A method for forming amorphous silicon films with low defect density on single crystal silicon substrates and structures formed. The method is carried out by first providing a single crystal silicon substrate, then depositing a buffer layer by a material such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide or a metal on top of the single crystal silicon substrate. An amorphous silicon film of substantial thickness, i.e. of thicker than 1 xcexcm, is then deposited on top of the buffer layer achieving a smooth top surface.

The present invention generally relates to a method for microelectronics fabrication and the microelectronic structure formed and more particularly, relates to a method for forming amorphous silicon films on a single crystal silicon substrate and the semiconductor structure formed.
In semiconductor fabrication technology, thin films of silicon that does not have a single crystal structure are frequently used in forming microelectronic devices. These non-single crystal silicon includes amorphous silicon and polycrystalline silicon. For instance, amorphous silicon is widely used in the formation of TFT (thin film transistor) devices and for CMOS gates when a dual gate process is used. Polysilicon films have numerous applications in forming microelectronic devices including gate conductors in MOSFETs when the films are heavily doped, as a dopant source for contacts of shallow junctions in bipolar transistors, and as a conducting layer for interconnections. The amorphous and polysilicon thin films can be formed by a variety of chemical vapor deposition techniques, i.e. LPCVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition), PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition) and RTCVD (room temperature chemical vapor deposition). The amorphous silicon films can also be formed by a physical vapor deposition technique. The chemical vapor deposition technique is carried out typically by the decomposition process of a silicon-containing gas, such as silane (SiH4) or disilane (Si2H6) with or without a diluting gas of argon. For a LPCVD process, the typical deposition temperature runs between 500xc2x0 C. and 700xc2x0 C. at a typical chamber pressure from 100 mTorr and 500 Torr. The structure of the silicon film deposited, i.e. of either amorphous or polycrystalline, depends mainly on the deposition temperature. For instance, amorphous silicon films are normally deposited at a deposition temperature below 575xc2x0 C. A transition between the amorphous structure and the polycrystalline structure occurs between the temperature of 575xc2x0 C. and 600xc2x0 C. such that polycrystalline silicon is normally deposited at a temperature higher than 580xc2x0 C. The amorphous silicon structure which has no detectable crystallinity can be converted to polycrystalline structures upon further heat treatment above 600xc2x0 C. The grain size increases upon heat treatment at even higher temperatures.
When an amorphous silicon film is directly deposited on top of a single crystal silicon substrate, problems of surface imperfection is frequently observed. The surface imperfection appears in the form of unevenness due to irregularly formed protrusions, or islands on the top surface of the amorphous silicon film layer. The obtaining of a smoothly deposited surface of the amorphous silicon film on top of a single crystal silicon substrate is therefore impossible. This leads to difficulties in using amorphous silicon films in various microelectronic applications incorporating the MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical-system) technique such as the fabrication of a cantilever beam for a micro-relay, or in the fabrication of a suspended mirror in a digital mirror display, or in a glass-to-glass bonding application, or in the solar cell application. In the above discussed microelectronic applications that incorporate the MEMS technique, an amorphous silicon film that has a smooth top surface and a minimum defect density on the top surface must be obtained.
For instance, in the application of the cantilever beam for the micro-relay and the suspended mirror in the digital mirror display, a key element for the MEMS process is the capability of growing a relatively thick amorphous silicon film that has a smooth top surface. The amorphous silicon film is frequently used as a sacrificial layer, i.e. to be later removed, in these applications. While currently the amorphous silicon film may be grown by LPCVD, PECVD or PVD, various processing difficulties exist that prevent the successful implementation of these deposition techniques. For instance, in order to form an amorphous silicon film that has low surface defect density by the LPCVD method, the deposition temperature must be around 550xc2x0 C. which is not compatible with the CMOS process. On the other hand, when the amorphous silicon film is deposited by the PVD technique, the film produced has poor adhesion and thus greatly limits its deposition thickness.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for forming amorphous silicon films on single crystal silicon substrates that does not have the drawbacks or shortcomings of the conventional methods.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for forming amorphous silicon films that have low defect density and a smooth top surface on a single crystal silicon substrate.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for forming amorphous silicon films-on single crystal silicon substrates that are compatible with a front-end CMOS process.
It is another further object of the present invention to provide a method for forming amorphous silicon films on single crystal silicon substrates that does not require an annealing process after the deposition.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for forming amorphous silicon films on single crystal silicon substrates that can be integrated with a MEMS process.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor structure of an amorphous silicon film deposited on a single crystal silicon substrate with a smooth top surface on the amorphous silicon film.
It is still another further object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor structure on a single crystal silicon substrate that includes a single crystal silicon substrate, a buffer layer on top of the substrate, and an amorphous silicon film deposited on top of the buffer layer.
It is yet another further object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor structure that is built on a single crystal silicon substrate including a buffer layer of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide or metal in-between an amorphous silicon film and a single crystal silicon substrate.
In accordance with the present invention, a method for forming amorphous silicon films that have low defect density on a single crystal silicon substrate and structures formed are provided.
In a preferred embodiment, a method for forming amorphous silicon films with low defect density on single crystal silicon can be carried out by the operating steps of providing a single crystal silicon substrate; depositing a buffer layer in a material capable of surviving a process temperature of 500xc2x0 C. on top of the single crystal silicon substrate, the buffer layer has a thickness of at least 500 xc3x85; and depositing an amorphous silicon film on a top surface of the buffer layer.
The method for forming amorphous silicon films with low defect density on single crystal silicon may further include the step of selecting the material for the buffer layer from the group consisting of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide and metals, or the step of depositing the buffer layer to a thickness between about 500 xc3x85 and about 1500 xc3x85, or the step of depositing the buffer layer by a technique selected from the group consisting of chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition. The method may further include the step of depositing the amorphous silicon film by a technique selected from the group consisting of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, low pressure chemical vapor deposition, room temperature chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition, or the step of depositing the amorphous silicon film to a thickness between about 1 xcexcm and about 10 xcexcm, or the step of depositing the amorphous silicon film in a deposition chamber fabricated of stainless steel.
The method for forming amorphous silicon films with low defect density on single crystal silicon may further include the step of depositing the amorphous silicon film in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition chamber at a deposition temperature between about 275xc2x0 C. and about 375xc2x0 C., or the step of depositing the amorphous silicon film in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition chamber at a deposition power between about 50W and about 400W, or the step of depositing the amorphous silicon film at a chamber pressure between about 400 mTorr and about 900 mTorr, or the step of depositing the amorphous silicon film in a chemical vapor deposition chamber by flowing in a precursor selected from the group consisting of SiH4 and SiH4/argon mixture. The method may further include the step of annealing by laser energy the amorphous silicon film into a polysilicon film.
The invention is further directed to a semiconductor structure that is built on a single crystal silicon substrate which includes a single crystal silicon substrate; a buffer layer on top of the single crystal silicon substrate formed of a material capable of surviving a process temperature of 500xc2x0 C., the buffer layer has a thickness of at least 500 xc3x85; and an amorphous silicon film that has substantially no-surface defect on top of the buffer layer.
The semiconductor structure that is built on a single crystal silicon substrate may further include a polysilicon film on top of the buffer layer in place of the amorphous silicon film. The buffer layer may be formed of a material selected from the group consisting of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide and metals. The buffer layer may have a thickness between about 500 xc3x85 and about 1500 xc3x85. The amorphous silicon film may have a thickness between about 1 xcexcm and about 10 xcexcm. The amorphous silicon film may be formed in a cantilever beam for a micro-relay device, or may be formed on a suspended mirror for a digital mirror display device, or may be formed and converted to polysilicon as an electrode in a solar cell.

