Method is set forth of manufacturing a device comprising MIS transistors having a projecting gate on the weakly doped parts of source and drain regions.. A method comprising the deposition of a first and a second polycrystalline conducting layer, which are separated by an insulating layer.. According to the invention, gate islands (20) are formed in the second polycrystalline layer (14) and the ion implantation of the weakly doped portions (21, 22) of the source and drain zones is effected through the assembly of the insulating layer (13) and the first polycrystalline layer (12). A third polycrystalline layer (23) is then deposited, which layer contacts both the island of the second polycrystalline layer (14) and the first polycrystalline layer (12). Widened gate islands (26) are finally marked off by means of the insulating spacer technique (25), in which islands there remain only present the portions (23') of the third polycrystalline layer (23) in the shape of an "L". The highly doped portions (28, 29) of the source and drain zones are then implanted.

An MIS transistor having a projecting gate (also designated as a gate in the form of an inverted T) is known from the publication "Impact of the Gate-Drain Overlapped Device (GOLD) for deep submicrometer VLSI" by R. Izawa, T. Kure and E. Takeda in the magazine I.E.E.E. Transactions on Electron Devices, V. 35, No. 12, December 1988.
A method of manufacturing a transistor of this type intended to constitute integrated circuits having a very high integration density is also indicated in the same publication.
The authors have shown that the limitation of the performances of the MIS transistors of submicron dimensions with respect to the drain breakdown voltage, to the emission of hot carriers and/or to the insufficient transconductance could be obviated by the use of a gate electrode covering the weakly doped parts of the source and drain regions an extending in the direction of the highly doped parts of the regions over a distance which must be optimized.
The gate of the transistors is formed from two distinct layers of polycrystalline silicon so as to obtain the characteristic form of an inverted T. According to the known method, these two polycrystalline layers are separated by an extremely thin oxide layer, of the order of 0.5 to 1 nm thickness, in such a manner that this layer can serve as a reference for the stopping of etching the second polycrystalline layer during the formation of the gate islands, but nevertheless ensures sufficient electrical conduction between the first and the second polycrystalline layer in the interior other widened gate island of the finished device.
A disadvantage inherent in the known method resides in the difficulty to obtain in a reproducible manner an oxide layer having a equally small thickness, which requires a very narrow compromise between the effectiveness of its etch stopper function and a fairly high electrical conduction of this layer so as not to induce parasitic effects in the operation of the transistors and more particularly in the effectiveness of the transmission of the voltages to the lower part of the gates in a wide frequency spectrum.
The invention proposes a modification of the known method in order to avoid the disadvantage mentioned. It is based on the idea that the electrical conduction between the first and the second polycrystalline layer in the interior of the widened gate island of the finished device could be obtained by means independent of the thickness of the so-called first insulating layer and that thus there is a freedom of choice of a more substantial thickness for this layer, which can therefore more readily be obtained in a reproducible and also less critical manner to be used as an etch stopper.

Method of manufacturing a device comprising MIS transistors having a projecting gate on the weakly doped parts of source and drain regions


A tank mounting structure adopts a new approach against a force of moving downward a high-pressure tank transversely mounted on a vehicle. A tank mounting assembly has a winding strap and a restraining strap located on an upper side and a lower side of a high-pressure tank to transversely fix the high-pressure tank between a frame and a frame. This structure causes the high-pressure tank to be transversely mounted on the vehicle. A winding strap is wound on the high-pressure tank. A restraining strap extended from a fixing bracket of the winding strap is laid on the winding strap to be placed directly on an upper end portion of a circumferential wall of the high-pressure tank and is fastened to the frame.

A vehicle using fuel cells as a driving power source is generally equipped with high-pressure tanks designed to store therein a high-pressure hydrogen gas or a high-pressure hydrogen-containing gas as the fuel. One typical method of mounting the high-pressure tanks on the vehicle places the high-pressure tanks under the vehicle floor with a view to assuring sufficient spaces both for the vehicle interior and for the trunk (see, for example, JP-A 2002-370550)
This cited patent document discloses a technique of preventing a drop-out of any of the high-pressure tanks under the application of a force in a direction of moving the high-pressure tank upward. In the actual state, however, diverse forces in various directions are applied on the high-pressure tanks transversely mounted on the vehicle. A force may be applied in a direction of moving the high-pressure tank downward. In such cases, a significantly large loading may be applied onto a high-pressure piping arranged to pass through the respective high-pressure tanks.

Vehicle equipped with high-pressure tank and tank assembly


A plasma torch head, a plasma torch shaft and a plasma torch for providing a quick and simple possibility of changing the plasma torch head are described.

The present invention relates to a plasma torch head, comprising at least one fluid passage, an electrode, a nozzle, a current conductor and a bearing surface on a bearing side, a plasma torch shaft, comprising at least one feed line for a gas, a current supply line, at least one fluid passage, a current conductor and a bearing surface on a bearing side and a plasma torch with at least one feed line for a gas, an electrode, a nozzle and a current supply line, the plasma torch comprising a plasma torch shaft containing at least one first fluid passage, a first current conductor and a first bearing surface on a bearing side, and a plasma torch head containing at least one second fluid passage, a second current conductor and a second bearing surface on a bearing side, the first and second bearing surfaces resting axially relative to one another, the at least one first fluid passage being in fluid connection with the at least one second fluid passage, and the first current conductor being in electric connection with the second current conductor.
Plasma torches are known which consist of a plasma torch shaft and a plasma torch head, which can be joined together by means of a quick change connector. In the plasma torch head there are the parts of the plasma torch which wear quickly in operation and have to be replaced frequently. These are above all the electrode, the nozzle and the cover guard. However, it may also be necessary to change from one plasma torch cutting head to another in the case of varying uses of the plasma process, such as between cutting structural steel and cutting stainless steel. In order to do this quickly, a quick change connector is helpful.
German Document No. G 81 32 660.2 describes a plasma torch consisting of a plasma torch shaft, an attachable connector and a plasma torch head. The plasma torch has a locking pin projecting from the coupling surface and a corresponding hole on the opposing coupling surface, in which the locking pin can be inserted when precisely radially adjusted. The plasma torch shaft and the connector are connected in bayonet fashion by means of a sleeve, which can be displaced on the plasma torch shaft, with guide pins that can be inserted into corresponding axial and radial guide grooves in the connector, by subjecting the sleeve to axial pressure and radial movement. Both in the case of manual operation and in the case of automated systems, it is inconvenient first to introduce the locking pin into the hole and then to connect the other contacts for the delivery and supply lines. In addition, damage cannot be ruled out.
German Document No. DE 695 11 728 T2 describes an alignment means and a method for an arc plasma torch system. The arc plasma torch consists of an arc plasma torch shaft and an arc plasma torch head. An overall positioning guide is used in order to align the arc plasma torch with a seat at the beginning. The seat may be a bevelled edge. The seat has two passages with a receiving end and an upper side which are dimensioned such that alignment pins with a specific diameter are received. The alignment pins also have apertures which can permit a gas or fluid to pass through. The surface diameter is greater than the passage diameter and can thus compensate for minor misalignments. A central passage is similarly dimensioned and can likewise conduct a gas or fluid through. In the case of incorrect positioning, damage can be caused to the alignment pins if a force acts in the axial direction of the arc plasma torch after the central passage has been inserted. If the alignment pins are used simultaneously as a passageway for a gas or fluid, this can lead to leaks. Damage to the alignment pins makes it difficult to position and connect the components of the arc plasma torch later, especially if a slight tolerance is required in the axes of the arc plasma torch head and the seat.
In addition, the insertion of two cylindrical bodies of a plasma torch is known in principle. There is, however, a risk of joining the wrong connections together and/or of damaging them. It is also often necessary for the connection to be highly centered. In such cases, the play between an inner and outer cylinder must be very small. Such an arrangement also makes it difficult to join the parts together.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a quickly changeable plasma torch head. According to the invention, a plasma torch head has, on its bearing side, a cylinder wall with an outer surface and an annular surface, nVer similar radial indentations and nVor similar radial projections being provided peripherally on the outer surface, where nVer, nVor is ≧0 and nVer+nVor is ≧5. The quantity n represents combined radial indentations and radial projections such that nVer+nVor=n. If n=5, the sum of two adjacent angles at the center by which the projections and indentations or one projection and one indentation are offset from one another is not ≧180° and the five angles at the center are different in size. If n>5, the sum of two adjacent angles at the center by which the projections and indentations or one projection and one indentation are offset from one another is not ≧180° and the n>5 angles at the center are different in size or at least two of the n>5 angles at the center are equal in size. In each case the sum of the respective angles at the center occurring twice and the adjacent angles at the center on either side thereof is <180°.
It will be appreciated that the current conductor can be implemented in integrated and/or separate form in the fluid passageways within the contemplated cope of the invention.
Normally, there are at least three fluid passageways, namely for supplying gas, such as plasma gas, and the feed and return lines for coolant.
The plasma torch shaft, on its bearing side, has a cylinder wall with an outer surface, nVor similar radial projections and nVer similar radial indentations being provided peripherally on the outer surface, where nVor, nVer is ≧0 and nVor+nVer=n≧5. If n=5, the sum of two adjacent angles at the center by which the projections and indentations or one projection and one indentation are offset from one another is not ≧180° and the five angles at the center are different in size. If n>5, the sum of two adjacent angles at the center by which the projections and indentations or one projection and one indentation are offset from one another is not ≧180° and the n>5 angles at the center are different in size or at least two of the n>5 angles at the center are equal in size. In each case the sum of the respective angles occurring twice at the center and the adjacent angles at the center on either side thereof is <180°.
It will be appreciated that the plasma torch heads and shafts may be plasma cutting or plasma welding heads and shafts, respectively, within the contemplated scope of the invention.
One of the plasma torch shaft and the plasma torch head has, on its bearing side, a first cylinder wall with an outer surface and an annular surface and an external diameter D21a, and the other of the plasma torch shaft and the plasma torch head has, on its bearing side, a second cylinder wall with an inner surface and internal diameter D31a, where D31a is >D21a, and nVor similar radial projections and nVer similar radial indentations being provided peripherally on the inner surface, where nVor, nVer is ≧0 and nVor+nVer=n≧5, and a similar number of corresponding indentations or projections in engagement with them being provided on the outer surface. The projections and indentations are further arranged such that when the plasma torch shaft is connected to the plasma torch head, the projections and indentations first have to be brought into engagement before the first bearing surface and the second bearing surface come to abut each other. If n=5, the sum of two adjacent angles at the center by which the projections and indentations or one projection and one indentation are offset from one another is not ≧180° and the five angles at the center are different in size. If n>5, the sum of two adjacent angles at the center by which the projections and indentations or one projection and one indentation are offset from one another is not ≧180° and the n>5 angles at the center are different in size or at least two of the n>5 angles at the center are equal in size. In each case the sum of the respective angles occurring twice at the center and the adjacent angles at the center on either side thereof is <180°.
The specific number and arrangement of projections and corresponding indentations makes it possible to join the plasma torch head and plasma torch shaft together quickly and easily, without jamming. It is merely necessary for the annular surface to be simply brought to rest against the projections, i.e. to be placed in a joining position, and then to be turned relative to the projections until the joint position is reached, in which, when an axial force is applied, the projections and indentations engage with one another. This is particularly advantageous in situations in which the plasma torches are clamped in and are not visually accessible. The rapid exchange of the plasma torch head can be carried out blindly.
In addition, the invention offers a quick-change connection between the plasma torch head and the plasma torch shaft with protection against twisting, a small tolerance between the axes of the plasma torch head and the plasma torch shaft with a high degree of centralisation.
The fluid passageways both for the gas, and also as plasma and secondary gas, and for the coolant, can also be used for transporting current.
It will be appreciated that the plasma torch can be a plasma cutting or welding torch within the contemplated invention scope.
In the plasma torch head, it can be provided that the sum of two adjacent angles at the center is ≦170°. In this way, an even more stable abutment of the annular surface and projections in the joint position is achieved.
According to one particular embodiment of the invention n=5 and the sum of two adjacent angles at the center is not repeated. According to a further particular embodiment, the plasma torch head contains four fluid passageways. In some embodiments, the at least one fluid passage is advantageously provided with a connector.
The current conductor can also be conveniently provided with a connector in some anticipated embodiments. In addition, it can be provided that indentations are rectangular grooves. It will be further appreciated that the grooves can also be other shapes, such as arcuate, triangular etc.
According to one anticipated embodiment, nVer is ≧5. It will be further appreciated that nVor can be ≧5.
In some embodiments, on the inner surface of the cylinder wall, a peripheral chamfer extending radially outwards can, for example, be provided towards the bearing side before the projections. Such anticipated arrangements allow for easier joining together of parts because a larger diameter is available at the beginning of the joining action.
In some embodiments of the plasma torch, for example, the plasma torch head can have a first cylinder wall and the plasma torch shaft can have a second cylinder wall.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Plasma torch head, plasma torch shaft and plasma torch

