A method for improving anti-radiation performance of SOI structure that includes implementing particle implantations of high-energy neutrons, protons and γ-rays to a buried oxide layer of an SOI structure, and then performing annealing process. The high-energy particle implantation introduces displacement damage to the buried oxide layer of the SOI structure.

Silicon on insulator (Silicon-On-Insulator, SOI) technology is an all-dielectric isolation technology, namely, a buried oxide layer lies between the top silicon film and the substrate for isolating the film of active devices from the substrate. Devices build on the SOI technology are known as SOI devices. As shown, FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a cross-sectional view of the structure of a typical SOI CMOS structure in the prior art. Excellent isolation can be achieved owing to the existence of a buried oxide layer; the volume of the active region of the SOI device is rather small, so the SOI device has a lower leakage current than body silicon does and has no latch-up effect as well; thus, SOI devices show incomparable advantages over other devices in the term of anti-radiation performance. However, it is exactly because of the existence of the buried oxide layer, there are a lot of hole traps inside the SOI device. Consequently, when the SOI device continues to work in an ionizing radiation environment, ionizing radiation excites electron-hole pairs within the buried oxide layer, then electrons will soon migrate out of the buried oxide layer, but the holes will be captured by the hole traps, which then become fixed spatial positive charges and result in accumulation of positive charges. These fixed spatial positive charges mainly aggregate near the interface of the top silicon film and the buried oxide layer. When the positive charges accumulated inside the buried oxide layer reach a certain extent, the back gate interface of SOI N-channel transistors will turn into anti-configuration, which consequently results in increase of the leakage current in the device, drift of the electrical characteristics parameters and eventually failure of the device. Therefore, researches are currently focusing on how to improve the total dose anti-radiation performance of SOT devices.
In the prior art, following two ways are adopted to improve anti-radiation performance of SOI structures, so as to improve the total dosage anti-radiation performance of SOI devices.
The first way is to improve back gate threshold voltage by implanting Boron cations into the silicon substrates of SOI structures so as to improve anti-radiation performance of SOI devices.
The second way is to introduce to the buried oxide layer deep electron traps or recombination centres so as to prevent electrons generated by the radiation from migrating out of the buried oxide layer, which thus is able to maintain electrical neutrality in the buried oxide layer and thereby improving anti-radiation performance of the buried oxide layer. Ions introduced into the buried oxide layer should be able to combine easily with electrons generated by the radiation, and the combination cannot be separated easily; nor will the ions be allocated afresh in the buried oxide layer. Usually, the common practice is to implant ions (e.g., Si, N, Al or the like) into the buried oxide layer, and to introduce into the buried oxide layer deep electron traps or recombination centres. Take implantation of Si into the buried oxide layer as an example. Implanted Si forms electron traps within the buried oxide layer; when these electron traps are filled, they will compensate trapped positive charges, thereby reducing net positive charges in the buried oxide layer. Take N implantation into the buried oxide layer as an example. In respect of a typical SOI device, given the existence of hole traps of high concentration within the buried oxide layer, the holes in the electron-hole pairs in the whole buried oxide layer generated by radiation are almost captured in situ, while the electrons are captured by electron traps at shallow energy level and then thermally evaporate quickly. Electrons that are thermally excited are subsequently swept out of the buried oxide layer by the electrical field. In this case, the buried oxide layer carries positive charges in the macro sense, which would adversely affect the normal use and performance of the SOI devices. Implantation of N ions will produce a large number of electron traps within the buried oxide layer and, after annealing process, N ions combine with Si thereby forming Si—N bonds with fairly strong bond energy, which thence substitute for some weak bonds. The substitution for weak bonds is able to reduce electron-hole pairs in the buried oxide layer generated by the ionizing radiation, thereby improving anti-radiation performance of SOI devices. Besides, during the process of ionizing radiation, the electrons captured by the electron traps not only can function as recombination centres for attracting holes generated by the radiation, but also can compensate the holes that have been captured by hole traps; this helps to achieve electrical neutrality in the macro sense. Additionally, these electron traps further affect electrical field in the buried oxide layer, which is favourable for recombination of electron-hole pairs generated by the radiation.
However, the above two ways have some shortcomings. Specifically, the first way is reduced to such a shortcoming as limited capacity to improve anti-radiation performance of SOI structures. The shortcoming of the second method is: it is inevitable to cause some implanting damage to the top silicon film during the process of implanting ions into the buried oxide layer of the SOI structure. Although the damage can be substantially eliminated through annealing performed after the implantation, some defect left after the annealing still casts influence on the performance of the SOI device. Furthermore, although ion implantation can effectively improve anti-radiation performance of the buried oxide layer, it may affect the internal microstructure of the buried oxide layer, which is represented by changes to the electrical characteristic of the buried oxide layer in the macro sense. But the change as such may in turn affect improvement to the anti-radiation performance of the SOI structure that may be achieved through ion implantation. For example, N ion implantation of high dosage will affect the structure of the buried oxide layer, which consequently causes relaxation to the originally dense SiO2 atom network, then Si—O—Si bond angle becomes larger; this consequently causes more holes to be trapped in the buried oxide layer, and is adverse to the anti-radiation performance of the SOI device. Meanwhile, N implantation will cause decrease in back gate threshold voltage of the NMOSFET but increase in back gate threshold voltage of PMOSFET.
Accordingly, there is an urgent need to put forward a method capable of improving anti-radiation performance of an SOI structure but being free from aforementioned problems.

Method for improving anti-radiation performance of SOI structure

Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences


A reception antenna system for electrical connection to the positive and negative sides of a transmission feedline employed in television and other telecommunications includes a reflector having a conductive surface and further having a circumferential raised edge to provide reflected signals to the reflector. The system includes an even group of electrically open-ended radial pairs, having positive and negative ends, of hollow, substantially scalene triangular conductive loops, each loop of each pair being internally symmetric about a radius of the reflector, each pair of the group disposed at an uniform offset from the surface of the reflector, the offset defined by insulative mounting elements. Upon the reflector are elements for electrically connecting one negative end and one of the open-ended loop pairs to an adjacent negative end of another of the loop pairs to thereby define at least two loop pairs, each of which two pairs define a single conductive array which is electrically, but not radiationally, discreet from the reflector. One end of each loop is connected to a corresponding positive or negative side respectively of the transmission feedline. The electromagnetic geometry of the loop pairs of will substantially amplify signals received from the reflector and, further, will receive and amplify signals independently of the reflector.

The present invention relates to a multi-turn loop reception antenna adapted for use in combination with a reflector element. Such reflector elements, also known as parabolic dishes or earth stations, have been long known in the art as a primary means of receiving signals which have been reflected off of satellites placed in geosynchronous orbit about the earth. Since the development of such parabolic antennas, a need in the art has been that of reducing the size and cost of such structures to make their usage more practical for use by the general public. Accordingly, the instant invention may be view as a response to this need in the art.
The general approach of the invention herein is that of the combination of certain plural antenna elements with a flat disc-like reflector. More particularly, the inventor herein has improved upon his technology relating to the use of symmetric pairs of hollow, substantially scalene triangular antenna loops as set forth in his U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,586.
To the knowledge of the inventor, the only prior art which has made use of any combination of reflective and non-reflective elements within a single antenna system appears in U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,230 (1978) to Salmond, entitled High Accuracy Board Band Antenna System; and No. 4,160,980 (1979) to Murray, entitled Dipole Antenna and Parabolic Reflector. The reference to Salmond employes a substantially flat reflector in combination with secondary antenna components. This reference to Salmond is apparently of utility only in the tracking of targets by a ground-to-air or air-to-air missile, while the patent to Murray is apparently relevant only to UHF reception.


Provided are a device for automatically generating route restriction information of intersections between main roads and narrow streets, and a method therefor. With respect to a specific intersection which is an intersection between a main road and a narrow street, firstly, it is determined to prohibit a right turn and passing through the intersection. Under these conditions, when it is sufficiently confirmed, by using external information, that the right turn and passing through the intersection can be allowed at the specific intersection, the route restriction regarding the direction is released. Probe information and traffic restriction data are used for the external information.