Method for forming amorphous silicon film on single crystal silicon and structure formed

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Provided are dithiol mucolytic agents. These agents increase the liquefaction of mucus in a patient with excessive mucus or mucus with increased viscoelastic, cohesive, or adhesive properties. Also provided are a variety of methods of treatment using these inventive mucolytic agents.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel dithiol mucolytic agents. The present invention also includes a variety of methods of treatment using these inventive mucolytic agents.
Description of the Background
The mucosal surfaces at the interface between the environment and the body have evolved a number of "innate defense", i.e., protective mechanisms. The mucus transport system is the fundamental defense of the airways against inhaled particulates/infectious agents. Inhaled particles are trapped in the mucus layer and subsequently propelled out of the lungs via mucus clearance. The mucus transport system requires that mucus be well hydrated to facilitate cilliary clearance. In the absence of sufficient mucus hydration, the mucus becomes excessively viscous and adherent, which can lead to airway mucus accumulation and infection.
Typically, the quantity of the liquid layer on a mucosal surface reflects the balance between epithelial liquid secretion, often reflecting anion (Cl− and/or HCO3−) secretion coupled with water (and a cation counter-ion), and epithelial liquid absorption, often reflecting Na+ absorption, coupled with water and counter anion (Cl− and/or HCO3−). Many diseases of mucosal surfaces are caused by too little protective liquid on those mucosal surfaces created by an imbalance between secretion (too little) and absorption (relatively too much). The defective salt transport processes that characterize these mucosal dysfunctions reside in the epithelial layer of the mucosal surface.
Abnormalities in the mucus transport system characterize a complex of muco-obstructive airway diseases that include cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic bronchitis (CB). Normal mucus clearance requires 1) adequate hydration of the airway surface and 2) an absence of strong adhesive and cohesive interactions between mucus and cell surface. Hydration is defined by the concentrations of mucins in the periciliary and mucus layers. Ion transport properties regulate the amount of salt and water (i.e. the solvent) and goblet cells and glands control the quantity of mucins on the airway surface. Subjects with mucus-obstructive diseases including cystic fibrosis (CF), chronic bronchitis associated with cigarette smoke exposure, i.e., COPD, and asthma exhibit increases in mucus concentration as quantified by % solids (FIG. 1), as a result of reduced airway hydration and mucin hypersecretion, consequent to goblet cell and glandular hyperplasia. Both as a function of disease severity, and in acute exacerbations, raised mucin concentrations produce adherent mucus that sticks to epithelial cells, impairs clearance, triggering inflammatory responses and airway wall injury, and serves as a growth medium for pathogenic microorganisms. Clearly, enhancing the clearance of such thickened/adhered mucus from the airways is likely to benefit patients with mucus-obstructive diseases.
Chronic bronchitis (CB), including the most common lethal genetic form of chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis (CF), are diseases that reflect the body's failure to clear mucus normally from the lungs, which ultimately produces chronic airways infection. In the normal lung, the primary defense against chronic intrapulmonary airways infection (chronic bronchitis) is mediated by the continuous clearance of mucus from bronchial airway surfaces. This function in health effectively removes from the lung potentially noxious toxins and pathogens. Recent data indicate that the initiating problem, i.e., the "basic defect," in both CB and CF is the failure to clear mucus from airway surfaces. The failure to clear mucus reflects an imbalance between the amount of liquid and mucin on airway surfaces. This "airway surface liquid" (ASL) is primarily composed of salt and water in proportions similar to plasma (i.e., isotonic). Mucin macromolecules organize into a well-defined "mucus layer" which normally traps inhaled bacteria and is transported out of the lung via the actions of cilia which beat in a watery, low viscosity solution termed the "periciliary liquid" (PCL). In the disease state, there is an imbalance in the quantities of mucus and ASL on airway surfaces. This results in a relative reduction in ASL which leads to mucus concentration, reduction in the lubricant activity of the PCL, and a failure to clear mucus via ciliary activity to the mouth. The reduction in mechanical clearance of mucus from the lung leads to chronic bacterial colonization of mucus adherent to airway surfaces. It is the chronic retention of bacteria, the failure of local antimicrobial substances to kill mucus-entrapped bacteria on a chronic basis, and the consequent chronic inflammatory responses of the body to this type of surface infection, that lead to the syndromes of CB and CF.
The current afflicted population in the U.S. is 12,000,000 patients with the acquired (primarily from cigarette smoke exposure) form of chronic bronchitis and approximately 30,000 patients with the genetic form, cystic fibrosis. Approximately equal numbers of both populations are present in Europe. In Asia, there is little CF but the incidence of CB is high and, like the rest of the world, is increasing.
There is currently a large, unmet medical need for products that specifically treat CB and CF at the level of the basic defect that cause these diseases. The current therapies for chronic bronchitis and cystic fibrosis focus on treating the symptoms and/or the late effects of these diseases. Thus, for chronic bronchitis, β-agonists, inhaled steroids, anti-cholinergic agents, and oral theophyllines and phosphodiesterase inhibitors are all in development. However, none of these drugs treat effectively the fundamental problem of the failure to clear mucus from the lung. Similarly, in cystic fibrosis, the same spectrum of pharmacologic agents is used. These strategies have been complemented by more recent strategies designed to clear the CF lung of the DNA ("Pulmozyme"; Genentech) that has been deposited in the lung by neutrophils that have futilely attempted to kill the bacteria that grow in adherent mucus masses and through the use of inhaled antibiotics ("TOBI") designed to augment the lungs' own killing mechanisms to rid the adherent mucus plaques of bacteria. A general principle of the body is that if the initiating lesion is not treated, in this case mucus retention/obstruction, bacterial infections became chronic and increasingly refractory to antimicrobial therapy. Thus, a major unmet therapeutic need for both CB and CF lung diseases is an effective means of mobilizing airway mucus and promoting its clearance, with bacteria, from the lung.
Other mucosal surfaces in and on the body exhibit subtle differences in the normal physiology of the protective surface liquids on their surfaces but the pathophysiology of disease reflects a common theme, i.e., too little protective surface liquid and impaired mucus clearance. For example, in xerostomia (dry mouth) the oral cavity is depleted of liquid due to a failure of the parotid sublingual and submandibular glands to secrete liquid. Similarly, keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eye) is caused insufficient tear volume resulting from the failure of lacrimal glands to secrete liquid or excessive evaporative fluid loss. In rhinosinusitis, there is an imbalance, as in CB, between mucin secretion, relative airway surface liquid depletion, and mucus stasis. Finally, in the gastrointestinal tract, failure to secrete Cl− (and liquid) in the proximal small intestine, combined with increased Na+ (and liquid) absorption in the terminal ileum leads to the distal intestinal obstruction syndrome (DIOS). In older patients excessive Na+ (and volume) absorption in the descending colon produces constipation and diverticulitis.
The high prevalence of both acute bronchitis and chronic bronchitis indicates that this disease syndrome is a major health problem in the U.S. Despite significant advancements in the etiology of mucus obstructive diseases, pharmacotherapy of both CF and COPD have been characterized by an aging array of therapies, typically including inhaled steroids and bronchodilators for maintenance, and antibiotics and high-dose steroids for exacerbations. Clearly, what are needed are drugs that are more effective at restoring the clearance of mucus from the lungs of patients with CB/CF. The value of these new therapies will be reflected in improvements in the quality and duration of life for both the CF and the CB populations.
One approach to increase mucus clearance is to enhance the transportability of mucins via the disruption of the polymeric mucus structure. Mucin proteins are organized into high molecular weight polymers via the formation of covalent (disulfide) and non-covalent bonds. Disruption of the covalent bonds with reducing agents is a well-established method to reduce the viscoelastic properties of mucus in vitro and is predicted to minimize mucus adhesiveness and improve clearance in vivo. Reducing agents are well known to decrease mucus viscosity in vitro and commonly used as an aid to processing sputum samples (Hirsch, S. R., Zastrow, J. E., and Kory, R. C. Sputum liquefying agents: a comparative in vitro evaluation. J. Lab. Clin. Med. 1969. 74:346-353). Examples of reducing agents include sulfide containing molecules capable of reducing protein di-sulfide bonds including, but not limited to, N-acetyl cysteine, N-acystelyn, carbocysteine, cysteamine, glutathione, dithiothreitol (DTT), and thioredoxin containing proteins.

N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is approved for use in conjunction with chest physiotherapy to loosen viscid or thickened airway mucus. Clinical studies evaluating the effects of oral or inhaled NAC in CF and COPD have reported improvements in the rheologic properties of mucus and trends toward improvements in lung function and decreases in pulmonary exacerbations (Duijvestijn Y C M and Brand P L P.; Systematic review of N-acetylcysteine in cystic fibrosis. Acta Peadiatr 88: 38-41. 1999). However, the preponderance of clinical data suggests that NAC is at best a marginally effective therapeutic agent for treating airway mucus obstruction when administered orally or as an inhalation aerosol. A recent Cochrane review of the existing clinical literature on the use of NAC found no evidence to support the efficacy of NAC for CF (Nash E F, Stephenson A, Ratjen F, Tullis E.; Nebulized and oral thiol derivatives for pulmonary disease in cystic fibrosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009; 21(1):CD007168.).
NAC, as a topical pulmonary therapeutic agent, is not optimal for the reduction of mucin disulfide bonds. Specifically, NAC does not possess the basic properties of an effective pulmonary drug as NAC (1) is a relatively inefficient reducing agent the airway surface environment (e.g. CF pH 6.5-7.2); and (2) is rapidly metabolized and cleared from the airway surface (Jayaraman S, Song Y, Vetrivel L, Shankar L, Verkman A S. Noninvasive in vivo fluorescence measurement of airway-surface liquid depth, salt concentration, and pH.
J Clin Invest. 2001; 107(3):317-24). For example, in the pH environment of the airway surface (measured in the range of pH 6.0 to 7.2 in CF and COPD airways), NAC exists only partially in its reactive state as a negatively charge thiolate (Jayaraman S, Song Y, Vetrivel L, Shankar L, Verkman A S. Noninvasive in vivo fluorescence measurement of airway-surface liquid depth, salt concentration, and pH. J Clin Invest. 2001; 107(3):317-24) (FIG. 3). Furthermore, in animal studies, 14C-labled NAC, administered by inhalation, exhibits rapid elimination from the lungs with a half-life of approximately 20 minutes (unpublished observation). The relatively low reducing activity at of NAC physiologic airway pH and a the short half-life of NAC on the lung surface provide an explanation for the lack of strong clinical evidence for effective mucus reduction in mucus obstructive diseases.
Additionally, NAC is most commonly administered as a concentrated inhalation solution (Mucomyst® is a 20% or 1.27M solution). However, the administration of concentrated NAC solutions impact the tolerability of NAC as it exaggerates (1) the unpleasant sulfur taste/odor; and (2) pulmonary side effects including irritation and bronchoconstriction which can require co-administration of rescue medications such as bronchodilators. Although Mucomyst was approved by the FDA in 1963, no other reducing agents administered as an inhalation aerosol are currently available to treat muco-obstructive diseases. What are needed are effective, safe, and well-tolerated reducing agents for the treatment of diseases characterized by impaired mucus clearance