Kjellberg Finsterwalde Plasma und Maschinen GmbH


Techniques in accordance with embodiments described herein are directed to semiconductor devices including a layer of aluminum nitride AlN or aluminum gallium nitride AlGaN as a ferroelectric layer and a method of making a thin film of AlN/AlGaN that possesses ferroelectric properties. In a ferroelectric transistor, a thin film of AlN/AlGaN that exhibits ferroelectric properties is formed between a gate electrode and a second semiconductor layer, e.g., of GaN.

A ferroelectric material includes a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by changing an electrical field applied to the ferroelectric material. Ferroelectric materials have been used in devices in gate structures of a transistor or in capacitors. Conventional ferroelectric materials include lead zirconium titanate Pb(Zrx, Ti1-x)O3 (PZT), hafnium dioxide (HfO2), zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), hafnium zirconium oxide (HfxZr1-xO2 or HZO), and ferroelectric polymers, such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF).
An AlGaN/GaN heterostructure is considered to be a desirable semiconductor heterostructure since the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) interface region thereof has a high electron sheet concentration and low sheet resistance. The GaN structure also includes other desirable properties such as temperature and chemical stability. Conventionally, AlGaN, GaN, and AlN are formed with spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations that cannot be reversed.

Semiconductor device with ferroelectric aluminum nitride

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A canal+ decoder switching circuit for video cassette recorders which can enable a canal+ decoder for receiving a canal+ broadcast to be automatically switched to a VCR or to a TV when VCR mode or TV mode is selected respectively. The circuit includes a switch control circuit proving four kinds of control signals by combining a control signal output from the canal+ decoder, a canal+ channel designation signal and a VCR/TV mode switching signal provided by a microcomputer. The circuit also includes four kinds of switches and the states of their contacts are determined by the control signals provided by the switch control circuit respectively so that the canal+ broadcast can be televiewed not only in VCR mode but in TV mode without the necessity of manual connection of the canal+ decoder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a canal+decoder switching circuit for video cassette recorders, and more particularly to a canal+decoder switching circuit for VCRs for receiving SECAM (sequential technique and memory storage) system broadcasts, which enables a canal+decoder for receiving a canal+broadcast signal to be used not only in VCR mode but also in television (TV) mode.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the SECAM system broadcasts, the canal+broadcast signal is dissimilar to a mormal broadcast signal. The canal+broadcast signal is transmitted in such a way that each video signal for each successive line has different phase delay with each other and is converted into a normal broadcast signal by the canal+decoder in a receiver in order to obtain a clean picture.
As the cannal+decoder is provided with secret codes, TV stations makes such secret codes known to the general televiewers who possess canal+decoders every month and the televiewer who is ignorant of such secret codes is unable to catch the canal+broadcast because the decoder fails to achieve exact decoding. Thus, a canal+decoder is positiely necessary to receive canal+broadcasts successfully.
In the conventional VCRs for receiving the canal+broadcasts, an exclusive jack is provided so that the canal+decoder is connected thereto. Thus, when a canal+broadcast channel is selected, the output of the demodulator of the VCR is connected to the input of the canal+decoder and the canal+decoder converts the demodulated canal+signal into the normal signal. At this time, the canal+decoder outputs a high ievel signal through its control signal output only when the canal+signal is perfectly converted into the normal signal and then the converted signal is provided to the video signal processing circuit of the VCR in response to the control signal of high level, resulting in that the canal+broadcast signal can be received in VCR mode.
On the other hand, if the canal+decoder is connected to a TV, the canal+broadcast signal can be received in TV mode in the same manner as described above.
However, in the conventional VCR associated with the TV, the canal+decoder is usually connected only to the VTR. Thus, it is unable to obtain a normal picture when the televiewer intends to receive the canal+broadcast in TV mode. Although it is possible to obtain a normal picture when the canal+decoder is separated from the VCR and connected directly to the TV, such work is troublesome and inconvenient.

Canal+ decoder switching circuit for video cassette recorders


A discharge assembly mounts inside a grinding mill on a mill shell at a discharge end of the mill and rotates about a longitudinal axis of the mill. The discharge assembly includes a plurality of ring sections forming an assembly covering the mill shell at the discharge end. Each ring section has an outer surface supported on the mill shell and inner surfaces forming a radially extending discharge passageway. Each ring section connects to an adjacent ring section to form a lapped joint therebetween and additional radially extending discharge passageways. Each lapped joint seals the mill shell from the discharge passageway to prevent discharged material contained therein from wearing the mill shell.

