System and method for providing a Web content provision service using a subscriber terminal in an exchange system. The Web content provision service system comprises the subscriber terminal generating content request information containing user information in response to a content request, receiving content information according to the content request information, and displaying the received content information on a display, a Web server for collecting the content information from at least one predetermined Web site at intervals of a certain time, storing the collected content information, accessing the stored content information in response to a message requesting transmission of the content information and sending the accessed content information to the subscriber terminal, and the exchange system having identification information corresponding to the subscriber terminal and port information corresponding to the identification information, being connected to an Internet protocol (IP) network via a local area network (LAN) and being connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) via a trunk card, sending the content transmission request message to the Web server over the Internet protocol network in response to the content request information from the subscriber terminal, receiving the content information according to the content request information from the Web server, and sending the received content information to the subscriber terminal.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing a web content provision service using a subscriber terminal in an exchange system which is configured to be capable of controlling an Internet protocol (IP) terminal like a legacy terminal by receiving user information from the Internet protocol terminal.
2. Related Art
Due to information communication industry development, the Internet has rapidly become popular and there have been requests for various Internet services. As a result, Internet protocol (IP) networks have been remarkably developed in performance and service aspects and requests for more various services have continuously come to the front of a market. Further, it has been required for a private branch exchange (PBX) centered around voice communications to provide additional services for data communications. There has arisen a movement to provide additional customized Web contents as well as a voice through an extension terminal of the private branch exchange (PBX), such as a digital phone, to meet the above requests.
In order to obtain desired Web contents from a Web site connected to an Internet protocol (IP) network, a user can gain access to the Web site via a transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) socket using his/her computer system capable of local area network (LAN) communications, and access the desired Web contents using a Web browser installed in the computer system, as well known to those skilled in the art. However, the computer system is a digital data transmission device rather than an extension subscriber terminal for voice communications. Therefore, it is impossible to be provided with Web contents without a terminal device such as the computer system.
As a result, because a user cannot be provided with desired Web contents from a Web server using his/her subscriber terminal for voice communications, accommodated in an exchange system, the user must use a local area network card and computer to obtain the desired Web contents from the Web server.
I have found that receiving Web content or Internet information using a telephone can be inconvenient or difficult to accomplish. Efforts have been made to implement improvements related to a communication among telephones and the World Wide Web or Internet.
Exemplars of recent efforts in the art include U.S. Pat. No. 6,335,928 to Herrmann et al., entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING AND INTERACTING AN INTERNET WEB PAGE USING A TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICE, issued on Jan. 1, 2002, U.S. Pat. No. 6,404,762 to Luzeski et al., entitled UNIVERSAL MESSAGING SYSTEM PROVIDING INTEGRATED VOICE, DATA AND FAX MESSAGING SERVICES TO PC/WEB-BASED CLIENTS, INCLUDING A SESSION MANAGER FOR MAINTAINING A SESSION BETWEEN A MESSAGING PLATFORM AND THE WEB-BASED CLIENTS, issued on Jun. 11, 2002, U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,615 to DeGoia Jr et al., entitled EMBEDDED WEB PHONE MODULE, issued on Jun. 25, 2002, U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,014 to Daly et al., entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING DATA COMMUNICATION WITH A MOBILE STATION, issued on May 21, 2002, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,593 to Kikinis, entitled NETWORK TELEPHONE INTERFACE SYSTEMS BETWEEN DATA NETWORK TELEPHONY AND PLAIN OLD TELEPHONE SERVICE INCLUDING CTI ENHANCEMENT IN THE DATA NETWORK, issued on Jan. 15, 2002.
While these recent efforts provide advantages, I note that they fail to adequately provide a system and method for providing Web content provision service using subscriber terminal in exchange system.

System and method for providing web content provision service using subscriber terminal in exchange system


Cross-talk sensitivity in an xy-axis shell-type gyroscope can be rejected or reduced by operating the gyroscope with a single in-plane flexural or bulk resonance mode and sensing two out-of-plane degenerate or non-degenerate resonance modes resulting from rotations about two axes in the plane of the resonator. Mode matching in an xy-axis shell-type gyroscope can be achieved by configuring the resonator (e.g., size, shape, thickness) to match the in-plane and out-of-plane resonance frequencies for the drive and sense modes of interest.

In any dual xy-axis rotation rate gyroscope, it is desirable to minimize the cross-talk sensitivity between the two sensitive axes. This implies that, for example, for xy-axis rotation-rate gyroscopes, the sensitivity to x-axis rate should be decoupled from the sensitivity to y-axis rate when both x-axis and y-axis rates are applied to the gyroscope simultaneously. This can be achieved either by isolating the two sense modes mechanically or employing some compensation method with electronics. The former method will increase the form factor of the device and the latter makes the circuit very complex. This problem is more challenging for xy-axis gyroscopes in comparison with xz-axis or yz-axis gyros since in the xy-axis gyroscope, both sensitive axes are in-plane.
One technique for reducing cross-talk sensitivity in xy-axis shell-type gyroscopes is to drive the shell-type gyroscope in an out-of-plane mode and sense the Coriolis forces using two in-plane modes. Here, the drive forces are perpendicular to the plane of the gyroscope, which produces velocities along the z-axis. Due to the application of simultaneous in-plane rotation rates around x-axis and y-axis, the device will be sensitive to both rates, and Coriolis forces will be created along both the y-axis and the x-axis at any single point, respectively. To reduce this cross-talk sensitivity between the two modes, mode rejection and calibration methods are typically implemented. In addition, a set of electrodes is typically dedicated to distinguish sensing x-axis rotation rates from y-axis rates, which consumes more space and results in more complicated MEMS structure and routings as well as associated circuitry.

XY-axis shell-type gyroscopes with reduced cross-talk sensitivity and/or mode matching


Various embodiments include methods that may be implementing in a computing system within vehicles for supporting communicating proxy basic safety communications while operating within a platoon of vehicles to control congestion on frequencies used for basic safety communications. In various embodiments, while a vehicle is operating as a designated platoon vehicle, the computing system may generate a proxy basic safety communication including position and dimension information of the platoon as a whole, and broadcast the proxy basic safety communication on behalf of vehicles in the platoon. The proxy basic safety communication may include positions of certain vehicles within and dimensions of the platoon. While in a platoon but not operating as the designated platoon vehicle, the computing system may not broadcast basic safety communications or broadcast such communications at low power.

With the advent of fully driverless or semi-driverless vehicles, congestion/overload of the vehicle-to-anything (V2X) safety traffic channel is one of the main challenges of the V2X communication system deployment. As more vehicles support cellular-V2X (C-V2X) technology, congestion of the ITS channel could become an issue that limits usefulness of this technology. Local congestion conditions will worsen when platooning vehicles use C-V2X, as platooning involves multiple vehicles driving together in a relatively close formation. When platooning vehicles use the same schedule for generating Basic Safety Messages (BSM) and Cooperative Awareness Messages (CAM), an unnecessary load could be placed on the safety channel, particularly in the vicinity of the platoon.
Currently, application layer congestion control changes a rate that messages are transmitted based on vehicle density, speed, acceleration etc. Thus, when there is traffic congestion (i.e., high density) but no platooning, vehicles will typically be traveling at low speeds or acceleration, and thus broadcasting safety messages less frequently to control congestion on the BSM and CAM frequencies may be acceptable. However, platooning will result in dense packing of vehicles that could be moving a freeway speed, and thus broadcasting safety messages less frequently to control congestion on the BSM and CAM frequencies could be dangerous. Currently, no application layer congestion control exists to safely address congestion due to platooning of vehicles.

