Embodiments of the invention relate to preventing short-circuit failure even in the narrow track width and narrow gap length, resulting in improved yield. In one embodiment, die sensor heads are placed on both sides of the track direction of the sensor film. The sensor heads comprise the first insulating film with at least a part connected to the track direction wall surface of the sensor film and the third insulating film formed between the upper shield and the first insulating film, and have the relationship being Tw<Dx<Bx where the distance between edges of the first insulating film connected to the track direction wall surface of the sensor film is Tw, the distance between outside edges of the first insulating film along the track direction Bx, and the distance of inside edges of the third insulating film along the track direction Dx.

This invention relates to a thin film magnetic head which is applied to magnetic disc storage. More particularly, it relates to a thin film magnetic head used for reproducing.
With improving the high recording density of an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a thin film magnetic head mounted in it requires even narrower track width, narrower gap length, and higher sensitivity. At present, a thin film magnetic head is used by combining a write head with a read head. A GMR head applying the GMR effect is mainly used for the read head. This GMR head is a CIP (Current In Plane) type head in which an electric signal flows parallel in the film surface of a sensor film. For further improvement of the recording density in the future, a TMR (Tunneling MagnetoResistive effect) head and a CPP-GMR (Current Perpendicular to a Plane-Giant MagnetoResistive effect) head have been actively developed, which are understood to have advantages of narrow track width and narrow gap length. This TMR head and CPP-GMR head are not CIP type heads in which an electric signal flows parallel in the film surface of a sensor film, but CPP type heads in which flow is perpendicular to the film surface, which is different from a conventional GMR head.
JP-A No. 280635/2002 disclosed that, for a TMR head, improvement of the barrier layer of a TMR sensor film improved the insulation, developer resistance, smoothness, and heat radiation. JP-A No. 198000/2003 disclosed that, for a CPP-GMR head, the alignment margin was improved by making the lower electrode connected to the sensor film in a convex shape and making the width of the upper electrode connected to the sensor film smaller than the lower electrode. JP-A No. 298144/2003 disclosed that planarizing the convex shaped part made it possible to form a more uniform sensor film, resulting in improved characteristics.

Thin film magnetic head and fabrication process for preventing short-circuit failure in a narrow track width and narrow gap length

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


The present invention relates to a method of detecting a DNA sequence by means of a DNA:DNA hybrid in real time using fluorescence. The present invention eliminates the need to use radioactive probes to detect the DNA and eliminates the delay needed for autoradiographic exposure of the X-ray to the radioactive label.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the detection of a DNA sequence in real time using fluorescence.
2. Background Information
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) developed by Saiki et al. [Science 230, 1350-1354 (1985)] provided a method for rapidly amplifying small specific segments of DNA. The PCR technique has greatly simplified the analysis of DNA sequences at the genomic level.
Detection or identification of a segment of DNA involves a two step procedure. The first step is the PCR amplification reaction using carefully selected primers. The second step identifies whether the desired DNA segment was amplified.
Prior to the present invention, the second step has required the use of a radioactively labeled DNA probe to precisely identify a PCR amplified DNA segment. There are several disadvantages associated with the use of a radioactively labeled probe. For example, radioactive probes are dangerous to handle and when labeled with .sup.32 P, which is the standard protocol, the probe has a short useful life (a few weeks at most). In addition, the use of a radioactive probe prevents detection of the results in real time, that is, a delay for an autoradiographic exposure time is required.

Method for the fluorescent detection of a DNA sequence in real time

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


The position and orientation of an ultrasound probe is tracked in three dimensions to provide highly-accurate three-dimensional bone surface images that can be used for anatomical assessment and/or procedure guidance. The position and orientation of a therapy applicator can be tracked in three dimensions to provide feedback to align the projected path of the therapy applicator with a desired path for the therapy applicator or to provide feedback to align the potential therapy field of a therapy applicator with a target anatomical site. The three-dimensional bone surface images can be fit to a three-dimensional model of the anatomical site to provide or display additional information to the user to improve the accuracy of the anatomical assessment and/or procedure guidance.

Medical ultrasound is commonly used to facilitate needle injection or probe insertion procedures such as central venous line placement or various spinal anesthesia procedures. A commonly implemented technique involves locating anatomical landmarks (e.g., blood vessel or bone structures) using ultrasound imaging and subsequently marking the patient's skin with a surgical marker in proximity to the ultrasound transducer. The ultrasound transducer is then removed, and the needle is inserted after positioning it at a location relative to the marking site.
Needle insertion, probe placement, and therapeutic delivery procedures require an understanding of the underlying three-dimensional anatomy to ensure accurate placement of the therapeutic instrument. However, existing medical ultrasound systems are most often configured to provide only two-dimensional, cross-sectional views of the underlying anatomy. As a result, it is technically challenging to execute three-dimensional navigation of the therapeutic instrument while referencing only two-dimensional, cross-sectional views of the anatomy. Further, few medical ultrasound systems provide visual cues to the medical practitioner to assist with determining whether the therapeutic device is aligned with the target anatomical site. Current systems do not provide visual guidance to the medical provider to determine whether the therapeutic device is aligned with the target therapy site, without complicated registration to other 3D imaging modality images (CT/MRI).
The limitations of existing medical ultrasound systems result in the need for medical practitioners to undergo extensive training regimens to compensate for the lack of real-time, three-dimensional image guidance information. The training burden results in a shortage of competent medical practitioners who are qualified to perform the interventional procedures.

Three-dimensional imaging and modeling of ultrasound image data


A switching device capable of preventing entrance of water from outside of a case through a space below an operation knob into the case is disclosed. The switching device includes: a switch; a case within which the switch is accommodated; a hollow cylinder which is formed integrally with the upper surface of the case and open to above and below to communicate with the inside of the case; an operation knob provided to cover an upper opening of the cylinder such that the operation knob can swing; and an operation bar which extends through a lower opening of the cylinder into the case to transmit the motion of the operation knob to the switch. A concave is formed on the upper surface of the case at a position around the cylinder. A lid for covering a part of the concave is provided on the concave near the cylinder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching device for switching on and off by operation of an operation knob which swings, and more particularly to a waterproof-type switching device capable of preventing water from entering into its case.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 6 is a side view schematically showing a structure of a conventional switching device 50 used in a window open/close system (power window system) of a vehicle. The switching device 50 has a case 51, and switches, a circuit board and other components which will be described later are accommodated inside the case 51. A seesaw-motion type operation knob 56 of a window open/close switch is operated to open and close a window of the vehicle. The operation knob 56 has an operation section 56a, a cap section 56b formed integrally with the operation section 56a, and holes 56c formed on the side walls of the cap section 56b. A cylinder 57 is provided on an upper surface 51e of the case 51, and a shaft 57a is formed integrally with the outer wall of the cylinder 57. The cap section 56b of the operation knob 56 is attached to the cylinder 57 from above, and the holes 56c of the operation knob 56 are brought into engagement with the shaft 57a of the cylinder 57. By this engagement, the operation knob 56 is supported by the cylinder 57 such that the operation knob 56 can swing around the shaft 57a. An operation knob 54 is a push-lock-type operation knob of a window lock switch, and is operated to lock the windows of the vehicle such that the windows cannot be opened, and to release the lock. The switching device 50 is attached to an arm rest (not shown) provided on the door of the driver's seat of the vehicle, and is covered by a cover 61 shown in FIG. 7 in areas other than the positions of the operation knobs 54 and 56.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the switching device 50 to which the cover 61 is attached. As apparent from the figure, the cylinder 57 is a hollow cylinder which is open to above and below to communicate with the inside of the case 51. A circuit board 64 is provided inside the case 51, and a switch 63 is packaged on the circuit board 64. The switch 63 is a switch for opening and closing a window, and is formed by a known slide switch. The switch 63 has an actuator 63a. An operation bar 62 connected to the operation knob 56 extends through a lower opening 57c of the cylinder 57 toward the inside of the case 51. A concave 62a is formed at the lower end of the operation bar 62. By engagement between the concave 62a and the actuator 63a of the switch 63, the motion of the operation knob 56 is transmitted through the operation bar 62 to the switch 63, and contacts equipped inside the switch 63 are switched between on and off in accordance with the operating position of the operation knob 56. A point Q is the rotation center of the operation knob 56, and corresponds to the position of the shaft 57a shown in FIG. 6. An opening 61a through which the finger is inserted to operate the operation section 56a of the operation knob 56 is formed on the cover 61. The operation section 56a is exposed through the opening 61a.
A switching device having a similar structure as that of the switching device 50 explained above is shown in JP-A-8-180755 and JP-A-5-314864 (Patent References 1 and 2). JP-A-11-86662 (Patent Reference 3) discloses a switching device which is waterproofed by surrounding soldered portions of electronic component terminals on a circuit board with side walls formed by rubber contact members without requiring coatings.
In the switching device 50 described above, the opening 61a of the cover 61 is sized large enough to prevent any trouble which may be caused when putting the finger on the operation section 56a of the operation knob 56 to lower or raise the operation section 56a. As a result, raindrops entering through the window which has been left open, beverage accidentally spilt in the vehicle compartment or the like (hereinafter collectively referred to as "water") may flow through the opening 61a into a concave 61b as illustrated in FIG. 7. In this case, when a large amount of water flows into the concave 61b, the water entering the concave 61b flows through a clearance 65 formed between a bottom wall 61f of the concave 61b and the cap section 56b of the operation knob 56 and rises through a clearance 66 formed between the cap section 56b of the operation knob 56 and a side wall 57e of the cylinder 57. Then, the water enters through an upper opening 57b of the cylinder 57 into the cylinder 57, and flows through the lower opening 57c of the cylinder 57 into the case 51 as shown by arrows in FIG. 7.
Nothing is described about prevention of water which enters from below the operation knob 56 as in the manner explained above in Patent References 1 and 2 mentioned above. Additionally, while Patent Reference 3 discloses a waterproofing technique for preventing short-circuit, entrance of water from below the operation knob into the case cannot be prevented in such a switching device which does not use rubber contacts according to the technique shown in this reference.


