We describe a user exercise-tolerance measuring pulse oximeter system, for determining the exercise tolerance or capacity of a user undergoing exercise, the system comprising: a wireless fingerband comprising an optical sensor to provide an oxygen saturation signal, a chargeable power supply, and a wireless transmitter/receiver; a motion detector to provide a user motion signal; and a signal processor coupled to said wireless fingerband to data from said optical sensor, and coupled to said motion detector; wherein said signal processor is configured to: process a combination of said oxygen saturation signal and said user motion signal to determine exercise tolerance data, wherein said exercise tolerance data is dependent upon said oxygen saturation signal and a level of exertion of said user determined from said user motion signal; and to time or count a period or quantity of user motion or movements, during said exercise, identified by said motion detector, to determine said level of exertion; to measure a degree of oxygen desaturation of blood of said user due to said exercise; and to output an exercise tolerance parameter; wherein said exercise tolerance data comprises said exercise tolerance parameter; and wherein said exercise tolerance parameter is a function of both said degree of desaturation and said level of exertion.

There is a general need to improve techniques for monitoring, and stratifying by risk, various chronic respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, and asthma as well as other conditions.
One approach to assessing the severity of respiratory conditions is to use a standardised clinical exercise test. Exercise capacity is a strong predictor for the risk of morbidity due to respiratory disease and can be used in Secondary care, Primary care and Social care settings to assess a patient. Often, however, it requires specialised testing facilities. There are several ways to determine Exercise Capacity and this typically is achieved by inducing a state of oxygen desaturation in the subject whilst they undergo some form of physical activity.
The most popular clinical exercise tests in order of increasing complexity are stair climbing, a 6 minute walk test (6MWT), a shuttle-walk test, detection of exercise-induced asthma, a cardiac stress test (e.g. Bruce protocol), and a cardiopulmonary exercise test. Assessment of exercise capacity has traditionally been done by asking patients subjective recollections about their capabilities. However, patients vary in their recollection and may over or underestimate of their true functional capacity.
The 6MWT test measures the distance that a patient can quickly walk on a flat, hard surface in a period of 6 minutes. It evaluates the global and integrated responses of all the patient's physiological systems involved during exercise, including the pulmonary and cardiovascular systems, systemic circulation, peripheral circulation, blood, neuromuscular units and muscle metabolism.
However, it does not provide specific information on the function of each of the different organs and systems involved in exercise or the mechanism of exercise limitation, as is possible with maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing: The self-paced 6MWT assesses the submaximal level of functional capacity. Most patients do not achieve maximal exercise capacity during the 6MWT; instead, they choose their own intensity of exercise and are allowed to stop and rest during the test and this can affect the biometric parameters such as SpO2.
To compensate for this, some advocate that tests should have a fixed level of load (e.g. the Shuttle Test or the TChester). However, because most activities of daily living are performed at submaximal levels of exertion, the 6MWT may better reflect the functional exercise level for daily physical activities. The 6MWT is used as a one-time measure of functional status of patients, as well as a predictor of morbidity and mortality.
Formal cardiopulmonary exercise testing provides an overall assessment of the exercise response, an objective measurement of functional capacity and impairment, determination of the appropriate intensity needed to perform prolonged exercise, quantification of factors limiting exercise, and a definition of the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms such as the contribution of different organ systems involved in exercise. But this requires a laboratory setting and skilled staff to perform the test.
Further, 6MWT does not determine peak oxygen uptake, diagnose the cause of dyspnea (breathlessness) on exertion, or evaluate the causes or mechanisms of exercise limitation but information provided by a 6MWT is generally considered to be complementary to cardiopulmonary exercise testing, not a replacement for it.
Despite the difference between these Exercise Capacity tests, there are good correlations between these and with disease prognosis. For example, there is good agreement between the 6MWT and peak oxygen uptake for patients with end-stage lung diseases. In some clinical situations, the 6MWT provides information that may be a better index of the patient's ability to perform daily activities than peak oxygen uptake; for example, 6MWD correlates better with indices for the quality of life and changes in 6MWT after therapeutic interventions correlate with subjective improvement in dyspnea.
In another approach, the shuttle-walking test is used which is similar to the 6MWT, but it uses an audio signal from a tape cassette to direct the walking pace of the patient back and forth on a 10 m course. The walking speed is increased every minute and the test ends when the patient cannot reach the turnaround point within the required time. The exercise performed is similar to a symptom limited, maximal, incremental treadmill test. An advantage of the shuttle walking test is that it has a better correlation with peak oxygen uptake than the 6MWT. Disadvantages include less validation, less widespread use, and more potential for cardiovascular failure while it is being performed.
The 6MWT should preferably be performed indoors, along a long, flat, straight, enclosed corridor with a hard surface. However finding a suitable location for a patient to undertake this in the home environment can be challenging. Before and after the 6MWT, the technician will typically measure several parameters, including the distance walked within 6 minutes at the patient's own pace (the 6MWD distance) and the levels of oxygenation of the patient's blood (SpO2) before and after (measuring the degree of desaturation). In practice, SpO2 is not used for constant monitoring during the exercise because of the known issues of movement artefacts and difficulties in interpreting the results, but this has been recommended ("Should oxyhaemoglobin saturation be monitored continuously during the 6-minute walk test?", Fiore et al. (2011). Chronic Respiratory Disease. Vol 8. No. 3 181-184). While now well established and researched, the 6MWT requires facilities and skilled technicians to perform it. Nonetheless poor Q&A, different technicians, and inconsistencies create data of poor and unreliable quality.
More recently, Researchers have proposed an exercise capacity analysis in the form of a simple Sit-to-Stand (STS) test, as a way of inducing exercise-related deoygenation in patients with severe respiratory disease and this can be used in assessing progressive decline of lung function and providing a simple way to make a prognosis for the patient.
The test is simple: Count how many times a patient can move from the sitting position to the standing position and back down again in one minute. The theory and observation is that as lung function declines, the number of repetitions that a patient can undertake reduces. Every reduction in repetition count was associated with increased risk. Performance in the test is strongly associated with health and quality of life but not a predictor of exacerbation or flare-up of recurrent chest infections associated with long-term respiratory disease. Exercise capacity during the STS test is strongly associated with mortality—for example in one study the STS test was shown to be a stronger predictor of 2-year mortality than body mass index and an inability to undertake 19 reps or less held a high chance of mortality within 24 months.
Whatever the method used to induce oxygen desaturation during exercise, using just the distance walked or number of reps undertaken is still highly variable and these tests have to be performed carefully so that the patient invests the same level of effort on each test. This also makes it difficult to compare the level of risk between subjects.
There have been attempts to improve upon the data provided by such tests by measuring the degree of oxygen desaturation (SpO2) induced by the exercise ("Desaturation-distance ratio: a new concept for a functional assessment of interstitial lung disease", Pimenta et al. (2010). Clinic Science 65(9):841-846). In practice, however, it is difficult for a user to perform a reliable test by themselves, at home.
Pulse Oximeters
Another difficulty which arises in this context is the difficulty of obtaining reliable oxygenation data from pulse oximetry. The signal detected by a pulse oximeter is small and easily affected by movement. Typically a finger clip is used to analyse pulsing arterial blood, but in practice such clips do not fit well. The measurement is very susceptible to errors resulting from, for example, selection of an inappropriately sized clip, poor clip placement, and any small motion by the patient which can disturb the position of the optical sensor arrangement within the clip with respect to the finger. Various attempts have been made to address this latter problem by incorporating an accelerometer in the pulse oximeter to detect patient motion so that data is only captured when the patient is stationary and is disregarded when the patient is moving. Such approaches are described in: US2010/0324384, US2010/0125188, and WO2010/103390.
For example, US2010/0324384, describes a wrist-worn transceiver incorporating an accelerometer with a wired connection to a plastic clip fastened with a strap to the base of a user's thumb, the clip comprising the sensor (LEDs and photodetector), the wrist-worn unit amplifying, filtering, digitising and processing the sensor signals to measure SpO2. However neither inherent resistance to movement, nor long-term use are considered.
Pulse oximetry measures blood oxygen (as oxyhaemoglobin) and relies upon the measurement of optical absorbance, at two or more wavelengths, of perfused tissue. Typically arterial oxygenation is distinguished from venous and other effects by sensing the varying portion of optical absorbance. This means, however, that the measurement tends to be very sensitive to movement. The problem is that the varying portion is typically a very small part of the overall absorbance (around 1%, but often significantly less). Small movements of the tissue and/or the sensor inevitably cause apparent changes in absorbance, often much larger than this level. Much development has been directed at solving this problem, both by design of the sensor and processing of the signals from the sensor.
Sensing is typically done by using a pair of light emitting diodes (LEDs) as sources of light—at wavelengths that show different absorbance for oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin e.g. 660 nm and 940 nm, as is well known. The LEDs are positioned at one side of a section of perfused tissue and a single silicon diode photosensor is positioned on the opposite side to receive light passed through the section. This is "transmission" mode; an alternative is to place the emitters and sensor on the same side of the tissue—"reflection" mode, where diffuse reflection within the tissue allows measurement of optical absorbance to some depth within the tissue.
Various locations on the body are known as preferred locations for sensors for pulse oximetry. Most commonly fingertips are used because they are readily accessible, are well supplied with arterial flow and are of an appropriate thickness. Further, the anatomy is relatively simple and consistent between individuals. It is, however, somewhat inconvenient for subjects, particularly when bulky and/or heavy sensors are used. The wrist would be a more convenient location for subjects but it is much less suitable for pulse oximetry because the anatomy is very complex and the exact location of a sensor in relation to bones and tendons becomes a problem; small movements cause large changes in sensed signals. The large overall thickness of the wrist also means that very little light passes through, therefore needing more power to generate stronger illumination and making signal recovery much more difficult and unreliable. Other locations that are used include:                "Base" of the finger—weaker pulsatile signal compared to the fingertip and not much more convenient for the subject        Forehead—good for measuring brain oxygen but unacceptable for continuous monitoring in daily life        Ear lobe—small pulsatile signal and sensitive to compression that excludes arterial flow        Foot—good for infants in hospital but inconvenient and subject to much movement for continuous monitoring
The fingertip, therefore, is the preferred location but improvements are desired. In particular:                Resistance of the sensing system to movement        Improve comfort and convenience for long-term monitoring.
As previously mentioned, particularly in pulse oximeter systems for determining the exercise tolerance or capacity of a user, it is desirable to reduce the sensitivity of the pulse oximeter to user movement.
General
Background prior art can be found in: US2008/243393; US2003/073884; US2011/040197; US2011/224498; US2008/319327; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,998,550; 4,167,331; 4,407,290; 4,773,422; US2008015424; US2007/0038050; WO2012/140559; US2014/0200420; EP0968681A; US2010/210924; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,795,052; 5,800,349; "Measurement of Motion Activity during Ambulatory Using Pulse Oximeter and Triaxial Accelerometer" Young-Dong et al. Convergence and Hybrid Information Technology, 2008. ICCIT '08. Third International Conference on (Volume: 1); and "A wireless sensor network compatible wearable u-healthcare monitoring system using integrated ECG, accelerometer and SpO2", Chung et al. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2008; 2008: 1529-32. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2008.4649460.
However there is a need for techniques to improve upon the health monitoring approaches which have been employed hitherto, in particular those using pulse oximetry.