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A device for forming an undercut in a drilled hole comprises a stem having a pivotal reaming element at a lower end thereof, and a guide tube in which the stem is longitudinally displaceable with the reaming element pivoting radially outwards from the guide tube in a lower end position of the stem.

The invention relates to a device for forming an undercut in a drilled hole and comprisig a stem the upper portion of which is received in a drilling machine, and the lower part of which has a cutting edge projected laterally; and a depth stop.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 23 49 998 discloses a device for provideing drilled holes with an undercut in order to anchor fixing elements with expansible bodies therein. The expansible part of the fixing elements is able to engage in the undercut with a matching fit. Thereby in hard materials, for example in concrete masonry, an expecially reliable fixing is achieved. With the known device, the undercut is produced by swivelling the drilling device. The execution of a swivelling movement requires some practice, and special precautions are required to ensure that the formed undercuts are produced in a complete and uniform manner.

Device for forming an undercut in a drilled hole


An apparatus has a plurality of gas transfer membranes. The apparatus floats in water with the membranes submerged in the water. To treat the water, a gas is supplied to the membranes and is transferred to a biofilm supported on the membranes or to the water. Gas is also used to supply mixing or membrane scouring bubbles to the water. The mixing or scouring bubbles can be provided by a cyclic aeration or other gas supply system, which optionally provides gas at a variable pressure to the membranes in parallel or series with an aerator. Condensates can be removed from the membranes, and exhaust gasses from the membranes can be monitored, optionally through one or more dedicated pipes.

In a membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) for water or wastewater treatment, a membrane is used to both support the growth of a biofilm on a wall of the membrane and to transport a gas to the biofilm through the wall of the membrane. Membrane biofilm reactors were reviewed by Martin and Nerenberg in "The membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) for water and wastewater treatment: Principles, applications, and recent developments" (Bioresour. Technol. 2012). Membrane-aerated biofilm reactors (MABR) are a subset of MBfRs in which an oxygen containing gas is used. MABRs were reviewed by Syron and Casey in "Membrane-Aerated Biofilms for High Rate Biotreatment: Performance Appraisal, Engineering Principles, Scale-up, and Development Requirements" (Environmental Science and Technology, 42(6): 1833-1844, 2008).
MBfR technology has existed on a laboratory scale for several years, but it has not been widely commercialized or scaled-up. The ZeeLung™ MABR developed by GE Water & Process Technologies uses cords, each cord containing multiple fine hollow fiber membranes. The cords are packaged into modules and cassettes in a way that resembles the packaging of hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes into ZeeWeed™ modules and cassettes. The cords are potted into upper and lower headers to form modules. The modules are mounted to a frame to form a cassette. The cassette can be mounted on the floor of a process tank. MBfR units of this type are described in International Publication Number WO 2014/130043 A1, published on Aug. 28, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Process for water treatment using membrane biofilm reactor


Provided is a method for manufacturing a fiber-reinforced plastic molded body by which, when a molded article having a hollow part is being molded using a molding mold, it is possible to deform the peripheral surface area of a core by increasing the pressure inside the core without using pressurized gas or pressurized fluid. A group of particles and the like including a particle group and a core block is accommodated in a flexible bag to form a core. The particle group is composed of multiple rigid particles. The core is arranged inside a prepreg containing a resin and fibers, and the prepreg including the core is arranged inside a molding mold and is molded by applying pressure.

Fiber-reinforced plastic molded bodies having a closed cross-section are widely used in large molded bodies such as bodies and wings of aircrafts to small molded bodies such as bicycle frames, tennis rackets, fishing rods, and golf shafts. In addition, fiber-reinforced plastic molded bodies having an open cross-section are also widely used for helmets and the like.
As a core for forming a molded body having a closed cross-section, a core in which a powder-and-granular material is wrapped with a packaging film and formed into a predetermined shape by performing vacuum packaging, a core in which a large number of particle groups are accommodated in a flexible bag so as to able to be deformed into a desired shape, a core formed by blow molding, or the like is used. A core in which a vacuum-packaged powder-and-granular material is formed into a desired shape is disclosed, for example, in JP 2-238912 A (Patent Literature 1), or a core in which a large number of particle groups are accommodated in a flexible bag so as to able to be deformed into a desired shape is disclosed, for example, in JP 2012-187730 A (Patent Literature 2).
The invention described in Patent Literature 1 will be described as Conventional Example 1 of the present invention by means of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 illustrates an initial stage at which a molded article having a hollow part which is a type of closed cross-section is manufactured by a molding die 30. As illustrated in FIG. 5, a sheet-like lower fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin material (lower FRTP) 34 which is subjected to pre-heating to be in a molten state is placed on a lower mold 31 of the molding die 30. Since the lower FRTP 34 is in the molten state, the lower FRTP 34 is hung under its own weight and enters a state of being depressed in the concave portion of the lower mold 31.
A core 33 in which a powder-and-granular material 33a is wrapped with a packaging material 33b and solidified in a predetermined shape by vacuum packaging is placed in the concave portion of the lower FRTP 34. On upper portion of the lower FRTP 34 in which the core 33 is placed, another sheet-like upper FRTP 35 which is heated to be in a molten state is placed. In this state, the circumference of the core 33 is in a state of being enclosed by the lower FRTP 34 and the upper FRTP 35.
An upper mold 32 of the molding die 30 is lowered from this state and pressurized such that the lower FITP 34 and the upper FRTP 35 are integrally molded in a state of accommodating the core 33 therein by integrating the lower FRTP 34 and the upper FRTP 35 between the upper mold 32 and the lower mold 31, thereby obtaining a molded semi-finished article. In order to discharge the core 33 from the completed molded semi-finished article, small holes are formed in the molded semi-finished article. When holes are formed in the molded semi-finished article, air infiltrates into a space between the powder-and-granular materials 33a of the vacuum-packaged core 33 and the binding of the powder-and-granular materials 33a is loosened.
Then, the powder-and-granular material 33a constituting the core 33 is discharged to the outside of the molded semi-finished article through the holes formed in the molded semi-finished article, thereby completing a molded article. If the packaging material 33b which vacuum-packages the powder-and-granular material 33a is made of a material having good releasability with respect to the molded article, the packaging material 33b can also be detached from the molded article through the holes.
Next, the invention described in Patent Literature 2 will be described as Conventional Example 2 of the present invention by means of FIG. 7. FIG. 7 illustrates a state at the time of molding a hollow molded article having a modified cross-section using a conventional core. According to this Conventional Example 2, a core 4 is used in which a particle group 4a formed from a large number of particles is wrapped with a stretchable packaging film 4b. When compression molding is carried out by lowering an upper mold 2 to press a prepreg 3 between the upper mold 2 and a lower mold 1, a mold interval holding means 20 is operated to prevent the upper mold 2 from moving to the upper side by a pair of right and left press members 21a and 21a. Simultaneously, a part of the core 4 is pressed by causing a piston rod 5a provided in the lower mold 1 to protrude into a cavity. By pressing the core 4 with the piston rod 5a, the internal pressure of the core 4 is increased to deform the core 4 while causing the particle group 4a of the core 4 to flow, thereby eliminating voids between the core 4 and the prepreg 3. There is no void inside a molded article to be obtained and a high-grade molded article is obtainable. Moreover, the mold interval holding means 20 is provided which prevents the upper mold 2 from moving in a direction apart from the lower mold 1 when the internal pressure of the core 4 is increased.
The mold interval holding means 20 has lower inclined surfaces 2a and 2a formed in upper end portions on right and left lateral surfaces (upper right and left end shoulders in FIG. 7) of the upper mold 2 and wedge faces 21b and 21 b being in slide contact with the lower inclined surfaces 2a and 2a in a surface contact state, and includes the pair of right and left press members 21a and 21a which freely slide in a direction (horizontal direction) orthogonal to a moving direction (up-and-down direction) of the upper mold 2 and a driving unit (not illustrated) which moves the press members 21a and 21a in the horizontal direction to drive them in approaching and separating directions. The shapes of the wedge faces 21b and 21b facing the pair of right and left press members 21a and 21a are set to shapes in which a space between the facing wedge faces 21b and 21 b is spread to the lower side as illustrated in FIG. 7.
Herein, as the packaging film 4b used for maintaining the shape of the core 4 used in Conventional Example 2, a nylon film, a polyethylene film, a fluororesin film, silicone, and the like can be used. Examples of preferred materials as particles having rigidity particularly include zirconia and quartz, and these materials have low thermal conductivity and granular materials having a high bending elastic modulus are obtainable therefrom.