This invention relates generally to a discharge assembly for material ground by attrition in a rotating mill. More particularly, the present invention provides an improved discharge assembly constructed from a plurality of sections which protect the mill from wear caused by ground material being discharged from the mill.
Grinding mills for grinding materials such as ore are well known in the art. The mills include a substantially cylindrical shell that rotates about a longitudinal axis. The shell includes lifting members facing the interior of the shell that lift the ore about the inner periphery surface toward the top of the shell when the shell is rotating. Gravity then causes the ore to tumble toward the bottom of the shell where it is reduced in size by impact with pieces of ore, lifter members or steel charge. In an autogenous grinding method, the ore is its own grinding media, whereas in a semi-autogenous method, a mixture of ore and steel charge is used to facilitate grinding.
Ore material is fed into the enclosure and ground by comminution to a desired size. After the ore is reduced to a desired size, the ore enters a plurality of discharge passageways formed in a discharge assembly through grates located at the periphery of the discharge assembly. The discharge assembly is positioned at an end opposite the feed end of the mill about a discharge trunnion and centered on the mill axis. As the shell rotates, the ground ore is transported towards the rotating axis of the shell for discharge from the mill through the discharge trunnion.
Commonly, a replaceable tubular insert is positioned in each of the discharge passageways to line the passageway and increase life by protecting the passageway from the abrasive ground ore. However, like all components located in the mill, the inserts are subject to wear from the abrasive nature of the ground ore, and thus, are susceptible to collapse, which would block the discharge passageway. Also, additional energy is required to operate the mill since the inserts add significantly to the overall weight of the mill.
In an effort to eliminate inserts, fabricated discharge assemblies were constructed wherein passageways were formed using components placed against each other in a radial fashion. However, such constructions allow ground material to leak from the chute and become located between the discharge assembly components and the mill shell. Undesirable wear occurs on the mill due to leakage of the abrasive ground materials between the components.


The present invention relates to a readily molded engineering plastic composition comprising:. polyphenylene ether polymer; optionally PA1 a second polymer chosen from polyesters, polyamides and polycarbonates; and PA1 a flow enhancement agent which is an aluminum salt of a phosphonic acid.

Polyphenylene ether resins are well known in the chemical arts and exhibit desirable chemical, physical and electrical properties over a wide temperature range. This combination of desirable properties renders polyphenylene ether resins suitable for a broad range of applications, many of which have not been susceptible to the use of polymers or polymer mixtures or alloys before. Often times polyphenylene ether resins are blended or copolymerized with other resins to produce a polymer alloy system with improved properties over the nonblended resins. These improved characteristics, of course, further increase the utility of polyphenylene ether polymers of resins. PCT published application 87850 describes blends of polyphenylene ether resins with polyesters. It discloses that polyester such as poly(alkylene dicarboxylates) can be added to polyphenylene ether resins in order to improve the resistance of these resin blends to nonpolar solvents such as gas.
A requirement for the commercial use of blend compositions of polyphenylene ether and polyester polymers is that the polyester polymers not undergo substantial thermal degradation during processing when the blends are subject to common processing temperatures for polyphenylene ethers. However, these temperatures exceed the thermal decomposition temperatures for many polyester polymers, therefore limiting the range of process temperatures which can be used for such blends. The thermal degradation of these polyester polymers results in a very narrow processing temperature window for injection molding resin blends of polyphenylene ethers/polyesters.
The blend compositions of the present invention possess a lower processing temperature range than state of the art materials while maintaining the advantageous characteristics otherwise associated with such blends. Thus the blends of the present invention have a broader range of practical applications than state of the art blends.


An electrorheological material containing a carrier fluid, an anionic surfactant particle component, and an activator. The non-abrasive anionic surfactant acts as both a particle component and a surfactant and the electrorheological material is miscible with water and will not mar the surface of objects utilized in an electrorheological device.

Electrorheological materials are fluid compositions which exhibit substantial changes in rheological properties in the presence of an electric field. Electrorheological materials typically consist of (1) a carrier fluid, (2) a particle component, (3) an activator, and (4) a surfactant. The surfactant of the electrorheological material is utilized to disperse the particle component within the carrier fluid while the activator is utilized to impart electroactivity to the particle component. In the presence of an electric field, the particle component becomes organized so as to increase the apparent viscosity or flow resistance of the overall fluid. Therefore, by manipulating the electric field, one can selectively change the apparent viscosity or flow resistance of an electrorheological material to achieve desired results in various known devices and applications.
In the absence of an electric field, electrorheological materials exhibit approximately Newtonian behavior; specifically, their shear stress (applied force per unit area) is directly proportional to the shear rate (relative velocity per unit thickness). When an electric field is applied, a yield stress phenomenon appears and no shearing takes place until the shear stress exceeds a yield value which rises with increasing electric field strength. This phenomenon can appear as an increase in apparent viscosity of several, and indeed many, order of magnitude.
The mechanism responsible for the observed behavior of electrorheological materials is believed to be an induced polarization of the particle component (particles) followed by a mutual interaction of the polarized particles to form a filamentary structure. In general, the particles in an electrorheological material are able to polarize due to internal or surface conductivity which leads to Maxwell-Wagner polarization when an external field is applied. Although polarization can also occur due to electronic or atomic distortions and the orientation of molecular dipoles, i.e. the real part of the dielectric constant, conduction and subsequent Maxwell-Wagner polarization will dominate at low frequency.
Induced polarization in most electrorheological materials, particularly the so called "water-activated" materials is due to ionic conduction. Adsorbed water on the surface of these particles form an electrolyte with Ca or an alkali metal such as Na, K or Li which are generally present as impurities or are added on purpose to form mobile cations. These cations move through the pores and along the surface of the particles under the influence of an external field to form induced dipoles. An activator such as water is required by these electrorheological materials in order to solvate the cations. If the activator is removed, the ions are no longer mobile and polarization can no longer occur or occurs so slowly that little electrorheological effect is observed. The activator for these materials can also be solvents or molecules containing an amine or an alcohol functionality such as ethylene glycol, diethylamine or acetamide such as is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,427,247 and Matsepuro, "Structure Formation in an Electric Field and the Composition of Electrorheological Suspensions," Royal Aircraft Establishment Library Translation 2110, July 1983.
For electrorheological materials in general, a higher volume fraction of particle component affords a higher induced yield stress and the relationship between induced yield stress and volume fraction has been found to be approximately linear for volume fractions up to about 50%. Volume fractions greater than 50% are generally not used since the materials become very strongly dilatant above this point. Above a 50% volume fraction the zero-field viscosity and zero-field yield stress increases so rapidly that the proportional change in stress due to the applied electric field is actually less than that obtained for a volume fraction less than 50%.
Particle size has little influence on the magnitude of the electrorheological effect as long as the particles have a diameter more or less within the range of 0.1 to 100 microns. Particles smaller than this range may show a decreased effect due to competition from thermal effects, e.g. Brownian motion, which tends to inhibit formation of particle chains when the electric field induced particle-particle interaction energy is less than or on the same order as the thermal energy kT/2. Particles larger than the above range will continue to exhibit an electrorheological effect; however, they become increasingly difficult to maintain in suspension and are subject to jamming and filter cake packing, i.e. the particles chain but the continuous phase liquid continues to move between them. These effects are minimized by keeping the particle small enough such that the Stokes drag forces experienced by a particle are of the same order as the electric field induced forces.
At a fixed electric field strength, the shear stress of electrorheological materials generally increases linearly with shear rate. The rate of stress increase with increasing shear rate is the plastic viscosity of the electrorheological material. The plastic viscosity is, in general, equal to the zero-field or Newtonian viscosity of the electrorheological material.
Many different types of specific electrorheological materials have been previously developed in an attempt to optimize the parameters and properties discussed above. For example, an electrorheological material utilizing silica gel as the particle component and electrically stable dielectric oily vehicles such as white oils and transformer oils as the carrier fluid is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,596. Water is used as the activator while various dispersing agents such as sorbitol sesquioleate, ferrous oleate, sodium oleate, and sodium naphthenate are utilized as surfactants. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,825 discloses an electrorheological material which utilizes carbonile iron powder or silica gel as the particle component and mineral oil or kerosene as the carrier fluid. Various activators mentioned include water, ethylene glycol, and mono ethyl ether while surfactants utilized include aluminum stearates, lithium stearate, lithium rasinoleate, sorbitol sesquioleate, and lauryl peridinium chloride.
An electrorheological material composed of a non-conductive solid particle component dispersed within an oleaginous carrier fluid is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,047,507. The compositions utilize as an activator a minimum amount of water and utilize as a surfactant various anionic and cationic surface active agents such as fatty acids, naphthenic acids, resinic acids, various salts of these acids, and primary amines. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,872 discloses an electrorheological material which utilizes alumina or silica alumina as the particle component and an oleaginous vehicle as the carrier fluid. Water is described as the activator and various anionic and cationic agents such as alkyl aryl sulfonates, sulfated alcohols, oleyl alcohol sulfates, lauryl alcohol sulfates, various sodium alkyl sulfates, quaternary ammonium salts, and salts of higher alkyl amines are described as surfactants.
Traditional electrorheological materials such as the materials described above require both a particle component and a surfactant in order to perform effectively in various applications. It would be desirable to eliminate the need for both a particle component and a surfactant in present electrorheological materials.
Turning to more specific applications, in order to fulfill their potential as a unique interface between electronic controls and mechanical systems, appropriate electrorheological materials must demonstrate certain practical characteristics. For example, in certain applications an electrorheological material should be miscible with water to facilitate handling of the material and cleaning of mechanical systems containing the material. Also, in applications involving mechanical components or objects having delicate surfaces, the dispersed phase particles should be non-abrasive. As would be expected, the chemical nature of the carrier fluid, the particle component, and any resulting combination should be compatible with the mechanical materials used to produce the electrorheological device.
One particular group of applications in which it is desirable that electrorheological materials exhibit miscibility with water are fixturing and chucking applications in which electrorheological materials are used to hold or secure an object firmly in place so that it may be machined, measured, gauged or otherwise inspected. Examples of such electrorheological material-based chucking devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,197,682 and 3,253,200. One problematic aspect of such devices is that the object to be held is placed in contact with the electrorheological material and after the chucking process is complete an undesirable residue of electrorheological material remains on the surface of the object. This residue is generally oily in nature and may often be pigmented depending on the nature of the dispersed phase. Cleaning of the object after the chucking process is a problem with normal electrorheological materials such as silicates in silicone oil or pigmented fluids. Any advantage incurred by the electrorheological material chucking device may be lost due to the additional time required to clean the part.
It is also important to utilize a non-abrasive particle component in such chucking device applications as well as in other applications such as clutching devices in order to avoid scratching or marring of any object or component surface. Non-abrasive dispersed phase particles are particularly desirable in chucking applications involving parts having a delicate surface finish.
Therefore, it would be desirable to create electrorheological materials which are miscible with water and yet which are physically, mechanically, and chemically compatible with applied systems.