A mechanism is described for facilitating efficient graphics command generation and execution for improved graphics performance at computing devices. A method of embodiments, as described herein, includes detecting an application programming interface (API) call to perform a plurality of transactions, where the API call is issued by an application at a first command buffer, where the plurality of transactions include a first set of transactions and a second set of transactions. The method may further include creating a second command buffer and appending the second command buffer to the first command buffer, where creating further includes separating the first set transactions from the second set of transactions. The method may further include executing, via the second command buffer, the first set of transactions, prior to executing the first set of transactions.

Several attempts have been made to lower graphics driver overhead to promote efficient rending of graphics contents. For example, a modern three-dimensional (3D) graphics application programming interface (API) may be capable of allowing an application to specify a method for a graphics processing interface (GPU) to generate work for itself; nevertheless, the technique is regarded as inefficient as it causes the GPU to suffer severe performance penalties, such as when switching between 3D rendering and general-purpose GPU (GPGPU) compute.

Facilitating efficient graphics command generation and execution for improved graphics performance at computing devices


A method for thermally treating a silicon germanium semiconductor layer from a donor wafer is described. An embodiment of the technique includes co-implanting atomic species into a first surface of the donor wafer to form a zone of weakness at a predetermined depth that defines the thickness of a transfer layer, bonding the first surface of the donor wafer to a host wafer, supplying energy to detach the transfer layer from the donor wafer at the zone of weakness, and conducting a recovery operation on the transfer layer. The recovery operation is conducted after detachment but while the layer remains in contact with the donor wafer. The recovery operation includes heat treating the transfer layer for a predetermined duration at a recovery temperature that is lower than a re-adhesion temperature at which the transfer layer would re-adhere to the donor wafer, to improve the crystalline quality and the surface roughness of the transfer layer. The co-implanting step preferably includes implanting hydrogen and helium.

A semiconductor layer transfer method called SMART-CUT® is known to those skilled in the art. Details of this method may be found in many published documents, for example, on pages 50 and 51 of: "Silicon on Insulator Technology: Material to VLSI, Second Edition," by Jean-Pierre Colinge, published by "Kluwer Academic Publishers". A second step of bonding the host wafer (the recipient of the transfer layer) typically takes place on the surface of the donor wafer and includes using a bonding layer made of dielectric material such as SiO2. In this manner a semiconductor-on-insulator structure may be formed, such as an SOI structure (in the case where the transferred layer is made of silicon), SiGeOI (when the transferred layer is made of germanium silicon), sSOI (when the transferred layer is made of strained silicon), or GeOI (when the transferred layer is made of germanium).
During the detaching step, thermal energy typically is at least partially utilized. In this case, the thermal budget (the combination of temperature and duration of the heat treatment) must be considered to determine the moment at which the transfer layer will be detached. It has been observed that after detachment of the transfer layer, the latter may have quite a rough surface, as well as a lower quality crystalline surface structure, resulting from the previous implantation and detachment steps.
FIG. 1 illustrates a semiconductor-on-insulator structure 30 that includes a host wafer 20, an electrically isolating layer 5, and a transferred layer 1. The semiconductor part, which is the transferred layer 1, has a reduced crystalline quality surface. In particular, the transferred layer 1 includes a defective zone 1A that has crystalline defects and a detrimental surface roughness. The defective zone 1A typically has a thickness of around 150 nm, and the implantation step may have caused a reduction in the crystalline quality in the transfer layer 1. It is thus necessary to treat the transfer layer 1 to remove the defective zone 1A, and thus to reclaim at least part of the sound zone 1B of the transfer layer 1. Typically, the defective zone 1A is oxidized and then subsequently removed by chemically etching using hydrofluoric acid HF (a treatment called sacrificial oxidation). A finishing step is then used, such as mechanically polishing or chemically-mechanically polishing. Such a treatment step for the transferred layer 1 is costly and complex.
The defective zone has to be completely removed after detachment, in particular due to the defects present within the transfer layer. It is thus usual to transfer a layer of greater thickness in order to completely eliminate these defects during finishing operations performed after detachment. For instance, the formation of a structure comprising a 500 angstroms thick taken-off layer necessitates the transfer of 2000 to 2500 angstroms and the removal of 1500 to 2000 angstroms, for instance by polishing, selective etching or sacrificial oxidation.
The treatment of the transfer layer 1 is therefore classically performed to remove the defective zone 1A, and thus recuperate at least part of the sound zone 1B of the layer taken 1. Typically, oxidation of the defective zone 1A is first conducted, then this is subsequently removed by means of chemical etching using hydrofluoric acid HF (thus creating a treatment called sacrificial oxidation) then finishing, for example by mechanical polishing or chemical-mechanical polishing. Such a treatment step of the transfer layer 1 is consequently costly and complex from an economic point of view.
Furthermore, the use of such treatments during finishing operations requires the systematic removal of the negative of the donor wafer to obtain access to the surface of the transferred layer 1. The wafers must therefore be removed from the furnace (in which heat treatment was conducted). This results in a loss of time, extra wafer handling and the need to use suitable equipment.
US patent application 2004157409 describes a method that attempts to overcome these problems, by including a stop layer between the future defective zone 1A and the underlying future sound zone 11B. In this example, the transfer layer is made of SiGe and the stop layer is made of Si. This publication also teaches to improve the finishing operations by using selective double etching (of the defective zone 1A and the stop layer), to substantially reduce the roughness as measured from their maximum values (peaks and valleys) and depending on their quadratic values (in RMS Angstroms) on the surface of the SiGe sound zone 1B.
However, selective etching is imprecise, and thus a roughness remains at the tip or edge of the first chemical etching step which is at the interface between the defective zone 1A and the stop layer. Chemical etching therefore unequally treats the surface of the stop layer. In addition, since the stop layer is generally fairly thin, the first selective etching process can pass through it and attack the underlying sound zone 1B. It has also been proposed to polish before selectively etching, in order to eliminate some of these potential problems. However, the combination of polishing and selective etching further adds to the complexity and cost of the operation, which could make the overall operation unprofitable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,953,736, the transferred layer 1 is composed of a sound zone 1B made of strained Si and a defective zone 1A of SiGe. The defective zone is selectively removed from the sound zone 1B. A similar problem exists here analogous to that discussed above, wherein the surface of sound zone 1B is unequally etched because the tip of the etching portion reached it.
It is further mentioned that it has also been proposed to perform the implanting with several atomic species (typically by performing an implantation of helium and an implantation of hydrogen). This type of implantation is hereafter designated by the term of co-implantation. Performing a co-implantation indeed allows for a total dose of co-implanted species to be used lower than when a single species is implanted. The total dose in co-implantation thus typically represents ⅓ of the dose in single species implantation. It results from this decrease in total implanted dose a decrease of the defective zone thickness which in particular allows to decrease or to simplify the finishing treatments performed after detachment.
In addition, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/181,405 filed Jul. 13, 2005 discloses, with relation to co-implantation within a Si layer, the co-implantation parameters that help minimizing roughness lead to the formation of certain defects (such as blisters at the bonding interface, or crystalline defects within the thickness of the taken-off layer), and reciprocally the co-implantation parameters that help minimizing said defects lead to increased roughness.
In other words, a compromise has to be made between roughness and formation of these defects, and the recourse to co-implantation thus does not allow as such to satisfactorily solve the above mentioned problems relating to the presence of defects and a superficial roughness. The present invention now provides a commercially acceptable compromise for these variables.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Thermal treatment of a semiconductor layer

S.O.I.Tec Silicon on Insulator Technologies


The present invention relates to filled polymeric materials including a thermoplastic polymer and a metallic filler and to light weight composite materials, which comprise a metallic layer and a polymeric layer, the polymeric layer containing the filled polymeric material. The filled polymeric material preferably is an extruded sheet. The composite materials of the present invention may be formed using conventional stamping equipment at ambient temperatures and/pr welded to other metal materials using conventional welding techniques.

