A display module of the present invention includes a liquid crystal panel driven by a driving signal in a column direction and a driving signal in a row direction; a source driver for supplying the driving signal in the column direction; a gate driver for supplying the driving signal in the row direction; a TCP type film provided with the source driver; a TCP type film provided with the gate driver; and a controller circuit for controlling the gate driver and the source driver, which is installed on the TCP type film together with the source driver or the gate driver. With this structure, the number of parts can be reduced, achieving miniaturization, weight reduction, and cost reduction.

The present invention relates to, for example, a display module which can be adopted to a liquid crystal display module.
A TFT (Thin Film Transistor) liquid crystal display module has been known as a conventional display module. Referring to FIG. 13, its structure will be explained. Here, a module means an independent unit which meets requirements for constituting a large system such as a TV set or a personal computer, just by combining these units.
As shown in FIG. 13, a conventional TFT liquid crystal module 101 is composed of a controller 102, a gate electrode driving circuit 103, a source electrode driving circuit 104, and a liquid crystal panel 105. The controller 102 is equipped with a liquid crystal driving power source circuit 106. The gate electrode driving circuit 103 has a gate driver group including gate drivers GD1 through GDm. The source electrode driving circuit 104 has a source driver group including source drivers SD1 through SDn.
The controller 102 controls the generation of scanning pulses in the gate electrode driving circuit 103, and the timing of N-bit display data signals and driving control signals in the source electrode driving circuit 104. The controller 102 performs the timing control based on synchronization signals (vertical and horizontal synchronization signals) supplied from an external device (host system).
The liquid crystal driving power source circuit 106 in the controller 102 receives power from an external source, and supplies power to a common electrode for the gate electrode driving circuit 103, the source electrode driving circuit 104, and the liquid crystal panel 105.
The gate drivers GD1 through GDm in the gate electrode driving circuit 103 are high power output drivers driving gate bus lines Bgs shown in FIG. 6, provided in the liquid crystal panel 105 in a horizontal direction. Each of the gate drivers GD1 through GDm is composed of a LSI chip. Each LSI chip has a TCP (Tape Carrier Package) form so as to connect its input/output terminals to electrodes of other components. That is, each of the gate drivers GD1 through GDm is installed on a film called a tape carrier in which copper foil wiring is laid out at minute intervals on an insulation film. Each of the gate drivers GD1 through GDm is sealed with a resin provided for fixing the LSI chip and for protecting the LSI chip from moisture.
The source drivers SD1 through SDn of the source electrode driving circuit 104 are high power output drivers driving source bus lines Bs""s shown in FIG. 6, provided in the liquid crystal panel 105 in a vertical direction. Each of the source drivers SD1 through SDn also has a TCP (Tape Carrier Package) form so as to connect its input/output terminals of the LSI chip to electrodes of other components.
Next, the following description will describe a specific installation structure of the conventional liquid crystal display module. The liquid crystal display module shown in FIG. 14 has cascaded two gate drivers GD1 and GD2, and cascaded eight source drivers SD1 through SD8. Each of these source drivers SD1 through SD8 and the gate drivers GD1 and GD2 is composed of a LSI chip.
The gate drivers GD1, GD2 are provided on a common wiring substrate 111 which is common to these gate drivers. Likewise, the source drivers SD1 through SD8 are provided on a common wiring substrate 112 which is common to these source drivers. These common wiring substrates 111 and 112 supply common signals and power to the gate drivers GD1, GD2 and the source driver SD1 through SD8. The controller 102 is provided on a controller substrate 113, which is a substrate different from the common wiring substrates 111 and 112. Incidentally, a material with reference numeral 114 is a TCP type film having wiring, and a material with reference numeral 115 is a flexible substrate for connecting the wires of the controller substrate 113 with the wires of the common wiring substrates 111 and 112.
Wires on the TCP type film 114 and ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) wires on the liquid crystal panel 105 are connected by thermocompression bonding at a fringe section 105a of the liquid crystal panel 105, via an ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film). Meanwhile, the electrical connections between the wires on the TCP type film 114 and the common wiring substrates 111 and 112, and between the controller substrate 113 and the common wiring substrates 111 and 112 are established by soldering or by the ACF method. The common wiring substrates 111 and 112 and the controller substrate 113 are made of, for example, multi-layer glass epoxy substrates.
Next, FIG. 15 shows another liquid crystal display module. In this liquid crystal display module, the common wiring substrates 111 and 112 are eliminated by using internal wires in LSI chips. This liquid crystal display module is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-3684/1994 (Nishioka 6-3684/1994, published on Jan. 14, 1994), applied by the same applicant of the present invention. In the liquid crystal display module, the gate drivers GD1, GD2 and the source drivers SD1 through SD8 are respectively installed on different TCP type films 114. The electrical connection between the adjacent TCP type films 114 is established by overlapping the ends of the wires of the TCP type films 114.
Also in this example, the controller 102 is provided on an independent controller substrate 116, which is made of glass, an epoxy substrate, or a flexible substrate. The controller 102 is connected to the gate drivers GDs and the source drivers SDs via a flexible substrate, by means of the ACF method and soldering.
Another example for electrically connecting the adjacent TCP type films 114 is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-242240/2000 (Tamai et al. 2000-242240, published on Sep. 8, 2000), applied by the same applicant of the present invention. In this example, the foregoing connection is established using a separately provided film substrate having wiring only, or ITO wires for connection provided on the liquid crystal panel 105, by an ACF method or soldering.
However, recently, a lower priced, and downsized liquid crystal display module has been increasingly demanded in the market, which requires further consideration. Thus, in order to reduce the total cost of a liquid crystal display module and achieve downsizing, a maximized reduction in weight, the number of parts, and wires required in a display driving device including a controller which especially performs plenty of signal transmission, has been strongly desired.
The object of the present invention is provide a display module which achieves a small and light-weight structure by reducing the number of parts, and achieves cost reduction.
To obtain the foregoing object, a display module in accordance with the present invention includes:
a display device driven by a driving signal in a column direction and a driving signal in a row direction;
a first driving device for supplying the driving signal in a column direction;
a second driving device for supplying the driving signal in a row direction;
a first wiring substrate for mounting thereon the first driving device;
a second wiring substrate for mounting thereon the second driving device; and
a control device for controlling the first and the second driving devices, which is installed on the first or the second wiring substrate together with the first or the second driving device.
According to the foregoing structure, the control device for controlling the first and the second driving devices is installed on the first or the second wiring substrate together with the first or the second driving device. Therefore, the structure eliminates the need for a wiring substrate for installing the control device only, achieving the reduction in the number of parts and cost reduction. Further, the structure does not require space for providing the wiring substrate exclusive for installing the control device, achieving miniaturization.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the ensuing detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A system for connecting light waveguide buses and coaxial cable buses operating according to the token passing principle. The coaxial cable buses are connected with electrical terminal access devices. An opto-electrical converter is disposed between a terminal access device and a light waveguide bus. The converter includes: a carrier band modem connected to the terminal access device and having a standardized carrier band inteface for producing data signals at the interface according to a predetermined token bus standard; an optical transceiver coupled to the light waveguide bus for converting electrical signals into optical signals and transmitting the optical signals onto the light waveguide bus and for receiving optical signals from the light waveguide bus and converting the optical signals into electrical signals; a light waveguide sub-modem having an interface coupled between the interface of the carrier band modem and the optical transceiver for generating electrical signals according to a predetermined optical token bus light waveguide standard and feeding the electrical signals to the optical transceiver and for generating electrical data signals according to the predetermined token bus standard from signals conforming to the predetermined optical token bus waveguide standard received form optical transceiver; a common sequence controller connected to the carrier band modem and the light waveguide sub-modem for controlling functions in the carrier band modem and the light waveguide sub-modem; and a return flow barrier connected between the optical transceiver and tghe light waveguide sub-modem for preventing received data from re-circulating through the optical transceiver and the light waveguide bus.

The present invention relates to a system including connections between light waveguide buses (optical fiber buses) and coaxial cable buses operating according to the token passing principle (token bus). A system of this type is disclosed by M. Faugeras, C. Pontoise, F. J. Lecontein in an article entitled "Industrial LAN Using a Token Passing Bus Access Method With Optical Links," in EFOC/LAN 88. In this prior art system, carrier band coaxial cable buses are connected by way of electro-optical transceivers with, for example, an active optical star coupler. Two light waveguides are provided per transceiver for the purpose of transmitting and receiving. The transmit lightwave conductors of all transceivers are connected with a branch-off member in the star coupler, each by way of an optical transmitter. The star coupler and the branch-off member are connected with one another by a series connection of a carrier band demodulator and a carrier band modulator.
In the above-described prior art arrangement, the carrier band signals are fed to the light waveguides conforming in waveform and frequency. Therefore, the transmission distance is relatively short. Signal regeneration for analog signals is very difficult, especially with regard to high frequencies. Worldwide there is no signal regenerator available which would be suitable for signal transmission in the above described prior art arrangement, so that the prior art arrangement is not suitable for a large, spatial, distributed, local area network. For large, spatial, distributed, local area networks the optical segments of the networks are not in compliance with optical token bus standards.