Provided are methods of treating pulmonary artery hypertension with a Kv11.1 (ERG or hERG1) channel inhibitor. In certain embodiments, the Kv11.1 channel inhibitor is dofetilide. In certain embodiments, a subject to be treated using a method of the disclosure is not in need of treatment for an irregular heart rhythm, e.g., atrial fibrillation.

Kv11.1 potassium-selective channels, also known as EAG-related gene (ERG) channels, or hERG1 channels, are best known for their function in the heart where they are responsible for the repolarization of the cardiac action potential1-4. Inhibition of Kv11.1 currents due to genetically occurring mutations or as a side effect of a prescription medication lengthens the QT interval in electrocardiogram, causing long-QT syndrome (LQTS), a potentially lethal cardiac arrhythmia5-8. Kv11.1 channels also play a role in cancer, where inhibition of Kv11.1 channel expression and/or Kv11.1 currents decreases proliferation of cancer cells9, 10. In addition to cardiac tissue, Kv11.1 channels are also expressed in the brain11, 12, retina13, gallbladder14, stomach15 and intestines16-18. However, surprisingly little is known about the Kv11.1 channel expression and function in normal lung tissue.
Potassium channels are essential for proper lung function, and defects in ion channels are linked to various respiratory diseases19. Potassium channels are especially intimately involved in vascular remodeling in pulmonary hypertension, and associated respiratory diseases such as pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)20-22.
PAH is a lethal disease associated with narrowing arteries in the lung23, 24. The constriction of the arteries decreases blood flow through the lungs and leads to decreased oxygen levels in the blood. Although with current treatments the symptoms of PAH can be relieved, there is no known cure23, 24. Similar to PAH, COPD-associated pulmonary hypertension also results in the constriction of arteries in the lung.
Several types of potassium channels have been implicated in the vascular remodeling in PAH and COPD, including BK channels, KATP channels, and two-pore domain potassium channels26. It is thought that the decrease in currents through potassium channels in response to hypoxia leads to cell depolarization that increases Ca2+ influx through voltage-gated calcium channels, causing vasoconstriction26, 27.
Despite the importance of Kv11.1 channels for many physiological processes, their expression and function in pulmonary vasculature and potential role in PAH- and COPD-associated vascular remodeling has not been investigated.

Use of Kv11.1 channel inhibitors for treatment of pulmonary hypertension


A treatment apparatus of the present invention includes a treatment section that performs treatment of a treatment target region of a treatment subject, a detection section that detects cavitations that are generated in accordance with a treatment of the treatment section, and a control section that controls a generation state of cavitations at the treatment target region by controlling a physico-chemical parameter of the treatment section based on a detection result at the detection section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a treatment apparatus and an operation system that perform treatment utilizing cavitations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Apparatuses (hereafter, referred to as "ultrasound treatment apparatuses") that perform treatment with respect to living tissue by utilizing ultrasound vibrations or various phenomena that arise accompanying ultrasound vibrations are already widely known. As an example of such kind of apparatus, an ultrasound operation device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-188160 may be mentioned.
It is considered that the treatment capability of an ultrasound treatment apparatus depends greatly on the state of cavitation generation at a treatment target region. Therefore, in order to perform treatment efficiently using an ultrasound treatment apparatus, control that causes cavitations being generated at a treatment target region to be generated in an appropriate state in accordance with the contents of a treatment is essential.

Treatment apparatus and operation system


A shutter assembly includes a main body having a first side member and a second side member. Each of the first side member and the second side member has a first attachment feature. The shutter assembly also includes at least one cap. The cap has a pair of spaced apart second attachment features. The first attachment features of the first side member and the second side member of the main body and the second attachment features of the cap cooperate with one another to selectively secure the cap to the main body.

Decorative shutter assemblies are used to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance to exterior walls of buildings such as residential and commercial dwellings. Typical shutter assemblies are placed on opposite sides of windows of the dwellings. The heights of the windows in the residential and commercial dwellings can vary considerably. It has been heretofore necessary to either supply shutter assemblies of different lengths, or manufacture the shutter assemblies "on-site", and customize the lengths of the shutter assemblies during installation.
A variety of customizable shutter assemblies are known in the art, for example, as described in the following U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,116 to Macgowan; U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,442 to Chubb; U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,110 to Macleod; U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,966 to Foltman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,391 to Ricard et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,407 to Ricard et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,182 to Schiedegger et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,298 to Wenzlaff et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,632 to Cadorette; U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,400 to Foyt; U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,782 to Vagedes; U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,677 to Vagedes; U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,986 to Vagedes; U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,873 to Schiedegger et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,875 to Schiedegger et al. The entire disclosures of each of the aforementioned U.S. patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
There is a continuing need for a shutter assembly that can be customized to a variety of different lengths. Desirably, the shutter assembly is inexpensive to manufacture and customized rapidly and easily by a typical home owner.


An apparatus and method for enhancing the formation of fillets around the periphery of assembled wafer-level chip scale packages when mounted onto substrates. The method includes fabricating a plurality of integrated circuit die on a first surface of a semiconductor wafer, each of the integrated circuit die being separated by scribe lines on the wafer. Once the circuitry has been fabricated, grooves are formed along the scribe lines on the first surface of the semiconductor wafer. The first surface of the semiconductor wafer is then covered with a layer of underfill material, including within the grooves formed along the scribe lines on the first surface of the semiconductor wafer. After the wafer is singulated, the resulting die includes a first top surface and a second bottom surface and four side surfaces. Integrated circuitry is formed on the first surface of the die. Recess regions created by cutting the grooves are formed on all four side surfaces of the die and filled with the underfill material. When the die is mounted to a substrate, the additional underfill material in the recess regions helps form more robust fillets than otherwise possible.

There are a number of conventional processes for packaging integrated circuits. One approach which is commonly referred to as "flip chip" packaging generally contemplates forming solder bump contacts (or other suitable contacts) directly on an integrated circuit die on a wafer. After the contacts are formed, the dice are singulated by sawing or cutting the wafer along the scribe lines. The individual die can then be "flipped" and attached to a substrate such as a printed circuit board. That is, the solder bumps on the die are aligned and mounted onto matching contacts on the substrate. The solder bumps are then reflowed to electro-mechanically connect the die to the substrate.
When a flip chip die is mounted to the substrate, an air gap typically remains between the die and substrate. This gap is commonly filled with material that is flowed into the gap in liquid form and is then solidified. This material is generally a mixture of a epoxy resin and small silica spheres and is often called underfill. A dispenser or nozzle is typically used to dispense the liquid underfill material at one edge of the die. The material then flows into the narrow gap due to capillary action and spreads across the flip chip die until finally the entire area of the gap between the die and substrate is filled. The underfill material is then cured.
Since the silicon of the flip chip package and the substrate have different coefficients of thermal expansion, the solder joints may fail during normal operation. The solidified or cured underfill material helps maintain the integrity of the solder joints, which in turn, helps to reduce failure of the joints in the field.
As a general rule with wafer-level chip scale packages, it is desirable that sufficient underfill material be present so that a fillet is formed around the die when it is mounted onto a substrate, such as a printed circuit board. During this process, the elevated temperatures causes the partially cured underfill material to flow and to fully cure. Fillets of underfill material are formed as a result around the periphery of the wafer-level chip scale packages. Generally speaking, the more underfill material present on the periphery of the die, the larger and more robust the fillet. It is therefore desirable to have additional underfill material at these locations. For more details on the benefits of fillets, see "Effects of Underfill Fillet Configuration on Flip Chip Packaging Reliability", by H. Nguyen et al., the International Electronics Manufacturing Technology Symposium, SEMICON West, July, 2002.
There are problems associated with aforementioned type of underfill process. For example, the operation of applying underfill must be repeated for each flip chip mounted onto a substrate. Repeating such an operation many times during manufacturing significantly increases costs.
An apparatus and method for enhancing the formation of fillets around the periphery of assembled wafer-level packages when mounted onto substrates is therefore needed.