Light weight composites which have a good balance of high stiffness, high toughness, and low weight are used in many applications which require low flexibility and can benefit by reduced part weight. Transportation is one industry which has a need for such materials, for example, as a component of a vehicle or for an object (such as a container) which is being transported.
The ever present need to lighten the weight of transportation vehicles, as well as objects that are being transported, as well as the need for other lighter weight materials, and substitutes for conventional steel materials, has caused industry to investigate new composite materials, and particularly sandwich composite materials. Earlier applications filed by the present inventors have described such efforts in detail.
Unfortunately, the performance requirements imposed for many commercial applications generally create competing design tensions. A material meeting one need (e.g., stampability) may not necessarily meet another need, such as weldability. As such, until the work of the present inventors, materials able to meet the various needs in a commercially viable manner have yet to be employed. Efforts to employ sandwich composites similarly have been unsuccessful, with complications often arising from the inability to realize high integrity bonding among layers, as well as long term corrosion resistance. Of course, when adding in the need for stampability and weldability, many such materials have been ruled out as viable candidates. Accordingly, notwithstanding the many efforts in the art to date, until the work of present inventors, there has remained a need for an improved composite material, such as a sandwich composite material, which can be substituted for conventional steel materials without the need for significant investment in capital for those incorporating the materials into their finished products. There also has remained a need for a material that can be stamped. There also has remained a need for a material that can be welded, and especially welded using conventional welding techniques and/or equipment. There also has remained a need for a material that exhibits long term durability characteristics such as one of both of resistance to corrosion or resistance to delamination (e.g., resistance to delamination in ordinary service conditions, such as ordinary service conditions of automotive vehicle and can endure such conditions without delamination for extended period of time (e.g., 3, 5, 10, years or longer) of the layers of the composite. Further there remains a need for a polymeric-based composite mass that can be used alone or in combination with other materials, such as layered materials, which exhibits good processability, durability, electrical characteristics (e.g., charge dissipation characterisitics), or any combination thereof.
Also, there continues to exist a need for a weldable light weight composite having a polymeric layer having improved weldability (i.e., having a larger processing window for obtaining acceptable welds). Weldability may be measured by the weld current range (i.e., the difference between the maximum current that produces an acceptable weld and the minimum current that produces an acceptable weld, with other conditions such as weld pressure and weld time being kept constant, preferably at values that produce the best welds). Weldability may be measured by the weld time range (i.e., the difference between the maximum weld time that produces an acceptable weld and the minimum current that produces an acceptable weld, with the other conditions such as weld pressure and weld current kept constant, preferably at values that results in the best welds).

Delamination resistant, weldable and formable light weight composites


An electrochromic device that is capable of changing the transmission of either visible or infrared radiations as a function of the polarity of a voltage applied to the device.

This invention relates in general to electro-chromatic devices and in particular to an electro-chromatic device that is capable of changing its response in both the visible and infrared light ranges.
There are multiple known technologies for making a "chameleon" cloth, or a coating structure, that can readily change color to allow for camouflage of personnel or objects from visible detection. Included in these known technologies are:
(1) Electro-chromatic dyes/pigments/polymers, where a material changes its electrooptic properties through the application of an electric potential across the material.
(2) Thermo-chromatic dyes/pigments, where a material changes color as its temperature changes. For example, a special dye may be used that contains liquid color crystals inside miniature capsules. When the temperature of a fabric treated with such a dye changes, the crystals can lose their color and become clear, revealing the color of a material that is underneath the dyed fabric.
(3) Electro-strictive polymers, or dielectric elastomers, where the material can reduce or increase its volume by 30%, when exposed to an electric field. This physical change may be linked to a color change of the material.
(4) Electrically conductive polymers where electrons can move from one end of the polymer to the other when the polymer is exposed to electic or chemical stimulations. This physical change may be linked to a color change of the material.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a cross sectional view of a typical electro-chromic device 10 that has multiple layers of material deposited between two glass substrates 12. Alternately, the multiple layers may be deposited upon a single glass substrate (not shown). As shown in FIG. 1, upper and lower transparent conductors, 14 and 16, respectively, are deposited the inner surface of each of the glass substrates 12. An electro-chromatic layer 18 is deposited upon the lower surface of the upper conductor 14 while an ion storage layer 20 is deposited upon the upper surface of the lower conduction 16. The electro-chromatic layer 18 is formed from a material that changes color upon receiving charged ions. Finally, a layer of polymer electrolyte 22 is positioned between the electro-chromatic layer 18 and the ion storage layer 20. The transparent conductors 14 and 16 are electrically connected through a switch 24 to a voltage supply 26. Upon closure of switch 24, a voltage is applied across the layers placed between the glass substrates 12 and drives ions from the ion storage layer 20 into the electro-chromatic layer 18 to cause a change of color of the device 10.
In many cases, instead of utilizing dual or single glass substrates, the transparent conductor material can be coated onto a polymer to make a semi-flexible device, where the limits on flexibility are determined by the point where the transparent conductor loses function. Recent examples have also been shown where a conducting polymer is used as the transparent conductor and as the electro-chromic-material, which results in simplified device construction.
However, there still remains a need for an improved cloth or coating structure, which can readily change color, to allow for the camouflage of personnel or objects from visible detection. Similarly, there remains a need for a cloth or coating structure which can control the Infra-Red (IR) signature of objects, to provide camouflage from passive IR sensors. Ideally, these two needs would be met with a single cloth or coating structure.

Electrochromic device capable of controlling visible and infrared radiations


The reaction exhaust gas from which chlorosilanes and hydrogen chloride have been removed in a hydrogen chloride absorption unit (30) is introduced to an adsorption unit (50) to recover a purified hydrogen (S105). Activated carbon is packed in the adsorption unit (50), the gas, which is mainly composed of hydrogen, is passed through the activated carbon-packed layer during which unseparated chlorosilanes, hydrogen chloride, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, and monosilane contained in the gas are adsorbed on the activated carbon and removed from the gas, and thereby the purified hydrogen is obtained. Nitrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and monosilane are a compressed gas in the state of adsorption, whereas hydrogen chloride and chlorosilanes are a liquid in the state of adsorption, and require a vaporization heat during desorption. Using these properties, the separation of hydrogen chloride and chlorosilanes from other impurity components is possible merely by separating the pathways for the desorbed gas.

The reactions mainly represented by the following equations proceed in the process of producing polycrystalline silicon using trichlorosilane (HSiCl3) as a raw material, and polycrystalline silicon is produced in Equation 1.HSiCl3+H2→Si+3HCl  (Equation 1)HSiCl3+HCl→SiCl4+H2  (Equation 2)
A higher concentration of trichlorosilane as a raw material and a higher reaction pressure are currently sought for the purpose of power saving in the process of producing polycrystalline silicon and for the sake of increasing the deposition rate of polycrystalline silicon. Accordingly, the reaction represented by the Equation 2 has a strong tendency to proceed in priority to the reaction represented by the Equation 1, and as a result, higher amounts of tetrachlorosilane (SiCl4) and hydrogen (H2) as byproducts tend to be produced as compared with the conventional process.
Since it is possible, to convert tetrachlorosilane and hydrogen as byproducts produced according to the Equation 2 to trichlorosilane by the reverse reaction of the Equation 2, re-use of these byproducts as raw material gas for the production of polycrystalline silicon is carried out. Reduction in loss of the byproducts and efficient conversion of the byproducts to trichlorosilane, or recovery, circulation and re-use of the exhaust gas discharged from the polycrystalline silicon production system are currently sought.
The reaction exhaust gas from the polycrystalline silicon production system (apparatus) contains tetrachlorosilane, hydrogen, and a small amount of hydrogen chloride (HCl) as represented by the Equations 1 and 2 and unreacted trichlorosilane as well as other byproduct gases such as a small amount of monochlorosilane (SiH3Cl) and dichlorosilane (SiH2Cl2). Further, the reaction exhaust gas contains carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), monosilane (SiH4), and nitrogen (N2) as trace impurities. Tetrachlorosilane, trichlorosilane, dichlorosilane and monochlorosilane are collectively referred to as chlorosilanes, and its liquid as a chlorosilane liquid hereinbelow.
The reaction exhaust gas from the polycrystalline silicon production apparatus is separated into hydrogen and other components in a hydrogen recovery and circulation unit which is directly connected to the polycrystalline silicon production apparatus, and the hydrogen separated is re-introduced to the polycrystalline silicon production apparatus by circulation. Such a hydrogen separation and recovery method is known from, for example, "Report on Outcome of Commission Committed by New Energy Development Organization 1980-1987, Development of Solar Power Generation for Practical Use, Verification of Low Cost Silicon Experiments (development of reduction of chlorosilane by hydrogen), summary version" (Non-Patent Literature 1) and JP2008-143775A (Patent Literature 1).
Condensation, which is commonly used for separating components having a greatly different boiling point from each other, is adopted for separation of chlorosilanes in the technology disclosed in these literatures.
Further, gas absorption by a chlorosilane liquid is adopted for separation of hydrogen chloride. Since the solubility of hydrogen chloride in the chlorosilane liquid is not high, the separation of hydrogen chloride by gas absorption must be conducted at a low temperature (−20° C. or lower); however, efficient separation can be performed through sufficient heat-recovery and the like.
Finally, a small amount of remaining chlorosilanes, hydrogen chloride and other impurities are adsorbed on activated carbon for separation. The adsorption separation method utilizes the phenomenon that the amount of impurities adsorbed on the surface of an adsorbent such as activated carbon increases at a higher pressure and a lower temperature, whereas it decreases at a lower pressure and a higher temperature, and therefore the adsorption method is carried out at a batch type operating alternately adsorption at a high pressure and a low temperature and regeneration at a low pressure and a high temperature.
A commonly-used activated carbon adsorption column has a plurality of activated carbon-packed columns which are switched over selectively for use. Activated carbon loses its ability of adsorption after it is used for a certain time period. This is called breakthrough, and the column is switched over to a regenerated activated carbon-packed column before the breakthrough occurs. The activated carbon after use is regenerated after adsorbed components have been released by purging with a carrier gas at a low pressure and a high temperature. This is called desorption of adsorbed components. The carrier gas for regeneration of activated carbon requires a high purity which is similar to that of recovered hydrogen. A recovered hydrogen which is purified in an activated carbon adsorption column is commonly used as a carrier gas, or a high-purity hydrogen is supplemented from the outside. The carrier gas together with desorbed components is then released from the activated carbon adsorption column as a desorbed gas.
Most parts of hydrogen used as the carrier gas are the hydrogen consumed at the exhaust gas recovery step.
Accordingly, reduction of supplemental hydrogen as a carrier gas and efficient recovery and re-use of desorbed gas are the key elements for cost reduction in the polycrystalline silicon production system which has a step for converting tetrachlorosilane to trichlorosilane.