Vehicle to vehicle safety messaging congestion control for platooning vehicles


A coin operated product dispensing machine including a housing with an enclosed main display compartment and an elongate slide plate extending therethrough and attached at one end to the housing with a biasing element, an opposite free end of the slide plate extending outwardly from a front wall of the housing and defining a pull handle, wherein the slide plate is movable between a relaxed position and an extended position by pulling the handle at the free end thereof. A carousel, including vertically oriented chambers for containing a stacked array of individual product units therein, is rotatably supported within the main display compartment such that each of the chambers is selectively positionable in vertical alignment over a drop hole in the slide plate, the drop hole being sized and configured to receive an individual, lower most product unit dropped from the aligned chamber. A coin released lock mechanism, structured to accept a predetermined size coin and reject other size coins, releases the slide plate for outward movement to the extended position, causing the individual product unit within the drop hole to be carried from below the chamber to a drop chute where it is deposited thereon and dispensed to a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coin operated machines for dispensing an individual product unit upon depositing a particular size coin therein to release a manually operated dispensing mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of coin operated machines for dispensing a wide range of products are known in the vending machine art. Some of these machines are more simple, such as the well known gum ball machine which dispenses a single product unit, a gum ball, from a container filled with gum balls. For the most part, these less sophisticated machines do not allow the user to choose from a variety of flavors or product types. Rather, a single product, usually not visible to the consumer, is randomly released from the bottom of the container upon depositing a particular coin, such as a quarter, and manually operating a mechanism which releases a single product unit from the container. Other vending machines are much more sophisticated, allowing the user to choose among a variety of products by entering a particular code on a key pad which activates an electronical dispensing mechanism to release the selected product for retrieval by the consumer. While these type of vending machines are very useful and convenient to consumers, they are usually very large and quite expensive. Therefore, use of these type of machines is limited to high volume commercial vending in locations where there is a significant demand for snacks and refreshments. Ordinarily, these more sophisticated vending machines are used in replacement of a refreshment stand or snack bar, eliminating the need for full-time attendance by one or more employees. Regardless of whether the vending machine is of the simple gum ball type or the more complicated electronically controlled type, the above described machines are primarily designed for the purpose of selling a product.
Aside from vending machines which are primarily designed for the purpose of selling a product, there exists various devices which are designed to solicit charitable donations, and in exchange for a donation, the donator may take a piece of candy or other token item. One of the most commonly known type of charity collection devices is an honor box. In most instances, an honor box has two compartments, including one for receipt of donations and another for holding give-away items such as pieces of candy. Typically, a person making a donation would deposit any desired denomination of currency through a slot in the money receiving compartment and thereafter remove one piece of candy. A problem arises, however, when dishonest people take candy without making a donation. Still, others take more than one piece when making a relatively small donation. It is called an honor box because the donator is supposed to be on their "honor" when making a donation. Unfortunately, in this day and age, there are too many dishonorable people for such a system to work effectively.
There presently exists various coin-operated dispensing machines which are primarily designed to dispense disc-shaped products. These machines are primarily intended for use in soliciting charitable contributions, while eliminating some of the problems associated with the typical "honor boxes". While these dispensing machines include a rotating carousel which is similar in structure to that of the present invention, the coin release mechanisms of these machines are entirely different. Unlike the coin release mechanism of the present invention, these machines are not structured to accept a particular size coin and reject all other size coins. Some of these machines use a magnetic connection in the coin release mechanism which is broken by contact with any size coin. The present invention is specifically designed to eliminate this problem.
Accordingly, in spite of the numerous existing product dispensing machines in the related art, there still exists a need for a simple, attractive, low cost counter-top product dispensing machine which is ideally suited for collecting charitable donations at a check-out or cashier's counter in exchange for a candy product or other low cost item.


A medical surgical wound support device comprising a flexible support garment designed to be worn by a patient, the flexible support garment having an inner surface that comes in direct contact with the patient and an outer surface facing outward from the patient, a plurality of permanent magnets embedded within the flexible support garment, each of which is oriented such that its north magnetic pole faces the outer surface, a rigid base component, that has an outer surface facing upward from a support on which the rigid support structure rests, a plurality of permanent magnets embedded within the outer surface of the rigid base component, each embedded magnet oriented such that the north magnetic pole faces the outer surface; and a repelling magnetic force originating from the outer surface of the flexible support garment and the outer surface of the rigid base component such that a portion of the patient wearing the flexible support garment is elevated a controllable distance above the rigid base component.

A great deal of pain associated with post-surgical wound is the result of pressure from a person's own weight or tight garments and surgical dressings being applied to that wound. There is currently no known method provided to elevate a wound to the point of actual pain reduction. One way to help alleviate pressure on a wound and the resulting pain is to use magnets to levitate the area surrounding the wound while remaining clear of the wound itself and thereby remove any pressure. This solution also helps eliminating the need for a patient to remain lying in a position that is either uncomfortable, limits mobility or creates additional issues to help alleviate the pain. At times, the use of pillows, mechanical attachments, overstuffed comforters or padded chairs have been used in an attempt to reduce pain associated with a wound. A patient has even more of a challenge for pain reduction in an in home or even an automotive/transportation situation.


A method is disclosed for treating an aneurysm by cooling a target tissue region of the aneurysm to a temperature below temperature for a preselected time period. The method entails thickening, strengthening, or increasing the density of a blood vessel wall by cooling the blood vessel wall with a cryogenically cooled device. In particular, a device having a heat conductive cooling chamber is disposed proximate to the aneurysm site; and a cryogenic fluid coolant is directed to flow inside the chamber to create endothermic cooling relative to the aneurysm. The method also promotes the growth of collagen and elastin in vascular tissue. Tissue cooling temperatures range from +20 to xe2x88x9220 degrees Celsius. The duration of treatment by application of cooling ranges from 15 seconds to up to 20 minutes or more. The method includes treating the aneurysm both from inside and outside the blood vessel wall forming the aneurysm.

None
n/a
The present invention relates to a method and device for treating aneurysms, and in particular, to a method involving the use of cryogenically cooled devices to cold treat tissue.
Aneurysms are distensions formed by the localized dilation of the wall of an artery, a vein, or the heart. An aneurysm balloons due to the pressure of blood flowing through an area weakened due to disease, injury, or congenital defect. A xe2x80x9ctruexe2x80x9d or common aneurysm results from the formation of a sac by the arterial wall, or tunica media, which remains unbroken, and may be associated with atherosclerosis. In a xe2x80x9cfalsexe2x80x9d or dissecting aneurysm, usually caused by trauma, a fissure in the wall of a blood vessel allows blood to escape into surrounding tissues and form a clot.
Doctors typically monitor the inflammation and progression of aneurysms using devices known in the art such as MRI and CT scanners and by observation of known patient symptoms. Typically, however, early stage aneurysms do not warrant dangerous surgical procedures, even if minimally invasive, due to the associated morbidity risk. Accordingly, the doctors choose a xe2x80x9cwait and seexe2x80x9d approach. Because surgery for aneurysms is risky, the surgeon may wait for the aneurysm to expand to a certain size before operating, when the risk of complications exceeds the risk of surgery. Accordingly, it would be desirable to treat aneurysms upon early detection rather than wait until they progress to a stage that requires dangerous, expensive surgery, or become life-threatening conditions.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a device, coupled with a minimally invasive method, to retard, arrest and even reverse, the processes that lead to aneurysm formation.
A method is disclosed for treating an aneurysm, including the steps of cooling a target tissue region of the aneurysm to a predetermined temperature for a preselected time period. A method is also disclosed for thickening, strengthening, or increasing the density of a blood vessel wall, including the steps of cooling the blood vessel wall to a temperature below body temperature. In particular, a method is disclosed for treating an aneurysm, including the steps of: (i) providing a device having a heat conductive cooling chamber; (ii) disposing the cooling chamber proximate to the aneurysm; and (iii) directing the flow of cryogenic fluid inside the chamber to create endothermic cooling relative to the aneurysm. Finally, a method is disclosed for promoting growth of collagen and elastin in vascular tissue, including the steps of cooling the tissue for a predetermined period of time to a temperature below body temperature for a preselected time period.

Method and device for treatment of aneurysms


System and method for recording temperature on an RFID tag. A first RFID tag is attached to a container. The first RFID tag includes a temperature sensor. The container contains a multiplicity of packages. A multiplicity of second RFID tags are attached to the multiplicity of packages, respectively. The first RFID tag transmits temperature information to the multiplicity of second RFID tags. In response, the multiplicity of second RFID tags record the temperature information. Consequently, there is no need for expensive temperature sensors on the multiplicity of RFID tags on the packages. According to features of the present invention, the first RFID tag is an active RFID tag, and the multiplicity of second RFID tags are passive RFID tags. The first RFID tag also transmits other information to the multiplicity of second RFID tags to enable the second RFID tags to authenticate the temperature information. Other types of environmental sensors such as a humidity sensor or vibration sensor can substitute for the temperature sensor.