Apparatus for forming a pre-applied underfill adhesive layer for semiconductor wafer level chip-scale packages


An immunoassay test slide for use in a dry chemistry analytical instrument includes a slide housing or case formed from two matable sections—a slide cover piece and a slide bottom piece. The slide housing defines an interior cavity in which is situated a sheet-like porous carrier matrix. The slide cover piece has an opening formed through the thickness thereof to expose a central portion of the fluid flow matrix so that a precise volume of fluid sample of blood, serum or the like, preferably pre-mixed with a conjugate reagent, and precise volumes of a wash reagent and a substrate (detector reagent), may be deposited on the matrix through the cover opening by a metering device of the analytical instrument. The bottom piece of the immunoassay test slide is transparent, and the slide is moved by a transport mechanism of the analytical instrument over a reflectometer or a fluorometer for performing reflectance or fluorescence measurements.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and methods for performing assays to determine the presence or quantity of a specific analyte of interest in a fluid sample.
Description of the Prior Art
Many devices for the detection and/or quantification of an analyte of interest in a fluid sample are well known and are the lateral-flow type or micro-well type. Generally, lateral flow devices include a solid phase fluid permeable flow path through which a sample and various reagents travel by capillary action. The flow path has immobilized thereon various binding reagents for the analyte (or analog thereof), other binding partners, or conjugates involving binding partners for the analyte and members of signal producing systems (e.g., a label). The various assay formats used with these devices are well known for the direct or indirect detection of the analyte of interest in the test sample.m
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,726,010, 5,726,013, 5,750,333 and 7,816,122, each of which issued to Scott M. Clark and which are assigned of record to IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe assay methods and devices that use the formation of a solid phase bound tertiary complex to detect an analyte of interest in a fluid sample. The devices disclosed in the Clark patents utilize a reversible flow in a chromatographic binding assay. An analyte-containing solution is applied to the device and then is transported by capillary action, first in one direction and then in the opposite direction, along an elongated flow matrix. The flow matrix generally includes four different regions. Region one is where a solution having the sample mixed with either a labeled antibody or antigen is added. Region two, also called the detection zone, contains the second antibody or antigen, which is immobilized to a solid phase. Region three contains a site to apply a wash solution. Region four contains an absorbent reservoir located near region one and makes the flow go in the opposite direction. The device also includes means to detect the presence or quantity of an analyte.
The reversible lateral flow device disclosed in the Clark patents works quite well in detecting an analyte in a fluid sample. However, it, like other lateral flow devices, requires relatively significant sample volume and other reagents so that the matrix can be sufficiently wetted to allow for lateral flow of the sample liquid, wash and substrate. More specifically, such lateral flow devices may require approximately 0.35 grams (0.35 milliliters) of the sample liquid. Thus, samples often need to be diluted when sample volumes are small.
Dry chemical reagent test slides having a film surrounded by a frame are also well known in the art and are used to analyze a blood or fluid sample deposited thereon in a chemical analyzer, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,229 (Heidt, et al.) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0254854 (Rich, et al.), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The sample deposited on the slides reacts with the chemical reagent on the film, and the reflectance or fluorescence of the slides is then measured by the chemical analyzer to detect a compound or substance found in the sample, such as calcium (Ca), aspartate transaminase (AST) or glucose (Glu), which could be an indication of a condition or disease. Only small aliquots of sample fluid need be deposited on the slides for detection of certain indicators of diseases. It would be advantageous if immunoassays could be performed on such dry chemistry analytical instruments using test slides.


A method for attenuating pump noise in a wellbore drilling telemetry system includes spectrally analyzing measurements of a parameter related to operation of a pump used to move drilling fluid through the drilling system. Synthetic spectra of the parameter are generated based on a number of pumps in the pump system and a selected number of harmonic frequencies for each pump. Which of the synthetic spectra most closely matches the spectrally analyzed parameter output is determined. The most closely matching synthetic spectrum is used to reduce noise in a signal detected proximate the Earth's surface transmitted from a part of the drilling system disposed in a wellbore.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of measurement while drilling systems. More specifically, the invention relates to methods for reducing the effects of noise caused by "mud" pumps on the signal channel for measurement while drilling systems that use mud flow modulation telemetry or an electromagnetic telemetry.
2. Background Art
Measurement while drilling ("MWD") systems and methods generally include sensors disposed in or on components that are configured to be coupled into a "drill string." A drill string is a pipe or conduit that is used to rotate a drill bit for drilling through subsurface rock formations to create a wellbore therethrough. A typical drill string is assembled by threadedly coupling end to end a plurality of individual segments ("joints") of drill pipe. The drill string is suspended at the Earth's surface by a hoisting unit known as a "drilling rig." The rig typically includes equipment that can rotate the drill string, or the drill string may include therein a motor that is operated by the flow of drilling fluid ("drilling mud") through an interior passage in the drill string. During drilling a wellbore, some of the axial load of the drill string to the drill bit located at the bottom of the drill string. The equipment to rotate the drill string is operated and the combined action of axial force and rotation causes the drill bit to drill through the subsurface rock formations.
The drilling fluid (hereinafter "mud") is pumped through the interior of the drill string by various types of pumps disposed on or proximate the drilling rig. The mud exits the drill string through nozzles or courses on the bit, and performs several functions in the process. One is to cool and lubricate the drill bit. Another is to provide hydrostatic pressure to prevent fluid disposed in the pore spaces of porous rock formations from entering the wellbore, and to maintain the mechanical integrity of the wellbore. The mud also lifts the drill cuttings created by the bit to the surface for treatment and disposal.
In addition to the above mentioned sensors, the typical MWD system includes a data processor for converting signals from the sensors into a telemetry format for transmission of selected ones of the signals to the surface. In the present context, it is known in the art to distinguish the types of sensors used in a drill string between those used to make measurements related to the geodetic trajectory of the wellbore and certain drilling mechanical parameters as "measurement while drilling" sensors, while other sensors, used to make measurements of one or more petrophysical parameters of the rock formations surrounding the wellbore are frequently referred to as "logging while drilling" ("LWD") sensors. For purposes of the description of the present invention, the term MWD or "measurement while drilling" is intended to include both of the foregoing general classifications of sensors and systems including the foregoing, and it is expressly within the scope of the present invention to communicate any measurement whatsoever from a component in drill string to the surface using the method to be described and claimed herein below.
Communicating measurements made by one or more sensors in the MWD system is typically performed by the above mentioned data processor converting selected signals into a telemetry format that is applied to a valve or valve assembly disposed within a drill string component such that operation of the valve modulates the flow of drilling mud through the drill string. Modulation of the flow of drilling mud creates pressure variations in the drilling mud that are detectable at the Earth's surface using a pressure sensor (transducer) arranged to measure pressure of the drilling mud as it is pumped into the drill string. Forms of mud flow modulation known in the art include "negative pulse" in which operation of the valve momentarily bypasses mud flow from the interior of the drill string to the annular space between the wellbore and the drill string; "positive pulse" in which operation of the valve momentarily reduces the cross-sectional area of the valve so as to increase the mud pressure, and "mud siren", in which a rotary valve creates standing pressure waves in the drilling mud that may be converted to digital bits by appropriate phasing of the standing waves.
Irrespective of the type of mud flow modulation telemetry used, detection of the telemetry signal at the Earth's surface may be difficult because of two principal reasons. First, while drilling mud as a liquid is relatively incompressible, it does have non-zero compressibility. Consequently, as the pressure variation travels from the valve to the surface, some of the energy therein is dissipated by compression and rarefaction of the mud as the wave traverses the drill string. Second, and more importantly, the pumps used to move the drilling mud through the drill string are very large and powerful, and frequently are of the positive displacement type. As a result, the mud pumps themselves generate large pressure variations in the mud as it is pumped through the drill string, thus masking the pressure variation signal being transmitted by the MWD instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,185 issued to Pengyu et al. describes a method exploiting the raw pressure to estimate the parameters of the noise. The estimation is carried out in two separated tasks: the estimation of the instantaneous frequency on one side, and the estimation of other parameters on the other side via an adaptive filtering approach. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 200710192031 submitted by Jiang Li et al. describes a similar approach using a LMS algorithm to estimate the parameters of the noise. Because both estimators are completely separated, the ability of the foregoing methods to cancel mud pump noise over a broad frequency band is limited. U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,800 issued to Umeda et al. describes a mud pump noise canceling method based on the use of a set of "stroke counters" (devices which count the operating cycles of each cylinder of the pump) to estimate the instantaneous frequency of the mud pumps. However, the estimation of the instantaneous frequency is assumed to vary linearly with the stroke counter output which is not necessarily a valid assumption.
Selected telemetry signals are alternatively provided to an antenna disposed in the drill string that broadcasts low frequency (generally up to about 25 Hz) signals through the formation where they may be detected by a surface antenna such as spaced apart electrodes (hereinafter referred to as "stakes") disposed in the ground. Examples of electromagnetic telemetry systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,642,051, 5,396,232, and U.S. application Ser. No. 11/308,026, each of which are assigned to the present assignee.
The electromagnetic telemetry signal may likewise be masked by signal noise arising from mud pump operation. The mud pumps may create either cyclical electrical interference that mimics the repetitive activity of the mud pumps, or asynchronous noise arising from, for example, electrical interference generated by power drains caused by any sort of mechanical problem.
What is needed is more reliable methods for estimating and reducing mud pump noise for use with mud pulse telemetry and electromagnetic telemetry MWD systems.