Hydrogen gas recovery system and hydrogen gas separation and recovery method


The invention provides a load distributed heat sink system for securing a heat sink to a heat-generating electronic component while distributing the load on the circuit board. Provided is a heat sink system having heat sink, a heat sink clip, and a circuit board. The heat sink is generally disposed on one side of the circuit board over a component, and the heat sink clip is generally disposed on the opposing side of the circuit board. The ends of heat sink clip reach to the other side and attach onto the heat sink on. The heat sink clip further includes a load spreader, which is urged onto the circuit board by the heat sink clip, both retaining the heat sink system in place and distributing load on the circuit board.

The invention relates generally to heat sink systems. More specifically, the invention relates heat sink attachment systems.
Heat sinks are commonly attached to heat-generating components on circuit boards to help dissipate heat more effectively. These components include various processors, digital circuits, power electronic switching devices, and so forth, that generate heat during operation. Heat sinks effectively transfer heat from these components to the air, or other surrounding medium. As heat sinks are designed to provide a much larger air-contacting surface area than the component, the component is able to more effectively dissipate heat when thermally coupled to a heat sink. This helps to prevent overheating of components, which may cause system malfunction and possible eventual failure.
Heat sinks can be attached to components and circuit boards through several methods, such as adhesive methods and mechanical methods. Adhesives include thermal tapes, glues, and epoxy, and are appropriate for less massive heat sinks and for use with components with lower power dissipation. Conversely, mechanical attachment methods are more common for heftier heat sinks and components with higher power dissipation.
Mechanical methods of attaching heat sinks generally involve securing a heat sink directly to a component or circuit board to be cooled. This is typically done by either screwing the heat sink onto the component or circuit board or clamping the heat sink onto the circuit board. In the case of circuit boards or thinner components, these attachment methods can impart uneven pressure and bend the circuit board, causing damage to solder joints. Damaged solder joints adversely affect the integrity of the circuit, which can cause problems from operational errors to whole system failures.
There is need for a means to mechanically attach heat sinks to heat-generating components and circuit boards so that the heat sink is in sturdy contact with the component while evenly distributing pressure, preserving the physical integrity of the circuit board and solder joints connecting to other components.


An embodiment may include persistent storage containing a plurality of software models and a plurality of entitlements thereto, wherein the software models include suite software models with associated downgrade rights. The embodiment may also involve: determining that a first suite software model contains a second suite software model; determining that the first suite software model is associated with a first set of downgrade rights to earlier versions thereof and the second suite software model is associated with a second set of downgrade rights to earlier versions thereof; sorting a list of the first suite software model, the earlier versions thereof, the second suite software model, and the earlier versions thereof in increasing order of version and height value; traversing the list to find a matching suite software model for a particular suite of the software applications; and assigning an entitlement for the matching suite software model to the particular suite.

Software management systems may be used to identify software applications that are installed on or executing on computing devices, map these software applications to appropriate software models that define the software applications, and then compare the extent of the deployed software applications to entitlements thereto. In some cases, entitlements and/or software models may be linked to downgrade rights—the ability to assign an entitlement to more than one version or edition of the software application. By carrying out such a mapping, an enterprise may be able to efficiently determine whether it has too many or too few entitlements to any identified software application for which a software model is available.
Many software vendors are now packaging their software applications into suites. As such, a suite may include two or more software applications that have related functionality, are thematically linked, interface with one another, or share common user interface components. Entitlements to the software applications may be provided individually, on the basis of a suite, or both.

Discovery and classification of software application suites


A frozen precipitation treatment system may include a vehicle, a frozen precipitation treatment device, such as a snow plow or spreader, and an electronic mobile device that that controls the frozen precipitation treatment device.

A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to the art of assemblies used to remove or prevent the accumulation of snow or ice on road surfaces, and more specifically to methods and apparatuses for controlling snow and ice control equipment with an electronic mobile device.
B. Description of the Related Art
Frozen precipitation, such as snow and ice, accumulate on roadways tending to make the roadways slippery. It is thus desirable to remove or prevent accumulation of the frozen precipitation. Various means are used to accomplish this, examples of which include, but are not limited to, plows, granular spreaders, pre-wet applications, and anti-ice applications. The ice or snow control equipment used to remove or prevent such accumulation is currently most often controlled by remote wired or wireless controllers.

Software application that allows a user to utilize a mobile device to control frozen precipitation treatment systems


An iron base wear-resistant surfacing alloy characterized by the absence of cobalt. The alloy is in the form of a hollow ductile wire having a powdered metal core. The wire comprises a mild steel, and the composition of the wire and core, taken together, consists essentially of, by weight, from about 3% to about 5% boron; up to about 10% chromium; from about 27% to 43% nickel; from about 0.1% to about 5% silicon; from about 0.2% to about 1.5% carbon; from about 0.1% to about 2 % manganese; with iron comprising the balance and in amounts greater than 43%.

This invention relates to hard surfacing alloys and, more particularly, to iron base alloys which are cobalt-free and which utilize relatively high levels of nickel and low levels of chromium and boron. The alloys are suitable for use in arc or thermal welding or spraying to produce overlays to protect against wear in a variety of environments. More particularly, this invention relates to an iron base cobalt-free wear-resistant surfacing alloy system in the form of a mechanically alloyed wire. According to this invention, the wire is a metal core or flux core wire.

Iron based ductile wire for forming a surfacing alloy system


A heating cooker includes shooting section (201) for shooting an image inside a heating chamber that accommodates a heat-target object, and controller (200) that sets a shooting condition for shooting the image of an interior of the heating chamber and carries out an image recognition to the image. Controller (200) analyzes the image of the interior of the heating chamber, thereby recognizing a state inside the heating chamber, and then changes the shooting condition in response to the state inside the heating chamber for shooting the image. The structure discussed above allows this heating cooker (100a), which carries out the image recognition to the image of the interior of the heating chamber, to achieve a greater accuracy in the image recognition.

A microwave oven, an example of the heating cooker, usually needs an input of a heating time by a user before starting the cooking.
A large number of techniques has been developed for automatically setting a heating time. For instance, patent literature 1 discloses a technique that analyzes an image of a heat-target object shot before cooking, thereby selecting a cooking method.

Heating cooker, method for controlling heating cooker, and heating cooking system

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


Plasma arc torches described herein include a torch tip with an improved nozzle that provides angular shield flow injection. In particular, the nozzle provides angular/conical impingement of a fluid (e.g., a shield gas) on an ionized plasma gas flowing through a plasma arc torch. Some of the torch tips described herein include a nozzle with a conical external shape combined with a shield with complementing internal geometry to form the angular fluid flow. As a result, a plasma arc torch including the improved nozzle have the benefits of a stabilized ionized plasma gas flow together with enhanced nozzle cooling and protection from reflecting slag during torch use.