Method for manufacturing fiber-reinforced plastic molded body


The present invention discloses an improved method and device for the immersive display of three-dimensional images with visual accommodation. An improved method for manufacturing a visual display incorporating a scanned light source and an improved method of presenting visual information are disclosed. A complete, immersive display environment is also presented.

Planar displays such as CRTs, LCD panels, laser scan and projection screens are well-known. These displays present an image at a fixed focal length from the audience. The appearance of three-dimensionality is a visual effect created by perspective, shading and occlusion and motion parallax. Integral photographic displays and lenticular autostereoscopic displays are also well-known, with a history that extends back at least 100 years. Miniature and head mounted displays (HMDs) are also well known and may involve a miniaturized version of the planar display technologies. In recent years, stereoscopic or 3D displays, which display a spatially distinct image to each eye, have enjoyed an increasing popularity for applications ranging from fighter pilot helmet displays to virtual reality games. The 3D HMD display technology has numerous extensions including Near-to-Eye (NTD)—periscopes and tank sights; Heads-Up (HUD)—windshield and augmented reality—and immersive displays (IMD)—including CAVE, dome and theater size environments. The principal employed varies little from that of the 1930 Polaroid™ glasses, or the barrier stereoscopic displays of the 1890s, despite. extensive invention related to the active technology to produce each display has occurred over the past twenty years. As applied to small displays, these techniques evolved from miniature cathode ray tubes to include miniature liquid crystal, field emission and other two-dimensional matrix displays, as well as variations of retinal scanning methodologies popularized by Reflection Technologies, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. in the 1980s. Other approaches include scanning fiber optic point sources such as disclosed by Palmer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,788, compact folded, total internal reflection optical displays disclosed by Johnson in U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,263. These inventions have provided practical solutions to the problem of providing lightweight, high resolution displays but are limited to providing a stereoscopic view by means of image disparity. Visual accommodation is not employed. A solution to the problem of accommodation for all displays was disclosed by A. C. Traub in U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,390, Sher in U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,832, and others. These inventors proposed a modulated scanning signal beam coordinated with a resonantly varying focal length element disposed in the optical path between the image display and the observer.
It is well known in the field that wavefront-based technologies, which by definition are limited to coherent effects, impart significant specular and other aberrations degrading performance and inducing observer fatigue.
Alternative approaches where a data-controlled, variable focal length optical element was associated with each pixel of the display were such of experimentation by this inventor and others, including Sony Corporation researchers, in Cambridge, Mass. during the late 1980s. In 1990, Ashizaki, U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,181, of the Sony Corporation, disclosed an HMD with a variable focus optical system.
Despite the improvements during the past decade, the significant problem of providing a low cost, highly accurate visual display with full accommodation remains. One of the principal limitations has been the inability of sequentially resonant or programmed variable focal length optics combined with scanning configurations to properly display solid three dimensional pixels, orthogonal to the scanning plane. Another limitation is the inability of the observer's eye to properly and comfortably focus on rapidly flashing elements. Numerous inventions have been proposed which have generally been too complicated to be reliable, too expensive to manufacture, without sufficient resolution, accuracy, stability to gain wide acceptance. The present invention solves these problems, particularly related to the accurate display of solid and translucent 3D pixels.

Advanced immersive visual display system


A distributed storage system including at least one storage node, and at least one object storage device (OSD) is deployed on the at least one storage node. At least one data processing device and at least one metadata processing device that has a mapping relationship with the at least one data processing device are deployed on the at least one OSD. A target data processing module of an input/output (IO) operation is configured to determine a target metadata processing device corresponding to the target data processing device and an identifier of an OSD in which the target metadata processing device is located, send an access operation to the target metadata processing device, and access data of the IO operation based on the IO operation. The target metadata processing device is configured to access metadata of the IO operation based on the access operation.

A distributed storage system such as CEPH, Cloud object storage system is a storage system in which data is dispersedly stored in a plurality of independent computer storage devices (namely, storage nodes). The distributed storage system includes at least one storage node, and a client and one or more object storage device (OSD) modules are deployed on the at least one storage node. Each OSD module may be deployed on one storage node, and the client may be deployed on any storage node. FIG. 1 is a schematic architectural diagram of a distributed storage system. The distributed storage system shown in FIG. 1 includes storage nodes 0, 1, 2, and 3. The distributed storage system includes a client and OSD modules 1 to 4. The client is deployed on the storage node 0, the OSD module 1 is deployed on the storage node 1, the OSD module 2 is deployed on the storage node 2, and the OSD modules 3 and 4 are deployed on the storage node 3.
A basic idea of data management in a conventional distributed storage system is as follows A fixed quantity of partitions are set in the distributed storage system. A client evenly allocates all pieces of received data of input/output (IO) operations to the partitions. There is a relatively fixed mapping relationship between each partition and one OSD module. That is, there is a mapping relationship between each partition and one specific OSD module within a specific time. Data of IO operations that belong to a same partition is stored in a storage node in which an OSD module that has a mapping relationship with the partition is located.
In the conventional distributed storage system, a hard disk drive (HDD) is used as a main storage medium, and an amount of metadata generated in a data storage process is relatively small. Therefore, it is relatively easy to manage data and metadata. Generally, data and metadata of one IO operation are managed by one OSD module. With development of storage technologies, for example, with diversification of storage media and/or increasing of metadata generated in a data storage process, the current distributed storage system cannot meet an overall performance requirement of the distributed storage system.

Distributed storage system, data processing method, and storage node


A ceiling fan assembly includes a hanger bracket secured to a conventional overhead support member and a fan motor depending from the hanger bracket. A housing encapsulating the fan motor and the hanger is detachably secured by a detent engagement means. An element of the detent engagement means is integral with the hanger bracket and a complemental element of the detent engagement means is integral with the housing. When engaged, the housing obscured the detent engagement means.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ceiling fans.
More particularly, the present invention relates to ceiling fans of the type having a hanger assembly supporting a motor and depending from an overhead support device.
In a further and more specific aspect, the instant invention concerns a housing for obscuring a fan motor and hanger assembly and enhancing the aesthetic appearance.
2. The Prior Art
The prior art is replete with various configurations of overhead air circulation devices commonly referred to as ceiling fans. Typically, a ceiling fan includes a support bracket affixed to an overhead support member such as an electrical junction box. An electric motor, having a hub which is rotatable about a vertical axis, is affixed to a down shaft which is suspended from the support bracket. A plurality of blade irons, each supporting an end of a radially extending blade, are secured to the hub. Frequently, a canopy encloses the mounting bracket and the upper end of the down shaft.
Conventional, commercially available ceiling fans are generally lacking aesthetic value. For example, the rather large motor depending from a slender down shaft projects an unbalanced appearance. The exposed heads of the screws, usually employed to secure the canopy to the mounting bracket, detract from the visual perception. Other detractions, such as the required mechanical configuration of the motor, are notable.
It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to aesthetically obscure from view various unsightly mechanical aspects of prior art ceiling fans.


An object is to provide a technique that can evaluate biological tissues such as cartilage tissue and regenerated tissues such as regenerated cartilage. A method for observing a dynamic physical property of a biological tissue according to the present invention is that a biological tissue is irradiated with a pulsed light having a wavelength of a far-infrared wavelength region modulated into circular polarized lights by applying bias voltages to a radiation means (3) having an antenna electrode films of orthogonal (2)-axis structure with phases shifted using high-voltage high-speed modulation means (13), and dynamic physical property of the biological tissue is observed on the basis of a spectrum obtained by vibration optical activity spectroscopy.