The present invention relates generally to RFID tags, and more particularly to RFID tags to record temperature or other environmental conditions.
Active RFID tags are well known today. For example, the Matrics Group manufactures "MicroSensys™" Active RFID tags, and KSW Microtec manufactures "Smart Active Label™" Active RFID tags. An Active RFID tag includes a small battery, and transmits RF signals via an integral antenna. The battery adds significant cost to the RFID tag. The RFID may be preprogrammed with an identity that represents the identity of the product which bears the RFID tag. The transmitted RF signals typically include the identity of the Active RFID tag. If the Active RFID tag includes data such as a recorded temperature, the Active RFID tag may transmit the data as well. An Active RFID tags can effectively transmit to a receiver up to 100 meters away.
Passive RFID tags are also well known today. A Passive RFID tag does not include a battery; instead, the Passive RFID tag has an integral antenna which receives RF signals from an Active RFID tag or remote transceiver. The transmitted RF signals power the Passive RFID tag, i.e. the Passive RFID tag captures the energy of the RF signals which it receives and uses the energy to drive transceiver and other circuitry on the Passive RFID tag. The transceiver circuitry on the Passive RFID tag transmits the identity coded into the Passive RFID to identify the product which bears the Passive RFID tag. The Passive RFID tag may also include a memory to store any type of information transmitted by the Active RFID tag or other remote transceiver. Typically, Passive RFID tags have a range of about three meters.
The known remote transceiver reads the identity information broadcast by the Passive RFIDs or Active RFIDs. The remote transceiver can read RFID tags on packages contained in a box to determine what packages the box contains or to confirm that the packages are all there. Also, the remote readers can read RFID tags on packages at a cash register to determine an amount to charge to the customer (as does a known bar code reader). Also, the remote readers can detect packages at a store exit which bear RFID tags which have not been "disabled" at a cash register, and thereby detect shop lifters.
It was also known for an Active or Passive RFID tag to include a temperature, humidity or other environmental sensor. For example, the Matrics Group MicroSensys™ Active RFID tags and KSW Microtec Smart Active Label™ Active RFID tags include temperature sensors. The temperature sensor measures the ambient temperature, and circuitry on the RFID tag containing the sensor records information about the temperature, such as whether the ambient temperature rose above a predetermined upper limit or fell below a predetermined lower limit. (In the case of the Passive RFID tag containing the temperature sensor, the Passive RFID tag can only monitor and store the temperature when the Passive RFID tag is energized by an external RF signal.) For example, if the RFID tag is attached to a temperature sensitive product such as a food package, the RFID tag will record whether the food was exposed to excessively hot or cold temperatures during shipment. The RFID tag may also periodically record temperature samples over time. If the RFID tag stores a single indication whether the temperature went outside a tolerable range, the RFID tag needs only a "Read Once Memory". If the RFID tag stores periodic temperatures, then the RFID tag needs a more expensive "Write Many Memory". Maintaining the product within a specified temperature range during shipment may be a condition to pay the shipper, and for a customer to accept the product. While such "composite" RFID tags are important, they tend to be costly due to the requirement for the temperature sensor, especially when there are many packages to monitor.
An object of the present invention is to record temperature or other environmental condition on an RFID tag in a cost effective manner.

System and method to record environmental condition on an RFID tag

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for separately calibrating an optical model and a resist model of lithography process using information derived from in-situ aerial image measurements to improve the calibration of both the optical model and the resist model components of the lithography simulation model. Aerial images produced by an exposure tool are measured using an image sensor array loaded into the exposure tool. Multiple embodiments of measuring aerial image information and using the measured aerial image information to calibrate the optical model and the resist model are disclosed. The method of the invention creates more accurate and separable optical and resist models, leading to better predictability of the pattern transfer process from mask to wafer, more accurate verification of circuit patterns and how they will actually print in production, and more accurate model-based process control in the wafer fabrication facility.