In related art, the content (roads, intersections, traffic signals, etc.) of the road map for use in navigation apparatuses has been obtained and updated by fieldwork. For example, a person in charge is assigned to each area, and each person in charge goes around the assigned area to verify the data (road information) of the content of the road map.
Regarding the intersections, when searching for a route, intersections provided with the road information (such as route regulation information) (herein referred to as the "reference intersections") are associated with region data of an upper level so that such intersections are preferentially selected. Search efficiency and safety of route guidance have been increased in this manner. As used herein, the "route regulation information" includes "traveling in designated directions only," "follow directions on lanes," "no entry," etc. Such road information is used to operate navigation systems. However, conducting field research on all the intersections as the reference intersections is not practical as it is extremely time-consuming and requires a very high cost. Thus, it is necessary to individually set standards to limit the number of intersections to be researched.
Moreover, a significant amount of time and cost is required to update such road information by human labor.
In order to save labor, techniques of automatically extracting an object to be updated are introduced in Patent Documents 1 to 3. In such techniques, probe cars are used to collect road information.

Device and method for generating route restriction information of intersection, computer program for generating route restriction information of intersection, and recording medium for recording computer program


An engine is provided having an engine block, a cylinder head mounted to the engine block, a valve train mounted to the cylinder head, and a cam cover extending over the valve train and mounted to the cylinder head. A hydraulic system for providing a hydraulic fluid to the valve train is included. The hydraulic system has a first passage extending from the engine block through the cylinder head to the cam cover and connected to a second passage. The second passage extends along a length of the cam cover and is connected to an oil control valve. At least one control passage extends from the oil control valve through the cam cover to the valve train. The oil control valve is mounted to a port in the cam cover and extends into the cam cover in a direction along a width of the cam cover.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
Switching valve train systems are a recent innovation used with internal combustion engines. A typical switching valve train system includes a rocker assembly that selectively engages an exhaust or intake valve. The rocker assembly is preferably operated in several modes. Each mode is activated by hydraulically actuating the rocker assembly.
An oil control valve, or OCV, is preferably used to selectively provide hydraulic fluid to the rocker assembly of the switching valve train system. Locating one or more OCV's within the combustion engine can be problematic as the OCV's require oil control galleries or passages to feed the OCV with hydraulic fluid, such as oil, and to then route the hydraulic fluid to the switching valve train system and then on to a sump in the engine block.
Accordingly, there is room in the art for a hydraulic control assembly that provides an arrangement of OCV's and oil control galleries in the combustion engine that requires a minimum of machining and does not significantly disturb preexisting components within the engine block, cylinder head, and cam cover.

Hydraulic control system for a switching valve train


The present invention provides a method of delivering RNA interference molecules to a cell or a cell in a subject, which comprises contacting the cell with a protein-double stranded RNA complex, the complex comprising the double stranded RNA segment containing a double stranded RNA of interest and a protein, the protein comprising (1) a targeting moiety, which will specifically bind to a site on a target cell, and (2) a binding moiety linked thereto, which will bind to the double stranded RNA, wherein the double stranded RNA segment is delivered to a cell and effects RNA interference of the target RNA in the cell.

Much attention has been paid recently to RNA interference (RNAi), a technique in which exogenous, double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) are introduced into a cell to specifically destroy a particular mRNA or block its expression, thereby diminishing or abolishing gene expression (A. Fire et al., "Potent and specific genetic interference by double-stranded RNA in Caenorhabditis elegans," Nature, 391:806-11, 1998). Specific types of RNAs, such as small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and micro interfering RNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to inhibit expression of a number of specific genes effectively and the technique has proven effective in Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, plants, and recently, in mammalian cell cultures (S. M. Elbashir et al., "Duplexes of 21-nucleotide RNAs mediate RNA interference in cultured mammalian cells," Nature, 411:494-8, 2001). Because small interfering RNA molecules are directed to a specific target and thereby silence a specific gene, they have been suggested to be useful in treatment of diseases as well as for screening new pharmaceuticals and disease mechanisms for pharmaceutical target determination. However, while a number of applications, both therapeutic and screening methods, have been suggested, delivery of RNA interfering agents, including siRNAs and miRNAs, into cells has proven to be the bottleneck.
Currently known methods to deliver RNA interference into cells include chemical transfection using lipid-based, amine-based and polymer-based techniques, and combinations thereof (see, for example, products from Ambion Inc., Austin, Tex.; and Novagen, EMD Biosciences, Inc, an Affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany). Unfortunately, efficient transfer of RNA interfering agents, including siRNAs into primary cells by chemical transfection seems to be restricted to a few cell types (Ovcharenko D (2003) "Efficient delivery of siRNAs to human primary cells." Ambion TechNotes 10 (5): 15-16).
Other described ways to deliver siRNAs include expressing short hairpin RNA molecules from vectors, such as lentiviral constructs, and introducing siRNA molecules into cells using electroporation. However, feline FIV lentivirus vectors which are based on the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) retrovirus and the HIV lentivirus vector system, which is base on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), carry with them problems related to permanent integration. Electroporation is often a relatively harsh treatment and cannot generally be used to deliver siRNAs into cells in vivo.
An additional problem with all the traditional gene delivery methods discussed above for the use of delivering RNA interference is that they target all cells non-specifically. Therefore, it would be useful to develop gene delivery methods that could be targeted to specific cells thereby minimizing or avoiding potential side effects caused by delivery of RNA interference into non-target cells. Additionally, effective interference RNA delivery methods that could avoid viral vectors and could be used for both in vivo and in vitro delivery of RNA interference, including siRNA, would be desirable.
Moreover, several cell types have proven extremely difficult to transduce with siRNAs using traditional vectors, including viral vectors, liposomes and the like. Such cell types include immune system cells such as lymphocytes and dendritic cells, and stem cells.
One such cell type is T cells. Accordingly, the evaluation of the therapeutic potential of siRNA for HIV infection has been hampered by the challenges of delivery to T cells and till recently, the lack of an effective small animal model. The toxicity and frequent treatment failures associated with HAART has focused attention on the potent gene silencing mechanism of RNAi as an alternate treatment strategy for HIV infection1-4. Several in vitro studies have shown the potential of RNAi for effective suppression of HIV infection in cell lines and primary human T cells and macrophages, the prime targets of HIV5-9. However for actual therapeutic use, many parameters such as effective siRNA delivery to susceptible cells, antiviral efficacy and toxicity need to be tested in vivo. The recently described IL2 receptor common gamma chain null (IL2rγ−/−) strains of immunodeficient mice allow efficient reconstitution of human immune cells making them amenable for HIV infection10-13, but siRNA delivery to primary human T cells still remains a hurdle. Thus, so far no study has actually tested the potential of siRNA treatment to suppress HIV infection in vivo.
Therefore, to utilize fully the potential in treatment and drug screening of the discovered RNA interference, including siRNAs, it is necessary to develop ways to deliver siRNAs into cells both in vitro and in vivo.

Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University


A method and apparatus that catalogs the characteristics and scheduling of multiple ETL procedures or processes as the multiple ETL procedures extract, transform data from a first database to load the data to a second database. The method and apparatus catalogs the progress and success of execution of multiple ETL procedures. The method and apparatus determines the necessary scheduling for cleansing operations of the first database, then initiates the cleansing operation of the first database, and then catalogs the progress of a cleansing process performed on a database to eliminate inconsistencies, redundancies, and corruptions of the database. The method and apparatus determines any errors in the execution of the ETL procedures and transmits an error message describing the errors to a person.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to database systems. More particularly, the present invention pertains to apparatus and methods for supervision of data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) procedures in data warehousing and data mart applications.
2. Description of Related Art
A data warehouse, as is known in the art, is a central repository for all or significant parts of the data that an enterprise's various business systems collect. Typically, a data warehouse is housed on an enterprise server computing system. Data from various processing applications and other sources is selectively extracted and organized on the data warehouse database for use by analytical applications and user queries. Data extracted and organized from a data warehouse is often placed in a data mart. A data mart is a repository of data gathered from operational data and other sources such a data warehouse that is designed to serve a particular group of people requiring the information.
It is known in the art that in managing databases, extract, transform, and load (ETL) refers to three separate functions combined into a single program procedure. First, the extract function reads data from a specified source database and extracts a desired subset of data. Next, the transform function works with the acquired data—using rules or lookup tables, or creating combinations with other data—to convert it to the desired state. Finally, the load function is used to write the resulting data (either all of the subset or just the changes) to a target database, which may or may not previously exist.
ETL procedures can be used to acquire a temporary subset of data for reports or other purposes, or a more permanent data set may be acquired for other purposes such as: the population of a data mart or data warehouse; conversion from one database type to another, and the migration of data from one database or platform to another.
The definitions of the data warehouse, data mart and ETL procedures were found 7/3/2002, at www.searchDatabase.com.
Refer now to FIG. 1 for a description of a database processing system of the prior art. Programming applications 10a, 10b, . . . 10n are executed by computer processors to create data that is stored in specific databases in database storage units 15a, 15b, . . . , 15n. The programming applications 10a, 10b, . . . 10n are applications such as On-Line Transaction Programs (OLTP), where customers are able to create data such as purchases or sale order entry. The ETL procedures 25a, 25b, 25c, . . . , 25n are executed by the computer processors to remove data from the databases in the database storage units 15a, 15b, . . . , 15n, transform the data to the desired state and format, and loading of the transformed data to the data warehouse 40.
Historical data generated by older computer systems is maintained on a "legacy database" in a separate database storage unit 20. The legacy database similarly is extracted, transformed, and loaded by the legacy ETL procedure 30 to the data warehouse 40 for integration with the currently generated data from the program applications 10a, 10b, . . . 10n.
In order to prevent the database information within the database storage units from being modified and potentially corrupted, an operational data storage (ODS) staging unit 35 is employed by the ETL procedures 25a, 25b, 25c, . . . , 25n, and 30 as a staging database retention device. The ETL procedures 25a, 25b, 25c, . . . , 25n, and 30 perform the transformations of the data from the database storage units 15a, 15b, . . . , 15n, and 20 prior to placement of the data to the data warehouse 40.
The ETL procedures 25a and 25b illustrate that multiple ETL procedures may be performed on a database from a single database storage unit 15a, 15b, . . . , 15n,. The transformation portion of the ETL procedure performs different conversions to the database for placement in the data warehouse 40. To improve the quality of the database or segment of the database being extracted from each of the database storage units 15a, 15b, . . . , 15n, a cleansing process is executed to eliminate any inconsistencies, redundancies, and corruptions from the data being extracted. The cleansing process may be a separate program executed by the computer processor or a sub-procedure of the ETL procedure 25a, 25b, . . . , 25n.
The data marts 50a, 50b, . . . 50n are databases within database storage units that are created to serve a particular group requiring an individualized database. The ETL procedures 45a, 45b, . . . , 45n create and maintain of the data marts 50a, 50b, . . . 50n by extracting the necessary data from the data warehouse 40, transforming the data to meet the particular group requirements, and storing the data in databases 50a, 50b, . . . 50n retained in database storage units.
As is apparent, large enterprises may have many databases stored on database storage units 15a, 15b, . . . , 15n, 20, and 50a, 50b, . . . 50n . To create and maintain one or more data warehouses, many ETL procedures 25a, 25b, 25c, . . . , 25n are executed periodically to extract, transform, and load the data from the data storage units 15a, 15b, . . . , 15n to the data warehouse 40. The ETL procedures 45a, 45b, . . . , 45n then create and maintain the data within the data marts 50a, 50b, . . . 50n . The quality, effectiveness, and success of each of the ETL procedures 25a, 25b, 25c, . . ., 25n, 30, 45a, 45b, . . . , and 45n is monitored and the success or failure communicated individually. There is no central repository of the status of the ETL procedures 25a, 25b, 25c, . . . , 25n, 30, 45a, 45b, . . . , and 45n as a whole.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,990 (Suresh, et al.) teaches a computer software architecture to automatically optimize the throughput of data extraction/transformation/loading (ETL) process in data warehousing applications. This architecture has a component aspect and a pipeline-based aspect. The component aspect refers to the fact that every transformation used in this architecture is built up with transformation components selected from an extensible set of transformation components. Besides simplifying source code maintenance and adjustment for the data warehouse users, these transformation components also provide these users the building blocks to effectively construct pertinent and functionally sophisticated transformations in a pipelined manner. Within a pipeline, each transformation component automatically stages or streams its data to optimize ETL throughput. Furthermore, each transformation either pushes data to another transformation component, pulls data from another transformation component, or performs a push/pull operation on the data. Thereby, the pipelining; staging/streaming; and pushing/pulling features of the transformation components effectively optimizes the throughput of the ETL procedure.
U.S. Pat. No 6,189,004 (Rassen, et al.) demonstrates a method and apparatus for creating a data mart and for creating a query structure for the data mart. The method automatically defines a query interface for a data mart. The data mart includes fact and dimension tables. The method comprises accessing a schema description and a query interface description for the data mart. The schema description specifies a schema, which in turn, defines the relationships between the fact tables and dimension tables of the data mart. The query interface description specifies the fields, related to the schema description, which can be used in a query and the way in which results are to be presented to the user. The fields correspond to columns and rows in the fact tables. The schema description is used to create a first set of commands to create and populate the fact and dimension tables. Additionally, a second set of commands to create the query interface is created. Some commands of the first set of commands are executed causing the creation and population of the tables. Some commands of the second set of commands are executed causing the creation of a user interface. A query is generated using the user interface. The query is sent to the system for processing. The results of the query are presented to the user according the second set of commands.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,608 (Abrams) describes a method and system for migrating data from one or more ASCII files and/or from one or more relational databases to one or more relational database tables without the need to write code. Abrams allows the user to define mapping templates and conditionals to assist in translating and transforming data values. Referential integrity, data dependencies, order of operations, and uniqueness constraints are enforced using a predefined set of migration rules templates that are based on the principles of relational design. The mapping and migration rules templates are used to intelligently generate instructions for updating or populating relational database destination tables. The instructions control the data transfer, data translation, data transformation, data validation, foreign key insertion, and the addition of required codes and flags in the destination tables. A migration engine of the system includes a data map architect and an update processor, which spawns the templates and migrates the data dynamically, utilizing the data definitions for the destination tables. In addition to supporting conversion efforts, Support for performing consolidation, restoration from an archive, migration to new instances, upgrading to a new release, adding additional features and enhancements, and changing business requirements is provided. The audit trail is complete enough that the entire migration process can be reversed without compromising the integrity of either the source or the destination application.
"How to Select an Extraction/Transformation/Loading (ETL) Tool", Mimno, 101communications LLC, Chatsworth, Calif. 91311, found 6/27/2002 www.101dataintelligencesolutions.com, provides techniques for selecting an appropriate ETL tool. The ETL tool operates at the heart of the data warehouse, extracting data from multiple data sources, transforming the data to make it accessible to business analysis, and loading multiple target databases. Unlike other components of a data warehousing architecture, it's extremely difficult to switch from one ETL tool to another. Because of a lack of standards, data definitions and transformation rules cannot be moved from one tool to another. If the selected ETL tool fails in production, it is the one component of the architecture that isn't easily replaceable.

Method and apparatus for supervising extraction/transformation/loading processes within a database system

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


Methods and devices are provided for encoding video. By using co-sited gradient and variance values to detect text and line in frames of the video. A processor is configured to receive a plurality of frames of video, determine, for a portion of a frame, a variance of the portion of the frame and a gradient of the portion of the frame and encode, using one of a plurality of different encoding qualities, the portion of the frame based on the gradient and the variance of the portion of the frame. Encoding is performed at both the sub-frame level and frame level. The portion of the frame is classified into one of a plurality of categories based on the gradient and variance and encoded based on the category.

Video encoding (compression) reduces the number of bits used to represent the content in a video sequence. The goal of video encoding is to reduce the size of the video data while maintaining video quality. For example, in block-based video encoding, a video frame is divided into blocks of pixels, with each pixel having a value (e.g., luminance values and chrominance values) represented by one or more bits. The frames are encoded by separately encoding (e.g., compressing) and decoding (e.g., decompressing) each block of pixels prior to displaying the frames.

Text and line detection in video encode by using co-sited gradient and variance values


The present invention relates to a novel method and apparatus for cutting small pieces of fabric by means of an ultrasonic horn and a hollow open centered cutting anvil. The cutting operation includes a pick mechanism incorporating two tapered pins and a stripper pad to maintain the fabric position before, during, and after the cutting operation. The pick head mechanism is designed to insure accuracy in locating these small fabric pieces, referred to as chips, in a subsequent assembly operation performed by the pick head.. The assembly operation relates to attachment of small pieces of fabric by means of two miniature ultrasonic horns. The horns are combined with a pick and place mechanism which incorporates two tapered pins and a stripper pad to maintain the fabric position during the manufacturing process. This pick and place head, when attached to a robotic arm, is designed to insure accuracy in locating these small fabric pieces repeatedly in a thermoplastic cartridge.