Plasma arc torches are widely used in the cutting, piercing, and/or marking of metallic materials (e.g., elemental metals, metal alloys). A plasma arc torch generally includes an electrode mounted within a body of the torch (i.e., a torch body), a nozzle having an exit orifice also mounted within the torch body, electrical connections, fluid passageways for cooling fluids, shielding fluids, and arc control fluids, a swirl ring to control fluid flow patterns in a plasma chamber formed between the electrode and nozzle, and a power supply. The torch produces a plasma arc, which is a constricted ionized jet of a plasma gas with high temperature and high momentum (i.e., an ionized plasma gas flow stream). Gases used in the plasma arc torch can be non-oxidizing (e.g., argon, nitrogen) or oxidizing (e.g., oxygen, air).
In operation, a pilot arc is first generated between the electrode (i.e., cathode) and the nozzle (i.e., anode). Generation of the pilot arc may be by means of a high frequency, high voltage signal coupled to a DC power supply and the plasma arc torch, or any of a variety of contact staring methods.
In general, the electrode, nozzle, and fluid passageways are configured in relation to one another to provide a plasma arc for cutting, piercing, or marking metallic materials. Referring to FIG. 1, in one known configuration, a plasma arc torch includes an electrode 1 and a nozzle 2 mounted in spaced relationship with a shield 3 to form one or more passageways for fluids (e.g., shield gas) to pass through a space disposed between the shield and the nozzle. In this known configuration, plasma gas flow 4 passes through the torch along the torch's longitudinal axis (e.g., about the electrode, through the nozzle, and out through the nozzle exit orifice). The shield gas 5 or other fluid passes through the one or more passageways to cool the nozzle and impinges the ionized plasma gas flow at a 90 degree angle as the plasma gas flow passes through the nozzle exit orifice. As a result of the impingement, the ionized plasma gas flow can be disrupted (e.g., generating instabilities in the plasma gas flow), which may lead to degraded cutting, piercing, or marking performance.
Referring to FIG. 2, in another known configuration, the nozzle 2 and the shield 3 can be mounted to provide substantially columnar flow of the shield gas 5 and the ionized plasma gas 4. That is, instead of impinging the ionized plasma gas flow 4 as it exits the nozzle exit orifice at a 90 degree angle, the shield gas 5 is injected out of the passageways in a parallel direction to the plasma gas flow (i.e., columnar flow) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,923 issued to Lindsay. Plasma arc torches having this configuration experience improved stability over torches that have a shield gas flow 5 that impinges the plasma gas flow 4 at a 90 degree angle. In addition, plasma arc torches that include columnar flow tend to have a large (e.g., greater than 2.4) nozzle exit orifice length to diameter ratio, L/D. Some researchers have found that a large L/D ratio will lead to the ability to cut thicker metallic workpieces and to achieve faster cutting speeds. However, in general, plasma arc torches that have substantially columnar flow of the shield gas and the plasma gas have difficulty cooling the tip of the nozzle and provide less protection from reflecting slag during cutting than plasma arc torches which use 90 degree impinging shield gas flow injection.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a plasma arc torch which could achieve effective cooling of the nozzle and provide protection from reflecting slag while also providing a stable plasma gas flow and a large L/D ratio.

Plasma arc torch providing angular shield flow injection


A method of making a low-cost metal diaphragm sensor that integrates both pressure and temperature sensing in a single sensor assembly utilizes thick-film processing to form a circuit including stress and temperature sensitive elements on the outboard or exposed surface of a thin metal diaphragm separating the circuit from a pressurized fluid. Only a thin layer of dielectric separates the stress and temperature sensitive elements from the diaphragm surface. The stress sensitive elements respond to mechanical stressing of the diaphragm due to the presence of the pressurized fluid, while the temperature sensitive element responds to the temperature of the pressurized fluid. The thermal capacity of the fluid greatly exceeds that of the diaphragm, so that the temperature responsive characteristic of the temperature sensitive element accurately reflects the temperature of the pressurized fluid.

This invention relates to a method of making thick film sensors on a stainless steel diaphragm for detecting the pressure and temperature of a high pressure and/or corrosive fluid.
In automotive control applications, it is frequently necessary to measure the pressure of certain high pressure and/or corrosive fluids, such as engine crankcase oil, transmission fluid, engine coolant, or brake fluid. A proven approach to pressure sensing in such an environment involves the use of a pressure port that attaches to the pressure vessel by a threaded fitting, and a stainless steel diaphragm welded or otherwise secured to the pressure port. The inboard surface of the diaphragm is in contact with the pressurized fluid, and the interface between the diaphragm and the pressure port provides a leak-proof seal between the fluid and the sensor housing. Typically, resistive elements are formed on the outboard surface of the diaphragm for sensing diaphragm stress induced by the fluid pressure. See, for example, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,486 to Viduya et al., issued on May 13, 1997, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,886 to Ratell et al., issued on Feb. 9, 1999, both of which are assigned to Delphi Technologies, Inc., and incorporated herein by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,486, the outboard surface of the diaphragm is covered with an insulating coating and a conductive film, and the resistive elements are formed by scribing the conductive film. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,886, thick-film processing is used to cover the outboard surface of the diaphragm with a dielectric, and then to add various patterned conductive and piezo-resistive layers. In both of these patents, at least one compensation IC is also mounted on the outboard surface of the diaphragm (typically, opposite a central mass of the diaphragm, as in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,486) and wire-bonded to bond sites adjacent the resistive elements.
In applications where it is also necessary to measure the temperature of the fluid, it has been proposed to modify the pressure port to include a special chamber for receiving a discrete temperature-responisive element. See, for example, the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,267,010; 6,003,379; and 5,948,989, which disclose the use of a thermistor encased in a portion of the pressure sensor housing. However, such an approach will be cost-prohibitive in many applications, and it is unclear whether the thermal mass of the pressure sensor housing will allow the thermistor to promptly respond to changes in the temperature of the fluid. Accordingly, what is needed is a more reliable and cost effective way of measuring both the pressure and temperature of a high pressure and/or corrosive fluid.
The present invention is directed to a method of making an improved and low-cost metal diaphragm sensor that integrates both pressure and temperature sensing in a single sensor assembly. According to the invention, thick-film processing is used to form a circuit including stress and temperature sensitive elements on the outboard or exposed surface of a thin metal diaphragm separating the circuit from a pressurized fluid. Only a thin layer of dielectric separates the stress and temperature sensitive elements from the diaphragm surface. The stress sensitive elements respond to mechanical stressing of the diaphragm due to the presence of the pressurized fluid, while the temperature sensitive element responds to the temperature of the pressurized fluid. The thermal capacity of the fluid greatly exceeds that of the diaphragm, so that the temperature responsive characteristic of the temperature sensitive element accurately reflects the temperature of the pressurized fluid.

Method of making thick film pressure and temperature sensors on a stainless steel diaphragm


