A radiation therapy apparatus includes a multi-leaf attenuator having a first plurality of radiation attenuating leaves and a second plurality of radiation attenuating leaves. The first plurality of leaves is spaced with gaps between adjacent leaves within a radiation beam so that the leaves and the gaps therebetween divide the radiation beam into rays. The second plurality of leaves is disposed directly under gaps in the first plurality of leaves so that each ray of the beam can be occluded by a leaf in either the first or second plurality. The gaps eliminate interference between leaves; the staggering prevents radiation leakage between leaves. Each leaf, in both groups, may be moved between a first open state on one side of the beam, a closed state within the beam thus occluding one ray of the beam, and a second open state on the other side of the beam. By controlling the duty cycle of the leaves between the open and closed states, each ray of the beam may be effectively and individually attenuated over a range of intensities. Attenuating the motion between two open states provides more even radiation exposure.

Medical equipment for radiation therapy treats tumorous tissue with high energy radiation. The dose and the placement of the dose must be accurately controlled to insure both that the tumor receives sufficient radiation to be destroyed, and that damage to the surrounding and adjacent non-tumorous tissue is minimized.
Internal-source radiation therapy places capsules of radioactive material inside the patient in proximity to the tumorous tissue. Dose and placement are accurately controlled by the physical positioning of the isotope. However, internal-source radiation therapy has the disadvantages of any surgically invasive procedure, including discomfort to the patient and risk of infection.
External-source radiation therapy uses a radiation source that is external to the patient, typically either a radioisotope, such as .sup.60 Co, or a high energy x-ray source, such as a linear accelerator. The external source produces a collimated beam directed into the patient to the tumor site. External-source radiation therapy avoids some of the problems of internal-source radiation therapy, but it undesirably and necessarily irradiates a significant volume of non-tumorous or healthy tissue in the path of the radiation beam along with the tumorous tissue.
The adverse effect of irradiation of healthy tissue may be reduced, while maintaining a given dose of radiation in the tumorous tissue, by projecting the external radiation beam into the patient at a variety of "gantry" angles with the beams converging on the tumor site. The particular volume elements of healthy tissue, along the path of the radiation beam, change, reducing the total dose to each such element of healthy tissue during the entire treatment.
The irradiation of healthy tissue also may be reduced by tightly collimating the radiation beam to the general cross section of the tumor taken perpendicular to the axis of the radiation beam. Numerous systems exist for producing such a circumferential collimation, some of which use multiple sliding shutters which, piecewise, may generate a radio-opaque mask of arbitrary outline.
As part of collimating the beam to the outline of the tumor, the offset of the radiation beam, with respect to a radius line between the radiation source and the center of rotation of the radiation source, may be adjusted to allow the treated area to be other than at the center of rotation. Simultaneously changing the offset and the width of the radiation beam as a function of gantry angle allows tumorous tissue having an irregular cross-section within a plane parallel to the radiation beam to be accurately targeted. The width and offset of the radiation beam may be controlled by the use of a multiple-leaf circumferential collimator.
Adjustment of the offset and size of the radiation beam at various gantry angles allows considerable latitude in controlling the dose. Nevertheless, even using these techniques, there is still a considerable amount of undesired dose imparted to healthy tissue, especially where a treatment volume is concave or highly irregular within the plane parallel to the radiation beam.
A radiotherapy machine providing much reduced irradiation of healthy tissue is presented in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/865,521, by Stuart Swerdloff et al, filed Mar. 19, 1992. That application discloses the use of a number of radiation attenuating leaves in a rack positioned within the radiation beam before the beam enters the patient. The leaves slide into the radiation beam in a closed state and out of the radiation beam in an open state to allow unobstructed passage of a given ray of the beam ray. By controlling the ratio of time spent in the open and closed states, each ray may be attenuated over a continuous range of intensities. This ability to control not just the outline of the radiation but the intensity of each individual ray allows extremely precise control of the irradiation volume.
The radiation attenuating compensator described above must be capable of completely attenuating every ray of the fan beam. A single uncontrolled ray that leaks past the compensator to a patient will provide undesirable exposure to organs and other tissue including tissues outside a targeted treatment volume. Passage of unattenuated rays is avoided by using leaves with finely machined adjacent faces that can pass very close to each other minimizing the gap size between adjacent leaves minimizing leakage.
However, in practice, regardless of accurate machining techniques, small gaps between the leaves, that allow unattenuated rays to pass, are needed to prevent frictional contact. The exacting tolerances necessary to minimize the size of the leaf gaps are costly and such high tolerance components are prone to failure.
Another problem with the compensator described above is that the rays are not uniformly attenuated by the moving leaves because the leaves cannot be moved instantaneously. A leaf initially occludes the entire depth of its associated ray within the beam. As the leaf begins to move out of the beam, part of the ray is occluded and another part is left unobstructed. Eventually, the entire ray is unobstructed. The same non-uniform beam attenuation is again encountered when the leaf moves back into the beam.
This gradation in attenuation can be minimized by equipping the compensator with more powerful actuators to drive the leaves in and out of the fan beam width more rapidly. Bigger actuators, however, are more costly to utilize and maintain. Alternatively thinner leaves may be used which are light weight so that they can be moved more quickly. This, however, demands more actuators, creates more leaf gaps, and must be accommodated by a much more complicated control system.