Most film cartridges (also called film magazines) incorporate some kind of fabric or woven material in their assembly as a means of preventing light from entering the film exit in the cartridge. This guards against premature exposure of the outer convolutions of the film. A common fabric incorporated as a light lock material is referred to as "velvet". Referring to FIG. 1, velvet is a nylon yarn fiber 92 which is bundled and woven into a rayon fabric backing material 94.
Assembly of the velvet light lock material to conventional metal film cartridges is accomplished by applying heat to both lips of the cartridges which have been formed by a die set (but are still in a multiple strip stage yet to be died out). The velvet is pre-slit to size and applied in continuous web form to both sides of the multi cartridge strip in the proper locations. The velvet web is then clamped under pressure while the heat from the metal cartridge strip activates an adhesive coated on the back of the rayon fabric of the velvet (see 96 in FIG. 1), attaching the rayon backing of the light lock web to the cartridge strip. Once the adhesive has cured, the cartridge strip is indexed to the next step in the process. There the two velvet webs are cut between the individual notches denoting each cartridge by a hot knife process. This process is satisfactory as long as the outer shell of the cartridge is made of sheet steel.
However, a new polystyrene cartridge is being developed as a consumer product in the 135 millimeter film range (cite?). One of the main requirements of this new product is that the cartridge shell be made of plastic instead of sheet steel. This brings a whole multitude of design changes in the way to achieve automated assembly of velvet light lock to film cartridges.

Ultrasonic apparatus for cutting and placing individual chips of light lock material


In a wireless communication system, a client terminal may be required to periodically receive the broadcast and multicast system information of the serving and neighbor base stations. In most scenarios the broadcast and multicast system information of base stations may not change frequently. A method and apparatus are disclosed to store, manage and use the broadcast and multicast system information of a set of latest serving and neighbor base stations. This may enable a client terminal to avoid receiving and processing all or most of the base station system information messages. This may significantly reduce the active states of a client terminal and may lead to significant reduction in power consumption, which may be a critical advantage for battery operated client terminals. The present invention may also reduce the time taken by a client terminal to get connected or reconnected to a base station, which may improve the user experience.

Typically, as shown in FIG. 1, a wireless communication system comprises elements such as client terminals or mobile stations and one or more base stations. Other network devices may also be employed, such as a mobile switching center (not shown). As illustrated in FIG. 1, the communication path from the base station ("BS") to the client terminal or mobile station ("MS") is referred to herein as a downlink ("DL") direction or downlink channel, and the communication path from the client terminal to the base station is referred to herein as an uplink ("UL") direction or uplink channel. In some wireless communication systems, the MS communicates with the BS in both the DL and UL directions. For instance, such communication is carried out in cellular telephone systems. In other wireless communication systems, the client terminal communicates with the base stations in only one direction, usually the DL. Such DL communication may occur in applications such as paging. As used herein, the terms "base station" and "network" are used interchangeably.
Normally, the transmission intervals in downlink channel or in an uplink channel spans certain predefined duration and it is referred to as "frame" herein. A frame duration may be different for different communication systems and normally it is on the order of a few milliseconds. For example, the frame duration may be 5 milliseconds. Typically in a wireless communication system, the client terminal and the base station may transmit information in blocks of data and such a block of data is referred herein as a "message."
Normally, certain types of system information may be required by all client terminals so that they may communicate with the wireless communication network. The system information typically includes synchronization information, system parameters, allocation information, paging information, etc. The wireless communication network may transmit such system information as broadcast data so that all client terminals within its coverage area may be able to receive and such information is herein referred to as "broadcast messages." Typically in a wireless communication system sometimes a base station may transmit some information that may be addressed only to a group of client terminals and such messages are herein referred to as "multicast messages." Examples of multicast messages include multimedia information about sports, news, traffic, weather, etc. Typically in a wireless communication system the base station may transmit messages that are uniquely addressed to a particular client terminal and such messages are herein referred as "unicast messages." An example of a unicast message is user specific payload data.
Typically, in wireless communication systems many client terminals are handheld portable battery operated devices. Hence it is important for the client terminals to operate in a power efficient manner. To reduce power consumption, the client terminal may turn off most of its hardware and software components when it is not required to receive in downlink direction or transmit in uplink direction. From a Power Management (PM) perspective, the state of the client terminal in which it may turn off most of its hardware and software components is referred herein as "PM sleep state." The state in which the client terminal is involved in downlink data transfer or uplink data transfer or in transfer in both directions is referred herein as "PM active state."
The transition from PM sleep state to PM active state of the client terminal is referred herein as "wake-up" state. The transition from PM active state to PM sleep state of the client terminal is referred to herein as "entering-sleep" state.
The wake-up state and the entering-sleep state may have overhead in power consumption. Normally the power consumption may be higher during both the wake-up state and the entering-sleep state when compared to that of the PM sleep state. Also normally the power consumption may be lower during both the wake-up state and the entering-sleep state when compared to that of the PM active state. Typically the transition time for the wake-up state is longer than the transition time for the entering-sleep state. Also in general the power consumption during the wake-up state may be higher than that of during the entering-sleep state. An example of PM sleep state to wake-up state then to PM active state then to entering-sleep state and then back to sleep state transitions in a battery operated client terminal is illustrated in FIG. 2. As and when appropriate, the client terminal may enter into PM sleep state and PM active state and an example is illustrated in FIG. 3. For the description of the present disclosure herein, the wake-up state and the entering-sleep state may not be explicitly discussed or shown in the drawings but they always exist.
The client terminal may transition from PM sleep state to PM active state to receive in the downlink or transmit in the uplink or both. Some hardware and software components may be specific to receive in the downlink or transmit in the uplink and they may be independently turned on or turned off based on receive in the downlink or transmit in the uplink respectively. Some hardware and software components in the client terminal may be common for both receive in the downlink and transmit in the uplink and may have to be turned on for either receive in the downlink or transmit in the uplink.
Typically, a client terminal may operate in one of five different functional states: (i) power-on state; (ii) idle state; (iii) access state; (iv) connected state and (v) power-save state. Typical functional state transitions in a client terminal are illustrated in FIG. 4. Typically, in the power-on functional state the client terminal may check for the available base stations, may synchronize with the network and may attempt to camp on to the best suitable base station. Typically, in the idle functional state the client terminal may check and/or periodically receive broadcast and/or multicast messages in the DL direction. Typically, in the access functional state, the client terminal may access the base station to establish connection with the base station. Typically, in the connected functional state the client terminal and the base station may communicate with each other through DL and/or UL to receive and/or to send control information and/or user payload data, may receive broadcast messages and/or may receive multicast messages. In the connected functional state the client terminal may operate in PM active states in all the frames and may operate in PM sleep states within the frame. Typically, in the power-save functional state the client terminal and the base station may communicate with each other through DL and UL to send and receive control information and/or user payload data, may receive broadcast messages and/or may receive multicast message. In power-save functional state the client terminal may operate in PM active states in frames when there is data to receive in DL and/or when there is data to send in UL and in other frames it may operate in PM sleep state.
Once a client terminal is turned on, it may camp onto the wireless communication network, may receive the latest network information, may register to the network, may periodically receive the latest network information, and may be ready to establish connection with the wireless communication network. For a battery operated client terminal, to increase the battery usage time, it is desirable to operate a client terminal in the PM sleep state as much as possible without compromising user experience.
A base station to which the client terminal may be downlink synchronized and/or communicating with at any given time is referred herein as the Serving Base Station (SBS). In some wireless communication systems the serving base station is normally referred to as the serving cell. The base stations that are in the vicinity of the serving base station are called Neighbor Base Stations (NBS). Similarly, in some wireless communication systems a neighbor base station is normally referred to as a neighbor cell. While in practice a cell may include one or more base stations, distinction is not made between a base station and a cell, and such terms may be used interchangeably herein.
After initially synchronizing with a cell, a client terminal may switch to another cell depending on the signal conditions, network congestion, and other criteria. The process of switching from one cell to another cell by a client terminal is often referred as handover ("HO") or cell reselection. In some wireless communication systems handover is also referred to as handoff. Also in some wireless communication systems cell reselection is also referred to as idle mode handoff. Normally, in mobile wireless communication systems, client terminals switch over from one cell to another as signal conditions change. The signal conditions may change due to the movement of the client terminals or due to change in network traffic conditions or change in the surroundings of the client terminal or the combination of any of these factors. An NBS to which a client terminal may be switching over its communication from the current SBS is herein referred to as Target Base Station (TBS). In some wireless communication systems a target base station is normally referred to as a target cell. Sometimes during a handover, the serving cell and the target cell may be the same and only the channel used for communication may be changed. Such a handover, in which the cell is not changed, is called an intra-cell handover. The purpose of intra-cell handover may be that the new channel is better suited for communication than the previous channel within the same cell.
The decision making process for handovers and cell reselections varies from one wireless communication system to another. However, the decisions are generally based on the signal conditions measurements by the client terminals and reporting of those measurements to the wireless communication network by the client terminals. The wireless communication network generally may influence and control the measurements and reporting process of the client terminal by providing parameters for the measurement and reporting process. The actual decision to perform handover may be made either by the network or by the client terminal depending on the type of particular wireless communication system. On the other hand the cell reselection decisions in idle mode may be generally performed autonomously by the client terminal. Both Handovers and cell reselections may normally lead to change of cell from which the client terminal may access communication services. The difference between the handover procedure and cell reselection procedure depends generally on whether a client terminal is engaged in an active connection with the wireless communication network. The term handover may be used herein to refer to handover or cell reselection or both. The actual process of handover or cell reselection may be inferred based on the context.
Typically in a wireless communication the base station may group the system information and each group of system information may be transmitted as multiple broadcast messages and such broadcast messages are herein referred as system parameter messages. The system parameter messages may carry important system information without which the client terminal may not be able to communicate with the wireless communication network. The wireless communication network may transmit these system parameter messages at regular intervals in such a way that any client terminal that enters its coverage area may receive these system parameter messages and may be able to communicate with the wireless communication network at the earliest possible time. Client terminals that are already in the base station's coverage area may also periodically receive these system parameter messages for possible updates. Normally a client terminal may store the system parameter messages in its memory for the current SBS.
Typically, system parameter messages may carry a Configuration Change Count Indicator (CCCI) parameter. Normally a base station may change the value of CCCI in the system parameter message to indicate to the client terminals about the change in the information in that system parameter message. A client terminal may check the value of the CCCI to identify if any of the information in a system parameter message has been changed. If the value of CCCI has not changed, a client terminal may not receive and/or may not process the remaining part of that system parameter message. If the value of CCCI has changed, then the client terminal may receive and may process that system parameter message to get the updated information in that system parameter message.
Typically, in some wireless communication systems where there may be multiple system parameter messages broadcast by a base station, all system parameter messages may carry the same value of CCCI. In some wireless communication systems where there are multiple system parameter messages broadcast by a base station, one or more system parameter messages may carry a different value of CCCI. In some wireless communication systems where there are multiple system parameter messages broadcast by a base station, each system parameter message may carry different value of CCCI.
Typically, in some wireless communication systems, the base station may periodically transmit broadcast messages which may have the CCCI(s) of system parameter messages. The broadcast message that carries the CCCI(s) of system parameter messages is herein referred to as page message. Typically when there is a change in one or more of the system parameter messages, the base station may change the value of CCCI(s) in those system parameter messages and may change the value of the corresponding CCCI(s) in the page message. When a client terminal receives a page message, it may check the values of CCCI(s) for any change in the system parameter messages. If the value(s) of CCCI(s) are not changed, the client terminal may not receive or may not process those system parameter messages. If the value(s) of CCCI(s) are changed in the page message, then the client terminal may receive and may process those system parameter messages to get the updated information in those system parameter messages.
In some wireless communication systems, the client terminals may be required to periodically receive certain system parameter messages for the selective list of NBSs in addition to receiving the system parameter messages of the SBS. For such wireless communication systems, the client terminals may be required to periodically update the system parameter messages if there is any change in them for the selective list of NBSs in the similar manner the client terminal updates the system parameter messages for the SBS. The period at which the client terminal may have to update the system parameter messages for the SBS and for the NBS may be different. For example, in Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the client terminal may be required to receive system parameter messages for the SBS and/or certain system parameter messages for the selective list of NBSs and the period to update the system parameter messages may be different for the SBS and the NBSs. Typically, for a given SBS, the selective list of NBSs is normally broadcast by the SBS.
Typically, in wireless communication systems, most of the system parameter messages may not change frequently. For example, some system parameter messages may change once or twice a day and some system parameter messages may not change for many days.
Typically, when a client terminal switches to a new base station due to cell reselection or handover, it may be required to receive system parameter messages for the new SBS. In some wireless communication systems, when a client terminal switches to a new base station due to cell reselection or handover, it may be required to receive the system parameter messages for the new SBS and certain system parameter messages for the selective list of NBSs corresponding to the new SBS.
In wireless communication systems, the normal use case scenario of a client terminal may be to operate in a specific geographical area. For example, one typical use case scenario of a portable battery operated client terminal, such as a cellular handset during weekdays of a week, may be that a user may carry the mobile client terminal from home to work and nearby areas and back to home. For this typical use case scenario, a client terminal may get service from a set of base stations in the wireless communication network. FIG. 5A illustrates an example use case scenario, in which a user may carry the client terminal from home ("A") to work ("B") and back from work ("B") to home ("A") during weekdays of a week. For this example use case scenario, a client terminal may get service from base stations 2, 4, 3, 6 and 9 while the user carries the client terminal to go from home to work and the client terminal may get service from base stations 9, 6, 3, 4 and 2 when the user carries the client terminal to go from work to home. Another typical use case scenario may be that the user for most of the time may use the client terminal at home ("C") as shown in FIG. 5B and the client terminal may get service from base stations 4, 6 and 7 and may do frequent handover or cell reselection based on the available service quality from the base stations 4, 6 and 7. Yet another typical use case scenario is that a user may use a client terminal at work ("D") as shown in FIG. 5B during the work hours and the client terminal may get service from base stations 10, 12 and 13 and may do frequent handover or cell reselection based on the available service quality from the base stations 10, 12 and 13.
Normally the client terminal may operate in the functional idle state for most of the time. In the idle state the client terminal may be required to periodically receive and update the system parameter messages and may be required to receive the multicast messages. As the signal conditions change, a client terminal may perform cell reselection or handover to get the service from a more suitable cell. When the client terminal switches to a different cell, it may be required to receive all the system parameter messages for the new SBS as well as may be required to receive certain system parameter messages for the selective list of cells that are NBSs for the new SBS. In traditional client terminals, once a client terminal switches to a new cell it may not keep the system parameter messages of the previous SBS. Also in some wireless communication systems where a client terminal may be required to periodically receive system parameter messages of the selective list of NBSs, when a client terminal switches the SBS, the selective list of NBSs for the current SBS also may change and a traditional client terminal may discard the system parameter messages of the base stations that are not part of the current serving base station's NBSs list.
The set of all system parameter messages broadcast by a base station is herein referred to as "base station broadcast system information." Similarly the set of all multicast information transmitted by a base station is herein referred to as "base station multicast system information."