A vehicle cowl cover includes a windshield support portion and a channel portion. The windshield support portion includes a first windshield supporting wall and a second windshield supporting wall coupled to the first windshield supporting wall to define a windshield receiving cavity that is configured to receive a bottom edge of a windshield. The windshield receiving cavity extends in a lateral direction along the bottom edge of the windshield. The channel portion extends from the second windshield supporting wall and defines a water receiving channel that is configured to receive water that flows over a top edge of the second windshield supporting wall from the windshield receiving cavity. The channel portion is angled relative to an inner surface of the windshield to direct water laterally along the channel portion to at least one side edge of the vehicle cowl cover.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle cowl cover. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle cowl cover including a channel for receiving water that flows over an edge of a windshield supporting wall.
2. Background Information
Vehicles, such as automobiles, trucks, SUVs, vans and so on, are designed to withstand a wide variety of weather and environmental conditions. Naturally, such vehicles are constructed to prevent or at least minimize the amount of water and debris that can accumulate on or within a vehicle. For example, rain water can collect and add weight to a vehicle, seep into various areas of the vehicle, or deposit residue when such water evaporates. Accordingly, rain water may need to be diverted so that the water does not collect within the body structure of the vehicle.
As known in the automotive industry, a cowl cover typically occupies a space between the vehicle hood and the vehicle windshield, and at least partially rests on the windshield. The fit between a cowl cover and windshield is typically designed to be as tight as possible. However, gaps or other inconsistencies will inevitably occur, thus causing water to penetrate the seal between the cowl cover and the windshield and accumulate on inner surfaces of the cowl cover. This accumulated water can potentially pass into a vehicle cowl area concealed by the cowl cover.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved vehicle cowl cover. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


A process of cleaning of objects that relate to semiconductor fabrication processes, such as, for example, conductive paste screening in the production of multilayer ceramic substrates and composite solder paste by stencil printing in electronic circuit assembly. Specifically, the process removes a metal/polymer composite paste from screening masks and associated paste making and processing equipment used in printing conductive metal pattern onto ceramic green sheet in the fabrication of semiconductor packaging substrates. The process also cleans solder paste residue from stencil printing equipment used in electronic module assembly surface mount technology for SMT discretes, solder column attachment, and BGA (Ball Grid Array) attachment on ceramic chip carrier or for screening solder paste onto printed circuit board. More particularly, paste residue is cleaned from metal, ceramic, and plastic substrates by a non-alkaline semi-aqueous cleaning method employing high boiling propylene glycol alkyl ether or mixtures of propylene glycol alkyl ether and propylene glycol solvents.

The present invention relates generally to a new apparatus and method of semi-aqueous solvent cleaning of paste processing residue from substrates. More particularly, the invention encompasses an apparatus and a method that utilizes a semi-aqueous solvent cleaning method for cleaning of paste residue from screening objects comprising the use of at least one propylene-glycol alky-ether solvent.
In the fabrication of multilayer ceramic (MLC) substrates for packaging semiconductor devices, conductive metal patterns are screened onto individual ceramic green sheets by printing, such as, extrusion printing, which uses metal mask, such as, Mo, Ni, or Cu, which are placed in contact with the green sheet, or by screen printing, which involves paste squeegee using mesh mask or emulsion mask. After screening, the green sheets are assembled and aligned, and laminated, followed by sintering operation to form multilayer ceramic substrate having internal metallurgy for mounting and interconnecting a plurality of integrated circuit semiconductor devices.
For advanced ground rule electronic packaging structures requiring to print closely spaced conductive metal patterns on a substrate, the screening masks used have highly dense fine dimension etched features. Under certain conditions such screening masks may have the problem of paste residue entrapment in the mask features in addition to a surface residue when the paste is screened to deposit conductive pattern on green sheets. This requires that the metal mask be cleaned after one or more screening passes to eliminate/minimize the possibility of defects in a subsequently screened pattern. Any defects in the screened paste pattern replicates into the final product causing yield loss.
Conductive pastes used in screening processes for delineation of wiring and/or via metallurgy, and I/O pad (input-output) patterns comprise metal particles dispersed in an organic binder and solvent vehicle along with wetting agents, dispersants/surfactants, plasticizers, and other additives, such as, thickening agents, antioxidants, and coloring agents which are all well known in the fabrication of electronic components.
Most commonly used conductive pastes in multilayer ceramic fabrication are based on molybdenum or tungsten metal powder dispersed in an organic polymer binder, such as, for example, ethyl cellulose, polymethyl methacrylate, and the like, or poly-hydrocarbon based thermoplastic resins dissolved in a high boiling solvent system.
Conductive pastes that are typically used for screening processes in multilayer ceramic comprise molybdenum, copper, tungsten, nickel, gold, tin, and the like. Because of the variety and complex chemical make-up of metal/polymer composite pastes, it is required that the mask cleaning medium and process selected be such that it provides complete and efficient cleaning of all types of pastes from screening masks and associated equipment, such as, extrusion heads or paste nozzles, etc.
Solder pastes commonly used in electronic assembly processes for interconnections constitute eutectic alloys, specifically, Pbxe2x80x94Sn, Bixe2x80x94Sn, Inxe2x80x94Sn, and related powder alloys dispersed in an organic carrier. Solder paste application onto substrates for component attachment is done by screen printing through a screen stencil, for example, stainless steel stencil, or by the dispense method. Various solder paste formulations constitute a eutectic alloy dispersed in an organic carrier, for example, a solvent, rheology modifier, fluxing agent, such as, rosin based flux. It is important to clean solder paste residue from metal mask stencils, especially in the case of ultra-fine pitch BGA (Ball Grid Array) attachment to assure defect-free printing on substrate metal pads and thus eliminate solder defects.
Traditionally used cleaning solvents for cleaning/degreasing purposes in many industrial and consumer product applications include aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, typically, 1,1,2-trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, methylene chloride, and fluorochlorocarbons as CFC-113, and CFC-112. The chlorinated solvents were especially preferred because they are non-flammable, i.e., have no flash point, and are highly effective solvents.
Because of the environmental and health issues associated with the use halogenated hydrocarbon solvents in production processes, there has been major focus in the past decade to introduce environmentally safer/acceptable organic solvent alternatives, and water-based cleaning formulations. Recently, ultrasonic and spray cleaning equipment for water-based cleaning chemistry have become commercially available and several detergent compositions have been described in the patent literature for cleaning/degreasing purposes. These compositions are used, for example, for cleaning printed circuit board assemblies and other parts in device fabrication to remove soldering flux, oil/grease, and other organic residues invariably formed during bonding and assembly processes in microelectronics. These compositions are generally based on a combination of surfactants in water and/or alkaline detergent compositions, comprising alkali metal salts, such as, sodium metasilicate, sodium carbonate, tribasic sodium phosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, and combinations thereof, as well as, highly alkaline solutions based on alkali metal salts, alkali metal hydroxides, and mixture thereof with alkanolamines. Aqueous cleaner formulations comprising this category of alkali metal carbonate and bicarbonate salts are utilized with an alkali metal silicate, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,506 (Winston), for the removal of solder flux, oils, waxes, and greasy substances, adhesives and other residues from electronic circuit assemblies, such as, printed circuit or printed wiring boards during their fabrication.
Alternate organic solvent cleaning methods are based on the use of low boiling alcohol, ketone, or ester solvents, for example, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), acetone, n-butylacetate, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), and aromatic hydrocarbons, specifically xylene. These solvents have safety and environmental issues due to their low boiling points, high flammability, volatile emissions and VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) regulations, and thus are considered undesirable for production processes. Various aqueous cleaning alternatives designed for saponification mechanism, on the other hand, generally have a high pH ( greater than 11-13) detergent formulations. High pH aqueous cleaners have associated safety issues which require special handling and costly equipment designs to assure protection against any accidental contact exposure. With alkaline aqueous cleaners comprising alkali metal salts, for example, phosphates, silicates, hydroxides, and surface active agents, there is also an issue of wastewater management for compliance with the Clean Water Act regulations which require that all possible sources of aquatic toxicity and other environmentally undesirable constituents be removed from the effluent before discharge to surface waters. This requires special and costly wastewater treatments involving precipitation with complexing agents to form sludge that carries active ingredients of cleaning compositions, metals, and other dissolved constituents resulting in solids loading to the waste. To minimize waste and reduce cost with conservation of water in aqueous cleaning, there is currently significant industry direction toward environmentally suitable zero waste processes by devising methodology for reclamation, recycling, and reuse.
The invention is a novel method and an apparatus for semi-aqueous solvent cleaning of paste processing residue from substrates.
This invention basically is a semi-aqueous method of cleaning polymer/metal composite paste residue from screening masks/stencils and paste processing equipment in the production of multilayer ceramic substrates, organic chip carriers and cards, and of composite solder paste application in electronic circuit assembly. The method according to this invention involves a cleaning cycle using a high boiling, low vapor pressure, and substantially water soluble solvent, specifically, a propylene-glycol alkyl-ether solvent followed by a first water rinse to remove the cleaning solvent carry-over on the substrate from the cleaning tank, a second water dip/rinse (optional) to remove last traces of organic contaminants, if any, and then a final thorough water rinse and drying operation.
Therefore, one purpose of this invention is to provide an apparatus and a method that will help clean polymer/metal composite paste residue from a substrate.
Another purpose of this invention is to provide for a non-hazardous, low cost, cleaning option for paste residue from substrates.
Still another purpose of this invention is to have a semi-aqueous cleaning method for removing paste screening residue from screening equipment.
Yet another purpose of this invention is to provide a non-alkaline semi-aqueous water-based cleaning method for paste screening and paste processing equipment as a superior alternative to chlorinated solvents, volatile organic solvents and alkaline aqueous cleaning compositions in multilayer ceramic manufacturing and in microelectronic assembly processes.
Another purpose of this invention is to provide a semi-aqueous cleaning method for cleaning screens/stencils and paste processing parts by using high boiling propylene-glycol alkyl-ether solvents as a replacement of volatile organic solvents and aqueous alkaline cleaning to eliminate chemical safety concerns, volatile emissions and hazardous waste.
Yet another purpose of this invention is to provide a method for cleaning of paste residue from substrates using a high boiling organic solvent for the cleaning solvent without adding water or other additives such as surface active agents or other adjuvants such that the solvent can be easily recovered and recycled.
Still another purpose of this invention is to provide a semi-aqueous alternative to flammable solvents and aqueous alkaline cleaning compositions in cleaning screening paste residue and solder paste residue from substrates in microelectronic fabrication using a propylene-glycol alkyl-ether solvent that is effective in removing polar, non-polar, or hydrophilic and hydrophobic paste residue from metal and plastic surfaces.
It is also the purpose of this invention to provide a solvent-based semi-aqueous cleaning method for screening masks/stencils and paste processing equipment which does not require special wastewater treatment.
Yet another purpose of this invention is to provide a semi-aqueous cleaning method for paste screening masks which allows easy removal of washed-off metal by filtration and solvent recovery, for example, by distillation from the waste liquid and provides benefit of waste minimization.
Still another purpose of this invention is to provide a semi-aqueous cleaning method using a high boiling propylene-glycol alkyl-ether solvent that is compatible with metal masks, emulsion masks, electronic components and polymer adhesives used in assembly processes, and all contacting materials in the cleaning equipment.
Still yet another purpose of this invention is to provide a semi-aqueous cleaning method with an organic solvent which is non-flammable high boiling Class-III combustible, (flash point of greater than about 140xc2x0 F.), preferably Class-UB combustible, (flash point of greater than about 200xc2x0 F.), non-corrosive, and has no contact hazard concerns.
Therefore, the inventors are disclosing a first invention which comprises a semi-aqueous solvent cleaning method for cleaning of paste residue from at least one object comprising the use of at least one propylene-glycol alky-ether solvent.
The inventors are disclosing a second invention which comprises a method for cleaning paste residue from at least one object, comprising the steps of:
(a) Pre-heating propylene-glycol alkyl-ether solvent in a tank having at least one ultrasonic bath at between about 45 to about 80xc2x0 C.,
(b) Immersing said paste residue carrying object in said preheated solvent and subjecting said object to ultrasonic agitation for between about 1 to about 10 min, and
(c) Transferring said object to a tank having preheated water at between about 45 to about 70xc2x0 C., and subjecting said object to at least one immersion spray and/or ultrasonic agitation, and thereby cleaning said paste residue from said at least one object.
The inventors are disclosing a third invention which comprises an apparatus for cleaning paste residue from at least one object, comprising:
(a) at least one tank containing at least one pre-heated propylene-glycol alkyl-ether solvent in said tank, wherein temperature of said solvent in said is between about 45 to about 80xc2x0 C., and wherein said tank further having at least one ultrasonic agitator,
(b) at least one means for immersing said paste residue carrying object in said pre-heated solvent and subjecting said object to ultrasonic agitation for between about 1 to about 10 min, and
(c) at least one means for transferring said object to a tank having preheated water at between about 45 to about 70xc2x0 C., and subjecting said object to at least one immersion spray and/or ultrasonic agitation, and thereby cleaning said paste residue from said at least one object.