In the semiconductor industry, microlithography (or simply lithography) is the process of printing circuit patterns on a semiconductor wafer (for example, a silicon or GaAs wafer). Currently, optical lithography is the predominant technology used in volume manufacturing of semiconductor devices and other devices such as flat-panel displays. Such lithography employs light in the visible to deep ultraviolet spectrum range to expose photo-sensitive resist on a substrate. In the future, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-rays may be employed. Following exposure, the resist is developed to yield a relief image.
In optical lithography, a photomask (often called a mask or a reticle) that serves as a template for the device structures to be manufactured is first written using electron-beam or laser-beam direct-write tools. A typical photomask for optical lithography consists of a glass (or quartz) plate of six to eight inches on a side, with one surface coated with a thin metal layer (for example, chrome) of a thickness of about 100 nm. The device pattern is etched into the metal layer, hence allowing light to transmit through the clear areas. The areas where the metal layer is not etched away block light transmission. In this way, a pattern may be projected onto a semiconductor wafer.
The mask contains certain patterns and features that are used to create desired circuit patterns on a wafer. The tool used in projecting the mask image onto the wafer is called a "stepper" or "scanner" (hereinafter collectively called "exposure tool"). FIG. 1 is a diagram of an optical projection lithographic system 10 of a conventional exposure tool. System 10 includes an illumination source 12, an illumination pupil filter 14, a lens subsystem 16a-c, a mask 18, a projection pupil filter 20, and a wafer 22 on which the aerial image of mask 18 is projected. Illumination source 12 may be laser source operated, for example, at UV (ultra-violet) or DUV (deep ultra-violet) wavelengths. The light beam of illumination source 12 is expanded and scrambled before it is incident on illumination pupil 14. Illumination pupil 14 may be a simple round aperture, or may have specifically designed shapes for off-axis illumination. Off-axis illumination may include, for example, annular illumination (i.e., illumination pupil 14 is a ring with a designed inner and outer radius), quadruple illumination (i.e., illumination pupil 14 has four openings in the four quadrants of the pupil plane), and other shapes like dipole illumination.
After illumination pupil 14, the light passes through the illumination optics (for example, lens subsystem 16a) and is incident on mask 18, which contains the circuit pattern to be imaged on wafer 22 by the projection optics. As the desired pattern size on wafer 22 becomes smaller and smaller, and the features of the pattern become closer and closer to each other, the lithography process becomes more challenging. In an effort to improve imaging quality, current processing techniques employ resolution enhancement techniques ("RET"), such as, for example, optical proximity correction ("OPC"), phase shift masks ("PSM"), off-axis illumination ("OAI"), and condenser and exit pupil filters. Many of the RET technologies are applied on or directly to mask 18. For example, OPC and PSM, which modify the light waves to compensate for the imperfection of the imaging properties of the projection optics (for example, the OPC technology is used to compensate for optical or processing related proximity effects, e.g., due to light interference), and/or take advantage of designed light interferences to enhance the imaging quality, for example, the PSM technology is used to create phase shifting between neighboring patterns to enhance resolution. Notably, mask 18 may not be "perfect," due to its own manufacturing process. For example, corners on mask 18 may not be sharp but may be rounded and/or the linewidth may have a bias from design value where the bias may also depend on the designed linewidth value and neighboring patterns. These imperfections on mask 18 may affect the final imaging quality.
The projection optics (for example, lens subsystems 16b and 16c, and projection pupil filter 20) images mask 18 onto wafer 22. Pupil 20 of the projection optics limits the maximum spatial frequency of the mask pattern that can be passed through the projection optics system. A number called "numerical aperture" or NA often characterizes pupil 20. There are also proposed RET techniques that modify pupil 20, which are generally called pupil filtering. Pupil filtering may include modulating both the amplitude and the phase of the light beams passing through pupil 20.
Due to the wavelength of light being finite, and current techniques employing wavelengths that are larger than the minimum linewidth that is printed on wafer 22, there are typically significant light interference and diffraction effects affecting the imaging process. The imaging process does not produce at the wafer plane a perfect replication of the pattern on mask 18. In order to predict the actual imaging performance, current techniques employ physical theory to simulate and model this imaging process. Further, due to the high NA value of current lithography tools, different polarizations of the light provide different imaging properties. To more accurately model the imaging process, a vector-based model may be used that incorporates polarization effects.
The projection optics of system 10 may be diffraction-limited. However, lens subsystem 16b and 16c in the projection optics are most often not completely "perfect." These imperfections may be due to aberrations, which are often modeled as some undesired phase modulation at the plane of pupil 20, and are commonly represented by a set of Zernike coefficients. After the light finally reaches the surface of wafer 22, it will further interact with the coatings on wafer 22 (for example, the photoresist). In this regard, different resist thickness, different optical properties of the resist (for example, its refractive index), and different material layers under the resist (for example, a bottom-anti-reflection-coating or BARC), may further affect the imaging characteristics. Some of these effects may also be abstracted by a modulation at the pupil plane.
When the resist is exposed by the projected image and thereafter baked and developed, the resist tends to undergo complex chemical and physical changes. The final resist patterns are typically characterized by their critical dimensions, or CD, usually defined as the width of a resist feature at the resist-substrate interface. While the CD is usually intended to represent the smallest feature being patterned in the given device, in practice the term CD is used to describe the linewidth of any resist feature.
For a lithography process to pattern a device correctly, the CDs of all critical structures in the device must be patterned to achieve the design target dimensions. Since it is practically impossible to achieve every target CD with no errors, the device is designed with a certain tolerance for CD errors. In this case, the pattern is considered to be acceptable if the CDs of all critical features are within these predefined tolerances. In order for the lithography process to be viable in a manufacturing environment, the full CD distribution must fall within the tolerance limits across a range of process conditions, which represents the typical range of process variation expected to occur in the fab.
The range of process conditions over which the CD distribution will meet the specification limits is referred to as the "process window." While many variables must be considered to define the full process window, in lithography processes it is typical to describe only the two most critical process parameters, focus and exposure offsets, in defining the process window. A process may be considered to have a manufacturable process window if the CDs fall within the tolerance limits, e.g., +/−10% of the nominal feature dimension, over a range of focus and exposure conditions which are expected to be maintainable in production. FIG. 2 is a diagram of a process window 30 as an area in exposure-defocus (E-D) space in which CDs are within tolerance limits for up to +/−150 nm of focus error and +/−15% exposure error. It should be noted that while this may seem to be an unusually large range of exposure variation, given that state of the art exposure tools can easily control the energy delivered at the wafer plane to less than 1% variation, the exposure dose tolerance must be significantly larger than the expected variation in energy since exposure latitude also serves as a surrogate for a wide range of other process variations such as film thickness, reflectivity, resist processing, develop processing, exposure tool aberrations, and others. It should also be noted that different pattern types or sizes usually have different process windows, and that the manufacturability of a device design depends on the common process window of all critical patterns.
First-principle and empirical models have been developed to simulate lithography processes, including the formation of the aerial image (the image projected onto wafer 22), transfer of the aerial image into a latent image in the resist film, and baking and developing of the resist to form the final three-dimensional resist pattern. These models are vital in verifying that the complex circuit patterns, including RET enhancements, will be reproduced correctly and with a manufacturable process window at the wafer level. The time and expense needed to create test masks, expose them, process test wafers and determine the final dimensions experimentally would be prohibitive without the savings in time and processing cost made possible by simulation. Simulation can also be used to study the patterning of the full chip image and predict any weak spots in the design, for example by a process window analysis (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,758, the subject matter of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety), to develop the OPC and PSM models used in developing and implementing the RETs used to create the mask pattern, and to develop model-based advanced process control systems used to monitor and control the lithography process in production (see "Lithography Process Control," H. J. Levinson, Solid State Technology, Vol. 40, No. 11, pp. 141-149 (November 1997); "Semiconductor Process Control," L. Mantalas and H. Levinson, Handbook of Critical Dimension Metrology and Process Control, K. Monahan, editor, SPIE Critical Review of Optical Science and Technology, Vol. CR52, pp. 230-266 (1994)).
In developing and calibrating the models used for all aspects of lithography simulation, one of the most difficult challenges has been the correct separation of the model into its optical and resist components, where the optical model module accurately represents the formation of the aerial image by the exposure tool and the resist model module accurately represents the absorption of the incident aerial image by the resist as well as the development of the exposed resist to form the final three-dimensional resist pattern. A model of a lithography process includes an optical model module, and may optionally include a resist model module, a mask model module, and other appropriate model modules. The model modules of the model of the lithography process will be referred to herein as models, e.g., the optical model and the resist model, for simplicity.
Up until now, the only way to calibrate a lithography simulation model has been to process a wafer in an exposure tool, develop the resist images, measure the CDs and possibly sidewall angles of the resist profile, then adjust both optical and resist model parameter values to achieve the best possible agreement between predicted and measured resist observations. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a prior art method used to process wafers in an exposure tool and collect data using any current CD metrology tool such as a CD Scanning Electron Microscope (CD-SEM), scatterometer (SCD), optical CD (OCD), electrical linewidth (ELM) or Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) tool. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a prior art method for calibrating a model of a lithography process, where simulated resist data (CDs, sidewall angles, contours and/or three-dimensional profiles) are compared to measured resist data in step 420 to evaluate the model quality and any differences between the modeled and the measured results are used to modify both the optical and resist models in step 424. In the method of FIG. 4, the model only includes an optical model and a resist model for ease of illustration. Assuming that the measured data are sufficiently accurate, any differences between the model predictions for the resist patterns and the measurements of the actual resist patterns could be due to inaccuracy in either the resist model or the optical model.
There is presently no unambiguous method to separate which model component needs to be adjusted in order to reduce such differences, and thereby to improve the predictability of the simulation model. Consequently, often a resist parameter may be changed to compensate for an incorrect setting of an optical parameter, or vice versa. Selection of a non-optimal parameter set often results in incomplete convergence of the model fitting procedure, or, if the model fitting does converge, the values to which the parameters converge often have little relationship to physical reality and therefore provide limited predictability.
In this current environment, the model prediction may be optimized for a restricted set of calibration test patterns, but the terms in the model may not be correct, leading to incorrect predictions of patterns that were not included in the set of calibration test patterns. In addition, if a model is calibrated without achieving a significant match between model parameters and real physical parameters, model predictability will be limited in the following respect: if one specific parameter is deliberately changed in the process, such as the partial coherence (sigma) of the illuminator or the numerical aperture (NA) of the projection lens, simply changing that parameter in the model will most likely not give the correct results. A change in one known parameter may require corresponding changes in multiple modeling terms to restore the model accuracy. In effect, the model terms, although they are given names corresponding to real physical parameters, do not actually represent those specific parameters but rather they represent the collective effect of numerous different parameters convolved into empirical modeling terms.
In many cases, developers of lithography simulation models have recognized the difficulty in developing truly separable models and have tacitly admitted that the model parameters do not bear a unique one-to-one correspondence with the physical parameters for which they are named. In such "lumped parameter" models, the model terms are given physical sounding names, but the values which these parameters are set to, in order to achieve the best matching to experimental data, do not actually correspond to the physical value those parameters would have if they could be individually measured in the process. (See "Lumped Parameter Model for Optical Lithography," R. Hershel and C. Mack, Ch. 2, Lithography for VLSI, VLSI Electronics—Microstructure Science, R. K. Watts and N. G. Einspruch, eds., Academic Press (New York), pp. 19-55 (1987); "Enhanced Lumped Parameter Model for Photolithography," C. A. Mack, Optical/Laser Microlithography VII, Proc. SPIE Vol. 2197, pp. 501-510 (1994); "3D Lumped Parameter Model for Lithographic Simulation," J. Byers., M. D. Smith, C. A. Mack, Optical/Laser Microlithography XV, A. Yen, editor, Proc. SPIE Vol. 4691, pp. 125-137 (2002)). As a result, if any term in the real physical process is deliberately changed, it is not sufficient to change the one corresponding term in the model. Instead, the entire model must be recalibrated. In many cases, even if the process change is only in the optical parameters, all of the resist parameters in the model may also require returning, and vice versa: if the change is only in the resist parameters, the optical model might also need to be returned. Thus, if an optical parameter such as NA or sigma is changed, the optical and resist models both need to be returned. This indicates that such models and the methods used to calibrate the models do not achieve true, physically significant model separation. As a result, any change in the process requires extensive, time consuming model recalibration.
Other models have been developed which take the lack of separability to such an extreme that they do not even attempt to break the model into separate optical and resist components. Examples of such models are the class of lumped parameter or behavioral models often used in OPC implementation. The use of non-separable models means that an OPC model that is optimized for a given exposure tool and a given resist process is not easily transferable to another tool or another resist process. Due to the convoluted mapping of real physical parameters with these OPC model parameters, an entirely new model would have to be developed even if process changes seem relatively minor.
Some efforts have been made to develop first-principle resist models (see "New Kinetic Model for Resist Dissolution," C. A. Mack, Jour. Electrochemical Society, Vol. 139, No. 4, pp. L35-L37, April 1992) and to measure the resist parameters independently through specific tests, such as dose-to-clear, contrast curves, and development rate monitors (see "Characterization of Positive Photoresist," F. H. Dill et al., IEEE Trans. Electronic Devices, ED-22, No. 7, pp. 445-452, July 1975). The goal of such first-principle approaches is to provide truly separable models such that the terms in the models do bear a unique one-to-one correspondence with the physical parameters of interest. Efforts to implement workable first-principle models have been largely unsuccessful due to a number of factors: the large number of resist parameters required to accurately describe the complex kinetics of acid and base diffusion in modern acid catalyzed resist systems as well as the surface and substrate interaction effects in these resists; the sensitivity to the various bake temperatures and thermal cycles; the difficulty in accurately modeling the development path at the developer-resist interface, where the resist film undergoes a complex phase transformation from solid to soluble gel; and the molecular level perturbations of the acid and base species in the resist which gives rise to stochastic line edge roughness (see "Resist Blur and Line Edge Roughness," G. Gallatin, Optical Microlithography XVIII, B. W. Smith, editor, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 5754, pp. 38-52 (2005)).
Even if a microscopic resist model could be simplified from the physical reality to a manageable set of parameters, the linkage between the resist model and optical model is still difficult to break due to the lack of understanding of the exact optical conditions in the exposure tool. While it is common to represent the illumination profile by a simple set of parameters, such as the single parameter sigma for conventional illumination or the two parameters inner and outer sigma for annular illumination, the actual pupil fill function is far more complex and non-uniform, both spatially in the mask plane and in terms of the pupil filling factor in the conjugate plane (see "Size-Dependent Flare and its Effect on Imaging," Stephen Renwick et al., Optical Microlithography XVI, A. Yen, editor, Proc. SPIE Vol. 5040, pp. 24-32 (2003)). Similarly, the wavefront will be significantly aberrated from its idealized representation by lower order terms, often represented as Zernike polynomials (see "Zernike Coefficients: Are They Really Enough?," C. Progler and A. Wong, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 4000, pp. 40-52 (2000); "Analysis of Imaging Performance Degradation," K. Matsumoto, Optical Microlithography XVI, A. Yen, editor, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 5040, pp. 131-138 (2003)), as well as mid-to-low spatial frequency terms such as flare (see "Analysis of Flare and its Impact on Low-k1 KrF and ArF Lithography," Bruno La Fontaine et al., Optical Microlithography XV, A. Yen, editor, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 4691, pp. 44-56 (2002); "Measuring and Modeling Flare in Optical Lithography," Chris Mack, Optical Microlithography XVI, A. Yen, editor, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 5040, pp. 151-161 (2003); "Flare and its Effects on Imaging," Stephen P. Renwick, Optical Microlithography XVII, B. W. Smith, editor, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 5377, pp. 442-450 (2004); "Scattered Light: The Increasing Problem for 193 nm Exposure Tools and Beyond," K. Lai, C. Wu, and C. Progler, Optical Microlithography XIV, C. Prolger, editor, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 4346, pp. 1424-1435 (2001)). These deviations from idealized theory can cause extensive proximity effects which are difficult to separate from resist processing effects.