System for connecting light waveguide buses and coaxial cable buses


An endoluminal punch system including a sheath and dilator. The endoluminal punch may include energy delivery system capable of being transmitted from the proximal end to the distal end of the endoluminal punch to assist with tissue crossing and incisions. The dilator may include selectively deployable cutting mechanism to create incisions in tissue that are larger than their basic external diameter. The system may also be configured to reduce the risk of generating plastic emboli during insertion of the endoluminal punch.

The currently accepted procedure for left atrial access involves routing a needle called a Brockenbrough needle into the right atrium with the Brockenbrough needle pre-placed within a guiding catheter. The guiding catheter specifically developed for use with a Brockenbrough needle is called a Mullins catheter or transseptal introducer. Other transseptal introducers are now available with features not present on the Mullins transseptal introducer but are essentially the same devices. The Brockenbrough needle is a long, small diameter endoluminal punch, generally formed from a first, larger diameter stainless steel tube with a second, smaller diameter stainless steel tube projecting out the distal end of the first stainless steel tube. A hub is affixed to the proximal end of the larger diameter stainless steel tube. Other devices, designed for the same purpose, can employ radiofrequency ablation to perforate the atrial wall but these devices expose the myocardium to burning, potentially reduced healing characteristics, thromboembolic events, and increased risk of subsequent scarring.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Endoluminal punch system with cutting element and energy applicator


A transmitter module is disclosed, where the transmitter module includes optical sources, an optical multiplexer to multiple optical signals each output from optical sources, an optical detector to detect an output of the optical multiplexer, and a controller. The controller alternately superposes a dither signal on a bias current provided to the optical source, and the bias current is controlled based on a magnitude of the dither signal, which is detected by a configuration similar to the lock-in amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to a transmitter optical module that outputs an optical signal containing two or more wavelengths.
2. Related Background Art
Recent optical communication has continuously requested to increase the capacity thereof drastically. Conventional systems, such as the full-duplex system, do not give a satisfactory solution for the request above. One practical solution is the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) system where two or more optical signals each having a specific wavelength different from others are wavelength multiplexed and thus multiplexed optical signal is transmitted through a single fiber. The QSFP+ standard, which is one of multi-source agreements for a pluggable optical transceiver, has ruled that four optical signals each having a wavelength in 1.3 μm band and a transmission speed of 10 Gbps or 25 Gbps are multiplexed to realize a total speed of 40 Gbps or 100 Gbps.
Japanese Patent Applications published as JP-H07-336037 and JP-2000-151012 have disclosed another type of such optical transceivers with the wavelength multiplexing function. The optical source that multiplexes the wavelengths inherently needs, as described above, a plurality of optical sources each being controlled in optical output power thereof by, for instance, automatic power control (APC) circuit. When optically active devices, half of which emit optical signals; while, the rests monitor respective optical output power, are concurrently installed in a housing, entanglement between the light emitting devices and light receiving devices becomes a problem. In order to control the output power of the specific light emitting device, the precise and accurate monitoring of the optical power output therefrom becomes inevitable.
However, a request to make the size in compact is always raised even when an optical transceiver has the wavelength multiplexing function, which inevitably causes the accuracy of the monitored output power of the optical sources. That is, when the optical output of a target device is to be monitored, the devices except for the target device always influences the monitored output power, which degrades the accuracy of the detection and causes the poor control of the optical output power.

Transmitter optical module outputting an optical signal containing two or more wavelengths


A reactor for applying a carbon coating to an optical waveguide fiber wherein the buildup of reaction by-products within the reactor is reduced by providing internal and external fiber exit ports with the diameter of the internal fiber exit port being greater than the diameter of the external fiber exit port, and gas shielding at the external fiber exit port.

This invention relates to an apparatus for providing a carbon-containing coating on optical waveguide fibers.
Optical waveguide fibers are typically provided with abrasion-resistant coatings such as silicone or polyurethane acrylate, for example. These coatings are usually applied to the pristine surface of the fiber during the fiber drawing process. While these coatings provide protection from abrasion, they do not provide adequate protection from corrosion or hydrogen attack.
Various chemicals, including water, can attack a fiber, affecting both optical and mechanical properties thereof. Microcracks in a fiber surface are regions which are more susceptible to such attack, especially when the fiber is under stress. The growth of these microcracks due to chemical attack reduces the mechanical strength of a fiber and may result in static fatigue or sudden failure of the fiber.
If a fiber is exposed to an atmosphere containing hydrogen, the hydrogen will diffuse into the fiber. Such diffusion is detrimental to the optical performance of the fiber. An attenuation increase caused by the diffusion of hydrogen after an optical fiber has been installed may result in degradation of the transmission link which includes the fiber.
The presence of water and hydrogen are of particular concern in optical fiber applications such as underwater cables. These applications often require long-lengths between signal amplification, and there is little or no tolerance for increased attenuation in the fibers during their fiber service life. Also, replacement of fibers which have failed due to chemical attack would be prohibitively expensive.
Various coatings have been developed to provide protection to optical waveguide fibers from chemical attack and to increase the strength of the fiber. These coatings have contained various materials, including carbon, metals and ceramics. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,629 (carbon coating); U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,932 (metallic coating); U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,211 (ceramic coating).
Metallic and ceramic coatings have been used with varying degrees of success with respect to the reduction of strength degradation due to microcracks in the fiber surface. However, such coatings have not proven to be sufficiently impermeable to hydrogen.
Carbon coatings are known to produce water resistant, high strength optical fibers. See, for example, Kao et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,621. Carbon coatings have also been shown to be sufficiently impermeable to hydrogen diffusion. Lemaire et al., "Hydrogen Permeation in Optical Fibres with Hermetic Carbon Coatings", Electronics Letters, vol. 24, no. 21, pages 1323-24, Oct. 13, 1988; Lu et al., "Recent Developments in Hermetically Coated Optical Fiber", J. of Lightwave Technology, vol. 6, no. 2, pages 240-244, February, 1988; Lu et al., "Hermetically Coated Optical Fibers", International Wire & Cable Symposium Proceedings pages 241-244, 1987 .
One method for providing an optical waveguide fiber involves exposing a fiber to a carbon-containing reactant gas and decomposing the reactant gas by heating it. The required heat for the reaction may be provided by the temperature of the fiber itself, external heating means, or by some combination of the two. The decomposition of the reactant gas produces a high molecular weight reaction product, which forms the desired carbon layer on the fiber, and reaction by-products. The reaction by-products can be either high molecular weight dry particulate matter similar to carbon black, or low molecular weight oily droplets which solidify to a gummy or glassy material. Also, some portion of the reactant gas may remain unreacted.
Low molecular weight reaction by-products are preferentially formed at lower temperatures. High molecular weight reaction by-products are rapidly formed at temperatures above about 150.degree. C. These high molecular weight reaction by-products can be formed as reactant gas flows along with the fiber through the reactor and is exposed to temperatures in the vicinity of the fiber which are higher than 150.degree. C.
Prior art processes and devices for manufacturing optical fibers with carbon coatings have encountered various problems. Alignment of the reactor, in which the carbon coating is applied to a fiber, with the other components of the fiber drawing apparatus is necessary for process stability and repeatability. Prior art devices which have disclosed the material used in construction of the reactor have disclosed the use of quartz or silica tubes. See, for example, Oohashi et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,464; Ishiguro et al. European Patent Publication No. 0,374,926; Schultz et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,856; Evans et al. UK Patent Application No. 2,156,858. Due to the complex shapes required in the reactor design, fabrication of the reactor using quartz or silica lacks dimensional repeatability which adversely affects the ability to initially align the reactor on the fiber drawing apparatus and to maintain alignment during the fiber drawing process.
Additionally, quartz or silica reactors provide insulating properties, elevating the temperature within the reactor and accelerating the formation of undesired reaction by-products. As a result, the rate of formation of high molecular weight reaction by-products is greater than the formation of low molecular weight reaction by-products. High molecular weight reaction by-products may build up within the reactor and impinge on the fiber, damaging the carbon coating and possibly the fiber itself. Because these reaction by-products build up over time, the ability to produce long lengths of coated optical fiber is reduced. In some cases, entire production lots of greater than 100 km of fiber are rejected to ensure the quality of the coating if build up of high molecular weight reaction by-products is detected within the reactor.
Bennett et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,817, to be issued on Oct. 6, 1992, is assigned to the Assignee of the present application. Bennett et al. discloses an apparatus for providing long lengths of optical waveguide fiber with a carbon-containing coating without the build up of high molecular weight reaction by-products within the reactor.
The apparatus of Bennett et al. is shown in FIG. It consists of a combination of an upper isolation chamber 1, reaction chamber 2, receiving chamber 3, and lower isolation chamber 4. Fiber 5 enters the apparatus at fiber inlet 6 and exits through external fiber exit 7. Reactant gas is introduced at inlet 8. Reaction by-products are exhausted through external fiber exit port 7 or through outlet pipe 9 which can be optionally provided. Shield gas is introduced to upper isolation chamber 1 and lower isolation chamber 4 through shield gas inlets 10 and 11, respectively. The inside diameter of external fiber exit port 7 is the same as the internal diameter of internal fiber exit port 13. In a preferred embodiment, the portion of reaction tube 14 within chamber 2 may be perforated, as shown, to evenly distribute the reactant gas radially around fiber 5.
The length and diameter of reaction tube 14 of Bennett et al. are selected to ensure adequate coating thickness and to reduce the build up of high molecular weight reaction by-products inside the reactor. The preferred length is about 5-6.5 cm for an inside diameter (ID) of 1 cm. However, even with these preferred dimensions, oily reaction by-product may build up on the interior surfaces of reaction tube 14. Reaction by-products will deposit on the interior walls of receiving chamber 3. The inside diameter of receiving chamber 3 must be at least about 1 inch (2.5 cm) and the length at least 4 inches (10 cm) for the build up of reaction by-products on the walls of receiving chamber 3 to present no problem in the fiber drawing or coating processes.
Even with these design considerations, there is some build up of reaction by-products at opening 12 of internal fiber exit port 13 in Bennett et al. First, an oily low molecular weight reaction by-product will deposit near opening 12. This oily film will solidify over time. High molecular weight particulate reaction by-products will then tend to adhere to the oily film. These particles will serve as sites at which additional reaction by-products will accumulate. This build up can cause damage to the carbon coating or the fiber itself. Even if this build up does not apparently damage the coating or the fiber, detection of the build up will result in rejection of the fiber drawn to ensure the quality of the coating and the fiber. Therefore, even a slight build up is considered unacceptable.
In another embodiment, Bennett et al. discloses a reactor where the bottom surface of the receiving chamber is angled downwardly away from opening 12 through which the fiber exits the receiving chamber. This angle is disclosed in a specific example as being 50.degree. with respect to the fiber axis. The purpose of this angled surface is to prevent any oily reaction by-products which may deposit on the bottom surface of the receiving chamber from flowing toward opening 12 before that deposit solidifies.
The reactor in Bennett et al. is made of glass (typically, "PYREX.RTM.") except for upper isolation chamber 1 and reaction chamber 2, which are made of aluminum. After a preform is drawn into fiber, the reactor is removed from the drawing apparatus and the glass portion is heated to about 900.degree. F. (480.degree. C.) for a period of about four hours in an oxygen-containing atmosphere to burn off any reaction by-products which may have deposited on the surfaces of the reactor.
Glass reactors have been used instead of metal reactors for several reasons. First, fiber drawing speeds are often less than 6 meters per second. At these speeds, the temperature of the fiber may be reduced to a level at which the desired reaction will not occur unless the fiber is either enclosed by an insulating material such as glass or some means of auxiliary heat is provided. Second, during development, visual analysis was required to determine any process parameter changes which were needed to stabilize the carbon coating reaction. Furthermore, because alignment of the carbon coating apparatus was critical to the process, visual alignment was deemed necessary. These two requirements necessitated the use of glass reactors. Also, a metal reactor would deform at the temperature used for burning reaction by-products off the reactor walls as described above. If the burn off method is used with a metal reactor, it would require lower temperatures for unacceptably longer periods of time than are used for burning off deposits on glass reactors. For example, an aluminum reactor exposed to an oxygen atmosphere at 750 .degree. F. (400 .degree. C.) for a period of ten hours still exhibited some residue from the build up of reaction by-products.
Jochem European Patent Publication No. 0,393,755 discloses a method of manufacturing an optical fiber with a coating wherein the temperature of the reactor walls is below 800.degree. C. The restriction on the maximum temperature of the reactor walls is designed to reduce the build up of reaction by-products on the reactor walls. The reactor "may comprise an insulated wall or a heating device . . . in order to preclude that the glass fibre cools too rapidly." col. 4, lines 20-23. Jochem only discloses reactor wall temperatures ranging from 600.degree. to 900.degree. C. in a specific example. col. 7, lines 10-29. However, even at 600.degree. C., we believe significant amounts of reaction by-products will be deposited on the reactor walls.