Wideband mud pump noise cancelation method for wellbore telemetry


An aluminum alloy brazing sheet including: a core material made of an aluminum alloy; and a cladding material clad on at least one side of the core material and made of an aluminum alloy having a potential lower than that of the core material. The cladding material is an outermost layer of the brazing sheet, wherein the cladding material is made of an aluminum alloy including 0.2 to 2.0 wt % of Mg, 0.5 to 1.5 wt % of Si, 1.0 to 2.0 wt %, preferably 1.4-1.8% of Mn, ≦0.7 wt % of Fe, ≦0.1 wt % of Cu, and ≦4 wt % of Zn, ≦0.3 wt % each of Zr, Ti, Ni, Hf, V, Cr, In, Sn and ≦0.5 wt % total of Zr, Ti, Ni, Hf, V, Cr, In, Sn, the remainder being Al and unavoidable impurities.

Down-gauging of radiator tube materials puts tough demands on the materials mechanical properties, internal and external corrosion performance, and compatibility between the different components in the radiator when submitted to a brazing operation close to the melting point of aluminium.
Previous attempts have been made to improve the corrosion resistance of brazing sheets by adding Zn and Mg to the coolant side cladding, or waterside cladding. The prior art has been focused on the effect of Mg on the strength and Zn has been added in high amounts to provide the sacrificial anode effect. It has been found that Zn is undesirable in higher amounts since for thinner tube materials, and depending on the brazing operation Zn can diffuse too deep into the core and, as a consequence the corrosion resistance of the whole brazing sheet will be inferior causing pre-stage leakage and failure mode of the end-product.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,387,844 discloses a brazing sheet having a sacrificial cladding material with 2 to 9 weight % of Zn, at least one selected from the group consisting of 0.3 to 1.8 weight % of Mn and 0.04 to 1.2 weight % of Si, and at least one selected from the group consisting of 0.02 to 0.25 weight % of Fe, 0.01 to 0.30 weight % of Cr, 0.005 to 0.15 weight % of Mg, and 0.001 to 0.15 weight % of Cu. This cladding material does not present a sufficient strength and corrosion resistance for thin gauge brazing sheet. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thinner aluminium alloy brazing sheet that has improved strength, and good corrosion resistance on its inner-surface side, which is in contact with a coolant (e.g. water) when being used as a tube or as a header plate for e g heat exchangers, such as in a radiator or heater. It is also an object of the invention to provide a thin brazing sheet material that has a good workability and can be used in situations involving simultaneous severe internal and external corrosive environments, where it significantly enhances the life time by avoiding pre-stage leakage and failure mode from either side

Aluminium brazing sheet with a high strength and excellent corrosion performance


The system and method of the present invention are described for automatic detection of error in the entry of particular category of individuals, especially referring to gender and age classification either real time while creating a database of such information or on an existing database on the record of individuals by analyzing their biometric characteristics like speech, image or face and other related demographic information like name of the individual in order to accord each individual with a unique identification.

In order to capture the record of individuals for according them a unique identification, all the necessary information needs to be gathered and managed in an appropriate database. This information includes their name, gender, age, marital status, any photograph and biometric characteristics like fingerprints, palm prints, retinal identification, iris scan, face recognition or speech samples. Such a valuable piece of information is stored at an appropriate database for further identification of individuals and their gender verification.
However, it has been observed that in many instances the gender or the age of individuals is wrongly entered in such databases when the record comparisons are made in real time. This in turn necessitates the requirement of strategy or methods for gender verification, their ethnicity and age estimation from the gathered demographic information. Automated verification of demographic information has numerous applications including passive surveillance such that each individual is correctly identified and his/her identity is stored in a database to be searched whenever the access is sought.
As a result, an active area of research and development is dedicated to improve biometric characteristic identification in recent years. For example, face detection has been a well researched field to detect the gender based on global features (shape, hair contour) and geometric features (eyebrow thickness, nose width etc.) but the accuracy drawn in such cases has been in the range of 85% to 92%.
Another popular approach to estimate gender and age based on formant/pitch analysis is through the use of speech recognition technology. However, current speech recognition based identification typically exhibits high error rates; their accuracy reported as 98% for clean speech and 95% for noisy speech. Further, speech recognition systems work well under laboratory conditions, but intend to show a considerable decrease in recognition rates when used in a normal operating environment. This decrease in accuracy occurs for the most part because of the unpredictable and variable noise levels found in a normal operating setting, and the way individuals alter their speech patterns to compensate for this noise.
Incorporating name as one of the parameters for gender and/or age identification and verification, also poses multiple challenges based on individual geographical origin or location and hence prone to an error attack of approximately 5%.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, a method and apparatus for automatically reporting error based on an individual's wrong classification with respect to a particular category, such as an age and/or gender-category.
This in turn triggers the need to develop a more mature and reliable system which reports gender verification and consistency of demographic data maintained at the appropriate database by way of extracting the intelligent information using the multiple data inputs instead of only relying on any of the biometric characteristic recognition techniques.

Method for gender verification of individuals based on multimodal data analysis utilizing an individual's expression prompted by a greeting


A power generation method and device utilizes fluid currents to generate power by rotating a rotation element which in turn rotates a cable which turns components within a power generator to generate the power. The rotation element is positioned within the fluid and is able to move to different depths as desired. The power generator is positioned inside or outside of the fluid. The rotation element is able to be a helix, helix-propeller, propeller or any other practical design. The rotation element is also able to implement additional components.

Conventional power sources such as natural gas and oil are being rapidly depleted throughout the world. Alternative sources such as natural fluid streams or currents are presently under investigation since such sources are readily available and inexhaustible.
Flowing water has from five to six times as much capacity for electrical generation as does wind power, not including the twenty-four hour steady nature of the water-derived generation. Wind farms pay taxes on considerable tracts of land, have extensive buried cable requirements on site and substantial cable runs to a grid connection. Their generators are spaced at large intervals to provide undisturbed wind streams and blade clearance. They suffer from the on and off nature of wind, high service costs associated with "off the ground" equipment and various environmental and aesthetic problems, all of which reduce cost effectiveness.
The prior art discusses many devices and methods for converting the energy contained in natural fluid streams, such as the wind and the tides, into usable electric power. Turbines driven by the flow of trapped tidal waters are an example of turning energy in a natural fluid stream into electric power. Prior attempts to convert such energy have usually failed for a number of reasons. The cost of the apparatus to convert the energy stored in a natural flowing stream has typically been prohibitive. Further, tidal warming wind motion is unpredictable in nature and an apparatus must be provided to restore energy during peak periods of wave and wind activity for later use.
There are several apparatuses and methods that attempt to harness energy from water current flow; however, all of these prior art have significant differences, limitations or drawbacks.


Embodiments are directed to a method and system for performing stateless authentication and authorization in a distributed computer network, by receiving, in an authentication and authorization service (AAS) component, a user request to network clients from a client user for data access served by an application, wherein the request comprises user credentials; providing the user credentials to an identity authenticator; performing, in the AAS component, client authorization for the user validated by the identity authenticator; encapsulating a token with the client authorization; and transmitting the token to an application service that services the user request to return results based on the client authorization.

Distributed network systems spread the processor resources and data across multiple computers in the network. Cloud computing technology has been developed to provide shared computer processing resources (e.g., network links, servers, storage, applications, etc.) and data to computers and other devices on demand. Cloud computing and storage solutions provide users and enterprises with various capabilities to store and process their data in either privately owned, or third-party data centers to serve high numbers of client computer users. Multitenancy has become an important feature of cloud computing. In multi-tenant network environments, a single instance of an application runs on a server and serves multiple tenants. Multi-tenant systems provide every tenant a dedicated share of the software instance, including its data, configuration, user management, tenant-specific functionality, and other properties.
With large-scale distributed network environments in which many users or tenants share common resources stored in often virtual storage locations, it is absolutely vital to maintain data integrity and strict controlled access among the tenant to their own data and services. An authentication and authorization (AA) service is a multi-tenant component used to authenticate and authorize principals' access to data of various software components designated to serve multiple tenants. It enables logical separation between tenants' data within a single software component. This is key in a multi-tenant architecture in which a single instance of a software application serves multiple tenants to ensure that no tenant has unauthorized access to another tenant data. The AA Service may use the concept of "roles" and "tenants" to encapsulate these data access privileges through role based access control (RBAC). In general, RBAC is a policy-neutral access control mechanism that is defined around roles and privileges of personnel or departments within a company or organization. RBAC uses role permissions and user/role relationships to assign and enforce network access privileges within the organization.
Existing authentication mechanisms issue principals (requesters) a token, which is usually a meaningless hash value, on each successful authentication attempt. The token verification requires interaction with the server which has issued the token. This solution is not robust enough for distributed systems of software components since it generates performance bottlenecks and has single point of failure. What is needed, therefore, is a token verification system that is robust enough for distributed network environments and that minimizes bottlenecks and failure points.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.