Method for lithography model calibration


The present invention provides a turntable color machine includes a rack, a controller is arranged on the rack, a wheel-type turntable that rotates vertically is arranged on the rack, a plurality of color paste bags are arranged on the wheel-type turntable, the color paste bags are evenly arranged along the circumference of the wheel-type turntable, the color paste bags are connected with a piston pump that is driven by a lifting mechanism to perform constant volume injection via a valve body, and a material receiving device that moves up and down is arranged at the middle of the wheel-type turntable. The piston pump is connected with the color paste bags to achieve volume injection, the wheel-type turntable drives the color paste bags to perform a circular motion, so that the color paste in the color paste bags are turned up and down to achieve an even mixing effect, no stirring device needs to be added, so that the manufacturing cost is reduced, the plunger valves are arranged in the color paste bags, the air in the color paste bags is extracted through the air suction cylinder to ensure that there is no air in the color paste bags, to prevent the color paste from deteriorating and to prolong the service life of the color paste.

When color matching is carried out before the spraying of a vehicle refinishing paint, one of the commonly used methods is to compare color cards with the color of a vehicle to find a color card of the same color, a color masterbatch ratio of a color card number and color masterbatch weight formulas are searched in a color matching software database in a computer according to the color card number, the necessary types of color masterbatches are manually weighed according to the formula, and are mixed and stirred to prepare the vehicle refinishing paint (referred to as vehicle paint below) consistent with the color of the color card. The labor efficiency is low, the vehicle refinishing paint formulated according to the color card usually has a certain deviation from the color of the vehicle, and thus needs to be further adjusted manually, which is laborious and requires higher technical skills of color mixing workers, and only the experienced color mixing workers can formulate the vehicle paint with the consistent color.
In the prior art, there is also a method for finding a paint spraying formula at the factory according to a model number or a paint code of the vehicle or measuring the surface paint of the vehicle by using an optical instrument (spectrophotometer) to obtain a paint formulating formula, the obtained formulating method can be suitable for the analysis of most vehicle surface paints, is more accurate and reduces the color error between the vehicle paint formulated according to the vehicle model or the paint code and the actual vehicle paint. But even so, the previously counted data show that a considerable proportion of vehicle surface paints still have color differences after once color mixing, and further manual color matching correction is still needed. Therefore, the color matching of the existing vehicle refinishing paint has high requirements on labor and is highly dependent, the efficiency of artificial color matching is low, especially in some paint mixing shops, the amount of color matching in a day is very large, which can reach dozens or hundreds, the color matching can not be completed by one color matching worker, and some stores even require two or four color matching workers. Even so, people are still reluctant to do the job of color matching because of the high labor intensity, the poor environment (colors stick everywhere, and even the body) and the long term for improving the skill. On the other hand, it is also very difficult to recruit an excellent color matching worker, and nobody is willing to do the job for a low salary. However, the color matching technicians are necessary at present, for paint mixing shops with very small color mixing amount or for shops in which the color mixing is only auxiliary business (some 4S shops as an example), the earnings are sufficient to pay the salary of a color mixing worker. Therefore, if there is a device on the market that automatically and accurately allocates the amount of each color masterbatch for color matching, the purposes of improving the efficiency, reducing the technical requirements for color mixing and reducing the labor cost can be achieved.
In fact, in recent years, some companies have developed automatic color mixing machines of vehicle refinishing paint. But no stable product is formed to launch on the market.
As we all know, the existing mature and universal vehicle paint color mixing methods in the world all adopt a weight ratio manner, and the color masterbatches are manually poured out from paint buckets for weighing, color matching and color mixing. That is, according to the weight requirements of the color masterbatches required for color matching, the color masterbatches are manually poured out from color masterbatch buckets provided with pulp covers at the upper parts through pulp outlets on the pulp covers. The weights of the color masterbatches required for color matching are weighed on an electronic scale. The color masterbatches required for color matching in each formula are poured out from the color masterbatch buckets and are weighed to the necessary weights in this way. The color masterbatches required for color matching are stirred and mixed to complete the color matching of the required color paint. The pulp cover has a stirring function and a function of manually controlling to pour out the color masterbatches. At present, the color mixing formulas of the manufacturers (such as: Xinjin, DuPont, PPG and BASF) who manufacture the color masterbatches of vehicle refinishing paints in the world are designed according to weight ratios at present.
There are two advantages of manual paint pouring for color mixing by using the weight ratio:
1 It is convenient to pour out the required amount of color masterbatch from the color masterbatch bucket, and it is also convenient to control the pouring amount: as long as the required weight on the weighing scale is approaching, the pouring speed of the color masterbatch is gradually slowed down by manual control, so that the pouring amount slowly approaches to the required pouring weight, and the pouring of the color masterbatch is stopped at the arrival of the required weight of the color masterbatch. The required weights of other color masterbatches for color mixing are also poured out and weighed according to the same method; and2 Several color masterbatches required for color matching can be poured into a container to be directly stirred evenly: for example, if three color masterbatches are needed to obtain a color, the weight of each masterbatch is respectively as follows: 1.1 grams of masterbatch A, 2.2 grams of masterbatch B and 3.3 grams of masterbatch C, an empty bucket can be placed on the electronic scale, and zero clearing is performed on the weight. The masterbatch A is poured into the empty bucket until the electronic scale shows 1.1 grams. Zero clearing is performed on the electronic scale, and the masterbatch B is poured until the electronic scale shows a weight of 2.2 grams; and zero clearing is performed on the electronic scale again, and the masterbatch C is poured until the electronic scale shows 3.3 grams. Finally, the three color masterbatches are stirred evenly by using a stirring ruler to complete the color mixing and color matching.
The use of weight color matching is the first natural choice in the color mixing history. In order to avoid that the proportion of color masterbatches for color matching based on empirical color mixing cannot be accurately known and that the required amounts of color masterbatches cannot be accurately controlled, the most convenient weight ratio method based on empirical color mixing has been generated to achieve accurate color matching.
Theoretically, volume proportion color matching is also tenable. But the theoretically tenable volume proportion color matching method is difficult to implement in practice. There are several ways to obtain the color masterbatches for color matching of the required volumes by the volume proportioning method: assumption 1: the color masterbatch is manually poured into a measuring cup, and the amount of the poured color masterbatch is controlled by human eye observation according to the position of the volume scales of the measuring cup. However, there is a problem, due to the characteristics of the color paint, the accuracy of the volume of the color masterbatch determined by observing the position of the measuring scale of the measuring cup in human eyes cannot reach the required accuracy of 0.1 grams by weight, especially when a large amount of color paint needs to be blended, the volume of the measuring cup is large, the cross-sectional area of the measuring cup is larger, and the error of determining whether the color masterbatch reaches the specified scale position in human eyes is greater, and the color mixing accuracy requirements of 0.1 grams cannot met at all. Moreover, even the inaccurate volume manual color mixing method is much more difficult and tedious than the weight ratio color mixing in actual operation, so that effective color mixing and color matching cannot be realized; assumption 2: a specific gravity cup method is adopted: due to the discontinuity of wall hanging and volume measurement of the color masterbatch, it is difficult to achieve the required volume in practical application; assumption 3: manual injection pipe volume measurement injection method: since the color masterbatch residual at an injection pipe head for extracting the color masterbatch causes an accuracy error, it is troublesome and environmentally friendly to remove the residual color masterbatch, and if the color masterbatch is not removed, the color masterbatch flows to the outlet of the injection pipe head to affect the error guarantee of less than 0.1 g. Similarly, it is very laborsome to manually eject the viscous color masterbatch, and even people with small forces cannot push the injection pipe, although the injection force can be reduced by decreasing the pipe diameter of the injection pipe to improve the injection accuracy, however, it is necessary to extract the color masterbatch from a color masterbatch container for multiple times to accurately eject a large amount of color masterbatch, the residual color masterbatch needs to be removed from the pipe orifice of the injection pipe every time, furthermore, the error is accumulated with the increase in the number of times, at this time, the error of 0.1 g is more difficult to control, and this is much more complicated than the currently used weight ratio method color matching, of course, the simple and easy to achieve weight ratio method is selected in the color mixing industry for color mixing, and the volume ratio method that is troublesome and difficult to ensure the accuracy is not selected for color mixing.