Method and apparatus for improved user experience in a client terminal


A new cultivar of Gentiana plant named ‘Ashiro 272219’ that is characterized by its short plant size and compact plant habit, its flowers with large corollas, its flower lobes and tubes that are white in color and streaked with green and violet-blue, and its long flowering period.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Gentiana and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Ashiro 272219'. 'Ashiro 272219' represents a new Gentiana, an herbaceous perennial grown for landscape and container use.
'Ashiro 272219' arose from crosses made in October 2015 in Hachimantai City, Iwate, Japan by the Inventor between Gentiana 'Crystal Ashiro' (not patented) as the female parent and unpatented and unnamed proprietary plants of Gentiana from the Inventor's breeding program (a seed strain designated as 25-322KBMS) as the male parent. The seeds were pooled for the crosses and therefore the specific male parent is unknown. 'Ashiro 272219' was selected as a single unique plant in September of 2017 from amongst the seedlings derived from the above crosses.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by Inventor by softwood stem tip cuttings in Hachimantai City, Iwate, Japan in January of 2016 for further evaluation. Asexual propagation by softwood stem tip cuttings and tissue culture using meristamic tissue has shown that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A system and method for generating signals for testing a Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range (VOR) receiver is described. The system includes a waveform generator and a signal generator. The waveform generator generates a waveform representing a waveform generated by a VOR ground station during operation of a VOR system. The signal generator receives the waveform from the waveform generator and generates a signal for testing the VOR receiver.