Multi-leaf radiation attenuator for radiation therapy


An ultrasonic medical treatment device has a casing, an elongate probe, a transducer assembly, a sheath and a plurality of electrode members. The probe is mounted to and extends from the casing and has an axis and a free end serving as an operative tip. The transducer assembly is mounted to the casing and is operatively connected to the probe for generating vibrations of at least one ultrasonic frequency in the probe. The sheath surrounds the probe. The electrode members are connectable to an RF voltage source and are mounted at least indirectly to the casing so as to permit relative motion between the electrode members and the probe.

This invention relates to a medical device and more specifically to an ultrasonic tissue ablation instrument. Even more specifically, this invention relates to an ultrasonic medical treatment device with electrocautery. This invention also relates to an associated medical treatment method.
Many diseases of the brain and spine require surgery to provide the patient with relief. These could include cancer, non-malignant lesions and trauma induced by accidents or physical attack. As a procedure, neurosurgery has been practiced for several millennia. Archeologists have discovered evidence of sophisticated cranial surgery in relics and skulls dating back to Roman times. The tools found have been shown to be remarkably similar to today""s designs. Of course, modern science has substantially improved upon the techniques and results obtained in those days.
One of the biggest steps forward occurred approximately 30 years ago with the invention and marketing of the ultrasonic surgical aspirator. This device utilizes a hollow probe or tool that vibrates at frequencies at or above 20 kc with tip amplitudes of up to 300 microns. When the vibrating tip is placed against viable or diseased tissue, the moving tip ablates the cells and causes them to fragment or otherwise emulsify in the irrigation fluid that is being added simultaneously. The emulsified fluid is then aspirated through the hollow probe and deposited in a canister for histological examination or disposal.
The advantage of excising tissue with this device is that the surgeon can remove the lesion in layers almost 5 cells thick. By slowly removing the tumor from the top down, he can clearly see when he is reaching healthy tissue allowing him to stop before substantial collateral damage occurs. This is extremely desirable in brain and spine surgery, where tissue does not regenerate. Gastrointestinal surgeons have used the device as well for lesions of the liver and spleen, for the same reasons.
The required specifications, designs and engineering elements of such ultrasonic aspirators have become well known to the art in the intervening time. Although the technology is mature, several improvements can be made to enhance the ease of use and applicability to a wider range of procedures.
One side effect of any surgery is bleeding when the veins, arteries or capillaries are severed. Ultrasonic surgery is more sparing of blood vessels than knives because the collagen content of the vessels is more resistant to ultrasonic emulsion. However, the capillaries and small vessels will be compromised upon exposure to high amplitude ultrasonic tools. When these vessels are severed or punctured bleeding will of course occur. The surgeon will then be forced to pause the procedure, remove the ultrasonic tool from the site and generally reach for a cauterizing device of some type to close off the bleeder. Once coagulation has been achieved, then the surgeon can grab the ultrasonic tool, reposition it in the wound site and continue the removal of tissue. This situation repeats itself often in the course of the operation, lengthening the time of the procedure and coincidently the risk to the patient. It is therefore desired to find a way to cauterize tissue with the ultrasonic tool in place so the surgeon can stop bleeding with minimal downtime caused by switching tools and positions.
Several improvements to the basic design of the ultrasonic aspirator have been disclosed over the years which allows some degree of cauterization subsequent to or simultaneously with ultrasonic ablation. Most center on the application of RF cautery currents to the tool or probe itself. This has the effect of turning the ultrasonic tool into a monopolar RF cauterizer.
In a non-ultrasonic RF cauterizer, the tip of the tool is energized with a voltage sometimes exceeding 3000 volts RMS. The frequency of the voltage is very high, in order to prevent cardiac arrest in the patient. These frequencies are generally greater than 500,000 hertz. In monopolar RF, the tool is one pole of the electrical circuit. The second pole is generally a large piece of metal foil which the patient lays on during the procedure. The bare skin touching the foil makes an effective electrical contact. As the tool touches the tissue and the RF voltage is energized, a complete circuit path is created. The currents are very high, reaching 5 amps in some cases. At these currents, significant joule heating occurs in the tissue, raising the temperature higher than the burning temperature of 42xc2x0 C. Continued operation dries the tissue by evaporating the water content. Cauterization then occurs. Since the back plate is very large in relation to the tool tip, the current xe2x80x9cfans outxe2x80x9d as it leaves the tool tip and thereby lowers the current density in the tissue to a point where the temperature rise in the tissue is reduced to that below burning. This minimizes collateral burning and tissue damage.
However, as large as the plate is, some collateral damage occurs away from the bleeder site. This collateral damage cannot be controlled reliably by the physician and is of great concern when operating on the brain. If the damage is two widespread, mental capacity or memory may be affected negatively. In addition, electrical current is forced to flow through viable tissue to the ground plate. Again, neurological damage may occur in some organs that are susceptible to damage due to this current, such as the brain, heart and nerve bundles. Other organs, such as the liver or spleen, are less susceptible to current effects.
Researchers have found a way to minimize or eliminate this current path by designing a tool that includes two electrical poles or contacts. This is called bipolar RF cauterization. Here the current flows between the two poles through the intervening tissue. No current path to the back is allowed. Therefore, the tissue that is damaged is only that caught between the two contacts, which can be very small.