Semi-aqueous solvent cleaning of paste processing residue from substrates

International Business Machines Corporation


A fungicide can be provided by using, as an active ingredient, a diamine derivative of the following general formula (1):

Pest Control plays a significant role in cultivation of paddy rice, and, in particular, various fungicides have been developed and used against rice blast, which is considered to be an important disease injury. These fungicides, however, are not always satisfactory in terms of the desired fungicidal activity and control of the undesirable harmful effects on useful crops. In addition, in recent years, fungi having drug-resistant have emerged due to the frequent use of agricultural and horticultural fungicides, and the existing fungicides do not always exhibit satisfactory fungicidal activity. Furthermore, from the environmental viewpoint, there have been demands for novel fungicides which are safe and capable of controlling harmful fungi at lower concentrations.

Diamine derivatives, process for producing the diamine derivatives, and fungicides containing the diamine derivatives as an active ingredient

Abstract: wherein        R1 to R7 represent a specific substituent such as an alkyl group with 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and R8 represents an aryl group, which may be substituted or a heteroaryl group, which may be substituted.


In a method of forming an integrated circuit device, sidewall oxides are formed by plasma oxidation on the patterned gate. This controls encroachment beneath a dielectric layer underlying the patterned gate. The patterned gate is oxidized using in-situ O2 plasma oxidation. The presence of the sidewall oxides minimizes encroachment under the gate edge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes for fabricating semiconductor devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of plasma oxidation to reduce lateral encroachment during the fabrication processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor wafer fabrication involves a series of processes used to create semiconductor devices and integrated circuits (ICs) in and on a semiconductor wafer surface. Fabrication typically involves the basic operations of layering and patterning, together with others such as doping, and heat treatments. Layering is an operation used to add thin layers of material (typically insulator, semi-conductor or conductor) to the surface of the semiconductor wafer. Patterning is an operation that is used to remove specific portions of the top layer or layers on the wafer surface. Patterning is usually accomplished through the use of photolithography (also known as photomasking) to transfer the semiconductor design to the wafer surface.
As the scaling of the Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) transistor proceeds toward deep sub-micron dimensions, high-k gate dielectric materials (which are defined as materials that can provide a k value significantly higher than that of SiO2) are becoming more predominant in replacing silicon dioxide (SiO2) as a gate dielectric. One problem with SiO2 gate dielectrics is excessive leakage current at the sub-90 nm process nodes.
However, one of the issues related to using high-k materials as gate dielectrics is the formation of bird""s beak encroachment at the corner edge of the gate stack due to lateral encroachment of the formed SiO2 under the high-k material. The bird""s beak encroachment typically has a tapered shape. The formation of the SiO2 bird""s beak directly under the corner of the gate electrode (such as Poly-Si) will significantly reduce the effective k-value and thereby increase the gate equivalent oxide thickness (EOT). Such bird""s beak encroachment is thus unacceptable for CMOS transistor manufacturing.
Conventional approaches to mitigating the encroachment include physical sputter etching of high-k dielectrics. The sputter etching will re-deposit high-k dielectric into the sidewall of the gate stack to minimize the high-k dielectric""s etch undercut, and thus, reduce the high-k dielectric""s bird""s beak formation directly under the gate electrode. However, it is difficult to control the thickness of the re-deposited layer of high-k dielectric. Moreover, it may not be possible to completely eliminate the SiO2 encroachment directly under gate electrode with this technique.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a more effective process for controlling the SiO2 encroachment from directly under the active gate electrode.
To achieve the foregoing, the present invention provides a process that provides increased control of gate sidewall oxide layers and prevents oxide encroachment from being formed under the gate electrode. The poly gate electrode layer is deposited and etched, with the etching stopping on the high-k material layer. Oxidation of the sidewall of the gate electrode stack is achieved using in-situ O2 plasma oxidation. Thus, the sidewall oxide thickness can be controlled by varying the O2 plasma and oxidation time parameters. A high-k dielectric layer etch follows using plasma dry etching, thus avoiding etching of the high-k material under the sidewall due to the anisotropic nature of the plasma etch.
In one embodiment, the present invention provides a process for forming a gate dielectric while minimizing lateral encroachment of a SiO2 layer. A dielectric layer is deposited on a substrate. A gate electrode layer is formed on the dielectric layer. The gate electrode layer is patterned and etched. An oxidized layer is formed on the sidewalls of the gate electrode stack using plasma oxidation. The exposed oxidized layer is then etched using a plasma dry etch. The plasma oxidized areas are then removed.
In another embodiment, thickness of the oxidized layer is controlled by controlling to a predetermined value at least one of the oxidation time and plasma process parameters. Control of the plasma oxidation is further obtained by applying a higher RF power to the top portion of a plasma reactor while applying a lower RF value to the bottom portion of the plasma reactor.
In yet another embodiment, the dielectric layer is one of hafnium oxide, hafnium silicate, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, and other metal oxides that contain one, two or even more cations and nanolaminate layers.