ZHENGZHOU SANHUA TECHNOLOGY & INDUSTRY CO., LTD.


A control unit (41) controls an opening of an exhaust recirculation valve (6) according to a running condition of a diesel engine (1). The control unit (41) calculates an equivalence ratio of the gas mixture supplied to the engine (1) and a target intake fresh air amount taking account of the air amount in the exhaust gas recirculated by the exhaust gas circulation valve (6), based on the opening of the valve (6) and a target excess air factor of the engine (1) set according to the running condition. By controlling a turbocharger (50) according to the target intake fresh air amount, and by controlling the fuel supply mechanism according to a fuel injection amount calculated from the equivalence ratio, the excess air factor of the engine (1) and an exhaust gas recirculation rate of the exhaust gas recirculation valve (6) are respectively controlled to optimum values.

This invention relates to a diesel engine for vehicles that is provided with a mechanism for regulating a flowrate in an intake passage and an exhaust gas recirculation device.
Tokkai Hei 10-288043 published by the Japanese Patent Office in 1998 discloses a diesel engine for vehicles wherein the generation amount of smoke and particulates, and the generation amount of nitrogen oxides xe2x80x94(NOx), are suppressed by maintaining a ratio of an excess air factor and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate of the engine at a constant value.
In a diesel engine provided with a trap for NOx in the exhaust passage, to reduce the NOx accumulated in the trap, it is necessary to reduce the excess air factor to less than one without changing the EGR rate, and supply hydrocarbons (HC) to the exhaust passage as a reducing agent. However, in this control device, it is impossible to vary one of the excess air factor and the EGR rate while keeping the other constant.
Further, the ratio of the excess air factor and EGR rate required to suppress the generation amount of smoke and particulates and the generation amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx), is not necessarily always constant.
It is therefore an object of this invention to make it possible to control the excess air factor and EGR rate independently as required.
It is a further object of this invention to precisely control the excess air factor.
In order to achieve the above objects, this invention provides a control device for such an engine that comprises an intake passage which aspirates fresh air, an adjusting mechanism which varies an aspirating amount of fresh air of the intake passage, an exhaust passage which discharges an exhaust gas of the engine, an exhaust gas recirculation valve which recirculates part of the exhaust gas into the intake passage and a fuel supply mechanism which supplies a fuel to the engine.
The engine burns the fuel with a mixture of fresh air aspirated by the intake passage and exhaust gas recirculated by the exhaust gas recirculation valve.
The control device comprises a sensor which detects a running condition of the engine, a sensor which detects the aspirating amount of the fresh air of the intake passage and a microprocessor. The microprocessor is programmed to determine a target exhaust gas recirculation value of the exhaust gas recirculation valve according to the running condition, control the exhaust gas recirculation valve based on the target exhaust gas recirculation value, calculate a first target value according to the running condition, calculate a second target value based on the first target value and the target exhaust gas recirculation value, control the adjusting mechanism based on the second target value, and control the fuel supply mechanism based on the second target value.
The first target value represents a relation between an amount of air and an amount of the fuel supplied to the engine while
the second target value represents a relation between an amount of the fresh air aspirated by the intake passage and the amount of the fuel supplied to the engine,
This invention also provides a control device for the engine, comprising a mechanism for detecting a running condition of the engine, a mechanism for detecting the aspirating amount of the fresh air of the intake passage, a mechanism for determining a target exhaust gas recirculation value of the exhaust gas recirculation valve according to the running condition, a mechanism for controlling the exhaust gas recirculation valve based on the target exhaust gas recirculation value, a mechanism for calculating a first target value according to the running condition, a mechanism for calculating a second target value based on the first target value and the target exhaust gas recirculation value, and the amount of the fuel supplied to the engine, a mechanism for controlling the adjusting mechanism based on the second target value; and a mechanism for controlling the fuel supply mechanism based on the second target value.
The first target value represents a relation between an amount of air and an amount of the fuel supplied to the engine while
the second target value represents a relation between an amount of the fresh air aspirated by the intake passage and the amount of the fuel supplied to the engine,
This invention also provides a control method for the engine, comprising detecting a running condition of the engine, detecting the aspirating amount of the fresh air of the intake passage, determining a target exhaust gas recirculation value of the exhaust gas recirculation valve according to the running condition, controlling the exhaust gas recirculation valve based on the target exhaust gas recirculation value, calculating a first target value according to the running condition, calculating a second target value based on the first target value and the target exhaust gas recirculation value, controlling the adjusting mechanism based on the second target value, and controlling the fuel supply mechanism based on the second target value.
The first target value represents a relation between an amount of air and an amount of the fuel supplied to the engine while
the second target value represents, a relation between an amount of the fresh air aspirated by the intake passage and the amount of the fuel supplied to the engine,
The details as well as other features and advantages of this invention are set forth in the remainder of the specification and are shown in the accompanying drawings.


A method of preventing and/or treating S. pneumoniae infection in mammalian subjects, wherein said method comprises administering to said subjects a composition comprising one or more agents that are capable of inhibiting the binding of the S. pneumoniae cell wall protein FBA to the respiratory tract cells of said subject.

S. pneumoniae is a gram-positive bacterial organism that colonizes the upper respiratory tract and causes life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia, bacteremia and meningitis throughout the world. Currently, more than one million children die each year from pneumococcal-associated diseases.
S. pneumoniae colonizes the nasopharynx asymptomatically, leading to a clinically-silent carriage state. Carriage is most prevalent in children and about 70-80% of children attending day care centers carry S. pneumoniae at any given time. In adults, the carriage rate may vary according to environmental conditions. The pathogenic mechanisms that convert this benign state of carriage into clinical disease are unknown. It is generally assumed, however, that in common with other bacterial species, development of the carriage state is dependent on recognition of host cells by S. pneumoniae and attachment thereto. It is also suspected that either the appearance of a new strain, unfamiliar to the immune system, or activation of the immune system, with another viral or bacterial pathogen, enables the invasion and spread of the bacteria into sterile tissues thereby converting the benign carriage state into a life-threatening or potentially life-threatening clinical disease.
Following attachment, the bacteria may invade the cells and tissues, thereby leading to the aforementioned disease states associated with S. pneumoniae. Bacterial attachment involves interaction between one or more bacterial surface proteins, known as adhesins, and one or more host cell receptors. By means of blocking the recognition and attachment stage it may be possible to prevent the carriage stage and hence avert the development of the abovementioned disease states. Identification of bacterial adhesins involved in attachment to host mucosal layer are of prime interest in understanding the molecular basis of bacterial interaction with the host.
Currently, there is growing resistance of S. pneumoniae to antibiotics. In addition, the currently available vaccines offer only limited protection against infection with this organism. Consequently, an urgent need exists for clinically-safe and efficacious methods of preventing the adhesion of S. pneumoniae to host cells.

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Research and Development Authority


This invention encompasses a method and compositions which inhibit pancreatic cholesterol esterase and triglyceride lipase and hence, lower cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood stream.