Designers have found a way to add monopolar cautery to ultrasonic devices by connecting one electrical contact to the vibrating tip of the ultrasonic device. Several patents have disclosed concepts and techniques for this, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,047 to Broadwin, et al. Here, the tip of the ultrasonic tool is the single pole that touches the tissue. The surgeon will generally stop ultrasonic vibration and turn on the cautery voltage. Current leaves the tip of the probe and goes through the body to the back plate. This has been shown to be effective in eliminating the need for switching tools to stop bleeding, saving time and effort on the doctor""s part. However, all of the detriments of monopolar cautery still exist. Neurosurgeons are especially reticent to allow significant current to flow through brain or spinal cord tissue for fear of inducing neurological damage. In addition, the piezoelectric crystals of the ultrasonic transducer stack must be isolated from the cautery voltage or damage to the transducer or electronics will occur.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic treatment device or instrument having electrocautery capability.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a device that eliminates the above-described deficiencies in conventional systems.
A further object of the present invention to provide such a device or instrument which is easy to use and which provides reliable cautery effects while minimizing patient risk during an ultrasonic aspiration procedure.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a device or instruments with a capability of grasping and clamping tissue or vessels prior to and concurrent with electrocautery.
A related object of the present invention is to provide an associated method which combines ultrasonic ablation with electrocautery in a manner that is easy to use.
An ultrasonic medical treatment device pursuant to the present invention comprises a casing, an elongate probe, a transducer assembly, a sheath and a plurality of electrode members. The casing is generally in the form of a handpiece which facilitates manipulation by a surgeon. The probe is mounted to and extends from the casing and has an axis and a free end serving as an operative tip. The transducer assembly is mounted to the casing and is operatively connected to the probe for generating vibrations of at least one ultrasonic frequency in the probe. As is well known, the ultrasonic vibration frequency is a resonant frequency of the probe, whereby standing waves are produced in the probe. The sheath surrounds the probe. The electrode members are connectable to an RF voltage source and are mounted at least indirectly to the casing so as to permit relative motion between the electrode members and the probe.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the electrode members are attached to the sheath, which is movably mounted to the casing. It is also preferred that the electrode members are fixed to and substantially embedded in the sheath. The electrode members have exposed portions disposed proximately to the operative tip of the probe for forming electrically conductive contact with organic tissues at a surgical site in a patient.
More particularly, the sheath is movably mounted to the casing for reciprocatable motion along the axis of the probe, whereby the tip of the probe may be alternately covered and exposed. Thus, during an ultrasonic use of the instrument, the sheath is retracted to expose the operative tip of the probe, which is energized by a predetermined ultrasonic vibration produced by the transducer assembly. Should a blood vessel become severed by ultrasonic ablation, the action of the transducer assembly is interrupted and the sheath slid forward, in a distal direction, to cover the tip of the probe and to facilitate contact between the exposed portions of the electrode members and the region about the severed blood vessel. The electrode members are then connected to a radio-frequency current source to generate a current flow between the exposed portions of the electrode members.
The electrode members may be exactly two in number. In that case, the exposed portions of the electrode members are preferably disposed at an angle of less than 90xc2x0 from one another. However, in some applications it may be preferred to have the exposed portions of the electrode members angularly spaced by a greater angle, up to 180xc2x0.
In another embodiment of the invention, there are two or more pairs of electrode members, with the members of each pair being disposed adjacent to one another along the circumference of the sheath. In this embodiment, a manually operable switching circuit may be operatively connected between the power source and the electrode members for determining which pair of electrode members is to be energized. The operating surgeon selects that pair of electrode members which is most closely located to a bleeding site.
Pursuant to another feature of the present invention, the electrode members are movable in parallel to the axis of the probe.
A medical surgical method in accordance with the present invention utilizes an ultrasonic medical treatment device having a casing and an elongate probe mounted to and extending from the casing, the probe having an axis and a free end serving as an operative tip, a transducer assembly mounted to the casing being operatively connected to the probe, a plurality of electrode members being mounted at least indirectly to the casing. The method comprises inserting a distal end portion of the probe into a patient, thereafter energizing the transducer assembly to generate a standing wave of an ultrasonic frequency in the probe, ablating tissues of the patient at the operative tip of the probe during the generating of said standing wave, connecting the electrode members to an RF voltage source, and cauterizing tissues in the patient owing to the conduction of current between exposed portions of the electrode members.
Pursuant to another feature of the present invention, the electrode members are moved relative to the probe, thereby placing the exposed portions of the electrode members in a predeterminable location relative to the operative tip. Where the electrode members are connected to a sheath, the moving of the electrode members may be accomplished by shifting the sheath relative to the probe.
In a further embodiment, the two electrodes may be spaced 180 degrees apart and be hinged nearer the proximal end of the sheath. Two protuberances may be provided, extending outside the outer sheath assembly, which contact the rigid metal electrodes. By sliding the sheath forward, the distal ends of the electrodes are exposed. These electrodes may be manipulated by the surgeon to allow tissue to fill the gap between said electrodes. By squeezing the protuberances, the surgeon may apply a pinching force on the tissue to help close severed vessels while applying electrocautery current.
It is to be noted that the electrodes may be used to ablate tissues of the patient in addition to cauterizing the ablated tissues.