As society experiences aging of population, the number of patients suffering from diseases of organs of locomotion as represented by locomotive syndrome, in particular joint diseases has been increasing. One of the joint diseases is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is rarely healed spontaneously once a patient develops it, which generally progresses irreversibly and makes it difficult for him/her to walk. Therefore, osteoarthritis is one of the major factors lowering the quality of life of middle-aged and elderly people.
From the viewpoint of, for example, maintenance of the patient's quality of life, there has been increasing needs for early diagnosis and early treatment of osteoarthritis. In recent years, as an early treatment of osteoarthritis, treatment by regenerated cartilage transplantation is performed.

Method for observing dynamic physical property of biological tissue and device for observing dynamic physical property of biological tissue


The present invention relates to a composition for reshaping keratin fibers, preferably the hair, having a specific range of a pH and including at least one specific active compound in an amount of 8% by weight or more relative to the total weight of the composition. The composition according to the present invention is preferably a cosmetic composition, for keratin fibers, such as hair, and can be used for a process for reshaping the keratin fibers with heat. The process according to the present invention can be used to deform or reshape keratin fibers, preferably hair, and can provide the keratin fibers with sufficient reshaping efficiency such as strong wave intensity of the curled keratin fibers and excellent hair conditioning effects (less damage to the keratin fibers), in a relatively short period of time as compared to a conventional process which uses a reducing agent and an oxidizing agent.

In long-lasting deformation of keratin fibers such as hair, first the disulphide bonds —S—S— of the keratin (cystine) are opened using a composition containing a suitable reducing agent (reduction stage), then the hair thus treated is optionally rinsed, secondly the disulphide bonds are reconstituted by applying, on the keratin fibers previously put under tension (curlers etc.), an oxidizing composition (oxidation stage, also called fixation) so as to finally give the keratin fibers the desired form. This technique thus makes it possible to carry out either waving or straightening of the keratin fibers. For example, JP-B-S62-9566 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,284 discloses a standard process for permanent waving or straightening of keratin fibers such as hair in line with the above steps.
The new shape imposed on the keratin fibers by chemical treatment as described above is relatively long-lasting and notably withstands the action of washing with water or shampoo, in contrast to the simple conventional techniques of temporary styling by using foams, styling gels, or lacquers.
Many compositions and processes for the above chemical treatment have been proposed. Generally, they offer good performance on the day of treatment.
However, there are various drawbacks such as follows in the above chemical treatment process that may not be suitable from the view-point of consumer's or hair-dresser's expectations:                Insufficient reshaping efficiency such as weak wave intensity;        Poor usability caused by, for example, dripping of the composition from the hair;        High levels of keratin fiber degradation, especially in repeated applications or in combination with other chemical treatments such as oxidative coloration;        Long processing time; and        Malodor of ammonia or sulfur-containing compounds during and after the deformation process.
In particular, sufficient reshaping efficiency, short processing time, and conditioning effects to keratin fibers are important. There is indeed a need to improve a deformation process of keratin fibers to provide sufficient reshaping efficiency, such as strong wave intensity of the curled keratin fibers, as well as excellent hair conditioning effects such as conditioning feel, in a relatively short period of time. In addition, excellent usability such as no or reduced malodor is also desirable.


A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) enhancement agent includes a plurality of particles, each particle including: a metal core; a dielectric shell disposed on the metal core comprising at least one MRI contrast agent; and a metal shell disposed on the exterior surface of the dielectric shell that encapsulates the dielectric shell.

In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), there are two types of contrast agents: type 1 (T1) and type 2 (T2). T1 agents are positive contrast agents that make an image brighter on MRI phantoms. T2 agents are negative contrast agents that cause a darker image on MRI phantoms. Contrast agents for MRI lighten or darken MRI phantoms by modifying the relaxation time of the spins of protons in water. Commercial T1 contrast agents need to be in direct contact with water to produce its effect while T2 agents not need to be in direct contact with water.

Multifunctional fluorescent and MRI-active nanostructure


A multi-connector set for signal testing having a rectangular base seat installed with a fixed testing connector and two adjustable testing connectors provided at the two lateral sides of the fixed testing connector for adjusting spaces of them from the fixed testing connector. The fixed and the adjustable testing connectors each has an SMA female connector, the base seat has on its bottom a cylindrical shank that has a bottom protecting cylinder to be moved up and down by protruding and retracting or be rotated or tilted, and each fixed and each adjustable testing connector has at its bottom a probe which further has a secondary female probe moving up and down by protruding and retracting; the secondary female probe has a bottom recess to be slipped over a probe at the center of an I-PEX connector. Thereby, multiple microwave electric circuits can be tested at one time to save time; and insertion holes on the bottoms of the fixed and the adjustable testing connector can be correctly slipped over the central probe of the I-PEX connector every time, this can increase the correctness of tested results.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-connector set for signal testing, and especially to a multi-connector set having multiple testing connectors assembled on a base seat to be adjustable in spacing for the purpose of testing multiple microwave electric circuits.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By virtue that the wireless communication technique has been advancing rapidly, high-frequency signal transmitting has been being applied to products such as mobile phones, PDAs, notebooks, wireless keyboards or mice etc. These wireless communication products use high-frequency electronic elements and antennas and attach them to an electric circuit board to thereby form a microwave electric circuit with a specific function. Alternatively, multiple sets of microwave electric circuits can be provided on one electric circuit board.
Referring to FIG. 2, one of such electric circuit board 91 may be provided thereon with a plurality of Radio Frequency (RF) end-connectors 92, and a testing connector 93 is used to contact sequentially with every probe 921 in the RF connectors 92, thus transmitted signals in each microwave electric circuit can be taken, and can be transmitted to a network analyzer 95 through a coaxial electric cable 94 to measure and analyze various high-frequency electric characters.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional testing connector 93 which has thereabove an SMA (Sub-Miniature Type A) female connector 931 adapted to connecting with an SMA male connector 941 on the tailing end of the coaxial electric cable 94, by connecting of a probe 932 provided at the center of an inner insulating seat 933, signal can thus be taken.
However, such a single conventional testing connector 93 must be connected one by one with the RF connectors 92 for testing, this will waste much time; particularly because the central probe 932 in the testing connector 93 has a recess 934 on its bottom end which is enveloped with a fixed protecting cylinder 935, when it is connected with a connector 92 on the electric circuit board 91, it is subjected to having deviation of insertion angle; and this tends to make error of the high-frequency signal taken, and to make error of the result of the network analyzer 95, or even to affect allocation of the electric circuit board.


A way to promote a web site is via search engine optimization (SEO). Traditionally, SEO practitioners have charged a fixed fee for performing SEO services. An analyzer can determine a first probability that a search query for a campaign term will result in a referral from a search engine, determine second probabilities that are associated with a plurality of particular positions in a search engine results page, combine the search query volume information, the first probability, and the second probability for the position with a monetary value to generate an organic price, combine the organic prices for the plurality of positions to value the SEO services for the campaign term. The analyzer evaluates the effectiveness of SEO activities and can generate a volume-based value for SEO services. In addition, disclosed techniques can also be used to identify candidate terms for future SEO activities.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to online marketing, and in particular, to automation for monitoring and accounting in connection with search engine optimization (SEO) marketing activities.
2. Description of the Related Art
A search engine is a program that assists users to search for information on the Internet. When an Internet user enters a search query into an interface for a search engine, the search engine examines its index and provides a listing of matching documents. The usefulness of a search engine depends on the relevance of the result set it generates and shows to the web user. While there may be many documents that include a particular word or phrase, some documents may be more relevant, popular, or authoritative than others.
Some search engines provide search-related advertisements with regular search engine results in a search engine results page (SERP). A natural result set that should not be influenced by payment for listing is known as an organic search result and occupies a space within the total result set. A result set influenced by payment for listing is known as a sponsored search result. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional search engine results page (SERP) which shows both organic and sponsored results.
One way to promote a web site is by purchasing advertising from advertising networks or publishers, such as on a pay per click (PPC) basis. Typically, advertising is selected based on an auction for the advertising space. While an advertising network may offer a defined price for advertising, such as an amount per click, it is more common for prices to be set through a bidding or auction arrangement.
Another way to direct traffic to a web site is via search engine optimization (SEO). A goal of SEO is to improve the visibility of a web site by making listings for the web site appear more frequently and more prominently in the free (organic) portion of a search engine results listing. Many strategies exist for performing SEO.
While SEO can be performed by operators of a web site itself, SEO services are typically performed by consultants or companies having specific SEO expertise. These SEO practitioners contract with a web site's operators to improve the ranking of links to the web site in a search engine's organic listing. For example, SEO practitioners can be compensated on a fixed fee basis, which can be supplemented with bonuses tied to specific results, such as (1) how high links to the web site are placed on the organic listing, (2) increases in Internet traffic (for example, page hits), or (3) increases in sales as a result of better (higher) Internet traffic, or to combinations of the same.