Generally, a VOR system includes ground stations and receivers. The ground stations transmit navigation guidance signals used by aircraft in flight. The aircraft includes a VOR receiver for receiving the signals transmitted by the ground stations. The VOR system may be described as a classical VOR (CVOR) or a Doppler VOR (DVOR) system.
In CVOR, the ground station transmits a rotating cardioid shaped antenna horizontal radiation pattern at thirty revolutions per second and a fixed omni-directional carrier pattern. The receiver obtains a carrier that is amplitude modulated with a 30 Hz sine wave, the phase of which is dependent on the azimuth position of the aircraft in relation to the ground station. In order to use the bearing information, the ground station provides a reference by amplitude modulating the carrier with a sub-carrier of 9960 Hz, which is, in turn, frequency modulated by a 30 Hz sine wave with a deviation of ±480 Hz. The phase of the 30 Hz frequency modulation is independent of azimuth. The aircraft bearing in relation to the ground station is calculated by taking the phase difference of the two 30 Hz sine waves.
DVOR employs two fundamental principles: the Doppler effect for generating frequency modulated (FM) and bearing information, and a wide aperture antenna array for minimizing the effects of multipath propagation. To maintain compatibility with CVOR receivers, DVOR ground stations radiate signals with the same frequency spectrum as the CVOR ground stations, but the azimuth-dependent information is contained in the phase of the frequency modulated signal. In DVOR, the carrier with a 30 Hz amplitude modulation is radiated from an omni-directional antenna and is the reference signal. The direction dependent signal is generated in space by rotating the radiated 9960 Hz sidebands on a circle.
The circular motion is electronically simulated by a number of antennas equally spaced around the circle, which are sequentially fed with radio frequency (RF) energy so that a continuous movement of the radiating source is achieved. The DVOR receiver sees a Doppler shift of sideband frequencies deviating ±480 Hz thirty times a second. The DVOR system may be a single sideband DVOR, a doubled sideband DVOR, or an alternating double sideband DVOR system.
The European Organisation for Civil Aviation Electronics (EUROCAE) has specified minimum performance requirements suitable for airborne VOR receivers. These specifications can be found in EUROCAE document ED-22B (January 1988), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The ED-22B document includes compatibility requirements with DVOR ground stations. (See, Chapter 3, paragraph 184.108.40.206.)
To verify that the VOR receiver meets the compatibility requirements with VOR ground stations, the ED-22B document provides test procedures. (See, Chapter 5, paragraph 22.214.171.124.) As described in the ED-22B document, DVOR signal generators are not currently available, so the document provides a list of the equipment needed for each of the tests and a diagram showing how to arrange the equipment to perform the test. For example, the first test requires an oscilloscope, an RF signal generator, an audio frequency (AF) VOR signal generator (with separate 30 Hz and 9960 Hz outputs), an AF signal generator, an amplitude modulating (AM) modulator, and a deviation indicator or microammeter of equivalent resistance. FIG. 5-2 of the ED-22B document depicts the arrangement of the equipment to simulate the DVOR signal as required by the first test.
Due to the numerous pieces of equipment needed to perform the tests, the test environment for testing the VOR receiver is less than desirable. In general, this test environment may have issues with calibration, accuracy, and repeatability. The tests may fail, not because of a VOR receiver failure, but because of a problem in the test setup. For example, if one of the pieces of equipment is not calibrated properly, the VOR signal may not be properly simulated for the test. Other problems may also occur due to, for example, as poor connections between equipment, incompatibility between equipment, and equipment failures.
Thus, it would be beneficial to have an improved method of generating VOR signals for testing a VOR receiver.

System and method for generating a very high frequency omnidirectional range signal


A method is presented for effectively manufacturing multi-wall (double-wall, etc.) carbon nanotubes (CNTs) having a structure whereby interior tubes are formed within the CNTs. In this manufacturing method, fullerene/CNT hybrid structures are prepared, wherein assembled fullerenes, these being fullerenes that are linked, have been housed within single-wall CNTs. The interior tubes are formed from the assembled fullerenes by subjecting the hybrid structures to electron beam irradiation while in a heated state. It is preferred that irradiation with the electron beams occurs at a temperature of 100˜500° C. and with the electron beams having an accelerating voltage of 80˜250 kV. According to the manufacturing method of the present invention, multi-wall CNTs with few defects can be manufactured at lower temperatures and in a shorter period than in the case where the fullerene/CNT hybrid structures are only maintained under high temperature conditions (and electron beam irradiation is not performed).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to carbon nanotubes, specifically to methods for manufacturing multi-wall carbon nanotubes having tubular structures consisting mainly of carbon located within carbon nanotubes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Single-wall and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CNT) are known to the art, and it is expected that they will become a useful material in various fields. Further, CNTs have also been studied wherein the interior (within the tube) of the CNT has been filled with various materials. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications Nos. 2002-97009 and 2002-97010 disclose hybrid single-wall CNTs having a structure (also termed peapod structure) whereby C60 etc. fullerenes are linked in a chain shape within the tube of single-wall CNTs.
A technique known to the art is to maintain single-wall CNTs having a peapod structure (hereafter referred to simply as peapods) for about 24 hours at 1100° C. or above, the C60 molecules contained therein fusing, and nested tubes being formed (Brian W. Smith, David E. Luzzi, Chemical Physics Letters 321 (2000) 169-174).
However, in this type of method of treating peapods over long periods, at temperatures over 1000° C. and for 12 hours or more, low numbers of nested tubes are produced. Further, in this method, virtually the same degree of thermal energy is applied to the entirety of the peapods. As a result, processing to cause fusion of the C60 cannot be performed on only a portion of the peapods (that is, selecting the locations).
Moreover, it has been reported that irradiating the peapods with electron beams having an accelerating energy of up to 100 keV for 15 minutes causes fusion of the C60 molecules therein, forming capsules (David E. Luzzi, Brian W. Smith, Carbon 38 (2000) 1751-1756).
However, the fusion of the C60 does not progress adequately in the capsules formed by electron beam irradiation. As a result, defects (structural disturbance, etc.) are relatively common. It might be considered that extending the electron beam irradiation time could cause the fusion of the C60 to progress further. However, as the above report has noted, damage (structural damage) to the CNTs forming the exterior tube of the peapods is observed when, under conventional conditions, the irradiation with electron beams having an accelerating energy of 100 keV is continued (for 5 minutes or longer, for example). The damage to the exterior tubes tends to increase as the length of electron beam irradiation time increases. Further, manufacturing efficiency and energy efficiency fall as the irradiation time is extended, and manufacturing costs consequently increase.

Methods for manufacturing multi-wall carbon nanotubes


Providing a transmission circuit, which can transfer data normally with high speed even toward a host controller and a device, which does not meet design requirements defined in the standard, a data-transfer control device and electronic equipment. A current source coupled between a first source VDD and a node ND10; a first transistor SW1 formed between the node ND10 and a DP terminal; a second transistor SW2 formed between the node ND10 and a DM terminal; a first buffers outputting a first control signal HS_DPout 2 to the gate of the first transistor SW1; and a second buffer outputting a second control signal HS_DMout 2 to the gate of the second transistor SW2; are included. When any of the first control signal HS_DPout2 and the second control signal HS_Dmout 2 is set active, other of the control signals is set non-active. Each of the buffers includes a first inverter INV1 and a second inverter INV receiving an output from the first inverter INV1. A capacitance-arrangement circuit between the inverters INV1 and INV2 is installed.

The present invention relates to a transmission circuit, a data-transfer control device and electronic equipment.
In data transmission control using deferential signals, the universal serial bus (USB) standard is known as an interface standard for connecting a personal computer with peripheral devices. The demand for high-speed data transmission is increased in recent years. Products spread among people corresponding to the high speed newly defined in USB 2.0 and in capable of transmitting data with the speed faster than Low Speed, Full Speed defined in USB 1.1. Various methods and means have been devised for transferring data normally in data-transfer control devices corresponding to USB 2.0 standard (see the patent document).
Regarding Low Sped and Full Speed defined in USB 1.1 standard and USB 2.0 standard, a host controller had frequently received data normally even not corresponding to the standards since data transfer rate was low. Hence, there have been few problems in data transfer even in products which were not strictly corresponding to designing requirements regulated as Low Speed and Full Speed defined in USB 1.1 standard and USB 2.0 standard.
High Speed newly defined in USB 2.0 has, however, an extremely high data transmission rate such as 480 Mbps. The high rate sometime causes a receiving circuit in a host controller not to transfer transmitted wave signals, which are corresponding to the standard, if the circuit does not satisfy designing requirements defined by USB 2.0. Namely, some products in the market do not strictly meet designing requirements defined by USB2.0.
When a host controller receiving data does not meet designing requirements defined in the standard for example, the controller frequently does not transfer data normally even if a device controller transmitting data meet these designing requirements and transmits signals of which waveform is corresponding to the standard. Similarly, when a device controller receiving data does not meet designing requirements defined in the standard, the controller frequently does not transfer data normally even if a host controller transmitting data complies with these designing requirements and transmits signals of which waveform is corresponding to the standard.
[Patent Document 1] Unexamined patent publication 2002-344542.
In view of the above issues and overcoming them, the present invention is to provide a transmission circuit, which can transfer data normally with high speed even toward a host controller and a device, which does not meet design requirements defined in the standard, data-transfer control device and electronic equipment.

