art
Recent increases in oil prices are triggering stiff competition in enhancing fuel consumption of a vehicle.
In this sense, research on an automatic transmission has been performed to simultaneously provide better drivability and fuel consumption by achieving more shift stages.
However, in order to achieve more shift stages for an automatic transmission, the number of parts is typically increased, which may deteriorate installability and/or power flow efficiency and may increase production cost, and weight.
Therefore, in order to maximally enhance fuel consumption of an automatic transmission having more shift stages, it is important for better efficiency to be derived by a smaller number of parts.
In this respect, an eight-speed automatic transmission has been recently introduced, and a planetary gear train for an automatic transmission enabling more shift stages is under investigation.
An automatic transmission of eight or more shift-stages typically includes three to four planetary gear sets and five to six control elements (frictional elements), and may easily become lengthy, thereby deteriorating installability.
In this regard, disposing planetary gear sets in parallel or employing dog clutches instead of wet-type control elements is sometimes attempted. However, such an arrangement may not be widely applicable, and using dog clutches may easily deteriorate shift-feel.
In addition, a recent eight-speed automatic transmission typically shows a gear ratio span in a level of 6.5 to 7.5, which may require improvement for better fuel consumption.
Thus, shortening a length of an automatic transmission without deteriorating performance will be beneficial.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Planetary gear train of automatic transmission for vehicle


Furniture components, such as office furniture components, are configured to include electronic components that transfer electrical power to peripheral electronic devices via wireless technologies, including conductive and inductive technologies. The articles of furniture may include grommet devices received within work surfaces, the grommet devices incorporating or housing the electronics of wireless power systems. The articles of furniture may also include the electronics of wireless power systems physically embedded or integrated within work surfaces in a manner in which the continuous surfaces of the work surfaces are maintained, and the work surfaces may optionally further include lighting or other indication features to indicate the locations of the electronics to a user.

Office furniture components, such as desks and partition systems, typically include power outlets, and their associated cabling and power in-feed mechanisms, built into the components. A connection is established between an AC power source and an electronic device through a series of sockets, plugs and cables. This arrangement requires cables which limit the mobility of the furniture and require power outlets to be available in close proximity to the furniture to avoid stringing cable in open floor spaces.
The proliferation of electronic devices in office and home environments demands readily accessible sources of power. Electronic devices such as portable and mobile devices include phones, portable computers, MP3 and iPod music players, and personal digital assistants. Each electronic device requires a source of power which typically comprises an AC plug and a power converter to convert AC power to any of a plurality of DC power levels. An unintended consequence of the proliferation of electronic devices is the proliferation of power converters, power sources, plugs and cables which clutter the office and home environments.
All electronic devices must be powered, whether by a power source or by a battery, and batteries have to be recharged. The development of standards for DC converters and charging stations may potentially reduce cabling clutter. However, DC converters and charging stations will still be required to power electronic devices; therefore, cabling clutter remains a nuisance.


The subject invention relates to methods for regulating hair growth in mammalian skin comprising topical application of diethyldithiocarbamic acid ("DEDCA") or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt thereof. The subject invention further involves topical compositions comprising DEDCA.

The removal of hair from the human body has received considerable attention, both for medical and for cosmetic reasons. Various methods exist to remove unwanted hair. Conventional methods focus on mechanical removal and chemical depilation, whereby unwanted hair is removed once it has already appeared above the surface of the skin. Other methods involve the prevention, suppression or retardation of hair growth, by an alteration in the rate and character of hair growth.
Mechanical methods employed for depilation include tweezing, plucking, electrolysis, shaving and X-ray techniques. Tweezing and plucking are of limited utility because their use is confined to a localized area. Electrolysis and X-ray techniques are painful and require the use of expensive equipment, while shaving frequently stimulates rapid hair growth and leads to skin irritation.
Chemical depilatory compositions are effective in removing unwanted hair from larger areas on the skin. These compositions typically cleave disulfide bonds in hair keratin, causing the hair fiber to disintegrate. However, most chemical depilatory compositions are strongly alkaline, causing dermal irritation, particularly on sensitive facial skin.
At present, compositions generally called "waxes" are also used for depilation. These are applied to the skin in a molten state. On cooling and hardening, the wax enmeshes the hair it contacts. The wax is thin stripped from the skin, pulling out the enmeshed hair by its roots. Even though waxing is longer-lasting than other chemical methods, it is disfavored because of the tendency to cause irritation, swelling or possible burning.
Of the methods employed to alter the rate and character of hair growth, most involve the application of anti-androgens to control dermatological conditions associated with androgen-dependent disorders, such as female hirsutism. However, these methods have undesirable side effects such as systemic anti-androgen effects, teratogenecity and pituitary dysfunction and are, consequently, of limited use.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need to develop a method which is efficacious, easily administered, non-irritating, long-lasting, and can regulate the growth of unwanted hair without allowing rapid return growth.
It is an object of the subject invention to provide topical compositions for retarding or preventing the growth of hair in mammalian skin.
It is a further object of the subject invention to provide such compositions which are gentler and less irritating to the skin than existing compositions.
It is also an object of the subject invention to provide methods for retarding or preventing the growth of hair in mammalian skin.

Methods of using diethyldithiocarbamic acid for the prevention of hair growth