Apparatus for applying a carbon coating to optical fibers


An MRI method is proposed where the profile distribution is automatically determined so that the information contents of the image are maximum, subject to the restriction that the total number of profiles used to obtain the image is predetermined. During the determination of the profile distribution, profiles will be selected which have a minium redundancy and a redundancy pattern r(k.sub.y) will be dynamically adapted as a function of the spatial frequency k.sub.y. The redundancy of a profile increases as the number of times that a profile has been measured increases and is high when a signal-to-noise ratio associated with the profile is very small.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of and device for determining a spin resonance distribution from unequal numbers of spin magnetic resonance signals acquired for different values of the time integral of a phase encoding gradient in which are generated in a region of an object containing atomic spins, such as nuclear spins, the spin magnetic resonance signals acquired for the same value of the time integral are averaged after signal acquisition and before determination of the spin resonance distribution. The invention is particularly suitable to nuclear spin magnetic resonance but can also be used for electron spin resonance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such a method is known from British Patent Application No. 2,193,320 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,749. This application describes rf pulse and gradient sequences for NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) in which over a range of values of the time integral over a first magnetic field gradient used for phase encoding not all values are chosen an equal number of times for the acquisition of spin magnetic resonance signals in order to obtain an image therefrom. Hereinafter, one pulse and gradient sequence will be referred to as a profile. Prior to the determination of the image, for example by way of Fourier transformation, the spin resonance signals of equivalent profiles, i.e. profiles involving the same values for the first magnetic field gradient, are averaged. Because of the non-uniform profile distribution, this is referred to as "selective averaging". In said British Patent Application profile distributions are chosen which offer, selectively over a given range of spatial frequencies, an improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio in the image. Because not all profiles are measured equally frequently for the improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio in the image, unnecessary prolongation of the overall measuring time required for obtaining resonance signals for an image is avoided. A drawback of the method disclosed in said British Patent Application consists in that in advance a profile selection is made which is not based on an unambiguous criterion. For example, a distribution is proposed in which profiles with comparatively small values of the time integral (corresponding to comparatively low spatial frequencies) occur more frequently. Generally speaking, profile distributions are proposed in which profiles for a predetermined range of spatial frequencies are measured more often.

Method of and device for determining a spin resonance distribution


Described herein are systems and methods of identifying bipolar disorder in a person. One such method includes acquiring 31P spectroscopic imaging data from a region of interest in a brain of the person and subsequently analyzing the 31P spectroscopic imaging data to obtain a signal intensity and a concentration for one or more phosphorus metabolites. A reduced concentration the one or more phosphorus metabolites, such as inorganic phosphate, in the brain can indicate bipolar disorder in the person. Frontal lobe inorganic phosphate concentration in medication-free adolescents can indicate bipolar depression.

Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes extreme shifts in a person's mood, thought, energy, behavior, and ability to function. For many individuals, the onset of bipolar disorder will develop in childhood or adolescence. Unfortunately, the disorder is not always viewed as an illness, and many people suffer for years before an accurate diagnosis is obtained. In some cases, patients with childhood-onset bipolar disorder can experience an average 16.8 year lag between symptom onset and treatment. During that time, patients are often incorrectly diagnosed with major depressive disorder and consequently prescribed psychotropic medication that fails to remedy the bipolar disorder.
Despite the prevalence and severity of bipolar disorder, its neurochemical basis remains obscure. Improvement in diagnosing pediatric bipolar disorder is a critical barrier to progress in the field. One approach in diagnosing pediatric bipolar disorder is to identify neuroimaging biological markers ("biomarkers") that reflect the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. Without such objective biomarkers, diagnostic accuracy for bipolar disorder remains limited.