Transmission circuit, data-transfer control device and electronic equipment


Leuco dyes of the formula (I) are disclosed, ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 each represent an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; X represents hydrogen, an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, an alkoxyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms or a halogen; and Y represents R.sub.5 --Z--SO.sub.2 NH--, R.sub.6 --Z--CONH--, or ##STR2## in which Z represents ##STR3## R.sub.5 and R.sub.6 each represent hydrogen, an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, or a halogen; and R.sub.7 and R.sub.8 each represent hydrogen, provided that both R.sub.7 and R.sub.8 may not be hydrogen, a cyano group, or --COR.sub.9, in which R.sub.9 represents a lower alkyl group, a lower alkoxyl group, a phenyl group which may be substituted by an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, an alkoxyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, or a halogen; a naphthyl group which may be substituted by an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, an alkoxyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms or a halogen. Further a recording material comprising any of the above-mentioned leuco dyes and a particular phenolic compound as a color developer capable of inducing color formation in the leuco dye is disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to leuco dyes having a sufficient absorption intensity in a near infrared region, which are capable of yielding colored images when brought into contact with an electron acceptor such as inorganic acids, organic acids, phenolic compounds and derivatives thereof, or oxidizing agents and a recording material using any of the above-mentioned leuco dyes as an electron donor coloring agent.
2. Discussion of Background
Recording materials using leuco dyes are conventionally known and used in practice, for example, as pressure-sensitive recording sheets and thermosensitive recording sheets. The consumption of the above-mentioned sheets shows a yearly increase.
The pressure-sensitive recording materials containing leuco dyes employ the reaction between a colorless or light-colored leuco dye and a color developer which is capable of inducing color formation in the leuco dye when brought into contact with the leuco dye. More specifically, the pressure-sensitive recording material comprises a coloring sheet and a color developer sheet. The coloring sheet is prepared by coating a microcapsuled organic solution of a leuco dye on a substrate, and the color developer sheet is prepared by coating a mixture of the color developer and a binder agent on a substrate, separately. The pressure-sensitive recording material is constructed in such a manner that the above-mentioned color developer sheet is overlaid on the coloring sheet, with the respective coated surfaces in contact with each other. When pressure is applied to the back side of the color developer sheet, for instance, by writing, the microcapsules of the leuco dye are ruptured to initiate the coloring reaction with the color developer.
Thermosensitive recording materials containing leuco dyes comprise a substrate and a thermosensitive coloring layer formed thereon comprising a leuco dye and a color developer. The thermosensitive recording material can yield colored images in response to thermal image signals applied from a heating resistor.
When the above-mentioned pressure-sensitive recording sheets and thermosensitive recording sheets are employed, recording can be more easily performed by using relatively simple apparatus without any complicated processes such as development and image fixing, in comparison with other recording materials such as electrophotographic recording materials and electrostatic recording materials. Therefore the pressure-sensitive recording sheets and thermosensitive recording sheets are utilized in various fields. Examples of the leuco dyes contained in the conventional pressure-sensitive recording sheets and thermosensitive recording sheets include blue coloring dyes such as crystal violet lactone and leuco crystal violet, and black coloring dyes such as fluoran compounds substituted by an anilino group at the 7-position.
Recently optical character readers and label-bar code readers are developed and put into practice. These optical character readers and label bar-code readers generally employ, as a light source, a light emitting diode or a semiconductor laser having a wavelength of 700 nm or more. However, the above-mentioned conventional leuco dyes such as blue-coloring dyes and black-coloring dyes hardly show absorption intensity in a near infrared region of 700 nm or more, so that they cannot be used together with the above-mentioned optical character readers and bar-code readers. Thus a demand for a novel leuco dye with a sufficient absorption intensity in a near infrared region of 700 nm or more is increasing.
Dyes and pigments showing sufficient absorption intensity in a near infrared region, such as phthalocyanine pigments, quinacridone pigments and chelate compounds of various metals, are conventionally known. These dyes and pigments, however, show high absorption intensity in the visible light range as well, so that they cannot be used for the pressure-sensitive recording materials and thermosensitive recording materials in an ordinary manner. To provide the above-mentioned dyes and pigments for the pressure-sensitive and thermosensitive recording materials, the dyes and pigments must be turned into the form of a leuco compound which is ordinarily colorless or light-colored, but is capable of yielding colored images when brought into contact with an electron acceptor.
There are conventionally proposed several leuco dyes having a sufficient absorption intensity in a near infrared region, for example, divinyl-containing phthalide compounds as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 51-121035, 51-121037, 51-121038, 51-167979, 58-157779 and 61-165380; spirofluorenephthalide compounds as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 59-199757, 60-226871, 61-22076 and 62-104872; and fluoran compounds as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 57-169484 and 62-196177.
However, the above-mentioned conventional leuco dyes have their own shortcomings. For example, the divinyl-containing phthalide compounds are intensely colored in yellow in their original state, and the manufacturing cost thereof is high due to the difficulty in synthesizing them. The spirofluorenephthalide compounds and fluoran compounds have also the shortcomings that their absorption intensity in a near infrared region is weaker than in the visible light range.

Leuco dyes and recording material employing the same


Methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture are shown for creating a soft textile expanded apertured film.

Apertured films are used in various industrial and consumer products sectors. For example, apertured films are used to produce disposable sheets, disposable garments and hygiene and sanitary products, such as sanitary napkins, incontinence pads and baby diapers.
Apertured films can be manufactured using various techniques. For example, one technique for forming apertured webs entails extruding a plastic sheet of film using traditional film extrusion techniques (for example, a thin sheet of LDPE delivered through a cast or blown extrusion head) and aperturing the film using solid or molten phase forming techniques as known in the art (e.g., heat and differential pressure via vacuum as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,414 to Bussey et. al.; water perforation techniques as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,518 to Curro et. al.; thermo-mechanical contact perforation (e.g., pin perforation, engraved cylinders, etc. often in contact with smooth cylinders as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,389 to Giacometti, U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,679 to Pohland, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,632 to Van Iten, etc.) In some instances, the film may be textured prior to perforation via mechanical or water embossing, or other methods as are known in the art.
However limitations of current topsheets include providing softness appropriate to skin contact while still absorbing fluid and maintaining the feeling and conveying the sensation of dryness. Often, as a consequence, dryness is maintained but the topsheet web and/or a product made from the web isn't perceived as soft—the web or product may have a stiff, scratchy or similar, generally unpleasant, sensation. Conversely a web or product may obtain desired softness but provide an uncomfortable wetness sensation.