Described is an article for the controlled release and delivery to animal tissue of a pharmacologically active agent with or without an excipient and/or enhances which may be a causative factor in the occurrence of non-allergic or allergic contact dermatitis comprising an anti-dermatitis substance.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to articles of manufacture for administration of pharmacologically active substances, transdermally and by means of implant (e.g., subdermal implant). More specifically, this invention relates to articles for the controlled release and delivery to animal tissue (including but not limited to epidermal tissue) of a composition of matter comprising at least one pharmacologically active agent with or without one or more excipients therefor and/or one or more enhancers therefor at least one of said pharmacologically active agents, excipients therefor and enhancers therefor being a causative factor in the occurrence of non-allergic or allergic contact dermatitis comprising an anti-dermatitic substance having a chemical constituency different from that of the chemical constituency of any of said pharmacologically active agents, any of said excipients therefor, or any of said enhancers therefor.
The articles of our invention may be in the form of transdermal controlled release systems wherein the reservoir for the pharmacologically active agent is a solid polymer, or a transdermal delivery device wherein the pharmacologically agent is delivered from for example, a gel through a microporous membrane to the tissue to be treated, or the control release article may be a dispenser for delivering a pharmacologically active agent contained in a heat-responsive composition using an osmotically effective solute, through a passageway from the dispenser. The anti-dermatitic substance may be, for example:
(a) corticosteroids; PA1 (b) chemicals that compete with the arachidonic acid biotransformation; PA1 (c) inhibitor substances for the arachidonic acid cascade; PA1 (d) free radical scavenger substances; PA1 (e) Vitamin E; PA1 (f) nordihydroguaiaretic acid; PA1 (g) Vitamin D; or PA1 (h) leukotriene receptor antagonists PA1 (a) guanfacine; PA1 (b) (5Z, 13E, 15R, 16R)-16-fluoro-15-hydroxy-9-oxoprosta-5-dienoic acid; PA1 (c) fluphenazine; and PA1 (d) clonidine. PA1 "An anti-inflammatory and analgesic transdermal tape contains diclofenac sodium and an organic acid such as citric acid. Diclofenac sodium is readily absorbed by the skin from this tape in the presence of the acid. Thus, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate 55, methoxyethyl acrylate 30, vinyl acetate 15, and azobisisobutyronitrile 0.3 parts by weight were mixed and heated at 60.degree.-63.degree. in 125 parts of ethyl acetate for ten hours and the polymer was cured for two hours at 80.degree. C. Diclofenac sodium and citric acid were added in such a way that the concentrations in the formulation after drying were 20 and 4% by weight respectively. The mixture was applied to a removable liner to give a tape containing 400 micrograms diclofenac sodium per square centimeter." PA1 "A penetration-enhancing pharmaceutical composition for topical application comprising: PA1 wherein component (d)(i) and (d)(ii) are present in a ratio of (d)(i):(d)(ii) of about 5:1 to about 100:1 by weight." PA1 "A penetration-enhancing pharmaceutical composition for topical application comprising: PA1 "Esters of methyl salicylate with certain non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's) can be used for topical administration to mammals, to elicit a response which combines the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of the NSAID and the counter-irritant effect of the methyl salicylate. Typical NSAID's which can be used in this way are aspirin (acetylsalicic acid), ibuprofen and indomethacin. Advantageously, the NSAID-methyl salicylate ester is administered in the form of a pharmaceutical composition, such as an ointment, gel, lotion, cream or the like." PA1 (a) corticosteroids; PA1 (b) chemicals that compete with the arachiodonic acid biotransformation; PA1 (c) inhibitor substances of the arachiodonic acid cascade; PA1 (d) free radical scavenger substances; PA1 (e) Vitamin E; PA1 (f) nordihydroguaiaretic acid; PA1 (g) Vitamin D; and PA1 (h) leukotriene receptor antagonists. PA1 (a) a polymer layer (for example, a polyvinyl chloride-polyvinyl acetate layer); PA1 (b) one or more pharmacologically active agents with or without one or more excipients therefor or one or more enhancers therefor, at least one of which is a causative factor in the occurrence of non-allergic or allergic contact dermatitis and each of which is chemically compatible with said polymer, in intimate admixture with said polymer; and PA1 (c) at least one anti-dermatitic substance chemically compatible with (i) one or more of said pharmacologically active agents, one or more excipients therefor and one or more enhancers therefor; and (ii) said polymer and said anti-dermatitic substance being in intimate admixture with said polymer and/or one or more of said pharmacologically active agents, one or more excipients therefor and/or one or more enhancers therefor.
or combinations thereof. Pharmacologically active substances which are known to cause contact dermatitis are, for example,
2. The prior Art
Relatively intensive efforts are currently being expended in the pharmaceutical industry to provide for the delivery, in a controlled release manner, of pharmacologically active agents to the skin, and to mucous membranes of animals without the causation of allergic or non-allergic contact dermatitis and without the causation of subdermal inflammation of the tissues being treated by the pharmacologically active agent.
Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,510 issued on May 26, 1987 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,818 provide iodophors which exhibit effective degerming of skin, and mucous membranes of animals and which provide broad spectrum microbiocidal action without toxicity or irritation. The prior art includes evidence of a great effort to provide controlled release formulations which provide anti-inflammatory and analgesic products to the skin.
Thus, Japan Kokai 85/122,291 published on Dec. 11, 1986 and abstracted at Chemical Abstracts, Vol. 106, No. 125909s discloses a transdermal tape containing diclofenac sodium as the active ingredient in an anti-inflammatory and analgesic transdermal tape having a soft pressure sensitive adhesive layer. The abstract state:
South African Patent 8410-058 and German Offenlegungsschrift 33 47 278A published on June 24, 1985 disclose prolonged percutaneous release compositions containing an active substance, preferably by anti-inflammatory agent in an elastomer mixture consisting of diene rubbers. By the same token, South African Patent 8410-059 and German Offenlegungsschrift 33 47 277 published on Dec. 27, 1984 disclose prolonged percutaneous release compositions containing an active substance, preferably an anti-inflammatory agent in an elastomer mixture consisting of amorphous olefinic copolymers.
Canadian Letters Patent 1,223,818 issued on July 7, 1987 and 1,223,819 issued on July 7, 1987 disclose penetrating topical pharmaceutical compositions containing N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-pyrrolidone and 1-dodecyl-azacycloheptan-2-one. More specifically, Canadian Letters Patent 1,223,818 discloses and claims:
(a) about 0.01% to about 10%, by weight, of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent selected from the group consisting of salicylic acid, acetyl salicylic acid, methyl salicylate, glycol salicylate, salicylmides, benzyl-2,5-diacetoxybenzoic acid, ibuproten, fulindac, naproxen, keto-profen, etofenamate, phenylbutazone, indomethacin, piroxican, and mixtures thereof; PA2 (b) 0% to about 80% by weight of a solvent selected from ethanol and 2-propanol; PA2 (c) 0% to about 80% by weight water; PA2 (d) about 10% to about 99.9% by weight of a penetration-enhancing vehicle consisting essentially of: PA2 (a) about 0.01% to about 10%, by weight, of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent selected from the group consisting of salicylic acid, acetyl salicylic acid, methyl salicylate, glycol salicylate, salicylmides, benzyl-2,5-diacetoxybenzoic acid, ibuprofen, fulindac, naproxen, keto-profen, etofenamate, phenylbutazone, indomethacin, piroxicam, and mixtures thereof; PA2 (b) 0% to about 80% by weight of a solvent selected from ethanol and 2-propanol; PA2 (c) 0% to about 80% by weight water; PA2 (d) about 25% to about 96% by weight of a penetration-enhancing diol or cycloketo compound selected from the group consisting of 1,2-propanediol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,2-butanediol, pyrrolidone, 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)azacyclopentan-2-one, and mixtures thereof; and PA2 (e) about 1.0% to about 35% by weight of 1-dodecylazacycloheptan-2-one."
(i) N-(2-hydroxyethyl)pyrrolidone, and PA3 (ii) a cell-envelope disordering compound selected from the group consisting of methyl laurate, oleic acid, oleyl alcohol, monoolein, myristyl alcohol, and mixtures thereof;
More specifically, Canadian Letters Patent 1,223,819 discloses and claims:
Bonney, et al, Arzneim.-Forsch, 35(4), pages 715-720 (abstracted at Chemical Abstracts, Vol. 103, No. 81418h) discloses the use of 2-(3-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-5-methoxy phenyloxazolo (4,5-b)pyridine as a topical anti-inflammatory and analgesic compound lacking systemic activity and gastric side effects. It is indicated that this compound is as potent as indomethacin in inhibiting ultra-violet light-induced erythema in guinea pig skin and it is further indicated that this compound is an effective analgesic when applied topically to the rat footpad. It is further indicated that the compound is a cyclooxygenase inhibitor and an inhibitor of prostaglandin E2 but not leukotriene C4 synthesis.
Tsukada, et al, Arzneim.-Forsch, 28(3), pages 428.gtoreq.438 discloses the anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-pyretic and other pharmacological effects of osepinao-(6,11-dihydro-11-oxodibenz(b,e)oxepin-3-acetic acid and compared the effects with know non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as indomethacin.

Article for the delivery to animal tissue of a pharmacologically active agent


A pusher of a hockey game table includes a main body having an internal spherical space and a pushing knob having a spherical rotary member rotatably disposed in the spherical space of the main body. When holding the pushing knob and pushing the pusher, the pushing knob is angularly displaceable relative to the main body in the direction of the pushing force. Therefore, when pushing the pusher to play the hockey game, the player's wrist can be freely twisted to meet human body engineering.

The present invention is related to a game device, and more particularly to a pusher of a hockey game table, which is designed with a structure in considerations of ergonomics and which can be easily hold and operated.
On a hockey game table, a player pushes a disc with a pusher to play the game.
A conventional pusher has a circular tray body and a boss fixed on the top face of the tray body. A player can hold the boss to move the pusher.
The boss is integrally connected with the tray body. When pushing the pusher, the player's wrist can hardly twist. Therefore, the player's wrist feels stiffness and is easy to be tired and hurt. The configuration of the conventional pusher fails to meet considerations of human body engineering so that the player can hardly operate the pusher.


A method of serving Real Time Bidding (RTB) requests received from client devices based on availability of advertisements (ADs) at an edge storage, comprising using an RTB server for receiving RTB request(s) from one or more client devices for impression(s) in AD placement(s) offered by online content presented by the client device(s) to associated user(s), forwarding the RTB request(s) to AD exchange(s) and receiving in response a plurality of bid offers received from advertisers for purchasing the impression(s) for posting a plurality of ADs, identifying among the plurality of ADs cached AD(s) stored at an edge storage located at an edge of a network serving the client device(s), adjusting bid offers relating to non-cached ADs to reflect cost of network resources required for downloading the non-cached AD(s) and initiating service of AD(s) associated with highest bid offer(s) among the adjusted bid offers and bid offers relating to the cached AD(s).

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to serving advertisements (ADs) to client devices in response to real time bidding (RTB) requests, and, more specifically, but not exclusively, to serving ADs to client devices from edge storage in response to RTB requests.
Online advertisement has long become one of the main advertisement channels and often considered the most effective channel.
In order to effectively target advertisement (ADs) for specific users in real time highly sophisticated and complex platforms have be constructed based on advanced algorithms which are constantly evolving.
A key element in the real time advertisement trade is Real Time Bidding (RTB) in which publishers of online content offer for sale impressions at AD placements embedded in the online content. The impression sale offers designated RTB requests may be transmitted by automated platforms associated with the publishers, for example, a Supply Side Platform (SSP) and/or the like to one or more AD exchanges. The AD exchanges may conduct AD auctions in real time by distributing the RTB requests to a plurality of automated platforms associated with a plurality of advertisers, for example, a Demand Side Platform (DSP) and/or the like. In response the AD exchange may receive from the DSPs a plurality of bid offers for the RTB requests and may select a highest bidding offer. The AD associated with the highest bidding offer may then be served at the respective AD placements for which the RTB requests were issued.

System, method, and computer program for real-time bidding (RTB) for serving advertisements from edge storage


A method, computer system, and a computer program product for dynamic data visualization is provided. The present invention may include identifying at least one set of facts in a human-readable text document. They present invention may then include retrieving, from an information source, a dataset associated with the at least one identified set of facts. The present invention may also include, in response to determining that the retrieved dataset includes a fact-supporting dataset, wherein the fact-supporting dataset is configured to validate the at least one identified set of facts, generating at least one data visualization based on the retrieved dataset. The present invention may further include providing the at least one generated data visualization for inserting into the human-readable text document to support the at least one identified set of facts.

The present invention relates generally to the field of computing, and more particularly to data visualization.
Visualizing data is often more compelling than reading a set of facts written within a textual document or presentation. Having a supporting visualization representing the facts included in a presentation or document provides a major benefit to an audience trying to comprehend the underlying facts. However, creating such visualizations is a difficult multi-step process involving finding the proper supporting data and generating the proper data visualization that illustrates the facts communicated by the text.