Search engine optimization performance valuation


A method for an automated call distribution system to re-associate a caller with a queue position previously established in an on-hold queue. The method includes receiving a first incoming call from a caller and assigning the caller to a position in an on-hold queue when the caller is placed on-hold by the automated call distribution system. A placeholder for the caller may then be assigned in the on-hold queue when the caller disconnects with the automated call distribution system. The placeholder corresponds to the position of the caller in the on-hold queue and is associated with a caller identifier. The method further includes receiving a second incoming call from the caller and associating the second incoming call with the caller identifier. It is then determined that the caller is associated with the placeholder. The caller is placed back into the on-hold queue at the position of the placeholder.

Callers to businesses are often greeted by automated contact-handling systems such as Automated Call Distribution Systems (ACD) with their associated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) units. Such systems serve the purpose of providing the caller with automated information, connection to a particular department/function such as Sales, Service, etc. Many such systems support call queuing, where the caller waits on hold in a queue to be connected to an agent of the called business, often while hearing "music on hold" or other pre-recorded audio meant to entertain the customer or present to him/her informational, advertising, marketing, or sales messages.
When the on-hold experience has exceed the caller's patience threshold, it is not unusual for the caller to disconnect, at which time the caller often experiences negative attitudes towards the called business due to unmet expectations and wasted time.

Restoration of a caller to a previous place in an on-hold queue


The subject of this disclosure may relate generally to systems, devices, and methods using interleaved waveguide elements. Specifically, systems, devices, and methods using a dual-polarized broadband, multi-frequency interleaved waveguide antenna aperture are presented. In one exemplary embodiment, a first plurality of waveguide elements are configured to communicate in a first frequency band. In this exemplary embodiment, a second plurality of waveguide elements are configured to communicate in a second frequency band. In one exemplary embodiment the first plurality of waveguide elements and the second plurality of waveguide elements are integrally coupled to a printed circuit board.

A phased array antenna uses multiple radiating elements to transmit, receive, or transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals. Phased array antennas may be used in various capacities, including communications on the move (COTM) antennas, communications on the pause (COTP) antennas, satellite communication (SATCOM) airborne terminals, SATCOM mobile communications, Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS), wireless point to point (PTP) microwave systems, and SATCOM earth terminals. Furthermore, the typical components in a phased array antenna are distributed components that are therefore frequency sensitive and designed for specific frequency bands.
In a typical prior art embodiment, a phased array antenna comprises a radiating element that communicates dual linear signals to a hybrid coupler with either a 90° or a 180° phase shift and then through low noise amplifiers (LNA). Furthermore, the dual linear signals are adjusted by phase shifters before passing through a power combiner.
In a typical prior art embodiment, separate transmit and receive arrays are required which, while located in close proximity, fail to provide co-located beams for the transmit and receive bands of operation.
Thus, a need exists for a phased array antenna architecture that is not frequency limited or polarization specific. Furthermore, the antenna architecture should allow for both transmit and receive communication with substantially co-located beams.

Dual-polarized multi-band, full duplex, interleaved waveguide antenna aperture


An antenna system is provided. The antenna system includes an antenna connected to a signal transmitting/receiving circuit to transmit and receive a radio signal, an antenna pole coupled to the antenna, a central weight unit coupled to the antenna pole to keep a beam pattern of the antenna in a certain direction with respect to a gravity direction and formed in a curved figure, and an antenna coupling unit formed in a recess to support the central weight unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an antenna system having an antenna kept in a certain direction with respect to a gravity direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a signal transmitting/receiving circuit transmits and receives a signal using an antenna during signal transmission. The signal transmitting/receiving circuit is provided in a Base Station (BS), a Relay Station (RS) and a Mobile Station (MS).
The antenna is a device for transmitting and receiving a signal via a free space, such as an air interface, for radio communications.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a ship transmitting and receiving a signal through a conventional antenna.
Referring to FIG. 1, the ship is placed at sea level and is equipped with an antenna, which is connected to a signal transmitting/receiving circuit provided on the ship to transmit and receive a signal.
Since the antenna of the signal transmitting/receiving circuit is fixed to the ship along with the signal transmitting/receiving circuit, the antenna moves according to movement of the ship, which may be caused by waves or the like.
In general, an antenna forms a beam in a particular direction, wherein the formed beam refers to a direction, shape and position of specific electromagnetic waves which can transmit and receive a signal. In particular, the beam has a specific orientation and shape, and the shape of the beam is referred to as a beam pattern or a radiation pattern.
The signal transmitting/receiving circuit transmits and receives a signal through the antenna. Namely, the signal transmitting/receiving circuit detects a signal through beams of the antenna.
In general, antennas include a non-directional antenna and an omni-directional antenna. The non-directional antenna forms beams in all directions, for example, from an upper direction to a lower direction with respect to the antenna, and a type of the non-directional antenna is an isotropic antenna. However, the isotropic antenna is a so-called theoretical antenna, and therefore, most of the antennas have a beam pattern.
One example of the antennas, which have a beam pattern, is an omni-directional antenna. The omni-directional antenna has a beam pattern which spreads evenly sideways, rather than in an upper direction or a lower direction, and therefore, is effective for use at the ground level.
Herein, it is assumed that the antenna discussed below is an omni-directional antenna.
The antenna provided on the ship forms beam patterns 111 and 113 corresponding to its orientation which changes due to waves.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, reception signals which will be received via the antenna are indicated by arrows. In FIG. 1, it is noted that beam patterns 111 and 113 are not formed in such a direction that the reception signals are correctly received due to movement of the antenna. Thus, signal transmitting/receiving ability of the antenna becomes deteriorated.
Therefore, a need exists for an antenna for forming a correct beam pattern in response to movement of the antenna, thereby improving the signal transmitting/receiving ability.


Systems and methods of automatically creating and operating a Maintenance End Point (MEP) include, at a slave/reactive network device, receiving an Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) with a destination Media Access Control (MAC) address equal to an interface address of the slave/reactive network device; automatically creating the MEP based on the received OAM PDU and attributes contained in a header of the OAM PDU, wherein the MEP is with a master/active network device; and operating an OAM session with the master/active network device including exchanging Continuity Check Messages (CCMs) with an interval learned from received CCMs from the master/active network device. The systems and methods can further include automatically deleting the MEP responsive to failing to receive any OAM PDUs from the master/active network device during the operating for a predetermined time.

Ethernet requires scalable, reliable, and dynamic mechanisms to support Operation, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) and Traffic Engineering (TE). Standards have been developed in the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the like providing many of the required functions. Specifically, Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) is an Ethernet standard to provide many common OAM functions associated with underlying network transport for services. For example, CFM is defined in IEEE 802.1ag-2007 IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks Amendment 5: Connectivity Fault Management, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. Also, OAM functions are also defined in ITU-T G.8013/Y.1731 (August 2015) "Operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) functions and mechanisms for Ethernet-based networks," the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. Further, the MEF also defines Ethernet OAM in various technical specifications, such as MEF 17 (April 2007) "Service OAM Requirements & Framework," the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Variously, CFM enables the definition, creation, and operation of Maintenance Domains (MD), Maintenance Associations (MA), Maintenance End Points (MEP), etc. for OAM. There are various techniques to create these entities. However, conventional approaches require a manual configuration of an MD, MA, or MEP. For a MEP, a user has to create the MEP on already provisioned services manually. Of course, this is cumbersome, user interaction which is intense, prone to error or misconfiguration, etc. This is more problematic as the number of MEPs increases such as due to Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) deployed at customer locations or the like.
Commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 9,264,328, issued Feb. 16, 2016, and entitled "Systems and methods for dynamic operations, administration, and management," and commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 9,203,549, issued Dec. 1, 2015, and entitled "Systems and methods for operational simplification of carrier Ethernet networks," the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference, describe an approach where information is conveyed from one already created MEP to the other end, such as via a new Type-Length-Value (TLV) field. This approach provides auto-creation of a MEP using a TLV where attributes of the MEP is encoded in the TLV and signaled to the remote end which creates the MEP by decoding the TLV.

Systems and methods for automated maintenance end point creation


A packet data core network node and methods supporting packet data communication are disclosed. In one embodiment, a packet date core network node in a first core network comprises a first communication mechanism for control plane handling and mobility management, a second communication mechanism for user plane management and a mechanism for communication with a dual mode mobile terminal over a first radio network. The packet data core network node comprises or communicates with a mapping function for mapping between first radio bearers used in the first core and radio networks and second radio bearers of a type different from the type of the first radio bearers and used in a second core radio network at handover of a dual mode mobile terminal from the first core network to the second core network or vice versa. Another embodiment is a dual mode mobile terminal including such mapping function.