High-k dielectric bird""s beak optimizations using in-situ O2 plasma oxidation


A device for measuring the activity of carbonate ions and hydrogen ions comprises a carbonate ion selective electrode pair and a hydrogen ion selective electrode pair. Each ion selective electrode comprises a metal layer, metal halide layer and ion selective layer superposed in this order. A porous bridge is disposed so as to achieve a liquid junction between the ion selective electrodes of each electrode pair.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for potentiometrically determining the activity (concentrations) of carbonate and hydrogen ions in aqueous liquid samples and various aqueous solutions, especially in body fluids such as blood, blood plasma, blood serum and urine. In particular, this invention relates to a device on which a single drop of each of a reference liquid and a liquid sample are spotted and with which the concentration of carbonates (or carbonate ions) in and the pH value of a liquid sample can simultaneously be determined.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In body fluids, various mechanisms act against exogenous or endogenous acids and bases so that the pH value thereof is kept within the range of 7.40.+-.0.05. The most important chemical buffer action inherent in organisms is the hydrogencarbonate system.
As indicated by the Henderson-Hasselbalch expression: pH=pK+log[HCO.sub.3.sup.- ]-log[.alpha..P.sub.co2 ] The pH value is determined from the concentration of hydrogencarbonate ions (HCO.sub.3.sup.-) and the partial pressure of carbonates (P.sub.CO2).
In the above expression, pK and .alpha. denote the dissociation constant of hydrogencarbonate ions and the solubility coefficient of carbonates, respectively. They are values which ar determined by temperature and pH. The pH, TCO.sub.2 (total carbonate concentration), P.sub.co2 and HCO.sub.3.sup.- concentration can be calculated on the basis of the above expression when at least two of the parameters just mentioned are known.
Abnormalities in the pH are grouped into acidosis in which the pH shifts to the acid side and alkalosis in which the pH shifts to the basic side. According to the causes thereof, they are further divided into metabolic acidosis and alkalosis which are mainly caused by abnormalities in the concentration of HCO.sub.3.sup.- and respiratory acidosis and alkalosis which are mainly caused by abnormalities in the P.sub.co2. When an abnormality in the acid-base equilibrium occurs, the P.sub.co2 and the concentration of HCO.sub.3.sup.- can be calculated on the basis of the above expression if the concentration of carbonates and the pH value are known, and thereby the cause for the abnormality in the pH can be presumed.
Measurements of the concentration of carbonates and the pH value in blood samples should be conducted as soon as possible after the blood samples are collected. This is because the P.sub.co2 in body fluids is more than 100 times as high as that in the air. That is, if the blood samples are not kept from coming into contact with air, the P.sub.co2 thereof will decrease immediately after they have been collected. Thus, the pH value of the blood samples increases according to the Henderson-Hasselbalch expression. Also, even when the blood samples are kept from coming into contact with air, their pH value decreases (changes toward the acidic region) due to an increase in the P.sub.co2 as time passes. As seen from the Henderson-Hasselbalch expression, the concentration of carbonates will yield an error if the pH value fluctuates. However, in most of the conventional measuring devices, the concentration of carbonate ions cannot be measured immediately after the blood is collected, since whole blood cannot be subjected to measurements until after the blood cells are separated therefrom by means of a centrifuge or the like. Also, in order to further examine the acid-base equilibrium, many items such as the pH, the concentration of carbonates, the P.sub.co2 and the concentration of HCO.sub.3.sup.- must be measured.


The present application discloses an uplink LBT channel detection method, an uplink data sending method, and a device. The method includes: before transmitting a UL grant, determining, by a base station, based on a service priority in a BSR of user equipment scheduled in a self-contained subframe, a contention window required for performing LBT; and performing, by the base station, the LBT based on the contention window, and after detecting that a channel is idle, transmitting, in the self-contained subframe through the channel, a UL grant corresponding to the user equipment; or after detecting, by using the LBT, that a channel is idle, transmitting, by the base station in the self-contained subframe through the channel, a UL grant corresponding to the user equipment, where the UL grant carries information about the contention window, so that the user equipment performs the LBT based on the information about the contention window.

In a wireless local area network (WLAN for short), a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA for short) access technology is used. A node needs to perform clear channel assessment (CCA for short) first before sending data, to determine whether the channel is occupied. In addition, to ensure fairness when a plurality of nodes contend for a channel at the same time, a random back-off mechanism is further introduced. Each node selects a random back-off number based on a contention window (CW for short) corresponding to the node. When it is detected that a channel in a timeslot is idle, a corresponding back-off number is reduced, and the channel can be accessed only when random back-off ends, as shown in FIG. 1.
To improve transmission bandwidth to further improve a data transmission rate, a licensed-assisted access (LAA for short) technology is introduced to the Release 13 in 3GPP, to fully use an unlicensed band. Based on carrier aggregation, the LAA technology supports simultaneous transmitting and receiving on a plurality of carriers. A licensed band is used as a primary carrier, and the unlicensed band is used as an auxiliary subcarrier. Currently, the unlicensed band in the LAA is a 5 GHz band (which supports only downlink transmission) in the 3GPP. However, to ensure that Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE for short) and an existing access technology (such as Wi-Fi) can co-exist fairly and friendly, a device working on the unlicensed band needs to comply with a principle of LBT to avoid collision.
During study about the LAA in the 3GPP, four categories of LBT mechanisms are discussed.
Category 1 (Cat 1): An LBT mechanism in which no CCA detection is performed before data is sent.
Cat 2: An LBT mechanism in which no random back-off is performed.
Cat 3: A random back-off LBT mechanism in which a contention window is fixed.
Cat 4: A random back-off LBT mechanism in which a contention window is changeable.
To ensure fair co-existence with Wi-Fi, the Cat 4 LBT mechanism is used for accessing a downlink channel in the Release 13, to be specific, an eNB needs to first ensure that a channel is detected idle in a defer duration Td, and then random back-off starts. When the back-off ends, the eNB accesses the channel and obtains a corresponding maximum channel occupation time (Maximum Channel Occupation Time, MCOT for short).
An LTE system supports two frame structures: frequency division duplex (Frequency Division Duplex, FDD for short) and time division duplex (Time Division Duplex, TDD for short). There is an independent subframe for each of uplink transmission and downlink transmission. A next-generation access technology has requirements such as a high rate and a low latency. For the TDD frame structure, to avoid a strict requirement on a time sequence between subframes, a self-contained TDD frame structure is provided, to support data and ACK/NACK or control information such as uplink control information (UCI for short)/downlink control information (DCI for short) to be transmitted in a same subframe. The self-contained TDD frame structure specifically includes: a self-contained frame structure in which downlink (DL for short) prevails, as shown in FIG. 2A, and a self-contained frame structure in which uplink (UL for short) prevails, as shown in FIG. 2B.
Existing LBT mechanisms all study a frame structure of independent uplink and downlink transmission, and currently there is no feasible implementation solution for performing LBT channel detection based on a self-contained frame structure.