Dynamic data visualization from factual statements in text

International Business Machines Corporation


A multifilamentary oxide superconducting wire includes a metal matrix and a plurality of flat oxide superconductor filaments arranged in the metal matrix such that wide directions thereof are radially arranged in a section of the metal matrix. A method of manufacturing a multifilamentary oxide superconducting wire includes the steps of filling a raw material of an oxide superconductor in a through hole of a metal member to form a composite billet, subjecting the composite billet to a diameter reduction process to form a composite wire having a fan-like section, arranging composite wires so that larger arcs of the composite wires are located on the outer side, thus forming form a composite wire arrangement, covering the composite wire arrangement with a metal member to form a metal-covered composite wire arrangement, and performing a predetermined heating process of the metal-covered composite wire arrangement, thus forming the raw material into an oxide superconductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multifilamentary oxide superconducting wire having an excellent superconducting property, and a method of efficiently obtaining such a multifilamentary oxide superconducting wire.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, Bi--Sr--Ca--Cu--O--, Y--Ba--Cu--O--, and Tl--Ba--Ca--Cu--O-based oxide superconductors whose critical temperatures exceed the temperature of liquid nitrogen are found, and studies on a variety of their applications are being made in various fields.
These oxide superconductors are brittle. Hence, to form them into oxide superconducting wires having predetermined shapes, for example, a raw material of an oxide superconductor is filled in a metal pipe to form a composite billet, and the composite billet is subjected to a diameter reduction process to obtain a desired shape. When a predetermined heating process is performed, the raw material is reacted to form an oxide superconductor, thereby obtaining a singlefilamentary oxide superconducting wire.
A multifilamentary oxide superconducting wire is manufactured in the following manner. That is, a multiple of oxide superconducting wires described above are arranged in a metal pipe, subjected to a diameter reduction process to obtain a desired shape, and subjected to a predetermined heating process. Alternatively, a plurality of through holes are formed in a metal billet, the raw material described above is filled in the through holes to form a composite billet, and the composite billet is subjected to a diameter reduction process to obtain a desired shape, and subjected to a predetermined heating process.
However, these methods provide either a multifilamentary oxide superconducting wire in which oxide superconductor filaments 11 each having a circular section are dispersed and composed in a metal matrix 10, as shown in FIG. 1A, or a multifilamentary oxide superconducting wire in which oxide superconductor filaments 12 each having a flat rectangular section are aligned in a predetermined direction and composed in a metal matrix 10, as shown in FIG. 1B.
The former cannot obtain a high superconducting property since the packing density of the oxide superconductor filaments 11 is low and the degree of c-axis orientation of the superconductor is low. In the latter, since the oxide superconductor filaments 12 each having the flat rectangular section are aligned only in the predetermined direction, the oxide superconductor filaments 12 become barriers against thermal conduction interfering with thermal conduction in the direction of thickness. As a result, the cooling capability of the multifilamentary oxide superconductor as a whole is decreased, and high superconducting property (such as critical temperature, critical current) cannot be obtained.
In the method of arranging multiple singlefilamentary oxide superconducting wires in the metal pipe, moreover it is difficult to align the singlefilamentary oxide superconducting wires in the metal pipe, and some oxide superconductor filaments inevitably intersect with each other in the obtained oxide superconductor. Since the intersecting portion is abnormally deformed, a high superconducting property cannot be obtained.
The method of forming a plurality of through holes in the metal billet is not preferable since the hole forming operation requires much labor, especially when the number of holes is large.

Multifilamentary oxide superconducting wires and method of manufacturing the same


Ventilating insole boards, self-ventilating footwear devices and self-bailing footwear articles and devices are provided.

Shoes which cool and dehumidify one's feet have been disclosed.
An example is a shoe with a product built into the sole of the shoe that cools and dehumidifies one's feet. In this example, the product is two layers molded or connected to the shoe sole, wherein the first layer has a liquid-filled area with a liquid powered turbine and the second layer contains a built-in fan or fans or other turbines powered by the liquid turbine responding to movement of the liquid in the first layer.
Athletic shoes with a self-pumping chamber for producing a continuous supply of airflow which provides ventilation to the foot of the wearer and/or improves the fit or cushioning of the shoe have also been disclosed.
Another example is an athletic shoe insulated to minimize heat from solar radiation and heat conduction from the ground and ventilated to draw into the interior of the shoe cool ambient air and discharge moist warm air developed as a result of athletic activity.
Yet another example is a shoe ventilation apparatus inclusive of a shoe with a bottom sole, a heel portion, and an upper portion, as well as pocket attached to the exterior portion of the shoe inclusive of a bellows with an air-inlet port and an air-outlet port disposed in the heel portion. All of the prior examples fail to provide adequate fluid flow around the foot to achieve wearer comfort.


Various bone screws configured to be implanted into bone and methods of use are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, a bone screw is provided with an elongate shank having at least two threads thereon, and having a distal facing surface with at least two cutting edges. The cutting edges can be configured to cut bone as the bone screw is rotated into bone, thereby forming a path for the threads.

A variety of conditions can result in the need for manipulation or treatment of spinal conditions, and many spinal procedures require the use of one or more bone screws. In particular, bone screws can be used in the spine to correct deformities and treat trauma and/or degenerative pathologies. For example, bone screws can be used in instrumentation procedures to affix rods and/or plates to the spine, can be used to immobilize part of the spine to assist fusion by holding bony structures together, and can be used in a variety of other operations to treat spinal conditions. Bone screws can provide a means of anchoring or securing various elements to a spinal segment during these procedures.
In such operations, it is important to accurately insert bone screws at an entry point of choice. It is also important to reduce the tendency of bone screws to turn or skive out of the entry point during the initial insertion attempt. Another desirable attribute would be reducing the number of instruments needed to prepare the boney anatomy for insertion. Initial screw insertion can be a significant challenge, adding difficulty and danger to an operation while possibly requiring additional equipment to prepare an entry point for correct screw placement. One approach to reduce the need for additional equipment is to create a flute, or a vertical cut or groove, in the thread of the screw. This flute feature forms a vertical edge to cut bone as the screw is rotated into bone. However, this approach results in reduced fixation within the boney anatomy once the screw is completely inserted. This reduced fixation potential is amplified with shorter screws.
Accordingly, there remains a need for bone screws having an improved structure for initial screw insertion that reduces the need for additional instruments to prepare an entry point and does not sacrifice potential screw fixation, especially in shorter screw lengths.


A circuit is configured to be operatively coupled to a plurality of memory devices arranged into one or more logical ranks. Each logical rank may correspond to a set of at least two physical ranks. The circuit is configured to be operatively coupled to a memory controller of a computer system to receive a logical rank refresh command. In response, the circuit can initiate a first refresh operation for one or more first physical ranks and then initiate a second refresh operation for one or more second physical ranks. The circuit can further include a memory location storing a refresh time (tRFC) value accessible by the memory controller and based at least in part on a calculated maximum amount of time for refreshing the logical rank.

In general, the addressable memory space of a memory system can be defined by the number of available address bits and/or the number of available chip select signals.
The addressable memory space in a memory system can be generally characterized as a two dimensional memory space with two orthogonal dimensions wherein the first dimension is defined by a first set of one or more address bits, and the second dimension is defined by one or more chip select signals. For example, FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a memory system 100 having a conventional two-dimensional memory space architecture with a first set of 14 address bits and four chip select signals. The memory system 100 of FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a nibble or four-bit slice of memory space comprising four DRAM devices 102 (e.g., x4 DRAM devices). Each DRAM device receives a chip select signal and four chip select signals can uniquely access one of the four DRAM devices 102 with the common address and command signals.
Increasing the number of address bits generally expands the memory space of the first dimension of the address space, and increasing the number of chip select signals generally expands the memory space of the second dimension of the address space. For example, if a system memory controller supports a fixed number of chip select signals but can optionally support one or more additional address bits, the memory space for this example system memory controller can support higher density memory devices (e.g., dynamic random access memory devices or DRAM devices) because the additional address bits allow for accessing higher density memory devices. However, such an example system memory controller generally can not access more memory devices due to the fixed number of chip select signals because each memory device generally has a corresponding chip select signal.

Circuit and method for refreshing a memory module


Disclosed is a device comprising: an anode; a cathode; an inorganic substrate; and at least one organic window layer positioned between: the anode and the inorganic substrate; or the cathode and the inorganic substrate. Also disclosed is a method of enhancing the performance of a photosensitive device having an anode, a cathode, and an inorganic substrate, comprising: positioning at least one organic window layer between the anode and the cathode. In one embodiment the organic window layer may absorb light and generate excitons that migrate to the inorganic where they convert to photocurrent, thereby increasing the efficiency of the device. Also disclosed is a method of enhancing Schottky barrier height of a photosensitive device, the method being substantially similar to the previously defined method.