3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) is working on a next generation architecture for PS (Packet Switched) based services denoted SAE/LTE. A new architecture for mobile networks (SAE) is discussed as well as a new radio interface (LTE). The intention is to provide a simplified and more cost-effective architecture and that fewer nodes should be needed in the network. It is also an intention to provide more effective protocols and support for services having higher performance requirements. Other intentions are to provide less or lower delays and higher throughput. Preferably so called dual mode mobile terminals are to be used which are capable of implementing both SAE/LTE functionality and legacy 2G/3G PS functionality such that they can roam freely between new and old systems depending on which systems are more beneficial at the moment, for example from a radio point of view or due to other considerations. Such a functionality is called intersystem change, ISC. When roaming between SAE/LTE and 2G/3G it is a requirement that session continuity be maintained, such that the user will not have to restart any ongoing data sessions that are up and running because of the ISC. However, several issues are pending and problems still have to be solved.
Particularly there are problems with the requirements for ISC that urgently need to be solved. The architecture specified in SAE is different from the architecture of 2G/3G, the number of nodes in the different systems is not the same and in respective nodes of the systems also different functionalities reside. There may also be different protocols used for control signalling. Other differences between the systems are that there are different bearer concepts for SAE/LTE and 2G/3G. The methods for providing QoS on bearers such as QoS profiles and PDP contexts in 2G/3G differ from those in SAE/LTE which may use QCI:s (QoS Control Identifier) and DiffServ bytes. Furthermore, the bearers have to be initiated by the mobile terminal or the user equipment, UE, in 2G/3G whereas SAE/LTE at least also supports network controlled or network initiated bearers. So far there has been no solution as to how to convert from one bearer type to another at an ISC. One way to do it would be to provide for an optimized signalling between network and mobile terminal to establish bearers at every system change.
3GPP TR 23.882 v.1.2.3 among others discusses ISC for a dual mode mobile terminal (UE), i.e. change from 2G/3G access to SAE/LTE access or vice versa. If an UE attached to an SAE/LTE system decides to make an ISC to a 2G/3G system, e.g. since it has detected that the 2G/3G system provides for a better radio coverage, the UE sends a routing area update (RAU) message to the 2G/3G system, which is received in an SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node). The SGSN, based on parameters included in the RAU message, concludes that the UE comes from SAE/LTE access. The SGSN then initiates signalling to establish connectivity to an ACGW (Access Control GateWay) that the UE was attached to in the SAE/LTE system. The ACGW is kept as an anchor point and provider of point of present to external PDN:s (Packet Data Networks). The ACGW sends UE specific information MM (Mobility Management) and PDP contexts towards the UE. Alternatively, if an UE is attached to the 2G/3G system and for example looses radio coverage, the UE can decide to make an ISC to an SAE/LTE system. The UE tries to get radio access using LTE and sends a RAU message to the SAE network, which is received by the ACGW. The ACGW, based on the parameters included in the RAU message, concludes that the UE comes from 2G/3G access. The ACGW then initiates signalling to the old SGSN where the UE was attached in order to get UE specific information (MM and bearer contexts). Such information can then be used in the ACGW to set up SAE/LTE specific contexts and bearers to the UE.
However, this requires specific, additional signalling and so far no satisfactory solution as to how to provide bearers at ISC as discussed above, particularly without requesting a lot of specific signalling.

Intersystem change involving mapping between different types of radio bearers


A computer-implemented method for filtering, responsive to a logical specification of a network farm and a communication model for the farm, a tree topology network specification to obtain a filtered tree topology network specification is disclosed. The filtered tree topology network specification has fewer devices therein relative to the tree topology network specification, devices needed for constructing the farm being available in the filtered tree topology network specification. The method includes removing a first set of devices and a first set of switching elements from the tree topology network specification starting at the lowest level of the tree topology network specification and working toward the root node of the tree topology network specification. Each device in the first set of devices represents one of a redundant device, a device having a type unneeded by the farm, and a device unavailable for constructing the farm. Each switching element in the first set of switching elements represents a switching element whose children devices are all members of the first set of devices.

Computer networks are pervasive these days. In a typical computer network, various devices of different types are interconnected via switching elements, such as rooters, switches, and hubs, to allow the devices to communicate among one another according to a predefined communication model.
There are various ways in which networks can be configured into topologies required by applications using those networks. The simplest network tends to involve hardwiring the various devices together using appropriate switching elements and interconnecting media (e.g., conductive cables, fiber optic cables, the wireless medium, etc.). Although the hardwire approach works well for relatively small, static network configurations, it does not scale well and tends to result in networks that are difficult to manage and upgrade.
Recently, there has been proposed a more flexible approach to building computer networks. Instead of constructing each network topology piecemeal by hardwiring the devices together, the devices are viewed as belonging to a common pool of resources, which are disposed in a hierarchical tree topology. A hierarchical tree topology is selected since devices in the tree communicate among themselves along deterministic communication paths, thereby simplifying the provisioning and upgrade tasks. Within the hierarchical tree topology, the devices are interconnected using a pool of switching elements. Depending on how the switching elements are configured, various logical networks can be constructed from this common pool of devices and switching elements (e.g., switches, rooters, and hubs) using, for example, a virtual local area network (VLAN) technology. A discussion of one exemplary VLAN technology may be obtained from the IEEE 802.1Q working group (http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/1/, September 2002)
Under this approach, any number of logical network topologies can be constructed from the physical network if there are sufficient resources in the common pool of devices and switching elements (e.g., switches, rooters, and hubs) of the tree. For example, an organization wishes to create or upgrade to a three-tier application topology having two database servers, five application servers, four web servers, and a firewall for Internet access. From this specification and the communication model, which governs the communication policy (including the expected bandwidth usage) for each device required for the application, the necessary devices (e.g., database servers, application servers, web servers, and firewalls) may be picked from the common pool of devices and interconnected using the switching elements in the tree. Thus, the construction of a logical network topology becomes an exercise in picking the required devices from the pool of available devices existing in the tree hierarchy and to configure the switching elements appropriately to interconnect the devices as specified by the communication model and the logical specification. Such a network (containing a variety of devices and network elements so that they comply with a given communication model) is herein referred to as a "farm."
To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary data center 100, representing the large common pool of almost 500 networked devices of ten different types and switching elements from which various farms can be constructed. Data center 100 includes a hub 1101 (containing 8 network ports for a total of 4096 Mbps) at the root level of the hierarchical tree. Hub 1101 is coupled with nine rooters 2001, 2002, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, which are disposed at level 1 of the tree (with the hub being level 0).
Router 2001 is coupled with 15 N4000 N-class servers (servers are denoted by the term "cpu" in FIG. 1) and four switches: 8011, 8021, 8031, and 8061, which are disposed at level 2 of the tree. Each of switches 8011, 8021, 8031, and 8061 is coupled to 10 J6000 servers, which are disposed at level 3 of the tree.
Router 2002 is coupled to 25 L3000 servers, which are disposed at level 2 of the tree. As shown in FIG. 1, each of rooters 2011, 2012, and 2013 is coupled to 10 A500 servers, which are disposed at level 2 of the tree.
Router 2021 is coupled to 10 load balancers (1b) and nine switches: 8041, 8051, 8045, 8081, 8001, 8135, 8991, 8981, and 8971, which are disposed at level 2 of the tree. Each of switches 8041, 8051, and 8045 is coupled to 12 LP1000R servers. Each of switches 8081, 8001, and 8135 is coupled to 12 LP2000R servers. Each of switches 8991, 8981, and 8971 is coupled to 8 firewalls. The LP1000R servers, the LP2000R servers, and the firewalls associated with router 2021 are disposed at level 3 of the tree.
Router 2022 is coupled to 10 load balancers (1b) and nine switches: 8042, 8052, 8046, 8082, 8083, 8084, 8992, 8982, and 8972, which are disposed at level 2 of the tree. Each of switches 8042, 8052 and 8046 is coupled to 12 LP1000R servers. Each of switches 8082, 8083 and 8084 is coupled to 12 LP2000R servers. Each of switches 8992, 8982 and 8972 is coupled to 8 firewalls. The LP1000R servers, the LP2000R servers, and the firewalls associated with router 2022 are disposed at level 3 of the tree.
Router 2023 is coupled to 10 load balancers (1b) and five switches: 8043, 8053, 8055, 8085, and 8003, which are disposed at level 2 of the tree. Each of switches 8043, 8053 and 8055 is coupled to 12 LP1000R servers. Each of switches 8085 and 8003 is coupled to 12 LP2000R servers. The LP1000R servers and the LP2000R servers associated with router 2023 are disposed at level 3 of the tree.
Router 2024 is coupled to 10 load balancers (1b) and seven switches: 8044, 8054, 8004, 8005, 8006, 8100 and 8101, which are disposed at level 2 of the tree. Each of switches 8044 and 8054 is coupled to 12 LP 1000R servers. Each of switches 8004, 8005 and 8006 is coupled to 12 LP2000R servers. Switch 8100 is coupled to 6 Virtual Private Network (VPN) gateways (denoted as backhauls in FIG. 1). Switch 8101 is coupled to 4 Network Attached Storage (NAS) facilities and 2 VPN gateways. The LP1000R servers, the LP2000R servers, and the NAS and the VPN gateways associated with router 2024 are disposed at level 3 of the tree.
Suppose one wishes to build a farm from a logical specification that specifies a three-tier architecture having two A500 database servers, one NAS, a cluster of 13 LP2000R application servers, and a VPN gateway (backhaul) from the data center 100 of FIG. 1. Furthermore, the LP2000R application servers do not communicate among one another, nor do the A500 database servers communicate between themselves. The logical specification of this farm is shown in FIG. 2A. The communication model is shown in FIG. 2B. Assuming all the devices in data center 100 are available for use, there is more than sufficient resource in data center 100 to construct the required farm.
If efficiency is not a concern, the farm may be constructed by randomly picking the devices (e.g., the database servers, the LP2000R application servers, and the firewall) from the available devices in the data center 100, and appropriately configuring the switching elements that are disposed along their possible communication paths. However, such a random approach does not optimize the bandwidth usage in data center 100 and may require data among the devices of the farm to traverse more hops than necessary. Consider the communication between a VPN gateway and an LP2000R application server, for example. If both the VPN gateway and the LP2000R application server are picked from those under router 2024, such as under a VPN gateway under switch 8101 and a LP2000R server under switch 8004, the communication between that VPN gateway and the LP2000R server requires only four hops (via switch 8101, router 2024, and switch 8004). On the other hand, if the VPN gateway is picked from those under switch 8100 of router 2024 and the LP2000R server is picked from those under switch 8083 of router 2022, the communication between that VPN gateway and the LP2000R server requires six hops (via switch 8100, router 2024, hub 1101, router 2022, switch 8083). The random approach does not take bandwidth capacity or congestion into consideration when picking the constituent devices.
Another approach known as first-come-first-served (FCFS) dictates that one may traverse the tree in a given direction and gather as much of the resources along the way as possible until all resource requirements are satisfied. Under this approach, the aforementioned farm may be constructed, for example, using resources encountered when traversing through router 2001, its child nodes and its grandchild nodes, and then through router 2002, its child nodes and its grandchild nodes, stopping along the way if and when the required resources are all obtained. Like the random approach, there is little intelligence in the selection of the constituent devices of the farm with respect to bandwidth efficiency. Accordingly, farms constructed using the first-come-first-served paradigm for device selection may also result in bandwidth inefficiency and performance degradation.
The most efficient set of constituent devices to build a farm from a tree topology network may be obtained after evaluating all possible permutations and selecting the most bandwidth efficient permutation. This approach is however impractical for most tree topology networks of any significant size (e.g., having more than 100 devices). Beyond a certain size, the sheer number of devices present in the tree topology network gives rise to an enormous set of possible permutations, which requires a correspondingly enormous amount of computing power and time to evaluate.
Some intelligent device selection algorithms may be employed to reduce the amount of time required to select an efficient set of constituent devices to build a farm. Even though these intelligent device selection algorithms do not require an exhaustive evaluation of all possible combinations in the tree topology network, the amount of time required to come up with a solution nevertheless scales with increasing complexity of the tree network topology. If the tree topology network can be intelligently simplified prior to device selection, these device selection algorithms may work even more efficiently, or may not be required at all to come up with an efficient solution.