Uplink LBT channel detection method, uplink data sending method, and device


In a picture encoding and/or decoding system, fast motion region blocks and slow motion region blocks are repeated by a classifying unit on the basis of motion vector to thereby be able to adaptively change. A majority decision is made as to the predetermined block with the surrounding blocks an isolated block of which is replaced by the surrounding block to thereby be able to enhance picture quality. Data of border portions of adjacent channels divided is overlapped on a border portion of each channel to thereby be able to avoid transmission of unnecessary amount of information.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a picture encoding and/or decoding system, and more particularly is applicable to transmitting, recording, etc. a motion picture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
First of all, to compress picture information in transmitting picture data to remote places or recording it in a recording media such as a magnetic tape, there have been adapted various coding methods, such as predictive coding, transformation coding, and hybrid coding combining the predictive coding and the transformation coding together, which are methods comprising redundancy suppressing coding of picture signals.
Predictive coding comprises intrafield prediction and interframe prediction, the former being performed according to previous sample prediction and 1 line prediction utilizing correlations between adjacent pixels, while the latter being performed according to frame previous sample prediction and motion compensation (MC) prediction using interframe correlations.
The transformation coding is such that utilizing correlation picture signals have sampled values (hereinafter referred to as picture data) that are transformed to coordinates of which axis are orthogonal to each other, to thereby remove correlations between picture data for decreasing the amount of data. There are adapted orthogonal transformations in which so-called basic vectors are orthogonal to each other, where the pretransformation mean signal power is equal in total sum to mean signal power of so-called transformation coefficients obtained by orthogonal transformation, providing a power concentration degree to low frequency components which is excellent. Known examples are Hadamard transformation, Haar transformation, Karhunen-Loeve (K-L) transformation, discrete cosine transformation (DCT), discrete sine transformation (DST), slant transformation, etc..
The DCT divides a picture to picture blocks each consisting of n pixels in both horizontal and vertical directions (n .times. n) in spatial allocation, and orthogonal transforms picture data in picture blocks using cosine. DCT has a high speed computing algorithm, and is widely used in the transmission and recording of picture data since one chip LSI which enables real time transformation of picture data has been realized.
Moreover, DCT has substantially the same characteristic as the K-L transformation which achieves optimum transformation at a point of power concentration degree to low frequency components directly affecting efficiency. Therefore, it is possible to greatly reduce the amount of information by encoding only components to which power concentrates.
In transmitting and recording picture data, transformation coefficients which have been obtained by discrete cosine transforming the picture data are quantized as described, and then the picture data is subjected to variable length coding (for example, Huffman coding, run length coding, etc.) for further compression. The resulting coded data is added with synchronizing signals, parity, etc. for conducting transmission and recording.
However in the conventional method using the motion compensation (MC) hybrid DCT, motion regions are coded without questioning whether or not the motion regions are regions of reproduced pictures that are susceptible to degradation if the regions are judged motion regions after mode judgment of intrafield DCT/interframe DCT. Although there is no problem at a relatively high coding rate, the quantizing step of DCT coefficients becomes rough at a low coding rate, and there can be a case in which in reproduced picture degradation of visually important portions is susceptible to degradation.
In such a case, it is necessary to suppress the amount of information at portions where degradation is visually less important and increase the amount of information at visually important portions. It is considered that more effective compression can be realized by paying attention to the follow-up characteristic of the viewer's eyes to the speed of motion. However, it is not possible to obtain information which represents a degree of motion by adaptation using remainder energy according to the conventional methods.
Secondly, a conventional motion picture coding apparatus which codes television signals, for example, may consist of an apparatus which performs high efficiency coding according to a technique called discrete cosine transform (DCT), in which an amount of information is suppressed at portions where visual degradation is less important, with respect to the traceability of the viewer's eyes to follow the speed of motion.
In a conventional motion compensation coding technique, adaptation to the degree of motion is not conducted. For adapting to the degree of motion in addition to the motion compensation coding, there is an attempt which distinguishes between rapid motion and slow motion (including still region) in a picture.
Practically, classification is carried out according to the direction and absolute value of each motion vector, and then equal classes are found between adjacent blocks to make correlations for distinguishing fast motions from slow motions (including still regions) in the picture.
However, motion vectors are calculated about individual blocks. For this reason, motion vectors are discontinuous between blocks and an irregular class inevitably appears. As a result, there is a problem in that when only very small area in a relatively slow motion area, for example, is judged to have a fast motion, this very small area becomes susceptible to errors and is therefore detected as a degradation in picture quality.
Thirdly, typically, a high frequency speed exceeding 20 MHz is required in coding, certain motion picture signals, for example, high definition television signal (HDTV). To meet this requirement motion, picture signals of one picture plane are divided into several channels and are subjected to parallel processing thereby achieving sufficient processing speed.
Practically, in such a coding processing, to code motion picture signals at a high compression rate, there is adopted a high efficiency coding method of motion compression discrete cosine transformation (DCT) in which amount of information is suppressed at visually less important portions, with respect to the traceability follow-up capacity of the viewer's eyes to follow speed of motion.
Additionally, there is a technique in which as adaptation to the degree of motion is conducted, classification of motion is simultaneously conducted according to the direction and absolute value of motion vectors. In such a procedure, equal classes between adjacent blocks are subsequently detected and correlations thereof are made, so that fast motions and slow motions (including still regions) in a picture are distinguished.
However, in a motion picture coding method in which a picture is divided into a plurality of channels and classification is performed as well as motion compensation DCT, the border portions between channels search ranges of motion vectors become narrow as compared to normal ranges and thus, there may be a problem in that the motion vectors of these border portions do not have the same detectability or the motion vectors of portions other than the border portions. This can result in that directions and amounts of movements of motion vectors have no correlations with those adjacent blocks.
Furthermore, in motion adaptive quantization, channel border portions which have no vector correlation are presumed fast, irrespective of actual motions, and therefore quantization is roughened. As a result, there can be a problem in the case where a picture is divided into channels crossing the horizontal axis, for example, picture quality deterioration of vertical stripe patterns along borders of channels is produced in a reproduced picture.
In conducting motion compensation as described, vectors of border portions of channels are not provided with enough search ranges. Therefore, they become discontinuous with the surrounding vectors and in motion adaptive quantization, picture quality is degraded at the border of channels.


Novel sunscreen compositions containing titanium dioxide having a particle size less than about 35 m.mu. and zinc oxide having a particle size less than about 50 m.mu. are described as well as methods of protecting the skin from damaging ultraviolet radiation.

This invention relates to new and useful ultraviolet radiation sunscreen agents and compositions and to methods of protecting human skin against the potentially harmful effects of sunlight.
Although a tan has long been considered a status symbol indicative of good health and the ability to secure sufficient leisure time to enjoy outdoor activities such as swimming, tennis, golf, skiing and the like, it has become very evident that excessive exposure of the human skin to sunlight is harmful.
It is well documented that human skin is sensitive to sunlight and artificial light containing radiation of wavelengths between about 290 nanometers (nm) and 400 nm. Ultraviolet radiation of wavelengths between about 290 nm and 320 nm (UV-B region) has been known to rapidly produce damaging effects on the skin including reddening or erythema, edema, blistering or other skin eruptions in more severe cases. Prolonged or chronic exposure to radiation in this wavelength range has been associated with serious skin conditions such as actinic keratoses and carcinomas. In recent years, concern has also been expressed regarding ultraviolet radiation of wavelengths above 320 nm (UV-A region) and the adverse effects of such radiation on human skin. The radiation between 320 and 400 nm also contributes to the premature aging of the skin. In addition, recent studies indicate that chronic sun exposure limits the immuno-response of the skin. There is also evidence that a tan will offer some protection against burning but is quite ineffectual against other types of solar damage.
Growing public awareness that the enjoyment of outdoor activities must go hand in hand with adequate sun protection has led to an unprecedented growth in the area of sunscreen products. A desirable sunscreen product should have the following attributes: protection in both the UV-A and UV-B ultraviolet radiation ranges; maintenance of coverage, i.e., waterproof and perspiration proof; application and use convenience, i.e., ease of application, invisibility, non-staining and non-greasy; and freedom from irritation as a result of its ingredients, in particular, its active sunscreen ingredients. Of recent interest in this area have been some concerns over the irritancy and sensitization problems that may occur in some individuals utilizing sunscreen products with high SPF values containing organic sunscreen agents.
The effectiveness of a sunscreen product is indicated by its sun protection factor (SPF). The sun protection factor is the ratio of the amount of exposure (dose) required to produce a minimal erythema reaction in protected skin to the amount required to produce the same reaction in unprotected skin. The absolute dose differs from person to person and is largely dependent on one's genetic predisposition and ethnic origin. If a person would normally require ten minute exposure to sunlight to develop a minimal erythema reaction, this person when using an SPF 15 sunscreen product should be able to tolerate up to 150 minutes of sunlight without an erythema reaction. Recent public awareness of the problems of exposure to sunlight has led to a demand for sunscreen products with high SPF values, i.e., at or above SPF 8.
Ease of application and cosmetic appeal, on the other hand, rely on subjective evaluations such as visual and tactile impression by the user. Consumer research studies indicate that a sunscreen formulation should rub in easily, leave the skin non-sticky and, above all, should be invisible on the skin after application.

Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products, Inc.


The present invention provides formaldehyde dehydrogenase genes (FLD) from methylotrophic yeasts. The FLD structural genes confer resistance to formaldehyde and are therefore useful as a selectable marker in methylotrophic yeasts. The FLD promoter sequences are strongly and independently induced by either methanol as sole carbon source (with ammonium sulfate as nitrogen source) or methylamine as sole nitrogen source (with glucose as carbon source). Induction under either methanol, methylamine or both provides levels of heterologous gene expression comparable to those obtained with the commonly used alcohol oxidase I gene promoter (PAOX1). The FLD promoter of Pichia pastoris (PFLD1)is an attractive alternative to PAOX1 for expression of foreign genes in P. pastoris, allowing regulation by carbon (methanol) or nitrogen (methylamine) source within the same expression strain. Yeast strains, expression cassettes, expression vectors, and host cells comprising an FLD gene promoter and 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence are also provided.