Brain phosphorus spectroscopy in bipolar disorder


An electronic musical adaptor for removable attachment to a baby nursing bottle to produce a musical tune to soothe and amuse the baby upon movement of the bottle during the feeding process. The adaptor comprising a cup-shaped housing, a melody producing circuit including an integrated circuit microchip within which is stored musical tune information, a battery power source, a buzzer-type speaker and a motion-activated microswitch for activating the microchip, and a wafer-like container encapsulating the melody producing circuit removably situated within the cup-shaped housing proximate the bottom thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a musical adaptor for use with baby nursing and feeding bottles. More particularly, the invention relates to a musical adaptor unit which may be removably attached to the bottom of a baby nursing bottle whereby when the baby tips the bottle an electronic musical device inside the adaptor produces a musical tune which can soothe and amuse the baby during the feeding process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Baby bottles have been in use in the liquid feeding of infant children for many years. Over the years, baby bottles have been provided in many shapes, forms and configurations. Infant children are frequently temperamental during the normal bottle feeding process and during attempts to have them fall asleep by providing a nursing bottle for suckling in their crib environment. Pleasant music can often divert a temperamental child's attention from the feeding process and can often help to induce the infant into sleep.
Early attempts to combine a musical unit with a baby bottle comprised spring wound musical devices affixed to the bottom of such bottles. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,093 S. G. Allen disclosed a musical bottom section for attachment to an open ended baby bottle with such section encapsulating: a microchip having musical information, a speaker electrically connected to the microchip, a battery electrically connected to the microchip, and mercury type microswitches electrically connected to the microchip for selectively activating the chip. The musical microchip is activated by each movement of the baby bottle through like movement of the mercury globs within the mercury microswitches. In one alternative form of the invention, Allen provides an on-off toggle switch at the exterior of the musical bottom section so that the user of the device can selectively choose whether to turn the music on or off. The Allen musical unit, for attachment to a baby bottle, is unacceptable in a baby's environment in that it incorporates switches which, although encapsulated in an insulative fill material, contain potentially harmful mercury. Further, the Allen musical unit is relatively heavy and thereby adversely affects the baby's ability to maneuver the bottle during the nursing procedure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,060 granted to P.K. To there is also disclosed a musical adapter for nursing bottles which incorporates: an electronic microchip having musical tune information, a speaker electrically connected to the microchip, a battery electrically connected to the microchip, and a microswitch (preferably of mercury type) electrically connected to the microchip to selectively activate the chip and the playing of the musical tune information. The musical adaptor of To is comprised of a two part molded plastic structure with an upper cup-like portion which fits over the lower end of a baby bottle and a lower bowl-shaped base portion which contains the electrical components of the musical adaptor and which is threaded onto a lower cylindrical joint end of the upper cup-like portion. Alternatively, the lower base portion of the adaptor may be affixed to the upper cup-like portion by channels in such base portion which twist-lock onto engaging bars of the lower cylindrical joint end of the cup-like portion. The bowl-shaped base portion requires in its bottom wall sound holes for causing sound produced within such portion to be transmitted out of the adaptor--such holes providing access of harmful dirt particles and liquids to the electrical components of the adaptor. Further, in the principal embodiments of the To adaptor, the device is subject to the activation of the electrical circuit and playing of the musical information upon any motion of the device whether it is in place associated with a baby bottle or disassociated from a bottle. In one embodiment of the To adaptor, a secondary switch is provided which activates the circuitry when the adaptor is associated with the bottom of a baby bottle but such switch does not preclude its activation, and that of the musical circuitry of the device, by other means when the adaptor is not in place on the bottom of a baby bottle.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a unique electronic musical adaptor for use with a baby nursing bottle, which adaptor is readily detachable from the bottle, and which, when the bottle is tipped from its vertical orientation for suckling by a baby, produces a musical tune to soothe and amuse the infant.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an electronic musical adaptor of light-weight construction which can be easily placed on and removed from the bottom of a baby bottle thereby to avoid being washed with the bottle.
It is another object of the invention to provide a musical adaptor of cup-shaped configuration which can be easily placed on and removed from the bottom of a baby bottle and which includes an exchangeable, relatively thin, wafer-like sealed container for housing electronic melody producing means whereby when the bottle is tipped from its vertical orientation, for suckling by a baby, there is produced one or more musical tunes.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following summary and descriptions of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawing figures.

Musical adaptor for baby nursing bottles


The present approach relates to feature ranking within deep neural networks in a multi-task and/or multi-label setting. Approaches are described to identify features that are task-specific as well as features that are shared across multiple tasks. In addition to facilitating interpretability, the selected subset of features can be used to make efficient models leading to better stability & regularization along with reduced compute and memory.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to feature ranking using neural networks, and in particular to the use of machine learning techniques to facilitate a feature ranking process which may facilitate selection of features of interest.
Deep learning algorithms, such as artificial neural networks, are a learning tool used in a variety of data analysis tasks, such as data classification, regression, de-noising, dimension reduction and so forth. In these contexts, deep learning algorithms have been used successfully on problems from different fields, including speech recognition, computer vision, language translation, and so forth. However, one criticism or drawback of deep neural networks is their lack of interpretability. In particular, traditional machine learning algorithms like logistic regression, decision trees, and so forth produce interpretable models, where it is straightforward to rank the relevance of features for a specific task. In certain problems like anomaly detection in healthcare, it might be beneficial to explain the contributions of various factors towards a prediction, in addition to achieving satisfactory performance on the analytic. Such interpretability is typically not possible conventional applications of an artificial neural network.

Multi-task feature selection neural networks


According to example embodiments, a HEMT includes a channel supply layer on a channel layer, a p-type semiconductor structure on the channel supply layer, a gate electrode on the p-type semiconductor structure, and source and drain electrodes spaced apart from two sides of the gate electrode respectively. The channel supply layer may have a higher energy bandgap than the channel layer. The p-type semiconductor structure may have an energy bandgap that is different than the channel supply layer. The p-type semiconductor structure may include a hole injection layer (HIL) on the channel supply layer and be configured to inject holes into at least one of the channel layer and the channel supply in an on state. The p-type semiconductor structure may include a depletion forming layer on part of the HIL. The depletion forming layer may have a dopant concentration that is different than the dopant concentration of the HIL.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT) and/or a method of manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to a HEMT having normally-off characteristics and/or a method of manufacturing the same.
A. 2. Description of the Related Art
In a power conversion system, an efficiency of a power switching device may affect the efficiency of the entire system. Although a power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (power MOSFET) using silicon or an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) have mostly been used as a switching device, there is a technical limit to increasing the efficiency of the switching device due to the material limitations of silicon itself.
Research has been conducted into a high-electron mobility transistor (hereinafter, HEMT).
A HEMT may include semiconductor layers having different electrical polarization characteristics. In a HEMT, a semiconductor layer having a relatively high polarizability may cause a 2-dimensional electron gas (hereinafter, 2DEG) in another semiconductor layer that form a heterojunction with the semiconductor layer having the relatively high polarizability. The 2DEG may be used as a channel between drain and source electrodes, and a current flowing through the channel may be controlled by a bias voltage applied to a gate electrode.
A HEMT using a heterojunction formed of a Group III nitride semiconductor may have normally-on characteristics. To turn off the HEMT having the normally-on characteristics, a minus power source may apply a negative (−) bias voltage to the gate electrode, and an additional circuit may be used to reduce (and/or prevent) the flow of an overcurrent during the application of power.

High-electron mobility transistor and method of manufacturing the same


Provided are a composition for preparing expandable polypropylene carbonate and an expandable polypropylene carbonate prepared therefrom, and more particularly, to a composition for preparing expandable polypropylene carbonate capable of using supercritical carbon dioxide as a foaming agent and producing a foam having excellent moldability by using an appropriate foaming method. By using the composition according to the present invention, highly magnificated expandable polypropylene carbonate capable of having excellent thermal stability and dimensional stability can be prepared.

A synthetic resin foam is variously used for an adiabatic material, a packaging material, a buffer material, an interior material, and the like, due to small weight, and superior adiabatic and buffer effects thereof. There are various resins such as polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, and the like, as a synthetic resin used here. However, these incur pollution problems at the time of disposing thereof, and thus, are being requested to be changed into eco-friendly products in the long term.
Polypropylene carbonate, which is a product prepared by using carbon dioxide as a raw material, is an eco-friendly product having an effect of reducing about 50% in costs of petrochemical raw material, as compared with a product produced from the petrochemical raw material, and does not cause harmful gases generated from the existing synthetic resins even at the time of incineration. However, when this eco-friendly polypropylene carbonate is alone foamed, it shrinks at room temperature after foaming, and thus, fails to retain an initial shape.
Therefore, an expandable polypropylene carbonate, which is eco-friendly, substituted for the existing synthetic resin foam, and has a shape retention performance and dimensional stability at a use temperature after foaming, is being requested in view of economical and environmental aspects.

Composition for preparing expandable polypropylene carbonate and expandable polypropylene carbonate prepared therefrom


Systems and methods of crowd sourcing data are provided. In one embodiment, a method of crowd sourcing data comprises: receiving data region boundary information from an aggregation system, the data region boundary information defines boundaries of data regions; determining membership in a data group for a vehicle based on position of the vehicle within a region; determining whether another member of the data group has been selected as data source; determining whether the vehicle can provide information to the data aggregation system; broadcasting a self-nomination message for the information to members of the data group, wherein the self-nomination message self-selects the vehicle as data source for the information; wherein the self-nomination message identifies the type of information; and transmitting the information from the data source to the data aggregation system via a communication link, wherein only the data source transmits the information to the data aggregation system for the data group.