Need-based filtering for rapid selection of devices in a tree topology network

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A display device includes: a display unit, a driver unit, and a control unit. The display unit includes a plurality of pixel units arranged in a matrix. The driver unit includes an output transistor configured to drive a plurality of scanning lines connected to the plurality of pixel units. The control unit is configured to supply to the driver unit in a display period, a signal for displaying an image on the display unit, and control a bias state of the output transistor in a display suspension period, so that an absolute value of a threshold voltage of the output transistor which is increased in the display period decreases.

In recent years, a so-called monolithic circuit technology is becoming widespread in display devices of the active matrix type. The monolithic circuit technology is a technology in which pixel TFTs (Thin Film Transistors) for injecting charges to pixels and peripheral circuit TFTs constituting a peripheral circuit such as a driver circuit for driving scanning lines or signal lines connected to the pixel TFTs, are formed on the same glass substrate.
Relatively high voltage stress is applied to a gate electrode of a TFT used as an output transistor of a driver circuit included in this type of a display device. Due to the voltage stress, a gate threshold voltage (hereinafter referred to as a "threshold voltage"), which is one of electric characteristics of the TFT, shifts. The shift in threshold voltage of the TFT due to the voltage stress is caused by electrons being trapped in a gate insulating film of the TFT. When the threshold voltage of the TFT constituting the driver circuit remarkably shifts, it becomes impossible to sufficiently inject charge into pixels, thereby making it likely to deteriorate the display performance of the display device.
As a prior art directed to addressing this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-174294 (Patent Document 1) describes a TFT having a double gate structure provided with a back gate to adjust a shift (fluctuation, variation) in threshold voltage of the TFT. According to this prior art, based on a relationship between a control voltage and a threshold voltage, which is previously obtained by experiments, a control voltage with the same polarity as that of a variation in threshold voltage is applied to the back gate, thereby adjusting the variation in threshold voltage of the TFT.

Display device and driving method thereof


Compounds of formula (I), which are useful as antihypercholesterolemic agents, are disclosed. ##STR1##

Hypercholesterolemia is known to be one of the prime risk factors for ischemic cardiovascular disease, such as arteriosclerosis. Bile acid sequestrants have been used to treat this condition; but they seem to be moderately effective but they must be consumed in large quantities, i.e., several grams at a time, and they are not very palatable.
MEVACOR.RTM. (lovastatin), now commercially available is one of a group of very active antihypercholesterolemic agents that function by limiting cholesterol biosynthesis by inhibiting the enzyme, HMG-CoA reductase. Another approach to limiting cholesterol biosynthesis is through inhibition of the enzyme HMG-CoA synthase.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 053,774, filed May 26, 1987 discloses certain .beta.-lactones of formula (i) ##STR2## which are useful as antihypercholesterolemic agents and are believed to function by inhibiting HMG-CoA synthase. Additional .beta.-lactones which have antihypercholesterolemic activity are disclosed in copending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 021,848, filed Mar. 4, 1987 and Ser. No. 053,646, filed May 26, 1987.

Beta-lactams as anticholesterolemic agents


An improved leak detection method is provided that utilizes the cyclic adsorption and desorption of accumulated helium on a non-porous metallic surface. The method provides reliable leak detection at superfluid helium temperatures. The zero drift that is associated with residual gas analyzers in common leak detectors is virtually eliminated by utilizing a time integration technique. The sensitivity of the apparatus of this disclosure is capable of detecting leaks as small as 1.times.10.sup.-18 atm cc sec.sup.-1.

Presently, there are several methods of detecting leaks in objects. Some of these methods consist of enclosing the object to be tested in an enclosed, hermetically sealed vessel and exposing the sealed volume to the "tracer" gas, or gas to be detected. Helium is commonly employed as a tracer gas. A mass spectrophotometer, in contact with the atmosphere inside the enclosed volume, is then used to detect any helium. If any helium exists in the test chamber, it is assumed to have leaked from the test object.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,866 discloses a leak detector using a cryogenic pump which is kept at a temperature of about 16 K to about 22 K and is in a range to adsorb the nitrogen from the system. There is nothing in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,866 indicating the present invention's main novel feature which is a cyclic adsorption and desorption of the accumulated helium on a cold non-porous metallic surface between 9 K or lower and 10 K to 20 K after other stages of a cryopump have removed other gases. U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,866 sets forth a leak detection sensitivity up to 10.sup.-12 atm cc sec.sup.-1.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,666 is another leak detector but the range for the coldest section is mentioned as 10 K to 22 K. The sensitivity of this invention is set forth as up to about 10.sup.-12 atm cc sec.sup.-1.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,530 shows a leak detection system that has an enhanced sensitivity, to 7.times.10.sup.-12 atm cc sec.sup.-1. It discloses the use of multiple surfaces to remove different gases from the vacuum environment by cryogenic pumping such as removing water and carbon dioxide by freezing out in a temperature range of 40 K to 120 K, freezing out nitrogen, oxygen, argon, CO.sub.2, methane, and halogenated hydrocarbons between 10 K and 25 K, and freezing helium, hydrogen, and neon at temperatures between 2 K and 10 K. Also it discloses cryosorptions for adsorbing gases especially He by finely divided charcoal which desorbs the He when warmed to 20 K. U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,530 thus uses a finely divided adsorbent material for adsorbing helium. This is considerably different from the present invention that teaches cyclic adsorption and desorption of accumulated helium from a non-porous solid metallic surface.

High sensitivity leak detection method and apparatus

Southeastern Universities Research Association