Pichia is a methylotrophic yeast that is widely used for the production of heterologous proteins of industrial and academic interest (Cregg, 1998; Higgins and Cregg, 1998). FLD is an important enzyme in the utilization of methanol as a carbon and energy source (Veenhuis et al., 1983). In methylotrophic yeasts, the methanol metabolic pathway is thought to be nearly the same, beginning with the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde by alcohol oxidase (AOX), a hydrogen peroxide-producing oxidase that is sequestered in an organelle called the peroxisome. Hydrogen peroxide is then degraded to oxygen and water by catalase, the classic peroxisomal marker enzyme. A portion of the resulting formaldehyde condenses with xylulose-5xe2x80x2-monophosphate in a reaction catalyzed by dihydroxyacetone synthase (DAS), the third peroxisomal methanol pathway enzyme. The products of this reaction, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (GAP) and dihydroxyacetone, then leave the peroxisome and enter a cyclic pathway that regenerates xylulose-5xe2x80x2-monophosphate and also generates one net molecule of GAP for every three turns of the cycle. GAP is used for biosynthesis of carbon skeletons for cell growth. Another portion of the formaldehyde leaves the peroxisome and is oxidized to formate by formaldehyde dehydrogenase (FLD) and then to carbon dioxide by formate dehydrogenase (FDH). Both of these reactions produce reducing power in the form of NADH. One model of FLD function is that the NADH generated by FLD and FDH serves as the primary source of energy during growth on methanol (Veenhuis et al., 1983). The second model proposes that most energy for methanol growth comes from the oxidation of one or more of the xylulose-5xe2x80x2-monophosphate cycle intermediates by tricarboxcylic acid cycle enzymes, and that the primary role of FLD is to protect the cell from toxic formaldehyde that accumulates with excess methanol in the medium (Sibirny et al., 1990).
In addition to methanol, FLD is also involved in the metabolism of certain methylated amines (e.g. methylamine and choline) as sole nitrogen sources (Zwart et al., 1980). In this pathway, amine groups are first liberated by a peroxisomal amine oxidase, leaving formaldehyde which is further oxidized by FLD and FDH. When growing on methylamine as sole nitrogen source, high levels of FLD are induced even in the presence of excess glucose. Thus, the primary role of FLD in methylamine metabolism appears to be for protecting cells from the toxic effects of formaldehyde and not for generating carbon or energy.
FLD synthesis is regulated independently in response to either methanol as sole carbon source and energy source or to methylamine as sole nitrogen source. Thus, for example, only low levels of FLD are observed in cells growing on glucose- and ammonium ion-containing medium, whereas on either methanol-ammonium ion or glucose-methylamine media, FLD levels are high.
In the Pichia system, most foreign genes are expressed under the transcriptional control of the P. pastoris alcohol oxidase 1 gene promoter (PAOX1), the regulatory characteristics of which are well suited for this purpose. The promoter is tightly repressed during growth of the yeast on most common carbon sources, such as glucose, glycerol, or ethanol, but is highly induced during growth on methanol (Tschopp et al., 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,231 to Stroman, D. W., et al). For production of foreign proteins, PAOX1-controlled expression strains are initially grown on a repressing carbon source to generate biomass and then shifted to methanol as the sole carbon and energy source to induce expression of the foreign gene. One advantage of the PAOX1 regulatory system is that P. pastoris strains transformed with foreign genes whose expression products are toxic to the cells can be maintained by growing under repressing conditions.
Although many proteins have been successfully produced using PAOX1, this promoter is not appropriate or convenient in all settings. For example, in shake-flask cultures, methanol rapidly evaporates, and it is inconvenient to monitor methanol concentrations and repeatedly add the compound to the medium. In addition, the storage of large amounts of methanol needed for the growth and induction of PAOX1-controlled expression strains in large-volume high-density fermentor cultures is a potential fire hazard. There is a need therefore, for an alternative promoter to PAOX1, which is both transcriptionally efficient and regulatable by a less volatile and flammable inducer. The present invention provides the P. pastoris and Hansenula polymorpha formaldehyde dehydrogenase gene (FLD) promoter having both properties.
In addition, there is a need for a selectable marker which functions in methylotrophic yeasts other than a selectable marker which is an antibiotic resistance gene. At present, only the ZeoR gene can be used to transform into P. pastoris strains independent of their genotype. In addition, ZeoR is the only that gene can be used to directly select for P. pastoris strains that receive multiple copies of an expression vector (by increasing the concentration of zeocin in selective medium). A second gene which confers resistance to the antibiotic G418 (G418R) can be used to screen for multicopy expression strains of P. pastoris but its use requires that an auxotrophic/biosynthetic gene selection marker must also be included in vectors to select for transformants. The FLD structural gene of the present invention may be used as a selectable marker in methylotrophic yeast cells and does not confer resistance to antibiotics.
The present invention is directed to isolated nucleic acid sequences comprising a formaldehyde dehydrogenase gene (FLD) from methylotrophic yeasts. In one embodiment of the invention, the isolated nucleic acids comprise sequences which hybridize under low stringency conditions to at least one of the nucleotide sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:5, or a sequence complementary to the sequence set forth in SEQ ID NOs: 1 or 5.
Also provided is an FLD gene from Pichia pastoris (FLD1) having the restriction map set forth in FIG. 7 and an FLD gene from Hansenula polymorpha having the restriction map shown in the cross hatched area of FIG. 10.
In one embodiment of the invention, there is provided an isolated nucleic acid comprising an FLD gene from a methylotrophic yeast with a coding sequence having a sequence homology of about 70% to about 85% when compared to the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5. In another embodiment of the invention, there is provided an isolated nucleic acid comprising an FLD gene from a methylotrophic yeast with a coding sequence having a sequence homology of about 85% to about 95% when compared to the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5. In still another embodiment, there is provided an isolated nucleic acid comprising an FLD gene from a methylotrophic yeast with a coding sequence having a sequence homology of greater than about 95% when compared to the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5. Isolated nucleic acids comprising the sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:5 are also provided.
The present invention also provides an isolated nucleic acid from a methylotrophic yeast comprising an FLD promoter. The promoter is located upstream from the translational start codon of an FLD gene having a coding sequence with a sequence homology of about 70% to about 85% when compared to the nucleotide sequence of the FLD coding sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5. In another embodiment, there is provided an isolated nucleic acid from a methylotrophic yeast comprising an FLD promoter from an FLD gene having a coding sequence with a sequence homology of about 85% to about 95% when compared to the nucleotide sequence of the FLD coding sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5. In a preferred embodiment, the promoter is from an FLD gene having a coding sequence with a sequence homology of greater than about 95% when compared to the nucleotide sequence of the FLD coding sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5. Particularly exemplified is a Pichia pastoris FLD1 promoter comprising the sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:3.
Also in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an isolated nucleic acid comprising an FLD 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence from a methylotrophic yeast. The 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence is located downstream from the translational stop codon of an FLD gene having a coding sequence with a sequence homology of at about 70% to about 85% when compared to the nucleotide sequence of the FLD coding sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5. In another embodiment of the invention, there is provided an isolated nucleic acid comprising an FLD 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence from a gene having a coding sequence with a sequence homology of at about 85% to about 95% when compared to the nucleotide sequence of the FLD coding sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided an isolated nucleic acid comprising an FLD 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence from a gene having a coding sequence with a sequence homology of greater than about 95% when compared to the sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5.
Also provided are isolated nucleic acids comprising an FLD gene wherein said FLD gene encodes a product having an amino acid sequence identity of about 30% to about 49%, or about 50% to about 90%, or greater than about 90% when compared to the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.
In addition, the present invention also provides an isolated nucleic acid comprising at least one of a promoter, coding sequence or 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence from an FLD gene wherein said FLD gene encodes a product having an amino acid sequence identity of about 30% to about 49%, or about 50% to about 90%, or greater than about 90% when compared to the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.
In addition, the present invention provides expression cassettes, vectors and host cells comprising the subject isolated nucleic acids.
Also in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for directing expression of a heterologous gene in a methylotrophic yeast. The method comprises introducing into a methylotrophic yeast cell an isolated nucleic acid comprising an FLD promoter isolated from a methylotrophic yeast, said promoter operably linked at its 3xe2x80x2 end to the 5xe2x80x2 end of a heterologous gene, said heterologous gene operably linked at its 3xe2x80x2 end to the 5xe2x80x2 end of a termination sequence which functions in a methylotrophic yeast. The methylotrophic yeast cells are grown in a medium having a suitable carbon source such as glycerol or glucose and having a suitable nitrogen source such as an ammonium salt or ammonium hydroxide. After the carbon or nitrogen source is depleted, expression of said heterologous gene is induced by addition of methanol or methylamine or both methanol and methylamine. Expression may also be induced by the addition of formaldehyde, formate, or a methylated amine.
A method for selecting a formaldehyde resistant host cell is also provided by the present invention. The method comprises transforming a methylotrophic yeast cell with a vector comprising an FLD gene, said FLD gene operably linked at its 5xe2x80x2 end to an FLD promoter or a heterologous promoter which functions in said yeast cell, said FLD gene operably linked on its 3xe2x80x2 end to a 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence which functions in said yeast cell. Host cells are grown in the presence of formaldehyde and a yeast cell which grows in the presence of formaldehyde is selected.
The present invention also provides a strain of methylotrophic yeast which is defective in an FLD gene (fld) such as Pichia pastoris GS241 (fld1-1). Also provided is a strain of methylotrophic yeast which is defective in an FLD gene and auxotrophic for another biosynthetic gene.
In accordance with the present invention, a kit is provided which comprises an expression cassette comprising an FLD promoter and a 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence which functions in a methylotrophic yeast. At least one restriction site is located between the FLD promoter and 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence so that a heterologous gene may be inserted and operably linked to the promoter and the 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence. Also included in the kit is a vector which either replicates in a methylotrophic yeast or which integrates into the genome of a methylotrophic yeast, which vector comprises a marker gene and one or more restriction sites for insertion of the expression cassette.
In addition, the present invention provides a kit which comprises an expression vector comprising an FLD gene as a selectable marker gene and an expression cassette. The expression cassette comprises a promoter and a 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence which functions in a methylotrophic yeast, and has at least one restriction site located between the promoter and 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence so that a heterologous gene may be inserted and operably linked to the promoter and said 3xe2x80x2 termination sequence.