For pilots of commercial aircraft, knowledge of weather data, in particular knowledge regarding hazardous weather along their planned route, is critical for safe operation of an aircraft. Presently, weather radar and other sensors equipped onboard the aircraft are utilized to gather weather data for the flight path ahead.
In recent years, crowd sourced data solutions have been proposed to enhance transportation efficiency and safety. In particular, information from various vehicles may be uploaded and downloaded and thus widely shared, increasing the amount and diversity of data available to the operators of vehicles. Such a system also benefits from the fact that localized information provided by vehicle sensors can be more accurate than information or data sensed at a centralized location. One problem with the crowd sourced data concept, however, is the potential additional heavy burden placed on communication datalinks. Commercial aircraft operations, in particular, are experiencing evolving and increasing utilization of air-ground datalinks for air traffic control, airline operations specific applications, and in-flight data services for passengers. Introduction of uploads and downloads of detailed crowd sourced information will only add to the burden of the wireless networks utilized by aircraft and other vehicles.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, there is a need in the art for alternate systems and method for crowd sourced information collection.


A method for forming a metal film on the surface of a substrate metal, which comprises soaking a substrate metal or a non-metal support carrying the substrate metal thereon in a solution of a metal salt in a high boiling point solvent under heating conditions, characterized in that the metal salt is a salt of the metal to be formed on the surface of the substrate metal with an acidic substance selected from an organic carboxylic acid, a rosin and a rosin derivative. The metal is precipitated from the solution exclusively on the surface of the substrate metal without forming any solid metal particle in the solution or on the substrate metal. Thus, the method is applicable to the formation of a soldering alloy as a film on the surface of a substrate metal without leaving thereon any free metal particle which may cause short circuits in electronic circuits. The method can thus be applied advantageously to the manufacture of electronic elements having a metal film thereon and high density printed circuits, and thus is also useful in the field of electronic industry.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming a metal film on the surface of a substrate metal, which comprises soaking a substrate metal, under a heating condition, in a solution of a salt of the metal to be coated on the substrate metal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new method for forming a film of a soldering metal on the surface of a substrate metal, such as a printed circuit on the surface of an insulation panel, which comprises soaking the substrate metal in a solution of a specific salt of the soldering metal under a heating condition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, electronic circuits are manufactured by printing a pattern of a substrate metal on a panel, forming a film of a soldering metal such as a soldering alloy on the substrate metal, laying circuit parts on the metal film and heating the whole to solder the parts and the metal film.
Heretofore, a pasty solder is known for such a purpose, which is a pasty dispersion of a powder of a soldering alloy and a flux in a high boiling point solvent such as a mineral spirit functioning as a viscosity-regulating vehicle and is used for forming a film of the soldering alloy on the substrate metal. The use of such a pasty solder for forming a film of a soldering alloy on a substrate metal of a circuit panel generally necessitates the steps of applying the pasty solder in a given configuration onto the surface of a panel having electronic parts thereon by way of screen printing or with the aid of a dispenser and heating panel to melt the powder of the soldering alloy and attach it onto the surface of the substrate metal by a cooperative action of the flux. When the pasty solder is heated, the powder of the soldering alloy is molten and any oxide existing on the surface thereof is reduced by the action of the flux to form pure molten soldering alloy particles having a clean surface. At the same time, the substrate metal on the panel is also reduced to have a clean surface. Thus, the molten soldering alloy particles are improved in their coagulating force and wettability for the substrate metal, and as the result, a film of the soldering alloy is formed on the surface of the substrate metal.
In such a pasty solder, the soldering alloy exists in the form of discrete free alloy particles separated from the flux and the solvent. The size of the particles may be very small but is still too large to form a homogeneous composition together with the flux and the solvent. Many attempts are still being made to minimize the size of the alloy particles but the size is substantially limited at present to about 10.mu. in diameter. The alloy particles should have a diameter of less than 1.mu. to form a stable homogeneous pasty solder.
In recent years, the density of printed circuits for electronic equipments becomes higher which necessitates the circuit patterns on substrates to be constructed by a number of extremely thin lines. In some cases, printed circuits are constructed by a circuit pattern having lines of several hundred microns in width at similar intervals. As the density of circuit patterns becomes higher, a pasty solder therefor should correspondingly be supplied in a more precise manner. In the case in which a pasty solder is supplied by way of screen printing for the manufacture of such high density printed circuits, a screen having a smaller mesh should be used. In the case wherein a dispenser is used for supplying a pasty solder, the use of an extrusion nozzle having a smaller diameter becomes necessary as well. Since solid particles of the soldering alloy are contained in the pasty solder as described above, the size of the particles cannot be disregarded at the time of supplying the pasty solder to substrates by way of screen printing or with the aid of a dispenser. In the case of supplying a pasty solder by way of screen printing, the solid particles of the soldering alloy contained therein often cause clogging of the screen so that it becomes difficult to supply the alloy particles homogeneously in a given configuration. Further, the friction between the alloy particles and the screen may cause damage of a mask, thus shortening the life of the screen. In the case of using a dispenser for supplying a pasty solder, the alloy particles would clog the extrusion nozzle of the dispenser whereby the clogging particles would function as a filter for the pasty solder passing through the nozzle which would permit passage of only the flux and the solvent while leaving the solid particles of the soldering alloy. This would make it extremely difficult to extrude the pasty solder wherein the alloy particles are homogeneously dispersed.
Soldering between the alloy particles and the substrate metal is attained, as described above, by a mutual coagulation force and an enhanced substrate metal-wetting property of the molten alloy particles. Since the surface tension of the individual molten alloy particles is strong, it is difficult to allow all of the alloy particles to participate in soldering. The alloy particles not participating in the soldering, would remain on the substrate panel and cause an occurrence of unexpected short circuits between the lines of the circuit pattern. Thus, a short circuit may easily be formed by the existence of even a single alloy particle between the lines constituting the circuits, which would result in a detrimental defect. To avoid such a result, it is recommended that the printed circuits be washed after soldering with an organic solvent to eliminate any residual alloy particle. Even by such washing, it is difficult to eliminate the residual alloy particles entirely from the treated circuits.
Such a drawback may be overcome more or less by reducing the diameter of the particles of the soldering alloy used. However, the reduction in the diameter of the particles makes the production cost higher and the particles in the resultant pasty solder so stable that coagulation of the alloy particles may hardly occur and would make the soldering operation itself difficult.
In order to prevent any cohesion of the alloy particles to undesirable areas which causes the formation of a short circuit. It has also been put into practice to mask with a resist all areas other than the area on which the formation of a metal film is desired, thereby forming the solder film exclusively on the desired area. Noteworthy herein is that the size of the area on which the deposition of the alloy particles is desired is almost equal to the diameter of the individual alloy particles. Thus, it is extremely also difficult in this case to supply the alloy particles precisely to the desired area for the formation of a sufficiently thick film of the soldering alloy onto the desired area.
As further means for forming a metal film on the desired areas of the substrate, a panel carrying the substrate metal thereon is masked in the undesired areas with a resist and is dipped in a molten solder bath. However, by this means, it is also extremely difficult to form a film of the soldering alloy precisely in compliance with the complicate pattern.
The above mentioned various drawbacks result apparently from their solid-liquid two phase compositions wherein solid particles of the soldering alloys are dispersed in a liquid or sol medium. It is surmised therefore that these drawbacks will be overcome if the solders are of a single homogeneous phase. Thus, in the field of solders which are used in the electronic industry, there is room for improvement in the conventional pasty solders, especially in compositions thereof. Thus, there is a strong demand for developing a new type of solder for electronic printed circuits which would overcome these drawbacks.

Method for forming a metal film on the surface of a substrate metal


A method of increasing the likelihood an electronic message will be opened by a targeted recipient includes determining a time zone corresponding to an address of a targeted recipient and accessing an opening history for a set of electronic mail recipients within a domain including the targeted recipient. From the time zone and the opening history at least one of a time and a day are recommended for sending an electronic message to the target recipient to increase likelihood that the electronic message will be opened.

Electronic mail ("email") is an electronic message typed by a computer system user or generated by a computer or automated process and then transmitted over a computer network to another user. Receipt of these messages has been complicated over the past few years by the overwhelming number of unsolicited messages, commonly referred to as SPAM, sent to computer users. A method is needed to help senders of legitimate and solicited email get their message through to the intended recipient and have the messages be more likely to be opened, read, and acted upon.
Email users currently employ a number of methods to help them deal with the presence of unsolicited email messages. Many use additional software programs known as SPAM filters to mark and segregate messages from unknown senders or messages that contain certain key words and have other characteristics that identify a message as SPAM. Some email recipients look at the subject line of each message received and the sender and manually delete those that are not of interest. No matter what method is used for dealing with unsolicited email, the recipient is likely to deal with all unsolicited email at the same time.
The recipient is much more likely to open an email if it arrives after all unsolicited emails and other emails were dispatched. Said another way, it is more likely that a recipient of an email will open it if it arrives into their email in-box after they have dealt with all SPAM that was sent since the last time they read their email.