This invention relates to a method for decreasing intestinal cholesterol and fatty acid absorption in man and, specifically, to inhibiting or decreasing intestinal cholesterol and fatty acid absorption by oral administration of synthetic sulfated polysaccharides which inhibit pancreatic cholesterol esterase. The invention is based upon our discovery of sulfated polysaccharides which are potent inhibitors of human pancreatic cholesterol esterase the enzyme responsible for promoting the intestinal absorption of cholesterol and fatty acids derived from their esterified dietary forms. The invention is also based on our observation that such agents are stable and are bioavailable to the intestine when delivered in baked goods such as biscuits and can therefore be administered in food products.
Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in the United States and high serum cholesterol concentrations are associated with increased risks of fatal atherosclerosis events, J.A.M A., 253, 2094 (1985) (NIH Consensus Panel). In 1988, a Consensus Panel of experts at the National Institute of Health stated that a major public health priority was the reduction of cholesterol, and that the goal of front line therapy should be to diminish the intestinal absorption of cholesterol, either through eating less cholesterol or through the use of drugs which act in the intestine to reduce cholesterol levels, Arch Inst Med., 148. 36 (1988) (Consensus Full Report). Currently, the principal drug to inhibit cholesterol absorption is cholestyramine, a bile acid sequesterant. "Agents to Treat Hyperlipidemia". The AMA Drug Evaluations, 6th Ed., p. 903. This agent binds bile salts within the intestinal lumen, and the resulting complex is excreted in the feces. Since bile acid is not reabsorbed, the liver uses additional cholesterol to synthesize more bile which effectively lowers the sterol concentration in the body. Bile salt sequesterants are effective in lowering cholesterol, but they seldom reduce serum cholesterol by more than 15%. and they are poorly tolerated by patients Large quantities of these ion exchange resins must be ingested (15g or more), which lead to assaults on both the gustatory senses and intestinal function Common side effects are constipation and bloating J.A.M.A., 253, 2095 (1985).
Cholesterol esterase is secreted by the pancrease after eating and is active in hydrolyzing ingested dietary esters of cholesterol. The enzyme is essential for absorption of cholesterol. If enzyme activity is removed from pancreatic juice, no cholesterol absorption occurs. If the cholesterol esterase activity is returned, absorption of cholesterol occurs. Borja et al.. Am. J. Physiol., 206, 223 (1964) and Vahouny and Treadwell; Proc J. Exp Biol. and Med., 116 496 (1964). In man, the 100 kiloDalton (kDa) molecular weight protein responsible for hydrolyzing cholesterol esters is also the principal triglyceride lipase in the pancreas. Bosner, et al., Clin Res., 37. 366A (1989). Since fatty acids are also important in the genesis of atherosclerosis, the enzyme cholesterol esterase is essential in the intestinal absorption of those lipids responsible for producing atherosclerosis.
Despite this key role and the stated mission of the NIH to target strategies of diminishing cholesterol absorption from the intestine, no systematic study of inhibition of human pancreatic cholesterol esterase has been performed. In fact, few studies have focused on the human enzyme at all, with most attention directed to other mammalian enzymes (rat, pig, and cow) Calame et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 168. 57 (1975); Van den Bosch et al., Biochem. Biophys Acta., 286. 94 (1973); Momsen et al., Biochem. Biophys Acta., 486. 103 (1977); Guy et al., Eur. J Biochem., 117. 457 (1981)., and Sutton et al Biochem. Biophys Res. Commun., 134. 386 (1986). Thus, there has been an important and continuing need to discover inhibitors of human pancreatic cholesterol esterase The pharmacology of various sulfated polysaccharides has been investigated Cook and Cammarata, Arch. Intern. Pharmacodyn., 144. 1 (1963). In particular, sulfated amylopectin has been taught in U.S Pat. No. 4,150,110 as an antiulcer agent, but its properties as a cholesterol esterase inhibitor, which decrease absorption of cholesterol, have not been recognized. Sulfated dextran has also been identified as an antiulcer agent, Am. J. Surgery, 113. 27 (1967); however, it too has not been recognized as an inhibitor of cholesterol esterase.

Use of sulfated polysaccharides to inhibit pancreatic cholesterol esterase


A communications system includes a plurality of recipient processors located at geographically remote locations with respect to each other and connected for communication with an information provider processor, over the communications network. The provider and recipient processors may comprise respective computers coupled for communication on the Internet or WWW. The provider processor is capable of providing information form any suitable source, by communicating such information over a communications network. However, access to the information by the recipient processors is controlled, based on the geographic location or region of the recipient processors. Each recipient processor is operably associated with a positioning system for providing geographic location information corresponding to the location or region in which the positioning system is located, such as a global positioning system GPS. The geographic position information is used to determine whether or not the processor requesting the information is within a restricted (or limited) or non-restricted region. This determination may be made comparing the geographic information provided by the recipient processor and positioning system with a list of non-restricted or non-limited (or a list of restricted or limited) geographic locations or regions.

The Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) have opened vast new global marketplaces and opportunities for companies, organizations, institutions and individuals to distribute and obtain information and to interact verbally and visually with others, virtually on a world-wide basis. By employing the Internet and WWW, companies and groups of all sizes and individuals may have, in effect, a world-wide market in which to distribute information, products and services using the Internet or WWW (including, but not limited to, programs, movies, photographs, and other information that can be transmitted over the Internet or WWW).
However, such a geographically expansive marketplace can be problematic for contexts in which the information, products or services are intended for a particular geographic area or location. Typical web site operators have no control over or knowledge of the geographic area or location of a user accessing the web site and, thus, no control over the area or location at which its web site content may be read, viewed or otherwise downloaded. Similarly, typical Internet or web users have no control over or knowledge of the geographic area or location of the web site's operator server from which the web site content is read, viewed or otherwise downloaded.
Consider, for example, a company or individual involved in the business of selling a product or service, but which is constrained under statute or contract to a limited geographic sales region. In one representative example, a software company contracts with various software distribution companies to sell its software in specified sales regions, wherein each distributor is provided a sales region and, under the terms of the contract, is not allowed to sell the software outside of the region. A distribution company may desire to employ the Internet or WWW as a distribution channel, but would need to limit sales (and access to the distributed software) to only those Internet users (customers) that are located within the region assigned to that company.
As another example, consider a company or individual in the business of providing a lottery or other game in which a fee is required to play and the player is provided with a chance to win money or prizes. Under many legal jurisdictions (which can also be defined in terms of geographic areas), such lotteries and games may be illegal or otherwise limited by gambling statutes, rules or regulations. Again, the company or individual may desire to offer the lottery or game service over the Internet or WWW, but also avoid potential legal liability for offering such services to Internet users that are located in a geographic region of an adverse legal jurisdiction.
As yet another example, consider a company, organization or individual involved in distributing information having a content that is politically or ethically sensitive in certain geographic regions, but not other geographic regions. Again, the company, organization or individual may desire to provide the information over the Internet but, for political, ethical or legal reasons, may also desire to limit the accessibility to the information to certain geographic regions.
Thus, in a number of contexts, there is a need in the industry for a system by which a provider of a service or product on the Internet may readily limit access to the product or service, based on the geographic region in which the user requesting the product or service is located.

System and process for distribution of information on a communication network


An energy efficient water sprinkler has a housing with primary and secondary water chambers each with a turning wheel for translating the force of impacting water to rotational motion of a central shaft journal. Water is forced through a central channel in the rotating shaft and discharged from the housing. A portion of the discharged water is directed to deflection fins on the outer surface of the housing to further impart rotational or energy to the rotating shaft.

The present invention relates to an improved water sprinkler system. Typical household water pressure is 50-60 psi. A hose having a ⅝″-¾″ inside diameter will usually deliver 4 to 6 gallons of water per minute at those pressures. Sprinklers which use pressure to deliver water in various discharge patterns essentially restrict flow and reduce the gallons per minute (flow rate) delivered. Further, most current devices have numerous small parts which are susceptible to lime, calcium, and dirt residue buildups which additionally restrict water flow. There is a need for a sprinkler which provides a full volume flow with little restriction.


A thermal accelerometer device that provides a compensation for sensitivity variations over temperature. The thermal accelerometer includes signal conditioning circuitry operative to receive analog signals representing a differential temperature is indicative of a sensed acceleration. The signal conditioning circuitry includes serially connected A-to-D and D-to-A converters, which implement a temperature dependent function and process the received signals to provide a compensation for sensitivity variations over a range of ambient temperature. To provide a ratiometric compensation for variations in power supply voltage, a buffered voltage proportional to the supply voltage is provided as a reference voltage to the D-to-A converter. The thermal accelerometer includes a self-test circuit for verifying the integrity of a heater, temperature sensors, and circuitry included within the device.

The present invention relates generally to micro-machined thermal accelerometers, and more specifically to an improved technique of compensating for sensitivity variations over temperature in thermal accelerometers.
Thermal accelerometers are known that have the capability of detecting acceleration along multiple axes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,509 (the '509 patent) discloses a thermal accelerometer device configured to detect acceleration along 2-axes. As disclosed in the '509 patent, the 2-axes thermal accelerometer comprises a substrate having a cavity etched therein, and a structure including a small heater plate and four temperature sensors suspended over the cavity. The heater plate is positioned at the center of the suspended structure, which is in a plane defined by the X and Y axes. Further, two of the four temperature sensors are placed along the X axis on opposite sides of and at substantially equal distances from the heater plate, while the other two temperature sensors are similarly placed along the Y axis on opposite sides of and at substantially equal distances from the heater plate. In a typical mode of operation, electrical current is passed through the heater plate, which heats the surrounding fluid (e.g., air) within the cavity to generate a symmetrical temperature gradient in the directions of the X and Y axes. Because the respective pairs of temperature sensors disposed along the X and Y axes are equidistant from the heater plate, the differential temperature between each pair of temperature sensors is initially zero. However, if an accelerating force is applied to the device in a direction parallel to the X-Y plane, then the temperature distribution of the fluid shifts. For example, when acceleration is applied in the X direction, a differential temperature can be detected by the temperature sensors disposed along the X axis. Similarly, when acceleration is applied in the Y direction, a differential temperature can be detected by the temperature sensors disposed along the Y axis. A bridge circuit and a differential amplifier are typically employed to generate signals representing the detected differential temperatures, which are proportional to the acceleration applied in the directions of the respective axes. According to the '509 patent, the thermal accelerometer can be fabricated using known CMOS or bipolar processes, thereby providing a highly reliable accelerometer that can be integrated with signal conditioning circuitry at relatively low cost.
One drawback of the above-described thermal accelerometer is that its sensitivity generally depends upon the thermal properties of the fluid within the cavity of the device. Such thermal properties include the fluid density, specific heat, thermal conductivity, and dynamic viscosity. Each of these fluid thermal properties is a function of the temperature of the fluid, which depends upon the level of heat generated by the heater plate and the ambient temperature. Accordingly, to utilize the thermal accelerometer in applications in which the device is subject to significant fluctuations in ambient temperature, e.g., automotive applications, techniques must be employed to compensate for sensitivity variations over a range of temperature.
One technique of compensating for sensitivity variations over temperature in thermal accelerometers includes employing a micro-controller to access compensation values from a lookup table, and to correct the accelerometer output using the compensation values. Such a technique has drawbacks, however, because area limitations and implementation complexities can make integrating a thermal accelerometer with a micro-controller rather difficult. Compensation techniques that employ digital signal processing (DSP) are also problematic due to the difficulties involved in integrating DSP circuitry with a thermal accelerometer. In addition, compensation techniques employing external micro-controllers or DSP devices can be problematic due to accompanying increases in material and manufacturing costs.
Another drawback of conventional thermal accelerometers such as the thermal accelerometer described above is that they typically fail to provide a ratiometric compensation for variations in power supply voltage. As a result, an absolute reference voltage is generally required to implement read-out circuitry for these devices, resulting in increased implementation complexity and cost. In addition, conventional thermal accelerometers typically fail to provide self-test procedures, which are often required in applications demanding high levels of reliability, e.g., automotive and medical applications.
It would therefore be desirable to have a thermal accelerometer that provides a compensation for sensitivity variations over a range of temperature. Such a thermal accelerometer would also provide a ratiometric compensation for variations in power supply voltage and a self-test procedure, while avoiding the drawbacks of the above-described conventional thermal accelerometers.