Promoter for the Pichia pastoris formaldehyde dehydrogenase gene FLD1


Systems and methods are disclosed with respect to using a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain, for managing medical records. The medical records may be accessible by medical institutions such as hospitals, and may be controlled by the patient. The patient may, for example, decide which entities can access and/or edit the medical records.

Generally speaking, companies may utilize centralized databases or servers for a number of purposes. For example, medical records are often held by a multitude of different institutions, each of which maintains its own centralized database including an incomplete record of a patient's medical history (e.g., relating to only a certain period of time or to certain specialty procedures). These medical records held by institutions are often not synchronized, and may not be consistent. Further, the medical records may not be readily accessible by patients or by third parties that might otherwise be authorized to access the medical records.

Distributed ledger system for managing medical records

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY


The invention provides apparatuses for a radial constrained lens in a steerable directional antenna system. The radial constrained lens includes a feed array that excites a continuous radiating aperture through a section of radial waveguide. Feed elements of the feed array are coupled to a feed network that processes a signal for each of the active feed elements. A feed array may include a plurality of feed probes or a plurality of waveguide sections. A sector, which includes a contiguous subset of feed elements, may be configured by a switching arrangement either in a transmit mode or a receive mode. The radial constrained lens may be commutated about a full 360 degree aperture view. Also, a plurality of radial constrained lens may be vertically stacked so that a scanned beam may be adjusted both in an azimuth and elevation directions.

Steerable directional antennas are utilized in numerous applications for communications with the number of applications increasing with new services and needs. For example, steerable directional antennas play a major role in military applications that include synthetic aperture radar systems and phased array communication systems. Also, steerable directional antennas are being increasingly deployed in the commercial arena. As an example, the wireless local area network (WLAN) market is migrating to higher frequency spectra, higher data rates, and higher user densities so that multipath fading and multichannel interference are becoming even more crucial issues. Consequently, the wireless industry is investigating phased array antennas with adaptive control to enhance the data capacity of wireless local area networks.
To illustrate the current technology, a WLAN antenna has been developed for 19 GHz operation by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. The antenna is basically a cylindrical twelve-sector antenna that incorporates a complex switching matrix and uses a costly multilayer circuit board fabrication technique to implement the cylindrical phased array. Steerable directional antennas are also being deployed as "smart" antennas, which are phased array antennas with adaptive control. Smart antennas often utilize parallel analog and DSP (digital signal processor) signal processing that tends to be computationally intensive, in which processing complexity increases exponentially with the number of antenna and feed elements.
Consequently, the military and commercial markets have a real need for apparatuses that support steerable directional antennas having desired performance characteristics but that are more cost effective and easier to implement. Relevant design considerations include weight, scan coverage, and the complexity of circuitry that interfaces with the steerable directional antenna.

Science Applications International Corporation


Baked goods, deep-frozen comestibles and like pressure-sensitive articles are packaged by passing the articles along a transport belt onto a delivery belt which can receive only one article at a time and then controlling the speed of this belt, to precisely deposit the article one at a time upon the packing underlay forming part of a prefolded box advanced past the delivery belt on a box conveyor.

It is known in the packaging of baked goods, such as cakes, pies, tortes, tarts and pastry items and, generally, in the packaging of articles sensitive to pressure and which can be deformed by the application of pressure, to displace the articles to be packaged continuously in a forward direction and to cause them to deposit upon packaging underlays which can then be enclosed by a cover member.
Both the articles and the packaging underlays can be fed to a location at which they meet at a given point in time so that the transfer is effected from the article conveyor to the underlay with a minimum of disturbance to the article. Generally the two paths are inclined at an acute angle to one another converging that location.
In Swiss patent 356,400, baked goods are deposited on packing underlays which are fed beneath the transfer location with practically no spacing between them. The baked goods, fabricated in cavities of a forming roll and deposited upon a suction belt, are transported by this belt to the transfer location. It is essential for this system and, indeed, a key aspect of the fabrication method, that the baked articles always be at a fixed distance from one another along the transport belt. For a transfer of the baked articles to the packing underlays, in this system, therefore, all that is required is a synchronization of the drives for the transport conveyor and the underlay conveyor which generally is effected by mechanically coupling them.
For a large number of products, however, especially cakes and deep-frozen comestibles, the maintenance of a constant fixed distance between the articles on the transport conveyor cannot be assured. For such products, therefore, the method of the Swiss patent cannot be used.
German printed application DE-AS 12 58 779 describes a process in which the articles advanced on a transport belt are engaged by entrainers of a high-speed circulating conveyor and transferred thereby to a further belt which is connected with a packaging machine. With the aid of the circulating conveyor, the articles to be packed are positioned equidistantly upon the packaging-belt conveyor. At another location, the packaging process can be carried out. This two-stage approach to effectively positioning the articles along transport conveyors requires expensive equipment and, from a technological viewpoint, is expensive. With highly pressure-sensitive products, such as cakes, damage may be caused to the product by the entrainers circulating at higher speeds.
British patent 1,444,640 describes a process for packaging pressure-sensitive comestible products, including baked goods, utilizing an intermittently operating system. The articles to be packaged are moved transversely to the transport direction of the packaging materials and are shoved onto the packaging material when the packaging material comes to rest. The operating speed in such processes is capable of improvement.

Method of and apparatus for the packaging of pressure-sensitive articles


Method, device, and computer readable medium for generating haptically enabled messages. One disclosed method comprises the steps of receiving a user generated input, mapping the user generated input to a predetermined haptic feedback, assigning a haptic feedback command to the predetermined haptic feedback, inserting the haptic feedback command into a text message, and sending the text message.

Electronic device manufacturers strive to produce a rich interface for users. Conventional devices use visual and auditory cues to provide feedback to a user. In some interface devices, kinesthetic feedback (such as active and resistive force feedback) and/or tactile feedback (such as vibration, texture, and heat) is also provided to the user, more generally known collectively as "haptic feedback" or "haptic effects." Haptic feedback can provide cues that enhance and simplify the user interface. Specifically, vibration effects, or vibrotactile haptic effects, may be useful in providing cues to users of electronic devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to create greater sensory immersion within a simulated or virtual environment.
Haptic feedback has also been increasingly incorporated in portable electronic devices, referred to as "handheld devices" or "mobile terminal devices," such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants ("PDA"s), smart phones, and portable gaming devices. For example, some portable gaming applications are capable of vibrating in a manner similar to control devices (e.g., joysticks, etc.) used with larger-scale gaming systems that are configured to provide haptic feedback. Additionally, devices such as cellular telephones and PDAs are capable of providing various alerts to users by way of vibrations. For example, a cellular telephone can alert a user to an incoming telephone call by vibrating. Similarly, a PDA can alert a user to a scheduled calendar item or provide a user with a reminder for a "to do" list item or calendar appointment.
Many mobile terminal devices, in addition to handling voice telephone calls, allow for messaging between devices. Short Message Service ("SMS"), also known as text messaging, is a popular communication method that enables the exchange of short text messages between mobile terminal devices via the Short Message Service Centre ("SMSC") in a mobile network. Other known messaging methods for mobile terminal devices include Multimedia Messaging Service ("MMS"), Mobile Instant Messaging, and Mobile Email. MMS is a store and forward messaging service that allows mobile subscribers to exchange multimedia messages with other mobile subscribers. As such, it can be seen as an evolution of SMS, with MMS supporting the transmission of additional media types, including text, picture, audio, video, or a combination of all four. Instant Messaging ("IM") is an Internet Protocol ("IP") based application that can provide real-time written communication between users of a computer. Mobile Instant Messaging is the ability to engage in Instant Messaging services from a mobile handset. Mobile IM allows users to address messages to other users using an alias (or user name) and address book, and incorporates the concept of presence, enabling the sender to know when his/her "buddies" are available. Mobile Email is the ability to send and receive e-mail over wireless devices.
Haptic feedback can be used to provide additional information that may not be apparent in the text of the message to the recipient of a message. For example, a text message sent to another user at a mobile terminal device may not include information indicating how strong the user feels about the topic expressed or other message subtext. Users can try to express this subtext using well-known icons or symbols known as "emoticons," which are culturally dependent iconic representations of emotions or messages. For example, a "smiley" emoticon to indicate a humorous message may be expressed as a colon and right parenthesis mark, ":)", which resembles a face smiling when viewed from the side, or may also be expressed as a combination of parenthesis, carets, and an underline "(^_^)". Variations of the smiley emoticon can express a variety of other emotions. However, emoticons and symbols are limited in the complexity of the messages they can convey.


A probe apparatus has first and second access ports and a measurement port. The first and second access ports are adapted to be interposed in a test circuit. A voltage amplifier and a voltage splitter are adapted to present the second access port and the measurement port each with a voltage representative of a voltage received by the first access port.