Embossed textured webs and method for making


A container for a pile of recyclable material includes bottom, side, and back walls and a substantially open front to facilitate inspecting the pile for contaminants. A pair of rotatable wheels on the bottom of the container, and a base on the bottom of the container are adapted to rest on a horizontal supporting surface such as a floor. A transparent retainer on the front of the container confines the pile of papers when the container is tilted and rolled from one location to another. The container bottom slopes downwardly away from the open front of the container, and the back of the container slopes upwardly away from the open front to promote forming a pile which is slightly inclined to vertical when the container rests on the horizontal surface. External means on the container facilitate picking up the container and dumping the pile in a collection truck.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to containers for storing and transporting a pile of recyclable material such as paper, cans, bottles, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
For many years recyclable material, such as newspapers, cans, bottles, and the like have been collected and recycled to conserve resources, and reduce the amount of material incinerated or sent to landfills. However, much recyclable material is not recycled because it cannot be collected efficiently and economically. For example, various types of containers have been provided for the accumulation of recyclable articles. However, these containers have opaque walls, which conceal the contents. Consequently, many people who discard recyclable material often mix non-recyclable contaminants, such as waste food, grass clippings, and other trash, with recyclable material. In addition, certain types of recyclable material, say aluminum cans, are often contaminated by mixing with other types of recyclable materials, such as bottles, paper, or the like. Either type of contamination is often unacceptable in the business of recycling, and discourages collection of recyclable material because it makes handling of the accumulated material inordinately time-consuming and therefore uneconomical.
Because of the above shortcomings, a large amount of recyclable material is not recovered for recycling, but instead is sent to expensive landfills, or dumped into the ocean.
This invention provides containers in which piles of relatively large amounts of recyclable articles can be compactly stored, and easily inspected by a collector of the articles to ascertain that the pile is not contaminated. If the pile is contaminated, the collector can refuse to accept it from the customer. If the pile contains only the articles wanted by the collector, the customer can be rewarded, say with a reduced collection fee, or cash payment. In either case, the customer is given an incentive to cooperate in making recycling successful. The containers of this invention also make it easy to move a collected pile of large amounts of recyclable material to a convenient location for rapid inspection and economical pickup by a recycler.
The preferred container of this invention is in the shape of an elongated upright box with a front, which is substantially open, and a bottom, two sides and a back, which are substantially closed. A pair of rotatable wheels are mounted on the lower end of the container, which has a base adapted to rest on a substantially horizontal supporting surface, such as a floor.
Preferably, the container of this invention is integrally molded from plastic. Since the front of the container is substantially open, some structural integrity is lost because of that construction. However, the preferred embodiment of this invention provides a container in which the side walls and a back wall are molded together with a floor at the bottom of the container to provide strength and rigidity, which permits the walls of the container to be relatively thin, thereby saving material and cost in manufacturing the container.
Briefly, the preferred container molded integrally from plastic includes a pair of upright substantially parallel side walls. Each side wall has a bottom edge, a forward edge and a rear edge. An upright back wall, disposed substantially perpendicular to the side walls, has a bottom edge, a first side edge formed integrally with a rear edge of one side wall, and a second side edge formed integrally with the rear edge of the other side wall. A separate inwardly extending substantially horizontal web is formed integrally with each bottom edge of the side and back walls. A separate upwardly extending flange is formed integrally with the inner edge of each web. A substantially horizontal floor has a rear edge formed integrally with an upper edge of the flange on the web of the rear wall, and a pair of side edges each formed integrally with a respective upper edge with a side wall flange on a web of a side wall. A separate inwardly extending retaining lip is formed integrally at an outer edge with the forward edge of each side wall. The horizontal width of each lip is substantially less than the horizontal distance between the side walls so that the front of the container is substantially open to permit rapid visual inspection of recyclable material in the container. A pair of wheels are secured to the lower portions of the side walls to be rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis so that when the wheels rest on a horizontal support the webs of the side walls can also rest on the support so that the container can be tilted to lift the container out of contact with the support and rolled on the wheels to move the container.
For added strength and rigidity, the floor of the container preferably includes a waffle-type pattern with alternating ridges and valleys. An outwardly extending flange formed integrally with the top edges of the side and back walls provide added rigidity and strength to the upper part of the container. Preferably, a separate, forwardly extending handle bracket is formed integrally with the upper portion of each retaining lip, and, an elongated horizontal handle is integrally molded with the forward portion of each bracket to provide rigidity and strength to the upper portion of the container, and also provide a convenient way for tilting and rolling the container.
Preferably the walls of the container slope slightly upwardly and away from each other so that before the wheels are attached to the container several containers can be nested together in a compact stack for shipping. Preferably the side and back walls of the container are each formed with an inwardly disposed, centrally located respective panel to form an external and downwardly opening groove on each wall to add strength and rigidity to the container, and to facilitate nesting of one container in another.
In one form of the invention the open front of the container is covered by a transparent retainer to confine recyclable material, and permit quick and easy inspection of the pile of recyclable material in the container to ascertain that the pile is not contaminated with unacceptable material. Once the container is full, it is easily tilted by the typical residential dweller to be supported only by the wheels and the handle on the upper part of the container, and thereafter rolled to an appropriate location, say curbside, for pickup by a recycler. Preferably, the container of this invention includes lifting means which make it possible for either a fully automatic or semi-automatic collection truck to lift and invert the container to dump the pile into the collection truck. The container is then returned to the curbside position for reuse.
In one form of the invention, the transparent retainer is a clear panel of glass or plastic, preferably coated with a scratch-resistant layer. Alternatively, the transparent retainer is made of netting, or is a plastic or metal grid, or anything else that permits a good view of the container contents. For example, in another embodiment, the container includes a front wall formed integrally with the two sides and bottom of the container, and which is provided with sufficient openings to permit the required inspection of the container contents for unacceptable contaminants.
In another form of the invention, the container floor slopes downwardly and away from the front of the container when the container base and wheels rest on a horizontal surface. This promotes formation of a stable pile which rests securely against the back of the container. In the preferred form, the bottom of the container is at an angle between about 2xc2x0 and about 12xc2x0 from horizontal when the container base rests on a horizontal support.
In yet another form of the invention, the back wall of the container slopes upwardly and away from the front of the container at an angle between about 2xc2x0 and about 12xc2x0 from vertical when the container base rests on a substantially horizontal support. This also promotes formation of a stable pile which rests firmly against the back of the container.
In a preferred form of the invention, the container bottom slopes downwardly and away from the front of the container, and the back slopes upwardly and away from the front of the container.
To facilitate tilting the container to rest only on the wheels, a step plate is mounted on the bottom of the container front to extend away from the container in a direction transverse to the axis of the rotation of the wheels, which can be mounted either at the front or the back of the container.


A capillary electrophoresis system incorporates an application specific cassette having run buffers and capillary column selected for the specific separation procedure, with buffer reservoirs sealed for storage and shipment. A serving apparatus is provided to accept the cassette and perform the specific electrophoresis procedure until buffer is depleted or the performance of the separation column deteriorates. The serving apparatus comprises liquid transfer apparatus, removable covers for the reservoirs of the cassette, electrodes for establishing voltage potential, and a control system.

There has been rapid growth in recent years in apparatus and methodology for biochemical enterprise, particularly for cleavage, separation and analysis of macromolecules such as DNA, including human DNA. There are a number of uses, such as determining the presence of genetically induced conditions such as Sickle-Cell Anemia, Huntington's Chorea, and others. Fluorescent gel scanning has also become important as an identification tool. Genetic code from a human hair or a flake of skin can be matched to a single human being, supplementing older procedures, such as fingerprint analysis in criminal law.
Macromolecules are typically separated and identified by electrophoresis. In electrophoretic separation electrically charged macromolecules of different size and structure move at different velocities in a specific medium under the influence of an electrical field. Typical mediums and geometries in use include agarose slabs, polyacrylamide gel films, matrix-filled columns, and micro columns (capillary tubings) either with or without a gel matrix.
The use of micro-column, (capillary) electrophoresis for macromolecule separation and analysis is a relatively more recent development than slab and film techniques. A principle advantage of micro-column techniques is their suitability for analysis of very small sample volumes, e.g. microliter or sub-microliter amounts of sample. Being able to analyze such small amount of sample has become very important because, oftentimes, the available volume of sample for analysis is extremely small. For example, in forensic and criminal investigations, the only material that may be available for analysis may comprise a fingernail scraping or a stain on an article of clothing.
Another advantage of microcolumn techniques is that the relatively smaller and simpler apparatus lends itself to techniques of automation more readily than do slab and film systems. For example, a detector to monitor bands passing a point in a micro-column is a relatively simple device compared to a scanning detector for monitoring a plurality of channels in an agarose slab. The column itself is small and easier to manipulate. The reservoirs for storing buffers and other solutions are smaller as well and more easily managed. There are many other examples of the advantages of micro-column electrophoresis.
With all of the advantages and advances in electrophoresis by the use of micro-columns, there remain problems that have not been solved before the present invention. Many of these are simply variations of difficulties encountered in the effort to automate all types of electrophoresis apparatus. For example, considering only capillary electrophoresis, not all starting samples respond in the same way to the same set of electrophoretic circumstances. By circumstances is meant the value set of all of the variables that effect electrophoresis of sample material.
The variable set includes the length and bore of the capillary, the separation matrix in the column, the electrical potential maintained across the ends of the column, the types of buffers used, the geometry of the physical apparatus, the arrangement and techniques for sample injection, ability to control temperature and to dissipate heat generated in the electrophoresis operations, arrangements for fraction collection and more.
Variable sets for specific samples and purposes have been developed empirically over time and tested. New circumstances for new sample compositions continue to be developed.
Some circumstances are relatively easy to manage. For example, the electrical potential across the ends of a column. Others are quite difficult. The only way to change the capillary bore, for example, is to change the capillary, and to do so is a relatively clumsy operation in many existing systems.
What is clearly needed is an apparatus wherein the circumstances difficult to change are incorporated into a module that can be placed in a serving apparatus to provide the circumstances more generic and relatively easier to manage. In this invention, the module would provide circumstances specific to a pretested specification, for separations of a certain type and class of sample. The module, which is called an application-specific cassette by the inventors, includes a support block, or framework, designed to interface physically to the serving apparatus; a capillary of the correct length, bore, material, and wall thickness, and incorporating a particular gel or liquid matrix; buffers solutions at the ends of the capillary; and one or more reservoirs for liquids needed in the specific procedure. In a specific and preferred embodiment of the present invention, the application-specific cassette is disposable. When the buffers are depleted, the matrix ages and deteriorates, or any other change renders the cassette unusable, the cassette is simply removed, and a new one substituted to the serving apparatus.
The serving apparatus includes a robotic system with a liquid-handling apparatus having a probe translatable in three dimensions, and an electrode in contact with fluid in the liquid handling apparatus.

Application specific capillary electrophoresis