Method and circuitry for thermal accelerometer signal conditioning


A power receiving device of a contactless power supply configured in a wearable electronic device having a main body coupled to a wearing member, can include: a power receiving antenna including one or more coils at least partially disposed on the wearing member; and where wires of the receiving coils extend substantially along a surface of a wearing member to form a coil turn that crosses through the surface of the wearing member or a surface of the main body in an axial direction.

Contactless power supply techniques are becoming widely used in electronic products, such as mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, laptops, and so on. In one resonance-type contactless power supply approach, a coupling circuit can include a power transmitting antenna and a power receiving antenna. The power transmitting antenna and other components in a power transmitter may form a transmitter-side resonant circuit, and the power receiving antenna and other components in a power receiver may form a receiver-side resonant circuit. Electric energy can be transferred in a contactless manner when the transmitter-side resonant circuit and the receiver-side resonant circuit have the same resonance frequency. The receiver-side resonant circuit can be coupled to the transmitter-side resonant circuit via electromagnetic field, and may thus resonate when the transmitter-side resonant circuit resonates.

Power receiving antenna configured in a wearable electronic device

Silergy Semiconductor Technology (Hangzhou) LTD


A biopsy device includes a body, a needle, a cutter, a tissue sample holder, and a sample stopping assembly. The needle extends distally from the body. The cutter is longitudinally translatable relative to the needle and defines a cutter lumen. The tissue sample holder is coupled proximally relative to the body. The cutter lumen of the cutter defines at least a portion of a fluid conduit extending between a distal end of the cutter and the tissue sample holder. The sample stopping assembly includes a rotatable strainer that is configured to selectively arrest movement of a tissue sample within the fluid conduit between the cutter and the tissue sample holder.

A biopsy is the removal of a tissue sample from a patient to enable examination of the tissue for signs of cancer or other disorders. Tissue samples may be obtained in a variety of ways using various medical procedures involving a variety of the sample collection devices. For example, biopsies may be open procedures (surgically removing tissue after creating an incision) or percutaneous procedures (e.g. by fine needle aspiration, core needle biopsy, or vacuum assisted biopsy). After the tissue sample is collected, the tissue sample may be analyzed at a lab (e.g. a pathology lab, biomedical lab, etc.) that is set up to perform the appropriate tests (such as histological).
Merely exemplary biopsy devices and biopsy system components are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,822, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Automated Biopsy and Collection of Soft Tissue," issued Jun. 18, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,164, entitled "Apparatus for Automated Biopsy and Collection of Soft Tissue," issued Jul. 27, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,544, entitled "Control Apparatus for an Automated Surgical Biopsy Device," issued Jul. 11, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,187, entitled "Fluid Collection Apparatus for a Surgical Device," issued Dec. 19, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,065, entitled "Method for Using a Surgical Biopsy System with Remote Control for Selecting an Operational Mode," issued Aug. 13, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,768, entitled "Surgical Biopsy System with Remote Control for Selecting an Operational Mode," issued Jun. 22, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 7,442,171, entitled "Remote Thumbwheel for a Surgical Biopsy Device," issued Oct. 8, 2008; U.S. Pat. No. 7,854,706, entitled "Clutch and Valving System for Tetherless Biopsy Device," issued Dec. 1, 2010; U.S. Pat. No. 7,914,464, entitled "Surgical Biopsy System with Remote Control for Selecting an Operational Mode," issued Mar. 29, 2011; U.S. Pat. No. 7,938,786, entitled "Vacuum Timing Algorithm for Biopsy Device," issued May 10, 2011; U.S. Pat. No. 8,118,755, entitled "Biopsy Sample Storage," issued Feb. 21, 2012; U.S. Pat. No. 8,206,316, entitled "Tetherless Biopsy Device with Reusable Portion," issued Jun. 26, 2012; U.S. Pat. No. 8,241,226, entitled "Biopsy Device with Rotatable Tissue Sample Holder," issued Aug. 14, 2012; U.S. Pat. No. 8,764,680, entitled "Handheld Biopsy Device with Needle Firing," issued Jul. 1, 2014; U.S. Pat. No. 8,801,742, entitled "Needle Assembly and Blade Assembly for Biopsy Device," issued Aug. 12, 2014; U.S. Pat. No. 8,938,285, entitled "Access Chamber and Markers for Biopsy Device," issued Jan. 20, 2015; U.S. Pat. No. 8,858,465, entitled "Biopsy Device with Motorized Needle Firing," issued Oct. 14, 2014; U.S. Pat. No. 9,326,755, entitled "Biopsy Device Tissue Sample Holder with Bulk Chamber and Pathology Chamber," issued May 3, 2016; and U.S. Pat. No. 9,345,457, entitled "Presentation of Biopsy Sample by Biopsy Device," issued May 24, 2016. The disclosure of each of the above-cited U.S. patents is incorporated by reference herein.
Additional exemplary biopsy devices and biopsy system components are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2006/0074345, entitled "Biopsy Apparatus and Method," published Apr. 6, 2006, now abandoned; U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2009/0131821, entitled "Graphical User Interface For Biopsy System Control Module," published May 21, 2009, now abandoned; U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2010/0160819, entitled "Biopsy Device with Central Thumbwheel," published Jun. 24, 2010; and U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2013/0324882, entitled "Control for Biopsy Device," published Dec. 5, 2013, now abandoned. The disclosure of each of the above-cited U.S. patent application Publications, U.S. Non-Provisional patent applications, and U.S. Provisional patent applications is incorporated by reference herein.
While several systems and methods have been made and used for obtaining and processing a biopsy sample, it is believed that no one prior to the inventor has made or used the invention described in the appended claims.
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the technology may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present technology, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the technology; it being understood, however, that this technology is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.

Apparatus to permit selective biopsy sample visualization during tissue removal


Video sequence processing is described with various filtering rules applied to extract dominant features for content based video sequence identification. Active regions are determined in video frames of a video sequence. Video frames are selected in response to temporal statistical characteristics of the determined active regions. A two pass analysis is used to detect a set of initial interest points and interest regions in the selected video frames to reduce the effective area of images that are refined by complex filters that provide accurate region characterizations resistant to image distortion for identification of the video frames in the video sequence. Extracted features and descriptors are robust with respect to image scaling, aspect ratio change, rotation, camera viewpoint change, illumination and contrast change, video compression/decompression artifacts and noise. Compact, representative signatures are generated for video sequences to provide effective query video matching and retrieval in a large video database.

Video applications which include video database management, video database browsing and video identification are undergoing explosive growth and are expected to continue to grow. To address this growth, there is a need for a comprehensive solution related to the problem of indexing of a video sequence database and the identification of a particular video sequence or sequences within that database. Major applications include large video database mining and identifying similar videos for purposes, such as, copyright protection, advertising and surveillance. Due to the large size of such databases and the density of video files, high performance, accurate video identification and search technologies are needed. Furthermore, robust video content identification, management, and copyright protection must be resistant to intentional or unintentional video content change or distortion within the limits of parameters, such as, reasonable view-ability. The overall design should be scalable to efficiently handle very large databases of videos and an arbitrary length of a query sequence.
Increasing demand for such solutions, which include standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) formats of video, requires increasing sophistication, flexibility, and performance in the supporting algorithms and hardware. The sophistication, flexibility, and performance that are desired exceed the capabilities of current generations of software based solutions, in many cases, by an order of magnitude.

Digital video content fingerprinting based on scale invariant interest region detection with an array of anisotropic filters