Optoelectronic devices rely on the optical and electronic properties of materials to either produce or detect electromagnetic radiation electronically or to generate electricity from ambient electromagnetic radiation.
Photosensitive optoelectronic devices convert electromagnetic radiation into electricity. Solar cells, also called photovoltaic (PV) devices, are a type of photosensitive optoelectronic device that is specifically used to generate electrical power. PV devices, which may generate electrical energy from light sources other than sunlight, can be used to drive power consuming loads to provide, for example, lighting, heating, or to power electronic circuitry or devices such as calculators, radios, computers or remote monitoring or communications equipment. These power generation applications also often involve the charging of batteries or other energy storage devices so that operation may continue when direct illumination from the sun or other light sources is not available, or to balance the power output of the PV device with a specific application's requirements. As used herein the term "resistive load" refers to any power consuming or storing circuit, device, equipment or system.
Another type of photosensitive optoelectronic device is a photoconductor cell. In this function, signal detection circuitry monitors the resistance of the device to detect changes due to the absorption of light.
Another type of photosensitive optoelectronic device is a photodetector. In operation a photodetector is used in conjunction with a current detecting circuit which measures the current generated when the photodetector is exposed to electromagnetic radiation and may have an applied bias voltage. A detecting circuit as described herein is capable of providing a bias voltage to a photodetector and measuring the electronic response of the photodetector to electromagnetic radiation.
These three classes of photosensitive optoelectronic devices may be characterized according to whether a rectifying junction as defined below is present and also according to whether the device is operated with an external applied voltage, also known as a bias or bias voltage. A photoconductor cell does not have a rectifying junction and is normally operated with a bias. A PV device has at least one rectifying junction and is operated with no bias. A photodetector has at least one rectifying junction and is usually but not always operated with a bias. As a general rule, a photovoltaic cell provides power to a circuit, device or equipment, but does not provide a signal or current to control detection circuitry, or the output of information from the detection circuitry. In contrast, a photodetector or photoconductor provides a signal or current to control detection circuitry, or the output of information from the detection circuitry but does not provide power to the circuitry, device or equipment.
Traditionally, photosensitive optoelectronic devices have been constructed of a number of inorganic semiconductors, e.g., crystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous silicon, gallium arsenide, cadmium telluride and others. Herein the term "semiconductor" denotes materials which can conduct electricity when charge carriers are induced by thermal or electromagnetic excitation. The term "photoconductive" generally relates to the process in which electromagnetic radiant energy is absorbed and thereby converted to excitation energy of electric charge carriers so that the carriers can conduct, i.e., transport, electric charge in a material. The terms "photoconductor" and "photoconductive material" are used herein to refer to semiconductor materials which are chosen for their property of absorbing electromagnetic radiation to generate electric charge carriers.
PV devices may be characterized by the efficiency with which they can convert incident solar power to useful electric power. Devices utilizing crystalline or amorphous silicon dominate commercial applications, and some have achieved efficiencies of 23% or greater. However, efficient crystalline-based devices, especially of large surface area, are difficult and expensive to produce due to the problems inherent in producing large crystals without significant efficiency-degrading defects. On the other hand, high efficiency amorphous silicon devices still suffer from problems with stability. Present commercially available amorphous silicon cells have stabilized efficiencies between 4 and 8%.
PV devices may be optimized for maximum electrical power generation under standard illumination conditions (i.e., Standard Test Conditions which are 1000 W/m2, AM1.5 spectral illumination), for the maximum product of photocurrent times photovoltage. The power conversion efficiency of such a cell under standard illumination conditions depends on the following three parameters: (1) the current under zero bias, i.e., the short-circuit current ISC, in Amperes (2) the photovoltage under open circuit conditions, i.e., the open circuit voltage VOC, in Volts and (3) the fill factor, ff.
PV devices produce a photo-generated current when they are connected across a load and are irradiated by light. When irradiated under infinite load, a PV device generates its maximum possible voltage, V open-circuit, or VOC. When irradiated with its electrical contacts shorted, a PV device generates its maximum possible current, I short-circuit, or ISC. When actually used to generate power, a PV device is connected to a finite resistive load and the power output is given by the product of the current and voltage, I×V. The maximum total power generated by a PV device is inherently incapable of exceeding the product, ISC×VOC. When the load value is optimized for maximum power extraction, the current and voltage have the values, Imax and Vmax, respectively.
A figure of merit for PV devices is the fill factor, ff, defined as:ff={ImaxVmax}/{ISCVOC}  (1)
where ff is always less than 1, as ISC and VOC are never obtained simultaneously in actual use. Nonetheless, as ff approaches 1, the device has less series or internal resistance and thus delivers a greater percentage of the product of ISC and VOC to the load under optimal conditions. Where Pinc is the power incident on a device, the power efficiency of the device, ηP, may be calculated by:ηP=ff*(ISC*VOC)/Pinc
To produce internally generated electric fields that occupy a substantial volume of the semiconductor, the usual method is to juxtapose two layers of material with appropriately selected conductive properties, especially with respect to their distribution of molecular quantum energy states. The interface of these two materials is called a photovoltaic junction. In traditional semiconductor theory, materials for forming PV junctions have been denoted as generally being of either n or p type. Here n-type denotes that the majority carrier type is the electron. This could be viewed as the material having many electrons in relatively free energy states. The p-type denotes that the majority carrier type is the hole. Such material has many holes in relatively free energy states. The type of the background, i.e., not photo-generated, majority carrier concentration depends primarily on unintentional doping by defects or impurities. The type and concentration of impurities determine the value of the Fermi energy, or level, within the gap between the conduction band minimum and valance band maximum energies. The Fermi energy characterizes the statistical occupation of molecular quantum energy states denoted by the value of energy for which the probability of occupation is equal to ½. A Fermi energy near the conduction band minimum energy indicates that electrons are the predominant carrier. A Fermi energy near the valence band maximum energy indicates that holes are the predominant carrier. Accordingly, the Fermi energy is a primary characterizing property of traditional semiconductors and the prototypical PV junction has traditionally been the p-n interface.
The term "rectifying" denotes, inter alia, that an interface has an asymmetric conduction characteristic, i.e., the interface supports electronic charge transport preferably in one direction. Rectification is associated normally with a built-in electric field which occurs at the junction between appropriately selected materials.
Conventional inorganic semiconductor PV cells employ a p-n junction to establish an internal field. Early organic thin film cell, such as reported by Tang, Appl. Phys Lett. 48, 183 (1986), contain a heterojunction analogous to that employed in a conventional inorganic PV cell. However, it is now recognized that in addition to the establishment of a p-n type junction, the energy level offset of the heterojunction also plays an important role.
The energy level offset at the organic D-A heterojunction is believed to be important to the operation of organic PV devices due to the fundamental nature of the photo-generation process in organic materials. Upon optical excitation of an organic material, localized Frenkel or charge-transfer excitons are generated. For electrical detection or current generation to occur, the bound excitons must be dissociated into their constituent electrons and holes. Such a process can be induced by the built-in electric field, but the efficiency at the electric fields typically found in organic devices (F ˜106 V/cm) is low. The most efficient exciton dissociation in organic materials occurs at a donor-acceptor (D-A) interface. At such an interface, the donor material with a low ionization potential forms a heterojunction with an acceptor material with a high electron affinity. Depending on the alignment of the energy levels of the donor and acceptor materials, the dissociation of the exciton can become energetically favorable at such an interface, leading to a free electron polaron in the acceptor material and a free hole polaron in the donor material.
Organic PV cells have many potential advantages when compared to traditional silicon-based devices. Organic PV cells are light weight, economical in materials use, and can be deposited on low cost substrates, such as flexible plastic foils. However, organic PV devices typically have relatively low external quantum efficiency (electromagnetic radiation to electricity conversion efficiency), being on the order of 1% or less. This is, in part, thought to be due to the second order nature of the intrinsic photoconductive process. That is, carrier generation requires exciton generation, diffusion and ionization or collection. There is an efficiency η associated with each of these processes. Subscripts may be used as follows: P for power efficiency, EXT for external quantum efficiency, A for photon absorption, ED for diffusion, CC for collection, and INT for internal quantum efficiency. Using this notation:ηP˜ηEXT=ηA*ηED*ηCC ηEXT=ηA*ηINT
The diffusion length (LD) of an exciton is typically much less (LD˜50Δ) than the optical absorption length (˜500 Å), requiring a trade-off between using a thick, and therefore resistive, cell with multiple or highly folded interfaces, or a thin cell with a low optical absorption efficiency.
The performance of inorganic solar cells can be enhanced using large bandgap window layers or heterocontact layers, which can be made of lattice matched III-V compounds grown on top of the GaAs and InP solar cells or oxide and other amorphous materials used for silicon solar cells. These layers can improve solar cell photo current and open circuit voltage in both Schottky barrier and PN junction type devices
The materials currently used for the window layers or hetero-contact layers have been limited to inorganic semiconductors and dielectrics. There is disclosed herein using conducting organic materials as the window layer for inorganic solar cells. Previously, the growth kinetics and junction characteristics of organic molecules on inorganic substrates have been thoroughly investigated. It is also shown that organic materials can passivate the inorganic material surfaces, reduce the dark current for photo detectors, and serve as gate dielectrics for transistors. Researchers are also trying to use inorganic hybrid junctions for solar cell applications. However, the goal is adding inorganic materials into the organic matrix to help the exciton dissociation and charge collection. Using organic materials as window layers to improve inorganic solar cell performance has not been demonstrated.
Due to the surface passivation effect and large variety of energy levels of organic materials, they are very suitable for window layer applications for inorganic solar cells. As discussed herein, there is disclosed 3,4,9,10-Perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) as the window layer for InP Schottky barrier solar cells. Previously, it was shown that PTCDA molecules lie flat and can grow into uniform thin films on inorganic semiconductor surfaces and can also enhance the Schottky barrier heights in many cases. As discussed in more detail below, a thin layer of PTCDA can enhance the open circuit voltage and the power conversion efficiency of the InP solar cells.

Organic semiconductors as window layers for inorganic solar cells

The Regents of the University of Michigan


A metering device for producing a precisely metered volumetric flow is provided. The metering device comprises two displacement devices that are operated in phase opposition. In this case, the shifting speeds of the volumes of the displacement devices are adjusted such that no compensation flow takes place. In this state, the volumetric flow delivered to the device to be tested is identical to the volumetric flow taken in by the other displacement device from the pressure source.

The flow characteristics of nozzles, particularly nozzles used with compressible fluids, cannot be calculated precisely. To calculate the flow characteristics of a given nozzle, it is necessary to later measure the nozzle in order to determine the flow rate as a function of pressure. However, the flow characteristics need to be determined very precisely. Thus, while it is simple to measure the pressure accurately, the volumetric flow of the fluid is difficult to determine.
It is known to determine the volumetric flow of a nozzle by using fluid sources, in which the flow of a fluid arriving from a critically operated nozzle is conveyed to the nozzle to be tested by means of laminar flow elements. Although this measuring arrangement is comparatively accurate, it is not suitable as a measurement standard for calibration purposes.