An important aspect of digital circuit testing is proper probing of a target system. As an example, logic analysis seeks to make measurements of the target system at speed without affecting target system circuit operation. Ideally, probe apparatus samples circuit voltages exactly as they would as they appear during unprobed operation of the target system. As frequency of operation of the target systems increases, however, it becomes more difficult to probe the target system without adding parasitic impedances to the target system circuits that affect its operation.
A known style of probe apparatus that is suitable for circuit test is a "snoop probe". With specific reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings, an example of the snoop probe is shown whereby one or more communication lines 101 of the target system circuit is interrupted and the snoop probe in interposed between two ends of the interrupted line. The snoop probe provides a through connection for the interrupted communication line 101 to permit operation, but also has a parallel sampling circuit for probing signal activity on the line. The snoop probe includes a through circuit portion with a tip resistor 102 connected in parallel to the through circuit. The tip resistor 102 provides isolation between the through circuit portion and a measurement device 103. A probe cable 104 connected to the tip resistor 102 brings a sampled signal to the test equipment 103. The test equipment 103 is terminated in a termination impedance. Typically, an impedance of the tip resistor is 5-10 times that of the termination impedance. Advantageously, the snoop probe provides passive probing and isolation from the test equipment. A disadvantage of the known snoop probe is that the test signal as seen by the measurement device is significantly attenuated by a voltage division ratio of the termination impedance relative to the impedance of the tip resistor 102 added to the termination impedance. Because of the voltage division ratio, the test equipment also sees an attenuated slew rate of the signals being measured. Therefore, the effective conversion of noise voltage is similarly slowed, which contributes to jitter in the measurement. The larger the isolation resistor, the better the isolation of the target system from the measurement device 103, but the more the slew rate is attenuated and the larger the apparent measurement jitter. As one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates, the converse is also true. The jitter measurement may be improved with a smaller tip resistor impedance, but at the expense of isolation of the target system circuit 108 from the measurement device 103. Another disadvantage of the snoop probe in that parasitic capacitance that is inherent in the tip resistor 102 causes the isolation to decrease as test signal frequencies increase.
There is a need for an improved probe to provide sampling of signals in a target system without affecting its operation.


The gas-liquid separating condenser of the present invention can enhance the sub-cooling rate in the pre-sub-cooling section as well as in the total sections. Moreover, the present invention can have designs according to calculated conditional expressions of relative dimensional ratios of the sections in condensation of refrigerant to realize the optimum condensing efficiency regardless of the overall size of the gas-liquid separating condenser.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multistage gas and liquid phase separation condenser for condensing and separating initially introduced gaseous refrigerant of high pressure into gas and liquid. In particular, after refrigerant is separated into gas and liquid, the multistage gas and liquid phase separation condenser of the invention can improve the sub-cooling rate of liquid refrigerant while it flows through a pre-sub-cooling section and additionally in other sections.
2. Background of the Related Art
A condenser liquefies refrigerant of high temperature and pressure fed from a compressor via heat exchange between refrigerant and ambient air. A receiver tank or section is arranged between the condenser and an expansion valve and temporarily stores liquefied refrigerant from the condenser so that liquid refrigerant can be fed into an evaporator according to a desired amount of cooling load.
Recently, condensers each having a receiver tank integrally attached thereto are widely commercialized in order to maximize space utilization in an engine room of a vehicle.
Of the condensers each having an integral receiver tank, it is developed a multistage gas and liquid phase separation condenser which comprises a pair of headers and a receiver tank provided in one of the headers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,407 discloses a conventional multistage gas and liquid phase separation condenser or heat exchanger.
As shown in FIG. 6, the conventional heat exchanger 1 comprises a plurality of flat tubes 2 and corrugated fins 3, which are mounted on a pair of header tanks 4 opposed to each other.
Each header 4 comprises blind caps 5 at opposite ends, three baffles or partitions 6 and 6xe2x80x2 and four compartments 8a.
The header tank 4 on the inlet side is provided with a tank member or separate member 7 which defines on the outer side of this header tank 4, an inlet pipe 9 is connected to the tank member 7, and a distributing chamber 8 is in communication with the a pair of refrigerant passages 2A and 2B through respective communication ports 10a, 10b provided in the header tank 4.
The header 4 has a separate member 11 formed outside, and a refrigerant collecting chamber 12 is connected with a pair of refrigerant passages 2A and 2B via ports 13a and 13b in the header 4.
In this heat exchanger 1, after introduced into the distributing chamber 8 via the inlet pipe 8, refrigerant partially flows into the upper refrigerant passage 2A via the communication port 10a and partially feeds into the lower refrigerant passage 2B via the communication port 10b.
Then, a partial refrigerant flow through the upper refrigerant passage 2A is introduced into the collecting chamber 12 via the port 13a, and another partial refrigerant flow through the lower refrigerant passage 2B is introduced via the port 13b into the collecting chamber 12, where refrigerant exits via an outlet pipe 14 to the outside.
The conventional heat exchanger distributes refrigerant to the upper and lower passages and thus remarkably reduces refrigerant pneumatic resistance within the respective header tanks.
However, the conventional heat exchanger does not effectively separate refrigerant into liquid and gas. In addition, because the separate member 7 and collecting chamber 12 functioning as a receiver tank are provided respectively to the header tanks 4, the heat exchanger has a relatively large size.
In the meantime, a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Serial No. 7-103612 discloses a condenser which is integrally provided with a receiver tank at one end of header tanks in order to reduce the overall size.
As shown in FIG. 7, the condenser 3 having the integral receiver tank comprises a condensation section 8, a receiver section 9 and a sub-cooling section 10, in which the condensation section 8 is connected to the outlet side of a compressor 2.
The condensation section 8 introduces liquid-gas refrigerant into the receiver section 9, which separates refrigerant into gaseous and liquid refrigerant and feeds liquid refrigerant into the sub-cooling section 10.
The sub-cooling section 10 is arranged under and adjacent the condensation section 8, and sub-cools liquid refrigerant introduced from the receiver section 9.
The condenser 3 is provided with a second header 16 having an upstream side connected with a lower end of the condensation section 8 and a lower side connected with an upstream end of the sub-cooling section 10. The second header 16 is divided by first and second baffles 41 and 42 into an upstream communication chamber 46, a downstream communication chamber 47 and the receiver section 9.
As a result, two phase refrigerant of gas-liquid flown out via the condensation section 8 is introduced into the receiver section 9 via the upstream communication chamber 46.
The first baffle 41 vertically arranged within the second header 16 is provided with a refrigerant inlet port 44 communicating with an upper end of the receiver section 9 and a refrigerant outlet port 45 opened to a lower end of the receiver section 9 so that refrigerant can enter the entire receiver section 9.
In FIG. 7, some of reference numbers which do not designate the above-described components are not explained.
As set forth above, the conventional condenser installs the receiver section in one of the header tanks to reduce the overall size thereof, allows whole refrigerant to flow into the receiver section 9 to improve responsiveness in respect to rapid load fluctuation in a cooling cycle 1, and installs the sub-cooling section 10 to completely remove bubbly gaseous refrigerant.
The conventional condenser includes the receiver section to realize effective sub-cooling. However, there is a drawback that the sub-cooling rate cannot be further raised at a point where liquid refrigerant returns and initially sub-cools after gaseous refrigerant of high temperature and pressure is initially introduced and condensed into gas and liquid.
Furthermore, the conventional condenser further comprises a site glass 4 for confirming whether or not refrigerant finely condenses, and thus fabrication cost disadvantageously increases.
The present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a multistage gas and liquid phase separation condenser for condensing and separating initially introduced gaseous refrigerant of high pressure into gas and liquid, by which after separated into gas and liquid, liquid refrigerant can be improved with sub-cooling rate while flowing through a pre-sub-cooling section and additionally in other sections.
Also, the invention has a multistage gas and liquid phase separation condenser designed according to a conditional expression, which follows the relative dimension ratio of sections during condensation of refrigerant, in order to realize optimum condensation efficiency regardless of the total size of the condenser.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a multistage gas and liquid phase separation condenser comprising: an super heat cooling/condensing section dm1 for cooling gaseous refrigerant of high temperature and pressure, which is introduced into the section dm1, to remove excessive heat therefrom and condense gaseous refrigerant; a first condensing section dm2 placed over the super heat cooling/condensing section dm1 for recondensing gaseous refrigerant; a second condensing section dm3 placed over the first condensing section dm2 for recondensing refrigerant to a liquid ratio higher than in the first condensing section dm2, whereby refrigerant is introduced into a receiver section 400 after flowing through the second condensing section dm3; a first sub-cooling section dm4 placed downstream of the super heat cooling/condensing section dm1 for sub-cooling refrigerant more than in the super heat cooling/condensing section dm1, whereby refrigerant is introduced into the receiver section 400 after flowing through the first sub-cooling section dm4 to join liquid refrigerant from the second condensing section dm3; and a second sub-cooling section dm5 placed downstream of the first sub-cooling section dm4 for sub-cooling liquid refrigerant joined from the second condensing section dm3 and the first sub-cooling section dm4 and for discharging sub-cooled liquid refrigerant therefrom, wherein the sections dm1, dm2, dm3, dm4 and dm5 are divided from one another.

Multistage gas and liquid phase separation condenser