Email open rate enhancement systems and methods utilizing recipient opening history to increase the likelihood that an email will be opened


According to one embodiment, a nonvolatile memory device includes a word line interconnect layer, a bit line interconnect layer, and a pillar. The word line interconnect layer includes a plurality of word lines extending in a first direction. The bit line interconnect layer includes a plurality of bit lines extending in a second direction. The pillar is disposed between each of the word lines and each of the bit lines. The pillar includes a current selection film and a plurality of variable resistance films stacked on the current selection film. One variable resistance film includes a metal and either oxygen or nitrogen. Remainder of the variable resistance films include the metal, either oxygen or nitrogen, and a highly electronegative substance having electronegativity higher than electronegativity of the metal. A concentration of highly electronegative substance in the remainder of the variable resistance films is different among the variable resistance films.

The nonvolatile memory that has become the mainstream on today's market, as typified by flash memory and SONOS memory, is realized by technology in which electrical charge is accumulated on an insulating film disposed above a channel, and the threshold voltage of a semiconductor transistor is varied. In this type of charge accumulation type of nonvolatile memory, miniaturization of the transistors is essential in order to achieve large capacity, but as the film of the insulating film that retains the charge becomes thinner, leakage currents increase, so the charge retention capability is reduced. Therefore it is difficult to achieve large capacity with the charge accumulation transistor type of nonvolatile memory.
Therefore attention has been focused on variable resistance elements that can be switched between not less than two values of electrical resistance level by some kind of electrical stimulation, as a nonvolatile memory element. The reason for this is that for normal variable resistance elements, in most cases differences in electrical resistance can be detected even when miniaturized, so it is considered that if there are materials and a principle for varying the resistance value, then they can be advantageously miniaturized. In contrast, in the type that accumulates electrical charge on a capacitance, such as a DRAM for example, the signal voltage becomes lower as the quantity of charge accumulated is reduced due to miniaturization, so it becomes difficult to detect the signal.
Several technologies have already been proposed as technologies for varying the electrical resistance value. For example, when a voltage or current is applied to a structural body having a structure in which a metal oxide is sandwiched between electrodes (metal/metal oxide/metal), it is known that the resistance value of the metal oxide varies. Normally a memory device that uses this property is referred to as a Resistance Random Access Memory (ReRAM). A 3-dimensional cross-point structure has been proposed for an actual variable resistance memory device structure, in which memory cells are disposed at the intersection points of word lines (WL) and bit lines (BL), from the point of view of large scale integration.
However, further large scale integration of 3-dimensional cross-point structure memory devices is becoming difficult. This is because as plane structures are miniaturized, the amount of investment in photolithography machines significantly increases for devices in the 20 nm generation and beyond. Also, as the number of stacked layers increases, the number of processes increases accordingly. As a result the increase in manufacturing cost due to multiple layering is greater than the effect of the reduction in the wafer cost per bit due to multiple layering, so on the contrary the cost per bit increases. Also, as a result of the increase in the number of stacked layers, contacts extending in the vertical direction become longer, so wiring delays become significant, and the operating margin of the memory cells becomes smaller.


A touch-sensitive assembly and method of making includes a first electrically conductive layer disposed on a first substrate and a second electrically conductive layer disposed on a second substrate. A piezoelectric film is disposed between the first electrically conductive layer and the second electrically conductive layer. The piezoelectric film includes a plurality of aligned piezoelectric particles disposed in a polymeric matrix and is characterized by a haze value of about 5% or less.

Touchscreens are prevalent in displays of various consumer electronic devices. For example, consumer electronic devices such as smart phones, smart devices, music players, e-book readers, tablets, laptop computers, automated teller machines, consumer kiosks, televisions, monitors, appliance user interfaces, etc. utilize displays that include touchscreens which a user can interact with to provide input to the device. A touchscreen typically consists of a touch-sensitive assembly layered with other elements forming the screen, such as a transparent glass or plastic substrate, protective layers, anti-reflection coatings, scratch-resistant coatings, optical coatings, etc. These elements of the touchscreen are combined with a display element, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) element to form the display device. Several different types of touch-sensitive assemblies can be used to provide a screen with touch-sensitive capabilities, including resistive sensing, capacitive sensing, surface acoustic wave (SAW) assemblies, infrared grid assemblies, and piezoelectric touch-sensitive assemblies. Typically, it is desirable that the touch-sensitive elements do not have optical characteristics that negatively affect the appearance of a display or an icon viewed through the touchscreen.
Piezoelectric touch-sensitive assemblies utilize piezoelectric materials which output an electrical signal in response to the application of a physical force, such as may be applied by a user's finger pressing against the touchscreen. The piezoelectric materials are typically incorporated into a film, which is layered between two electrodes. When a physical stimulus is applied to the piezoelectric film, the resulting electrical signal produces a voltage output signal which can be utilized by the device to determine the location of the stimulus on touchscreen. Conversely, an electrical signal can be applied to the touched area to provide vibration or sound as a feedback, such as a haptic feedback. Common types of piezoelectric materials include ceramics such as quartz and lead zirconate titanate (PZT). However, it can be challenging to form piezoelectric films having the desired level of sensitivity in combination with optical characteristics that do not negatively affect the appearance of a display or an icon viewed through the touchscreen.
In view of these considerations, there is a need for piezoelectric films which have sufficient sensitivity and suitable optical characteristics for use in touch-sensitive assemblies which can be incorporated into optical assemblies.

Piezoelectric films with low haze and methods of making and using


A multimedia bidirectional broadcast system including a broadcast station and subscriber terminals. The broadcast station includes a main control unit having therein a data base control table in which program and commerical down load sequences are recorded depending on a setting effected by a subscriber, a motion picture program data base, a commerical data base, a program transmitter for effecting accesses and transmissions of transmission programs onto transmission lines based on the setting of the main control unit, a commercial transmitter for accessing the commerical data base and for transmitting content thereof based on the setting of the main control unit, an image encoder for achieving a bandwidth compression on a video signal, a cell assembler for processing data to be transmitted onto a broadband transmission line so as to generate a cell of the data, and an asynchronous transfer mode exchange for delivering the cell to a subscriber system associated therewith. Each of the subscriber systems includes a network terminal, a terminal control unit, a decoder to decode the compressed video signal, and a television monitor.