Stateless principal authentication and authorization in a distributed network


There is disclosed a probe (50) for directing light to an object to be measured and receiving light returned from the object to be measured, the probe including: an optical path (21) for transmitting light from a light source (10); a mirror member (52) for reflecting the light transmitted through the optical path (21); and a rotational oscillation mechanism (56) for rotatably oscillating the mirror member (52) and a tip end portion of the optical path (21) about a longitudinal axis of the optical path (21); wherein the rotational oscillation mechanism (56) is adapted to perform the rotational oscillation within a range defined by a torsional elasticity limit of the optical path (21). This configuration can provide an optical rotary probe with a simple structure and with high reliability, which is capable of suppressing optical losses and reflection ghosts.

In recent years, for diagnosing body tissues, optical coherent tomography (OCT) apparatuses which are capable of obtaining optical information about insides of tissues are proposed, as well as imaging apparatuses for obtaining optical information about conditions of the surfaces of such tissues. Optical coherent tomography apparatuses employ techniques for dividing low-coherence light into two parts, further directing one part of the light toward an object to be measured and causing the returned scattering light modified with phase information about the object to interfere with the other part of light, further obtaining the phase information about the object from information about the intensity of the interfering light and, further, imaging the measured portion of the object (See Patent Document 1).


A process and apparatus are disclosed for the catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons in a transport or sub-transport fluidized bed reaction zone. Inert particles are used to transfer heat to the reaction zone. The particles may be heated separately from the catalyst in a combustion zone or together with the catalyst in a regenerator. Fuel is fired to heat the inert particles or a mixture of catalyst and inert particles. Hydrogen deficient fuels such as charcoal or coke are preferred.

This invention relates to the field of catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons in a fluidized bed reaction zone. More particularly, the invention relates to directly transferring heat to a catalytic aromatization or dehydrogenation reaction zone by circulating catalyst, inert particles or both through a combustion zone and then through a catalytic reaction zone.
Heat transfer via inert particles has been used in catalytic conversion processes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,596 to Feldbauer et al. describes reforming in a mixture of catalyst and inert heat transfer solid, with a solids elutriation step. Feldbauer is, however, directed to the reforming of a naphtha range feed. In contrast, the present invention is directed to the dehyrogenation or aromatization of a C.sub.2 -C.sub.5 aliphatic stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,913,392 to Richards describes a process which combines a first step of catalytic cracking with a second step of noncatalytic thermal cracking. Product from the first step is subjected to noncatalytic thermal cracking in the presence of inert solids.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,595 to Fritz describes a reforming process in which the catalyst regeneration reaction is used to heat circulating inert solids. No suggestion is made of using a supplemental fuel source.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,597 to Martin et al. discloses a reforming process in which heat evolved from catalyst regeneration is transferred to the reactor by a mixture of circulating catalyst and inert solids. The Martin reference makes no mention of using supplemental fuel and additionally uses steam to strip product from the mixture of inert solids and catalyst. Contact with water vapor at elevated temperatures causes steaming deactivation of many catalysts useful for aromatization.
Unlike a fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) process, the fluidized bed catalytic aromatization of an aliphatic feedstream does not generally operate in a heat balanced mode. That is to say that in the operation of a heat balanced process, e.g. FCC, the thermal energy released during regeneration by the combustion of coke deposited on the catalyst equals or exceeds the endothermic heat of reaction required for the conversion step. In contrast, catalytic aromatization of C.sub.2 -C.sub.5 aliphatic hydrocarbons does not produce sufficient coke to supply its own endothermic heat of reaction. Consequently, design routes previously favored were moving- or fixed-bed operation using a fired heater and fluidized bed operation using an external process heat source. As can be seen by one skilled in the art, these designs have inherent limitations. Preheating the feedstock to reaction temperature in a fired heater causes undesirable side reactions including the formation of coke in the heater tubes. Fixed bed reactors require periodic regeneration and fluidized bed reactors using a second process unit as a heat source require close proximity of process streams available for cooling at initial temperatures above 1000.degree. F. Further, preheating catalyst to high temperatures to supply the heat of reaction in a fluidized-bed system has been found to accelerate catalyst deactivation.


A shielding arrangement for an electronic component mounted on a circuit board includes a shield formed by a frame sidewall arranged to be oriented upstanding from the circuit board and surrounding the electronic component mounted on the circuit board. A first cover portion substantially closes the surrounding sidewall, enclosing the electronic component on the circuit board. A conductive layer, formed by vacuum deposition covers an inside surface of the surrounding sidewall and an inside surface of the first cover portion, continuously. As an alternative to the conductive layer, the frame can be composed of an electrically conductive plastic. The first cover portion can be a stamped metal plate integrated with the frame by overmolding.

As computing devices are reduced in size, there is reduced available space for storage devices such as a hard disk drive or an I/O device. In order to expand a portable, laptop, or any other type of computer's capacity and functioning capability, manufacturers have devised "plug-in" peripheral cards in the form of printed circuit boards contained within an exterior casing. The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) and comparable organizations have established certain size and shape standards for the construction of the peripheral cards. These peripheral cards including associated casings are termed "PCMCIA" style peripheral devices.
The PCMCIA style devices can be used to perform the functions of software, resident memory in hardware devices, or as a hard drive. The devices can be used to facilitate LAN networking and wireless networking, as flash memory, as paging devices, and as FAX modems. They may be used in cellular telephones, PROMS, EPROMS, EEPROMS, RAMS, SRAMS, and DRAMS. The devices can be used in the form of IC cards or memory cards and as I/O cards for computer communication systems.
A conventional PCMCIA style device comprises a pair of metallic top and bottom covers configured to be engaged together, a supporting frame, a circuit board, with mounted electronic components, mounted on the frame, and primary and sometimes secondary electrical connectors. The primary connector is typically referred to as an "I/O" connector. The primary connector is provided on one end of the device for interfacing the memory card, and particularly the printed circuit board contained within the PCMCIA style device, to the outside device to which the PCMCIA style device is mated. The primary connector is designed to extract the contents of the memory stored on the printed circuit board and to bus data to and from an outside device, such as a computer or other electronic device. In this fashion, data traverses the interface between the PCMCIA style device and the outside device so that the data can be efficiently transferred and used by the outside device to which the PCMCIA style device is mated for its intended purpose. In one typical assembly, the circuit board is equipped with the primary and secondary connectors at opposite ends thereof and then attached to the supporting frame before being sandwiched between the top and bottom metallic covers.
At the present time, there are three different PCMCIA style device types, as defined by PCMCIA. The three PC card types are as follows:
a. Type I PC Cards are 54 mm by 85.6 mm, by 3.3 mm (0.130″) thick.
b. Type II PC Cards are 54 mm by 85.6 mm by 5 mm (0.195″) thick. The raised substrate areas of these cards are 48 mm in width.
c. Type III PC Cards are 54 mm by 85.6 mm with a substrate area thickness of 10.5 mm, and a card guide opening width requirement of 51 mm of the header connector to accommodate the slightly raised substrate area.
A new peripheral card named EXPRESS 34 has been proposed. In addition to the characteristics of the PCMCIA style device, the new peripheral card offers key advantages in terms of faster speed and smaller size. So, devices which connect the EXPRESS 34 and the PCI Express interfaces in notebook computers must have low profile interconnection and also meet the signal integrity requirement of PCI Express.
Examples of peripheral cards are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,824,969; 5,397,857; 5,397,857; 6,004,144 and 6,474,998.
It is well known that electronic signals within electronic packages emit electromagnetic energy from the package, which causes electromagnetic interference (EMI) in other electric signals. It is desired to provide a complete and efficient shielding against the emission of EMI. On the other hand, electrostatic discharge (ESD) is also another important issue because electronic components are also very sensitive to ESD and special care must be taken in handling. Radio Frequency (RF) interference can also be a problem. However, if the package is properly shielded by a conductive material, it will serve to reduce EMI, RF and ESD problems.
FIG. 8 illustrates in section a prior art electronic device, in the form of a PCMCIA style device. When an electronic component 2 mounted on a card 3 must be shielded by a shield 4, the thickness of the shield 4 and any necessary vertical clearance between the shield 4 and a device cover 5 reduces valuable vertical usable space within the device. Additionally, the sidewalls of the shield 4 reduce lateral usable space within the device.
Given the strict thickness limitations of the aforementioned types of electronic devices, and given the desirability of fitting more components and more complex components into electronic devices, the present inventor has recognized the desirability of maximizing the usable inside volume of an electronic device by increasing the usable thickness of an electronic device for working components within the electronic device.