The present invention relates to an image communication/bidirectional broadcast system such as a broadband ISDN or a cable television, and in particular, to an advertisement or commercial base bidirectional broadcast system capable of coping with various needs of subscribers for programs and advertisement.
In the broadband ISDN, it is possible to comprehensively handle multimedia information ranging from a motion picture to data based on the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). Research and development of the network system have been conducted in various countries at present, and this system is expectedly considered to reform or renovate the conventional broadcasting systems because of its capability of transmitting motion pictures. In particular, attentions have been paid to an arbitrary program access function and a high definition television image transmission through a broadband transmission.
FIG. 3 shows an example of such a broadcasting system. This configuration includes a head end or a broacasting station 115, which comprises, in association with a program source, a realtime broadcasting source 101 associated with retransmission of the conventional television broadcasting and satellite broadcasting and the broadcasting of programs resident within that station, a motion picture program data base 102 disposed to transmit in response to a request from a subscriber a motion picture program and/or still picture information to the subscriber system, a program transmitting apparatus 103, a still picture data base 104, a still picture transmitting apparatus 105, and a main control apparatus 106 for effecting communications of control information with subscribers so as to control the constituent elements above.
In association with the program transmission and exchange, there are provided an image encoder for achieving a bandwidth compression on a motion picture program signal 1, a broadcast signal 6, and a still picture signal 13; a cell assembler 108 for assembling an encoded (compressed) video signal 8 into a cell (information packet) and for adding thereto a header (logical channel number or destination) to establish a connection to a broadband transmission line 19 related to the pertinent subscriber, and an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) exchange 109 for connecting the cell to a predetermined broadband transmission line 19 depending on the header of the cell.
Of the control information items 4, a down-link information item is transformed into a cell by means of the cell assembler 108 so as to be fed as a down-link control information cell to the ATM exchange 109. On the other hand, an up-link control information cell 21 is processed by the cell disassembler 110 such that the header thereof is removed so, thereby transferring post-control information 4 concatenated with predetermined data to the main control unit 106.
A subscriber system 116 disposed for each subscriber includes a network terminal 111 for supervising an interface with the head end 115 so as to achieve the assemble and disassemble operations of cells, a decoder 112 for decoding the encoder or coded video signal 8 (through a bandwidth compression), a television monitor 114, and a terminal controller 113 for controlling the constituent elements above and for communicating control information of the broadcast station with the subscriber.
The broadcast system above, however, is not structured in a broadcast configuration of an advertisement or commercial base which is established by developing the present broadcast system. In consequence, it is not possible to use a great amount of advertisement fee from the sponsors of the advertisement for the costs necessary to produce programs, to operate the system, and to install and to maintain broadcast equipment, and hence a high charge is imposed on the subscribers. In addition, for a considerable volume of information supplied by the system, the accessibility of the users to desired programs have not been actually facilitated and there still remains problem of practicability to be solved.
On the other hand, in the cable television system (CATV) developed mainly in the United States of America, the market has been developed through a basic service in which insertion of commercial or advertisement is effected without charge and there has been satisfied a certain degree of selectivity by use of about 50 channels.
FIG. 4 shows an example of the broadcast system including a head end (broad cast station) 111, which comprises, like in the case of FIG. 3, a realtime broadcast source 101, a motion picture data base 102, a program transmit apparatus 125, a main controller 118 for generating a program schedule signal 126 of the motion picture program so as to effect a charge operation of the program for the subscriber, and a modulator/mixer distributor 119 for modulating the program signal 4, the broadcast signal 6, and control signal 4 to produce a frequency multiplexed signal so as to distribute the signal to a plurality of broadcast transmission lines 5.
On the other side, there are disposed subscriber systems 120 each including a directional filter 121 for transmitting a down-link signal such as the broadcast signal to a receiver 123 and for bidirectionally transmitting a terminal control signal 8, a modulator/demodulator 122 for modulating and for demodulating the terminal control signal 8, a terminal controller 124 for producing control information such as a channel selection and up-link control information (for example, enquiry for a charging state and questionnaire about a program), a receiver 123 for demodulating the broadcast signal to obtain a program video signal of a baseband, and a television monitor 114.
This system possesses a function which is less sophisticated as compared with the system of FIG. 3 because of the reduced number of, namely, about 50 channels allowed for the system. That is, for example, for the program transmission from the motion picture data base, there can be repeatedly achieved broadcasting of only one to three kinds of programs through a channel according to a schedule specified by the head end. In consequence, the subscribers are required to select programs in the limited conditions of the contents of programs and in the restricted period of time.
Furthermore, since advertisement cannot be inserted in accordance with desires of the subscribers, a high subscription fee is charged on the subscribers because the advertisement is not taken into consideration in the broadcast system (about ten dollars (1300 Yen) per movie film in 1987).
On the other hand, for a charge-free basic service inserted with advertisement or commercial, it is only possible for the subscribers to select desired programs from several tens of channels.
In this situation, it is impossible to cope with various requirements of the subscribers with respect to the program and amount/quality of commercial.
As general articles related to the cable television system, there have been known (2) and (3) below; whereas an article (1) describes the broadband ISDN.
(1) Commentary: "ISDN Concept of Next Generation", Nikkei Electronics, No. 438, Jan. 11, 1989, p.p. 121-137.
(2) "CATV" supervised by H. Miyagawa, the Society of Electronics and Communications Engineers of Japan, Ohmsha, 1986.
(3) "Takeoff of New CATV", CATV Study Documentation Center, Telecom, 1986.
Conventionally, in the bandpath ISDN broadcast system, there have not been provided means for processing advertisement important with respect to the practice and for effecting an easy access to a desired program stored in a data base of a great capacity.
On the other hand, in the cable television system of the prior art, there has not been disposed means for effectively utilizing the limited number of channels, namely, about 50 channels so as to meet the various requests of subscribers for the advertisement and programs.

Multimedia bidirectional broadcast system


The present invention provides a device which permits the passage of an electrical cords or wires through an open window or door into a building while providing a weather proof seal for the opening and preventing the entry of carbon monoxide and other fumes into the building. The device also prevents the entry of insects and/or small animals into the building thereby preventing the introduction of diseases and other health issues. The device prevents damage to the electrical cords or wires by not permitting the window or door to close directly onto the cords. The device allows the electrical cord length to be adjusted. A provision is made in the device to allow the passage of the electrical cord therethrough while maintaining the integrity of the sealed opening. The device may be formed from a number of different materials, closed cell foam being a preferred material. The device is preferably an elongate member with a provision for electrical cords to pass transversely therethrough. The opening for the electrical cord can be adjusted to accommodate different size cords. The device can be manufactured in a standard size and cut to fit a specific opening in a window or door.

There are large numbers of portable electric generators which are used by private individuals, home owners and businesses as temporary emergency sources of electrical power during electrical power outages in different geographical regions of the world. These power outages have many causes such as snow, hail and ice storms, tornadoes, sandstorms, tropical storms, hurricanes, flooding, etc. In addition power outages occur during excessively prolonged periods of hot or cold weather as a result of failure of a regional or national power grid. Power outages caused by severe weather can last for days and sometimes weeks. During this time weather proofing the opening through which the electrical cord passes is a problem. This opening is usually a window, door or garage door. Most homes and businesses do not have any existing permanently installed outdoor electrical boxes or generator sub panels. Nor do they have any permanently installed transfer switches or other electrical power inlet boxes for the purpose of temporary connection to a portable external generator as a source of electrical power. Therefore the lack of permanently installed outdoor electrical connection capabilities for conveying electrical power into a building are usually associated with electrical power cords being run from an electrical generator through an opening in the building to the interior of the building to wherever the electrical power is required. The usual openings are windows, doors and/or garage doors. Running the electrical power cords through these openings leaves a gap in the openings which permits the entry of generator fuel and exhaust fumes, toxic carbon monoxide, rain, snow ice, sand and other additional adverse weather conditions. In addition, insects and/or small animals, such as rodents, can enter the building. These insects and animals can carry human diseases such as malaria, encephalitis, etc. The problem of them entering the building increases during wet conditions such as after tropical storms or hurricanes. Further, driving rain can enter the building through the opening and cause damage to the occupants or contents of the building.


A magnetron sputtering system generates a high density plasma on a target by applying magnetic fields intersecting an electric field by using a plurality of magnets that are rotatably supported. The respective magnets are revolved and rotated so that the time variation of regions where a magnetic field (line of magnetic force) generated by the each magnet is orthogonal to an electric field is prevented from becoming monotonous. Further, the respective magnets are arranged to make the distances between the center of rotation and the center of revolution of the respective magnets different from each other, so that the regions where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) generated by the each magnet is orthogonal to the electric field are dispersed in the radial direction of a target.

Conventionally, there is a method referred to as sputtering, as a method for forming a thin film on the surface of a silicon substrate, a resin substrate, a ceramic substrate, or the like.
In the sputtering, for example, in a state where a target made of a predetermined material is arranged to face the substrate in a vacuum container, a discharge gas is introduced into the vacuum container, and a plasma is generated by applying an electric field between the substrate and the target. Thereby, atoms or molecules are discharged from the target by making positive ions of the plasma collide with the target. Then, the thin film is formed by making the discharged atoms introduced and deposited onto the surface of the substrate.
Conventionally, electrode structures of various systems have been proposed for the system which forms a thin film by the sputtering (hereinafter referred to as sputtering system). Among the electrode structures, an electrode structure of a magnetron system has been industrially most frequently used. The sputtering system to which the magnetron system is applied, is capable of generating a high density plasma on the target in such a manner that electrons discharged from the cathode are made to perform a trochoid movement by applying a magnetic field intersecting the electric field. This makes it possible to enhance the sputtering rate by a relatively low voltage and to increase the forming rate of the thin film.
Conventionally, there are various types of the electrode structure of the magnetron system, but the type which is industrially most useful and common is, for example, an electrode structure referred to as a planar magnetron cathode electrode provided with a target having a planar shape, as shown in FIG. 22 and FIG. 23. In the planar magnetron cathode electrode, for example, as shown in FIG. 23, an S pole 102 of a magnet is provided near the center of the back surface side of the target 8, that is, the back surface side of the surface facing the substrate 6, and an N pole 101 of the magnet is provided in the outer peripheral part of the target 8. At this time, the magnetic field as shown in FIG. 22 is generated on the target 8, which causes an electron to perform the trochoid movement.
At this time, the trochoid movement of electron is caused in the vicinity where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is orthogonal to the electric field E, as shown in FIG. 24. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 25, in the region MC where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is orthogonal to the electric field, more atoms or molecules are discharged so that the consumption rate of the target 8 is increased as compared with the other parts. Further, at this time, in the region MC where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is orthogonal to the electric field E, more atoms or molecules are discharged, and hence in a film 8′ formed on the surface of the substrate 6, as shown in FIG. 25, a variation arises between the film thickness of the part facing the region MC where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is orthogonal to the electric field E, and the film thickness of the other parts.
Further, in recent years, for example, there are proposed a method which reduces the variation of film thickness by temporally changing the region where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is orthogonal to the electric field, by rotating the magnet (see, for example, Patent Document 1), and a method in which the magnet is formed into a complicated shape so that the region where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is orthogonal to the electric field is made uniform (see, for example, Patent Document 2).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-292468    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 2505724
A problem to be solved by the present invention is, as explained in the background art, that in the sputtering system using the planar magnetron cathode electrode, it is difficult to reduce the inhomogeneity and the film thickness nonuniformity of a thin film formed on the substrate, which are caused by the nonuniform ion collision on the target surface, and the nonuniform spatial density distribution of the plasma, that is, the difference in the amount of discharged atoms or molecules of the target between the vicinity where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is orthogonal to the electric field and the other regions.
Further, as methods for solving the problem, for example, there are proposed the methods as described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2. However, the present inventors considers that even in these methods, for example, it is difficult to make the ion collision and the spatial density distribution of the plasma uniform between the central part and the outer peripheral part of the target. In the case of the method as described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to temporally change the region where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is orthogonal to the electric field by rotating the magnet system (magnet), but only one magnet system is provided, and the region where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) at a moment is orthogonal to the electric field is generated at only one position on the target. Therefore, the present inventors considers that when the enlargement of the area of substrate and the thickness reduction of the thin film to be formed are further advanced as predicted for the future, it is difficult to reduce the inhomogeneity and the film thickness nonuniformity of the thin film formed on the substrate by the method as described in Patent Document 1.
In the case of the method as described in Patent Document 2, it is possible to increase the regions where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is orthogonal to the electric field, by alternately arranging annular N poles and S poles, which have different radius, but the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is not orthogonal to the electric field on the N pole and the S pole, so that the ion collision and the spatial density distribution of the plasma on the target surface above the N pole and the S pole, are made different from those on the target surface between the N pole and the S pole. Therefore, the present inventors considers that when the enlargement of the area of substrate and the thickness reduction of the thin film to be formed are further advanced as predicted for the future, it is difficult to reduce the inhomogeneity and the film thickness nonuniformity of the thin film formed on the substrate by the method as described in Patent Document 2.
That is, it is an object of the present invention to uniformize the region where the magnetic field (line of magnetic force) is orthogonal to the electric field in the magnetron sputtering system, and to facilitate the homogenization of the thin film formed on the substrate and the uniformization of the thickness of the thin film.
Other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings of the specification.


Vehicle impact barrier system (300) comprising a series of impact barrier units (310) and at least one linkage means (332). A first impact barrier unit is linked to at least one other impact barrier unit by said at least one linkage means.

It is known to provide barriers that are suitable for withstanding impacts from a vehicle. Such barriers typically comprise concrete blocks placed upon the ground, or vertical posts embedded within the ground. In order to provide sufficient resistance to impacts from vehicles moving at typical speeds (e.g. 30 to 60 kilometres per hour), the concrete blocks must be very heavy and large, or the posts must be deeply embedded in the ground, to enable them to absorb and/or disperse the high energies involved. Such barriers cannot be placed in locations that are only temporarily being used to host an event where crowds of people may be present. For example, a festival hosted over a few days in a field or a festive market held in a town for only a few weeks. In such situations where after the event has finished, the site will go back to being a field, or an area where traffic can pass, the temporary installation of concrete blocks or barriers embedded in the ground may not practical, may cause damage to the site, may be economically prohibitive and/or may take too long.
The present invention seeks to provide an improvement in the field of vehicle impact barriers that has particular application for situations in which a temporary barrier solution is required. The invention may be utilised in applications other than for temporary barrier solutions.

Vehicle impact barrier system and vehicle impact barrier unit for use therein


Copper is the bulk interconnect metal in the manufacture of an integrated circuit in accordance with the damascene process. When copper is exposed through via apertures, carbon monoxide and hydrogen are used as reduction agents to convert black copper oxide to red copper oxide and the red copper oxide to copper. The integrated circuit is then transferred in a high vacuum to a sputter chamber so that re-oxidation does not occur before tantalum barrier metal can be deposited. As a result, a good tantalum-copper electrical contact can be made without risking embedding copper in oxide sidewalls (whence it could migrate to active circuit regions and impair device reliability).

The present invention relates to integrated circuit manufacture and, more particularly, to a method for removing oxide from exposed regions of a conductor pattern. A major objective of the invention is to provide for improved oxide removal of copper conductors exposed through via apertures in manufacturing technologies with features sizes below 0.2 microns.
Much of modern progress is associated with the increasing prevalence of microprocessor-based systems, which has been made possible in part by advances in integrated circuit manufacturing technology. These advances have permitted ever-smaller circuit features to be defined so that more circuit elements can be formed per unit area. This increased circuit density has permitted greater functionality per integrated circuit. Also, since circuit elements are closer together, the speed at which they can communicate is increased. Also, the smaller devices tend to consume less power, so the net result is greater functionality and speed with reduced power consumption.
While there is considerable variety in integrated circuits, a typical integrated circuit comprises a semiconductor substrate in which active circuit elements are defined by patterned doping and an overlaying interconnect structure of plural patterned metal layers insulated from each other and from the substrate by dielectric layers. Connections to the substrate and between metal layers are typically achieved using metal vias that extend through the dielectric material. The prevalent semiconductor material is silicon, the prevalent interconnect metal is aluminum, and the prevalent dielectric material is silicon dioxide. Each of these materials is relatively easy to work with and pattern. Collectively, they work well together in that small amounts of contamination by any of these materials migrating into others is not a major problem for the finished device.
However, as the integrated circuit features shrink with advancing technology, the resistance of the smaller-cross-section aluminum conductors increases, resulting in poor electrical performance and relatively high heat generation. This has led generally to a trend to forsake aluminum in favor of copper to take advantage of the latter's greater conductivity. Copper is harder to pattern than aluminum, but a damascene process has been developed that permits the required patterning.
Another problem with copper is that it is a poison in the context of integrated circuits in the sense that active semiconductor regions can be impaired by the presence of copper. Unless appropriate countermeasures are taken, copper atoms can migrate from the conductors to the semiconductor substrate. This migration can cause an integrated circuit to deteriorate over time-possibly leading to eventual failure. Thus, the use of copper can raise concerns for reliability. This reliability issue is addressed by encasing the copper conductors in barrier materials, e.g., tantalum, to prevent migration of copper atoms.
For example, silicon dioxide dielectric is deposited over a copper pattern. Apertures can be photolithographically defined where vias are to be formed. The apertures expose copper that is to be covered with barrier metal. However, before the barrier metal can be deposited it is necessary to remove any oxidization of the copper to ensure a good metal-to-metal electrical contact.
A comparable situation exists when aluminum conductors are involved since contaminants must be removed from aluminum exposed through via apertures before via metal is deposited. The aluminum is typically cleaned by sputtering through via apertures using a process analogous to sandblasting. However, sputtering when copper is involved can result in copper being embedded in the oxide sidewalls of the vias. These copper atoms escape coverage by the subsequently deposited barrier metal, and thus are a threat to device reliability as they are free to migrate to the active semiconductor regions. In addition, it is difficult to sputter effectively through the high-aspect-ratios apertures associated with smaller feature dimensions. So the sputter method used for cleaning aluminum through apertures does not translate well to copper-based integrated-circuit manufacture. Accordingly, what is needed is a better integrated-circuit manufacturing method that provides for removing oxidation from copper exposed through via apertures.

Via formation using oxide reduction of underlying copper


A portable box is disclosed which is particularly suited for storing and carrying power tools. The box comprises a main handle and preferably two side handles arranged at side surfaces of the box. The main handle is arranged pivotably between a first erected position for carrying the box and a second position tilted against the side handle.

The invention relates to a portable box, in particular for storing and carrying power tools, comprising a main handle and at least one side handle arranged at a side surface.
Such a box is known from DE 203 11 223 U1. The known box comprises a main handle, preferably being arranged in the center, and two side handles, wherein the side handles have a considerably smaller cross section than has the main handle. Thereby it shall be made possible that the box can be carried either with the center-arranged main handle or that two boxes arranged side-by-side can be carried simultaneously by commonly gripping the two outwardly arranged side handles.
Although such a design of the handles basically allows for a common carrying of boxes arranged side by side, in particular when the boxes themselves are very heavy, a more ergonomic design of the handles is necessary to allow for a high comfort when carrying a single box as well when carrying two adjacent boxes together.


Described are transgenic animals for conditional and inducible cell targeting, that express a dimerizable conditional-STOP caspase 3 transgene.

A number of degenerative human diseases are characterized by the loss of specific cells in adult tissues. The availability and creation of animal models for these diseases has been hampered by the lack of a system to create models in which apoptosis can be induced in a time- and tissue-specific manner.

Conditional-stop dimerizable caspase transgenic animals