Shielding arrangement for electronic device


A method for filtering the SDTV channels in a DVB is provided, including the following steps: using the video frequency ID and center frequency of the SDTV channel of the user's choice to look up a table to obtain at least a remaining video frequency ID different from the video frequency ID of the SDTV channel, while the remaining video frequency ID having the same center frequency as the SDTV channel; configuring a plurality of registers in the controller; and the controller discarding a plurality of DVB packets according to the registers. The controller can be either a PCI_EXPRESS controller or a USB controller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of digital video broadcasting and, more particularly, to a method and related controlling apparatus for filtering the SDTV channels in a digital video broadcasting.
2. The Related Art
As the constant improvement in technologies, people have an increasing demand on higher quality of TV broadcasting. Digital video broadcasting (DVB), providing better quality of audiovisual programs, are gaining attentions in recent years.
The USB ports of personal computers (PCs) can be used to connect many universal serial bus (USB) peripherals, including USB keyboard, USB mouse, USB card reader, USB flash drive, external USB hard disk, USB printer, and USB scanner. The USB ports provide convenience to the users. The transmission speed of USB has also evolved from the 12 Mbps of USB1.1 to the recent 480 Mbps of USB2.0.
According to the transmission specification of USB, the USB1.1 can support low speed peripherals, such as USB keyboard, USB mouse, and USB joy stick, whose transmission speed is 1.5 Mbps with the tolerance of 1.5%, and the full speed peripherals, such as USB flash drive, USB printer, and USB scanner, whose transmission speed is 12 Mbps with a tolerance of 0.25%. On the other hand, USB2.0 is capable of supporting high-speed peripherals, whose transmission speed is as high as 480 Mbps. USB2.0 is downward compatible with the USB1.1, and therefore, USB2.0 can support low speed, full speed and high-speed peripherals.
FIG. 1 of the attached drawings shows a schematic view of a typical USB DVB reception device, including an antenna 100, a tuner 110, a demodulator 120, and a USB controller 130. The DVB signal, including video signal, audio signal and control packets, transmitted through air enters antenna 100. The DVB reception device uses tuner 110 to receive RF signals, uses demodulator to demodulate the RF signals, and sends an MPEG2 video signal to USB controller 130 for using its USB2.0 high-speed interface to communicate with the host.
FIG. 2 shows a transmission packet 200 of the DVB. Each packet is 188 bytes long, including a program ID (PID) for indicating the type of the packet.

Method and apparatus for filtering SDTV channels of digital video broadcasting


Disclosed herein is a unit power module including: a first semiconductor chip having one surface on which a 1-1-th electrode and a 1-2-th electrode spaced apart from the 1-1-th electrode are formed and the other surface on which a 1-3-th electrode is formed, a second semiconductor chip having one surface on which a 2-1-th electrode is formed and the other surface on which a 2-2-th electrode is formed, a first metal plate contacting the 1-1-th electrode of the first semiconductor chip and the 2-1-th electrode of the second semiconductor chip, a second metal plate contacting the 1-2-th electrode of the first semiconductor chip and spaced apart from the first metal plate, a third metal plate contacting the 1-3-th electrode of the first semiconductor chip and the 2-2-th electrode of the second semiconductor chip, and a sealing member formed to surround the first metal plate, the second metal plate, and the third metal plate.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a unit power module and a power module package comprising the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Underground resources are limited but energy usage has increased every year. Therefore, all the countries are paying more attention and effort to the development of alternative energy.
This effort has continued to the development of technologies of implementing high efficiency with less energy. One of the technologies is the power module.
The power module may be largely classified into an inverter, a converter, a device for driving a motor. The power module has various types according to the purpose and the usage thereof has been continuously increased.
The industrial and high-capacity power modules having a case type according to the prior art cannot be mass-produced and are expensive, such that the power modules do not have easy accessibility.
When the power modules having the case form have a structure that can be mass-produced and a lighter and slimmer structure, the power modules can be used at low costs at more places, which may implement energy saving, protection of resources, and protection of nature.
To achieve the targets, a power module package structure can resolve the heat generation problem that is the largest vulnerability of the power module and can be mass-produced has first been developed.
Meanwhile, the structure of the power module package according to the prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,119.

Unit power module and power module package comprising the same


Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a process that determines a current location of a mobile device according to a horizontal reference, obtains a corresponding barometric pressure reading at the current location of the mobile device, and determines a current position of the mobile device according to the current location of the mobile device and the corresponding barometric pressure reading. A historical record of positions of the mobile device is updated according to the current position of the mobile device and other positions of the mobile device determined at other times, and a historical record of positions of the mobile device to a map of a facility is updated to obtain a referenced pattern of movement of the mobile device within the facility. Other embodiments are disclosed.

At least some mobile devices may be equipped with location receivers, such as GPS receivers, that are adapted to determine locations of the devices. Many such devices may also be equipped with navigational software or apps that can operate in cooperation with the location receiver to facilitate navigation and/or planning navigation. For example, a navigation app may accept user input in the form of destinations and/or waypoints along a planned route in association with a map, such as a topological map, a street map and/or satellite imagery.
A navigation app may be adapted further to record a historical record of locations of a device as it moves through its environment. Such location records are sometimes referred to as digital breadcrumbs or track points that may have been recorded at regular intervals. Historical records can be used to trace or otherwise plot movement of the device, e.g., in a form of a graphical record, or track, in which the recorded locations can be interconnected to form a track or trace representative of prior movement of the device. Traces of these sorts may be referenced by a user at a later time to retrace their steps and/or to evaluate the path traveled, e.g., according to one or more of distance or time, and in at least some instances, elevations.

Facility management based on cumulative device location data


An integrated CMOS image sensor comprising pixel rows integrated on a substrate, each pixel row having pixel circuits, each pixel circuit providing a voltage signal in response to absorbed photons; and an opaque layer deposited above the pixel rows to define a set of dark pixels for each pixel row. For each pixel row, dark voltage signals indicative of the voltage signals provided by the set of dark pixels are stored and used to dark correct the voltage signals from the other pixels. The image sensor also comprises voltage-to-current converters for converting the voltage signals to currents for all pixel columns for each frame and followers to reduce the voltage swings on the outputs of the voltage-to-current converters. The currents are multiplexed in serial fashion to a current-to-voltage converter. The output of the current-to-voltage converter provides the dark voltage signals.

The present invention relates to image sensors, and more particularly to integrated CMOS image sensors with dark voltage correction.
In a CMOS imager, an image is focused upon an array of active pixels, where each active pixel provides an analog voltage signal indicative of a time integration of the intensity of light impinging upon a pixel diode. The time integration is determined by the frame rate, where the entire pixel array is read during each frame. Competing factors in choosing a frame rate are that a frame rate must be chosen fast enough so that images are reasonably clear (due to subject motion) but slow enough so that there are a sufficient number of photons to be detected by the pixel arrays. The analog voltages provided by the CMOS imager are processed and eventually digitized for use by computer systems, digital storage devices, or perhaps processed further by digital processing methods.
As frame rates increase, there is more of a burden placed upon signal processing circuits, and the analog-to-digital conversion performed to digitize the image may result in a bottleneck. This bottleneck can be reduced by utilizing a plurality of analog-to-digital converters (ADC). For example, an ADC can be dedicated to each column of pixels within the pixel array. However, to increase reliability, reduce manufacturing costs, and decrease power consumption, it is desirable to integrate the image sensor and its accompanying signal processing circuitry, including any ADCs, onto a single die. Employing a large plurality of ADCs would therefore make full integration more difficult. Therefore, it would be advantageous to structure the analog signal processing in such a way that only one or very few ADCs are needed to support high frame rates.
CMOS image sensors are affected by dark voltage. Dark voltage in a CMOS pixel results from dark current in the pixel diode caused by the leakage current in the pixel diode. Dark current increases with temperature, and hence the term dark voltage. Dark current acts like photon induced current and creates an error voltage in the pixel which is referred to as the dark voltage. Unless corrected, dark voltage causes the final image processed from the imager to appear with a brighter background than it should have. Dark current phenomenon not only increases the floor noise, it also hides darker points in the images.
To reduce the effects of dark voltage, prior art image sensors use a mechanical shutter to read the pixel array voltages when the shutter is closed, thus providing an array of dark voltages which are subtracted from the pixel array voltages when the shutter is opened to capture an image. This method requires substantial storage to store the array of dark voltages, and also reduces the effective frame rate because image frames are lost when the shutter is closed. Therefore, it would be advantageous to compensate for the dark voltages within the pixel array voltages without needing extra storage and without reducing the effective frame rate.