Ultrasonic medical treatment device for bipolar RF cauterization and related method


Provided are an anode for an all solid cell and a method of fabricating the same. The anode may include an anode current collector, a conductive material of which one end contacts a part of the anode current collector, a conductive coating layer surrounding the conductive material, an anode active material which contacts the other end of the conductive material, and a solid electrolyte. The conductive coating layer may prevent the conductive material and the solid electrolyte from being electrically connected to each other.

Materials having a lower voltage range than lithium have been used for an anode of a lithium secondary cell. Accordingly, a potential change inside an electrode may be often unbalanced, for example, when a graphite-based material having a low potential is used as the conductive material, the potential to lithium is frequently moved to near 0 V. At this time, lithium may be precipitated on the surface of graphite, and as a result, the performance of the cell may be deteriorated.
The all solid cell has the high content of the conductive material due to a complex electrode structure in which an anode active material, a solid electrolyte, and a conductive material are mixed together. The nonuniformity of voltages often occurs due to the heterogeneous mixing of the electrodes compared to a liquid-based cell constituted by only the active material and the conductive material. In addition, since the conductive material directly contacts the solid electrolyte containing a lot of lithium ions, lithium may be precipitated on the surface of the conductive material having a potential close to 0 V. The precipitated lithium may cause an interfacial reaction with the solid electrolyte to degenerate the solid electrolyte or deteriorate the performance of the cell through dendrite growth.
In the related art, a configuration in which a conductive material and a coating layer are formed on the surface of an electrode active material has been disclosed, however, the process may be complicated.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

IUCF-HYU (Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University)


A discharge defect of a nozzle in an apparatus that forms an image on a medium by discharging liquid from a liquid discharge head based on image data is accurately detected. A discharge defect of a nozzle is detected by comparing data (reference data) of a reference image with read data obtained by reading an output image. In this case, a mark for matching the read pixel and the nozzle position with each other is recorded on the medium, and the correspondence relationship is specified by reading the mark. In addition, data items that are converted to have the nozzle resolution by performing a filtering process corresponding to the human visual characteristics for both the data of the reference image and the data of the read image are compared with each other, thereby detecting a discharge defect of a nozzle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting discharge defects in a liquid discharge head used in an ink jet printer or the like, a computer-readable recording medium, and a printing system using the detection technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
Regarding a technique of detecting a discharge defect in an ink jet head having a plurality of liquid discharge ports (nozzles), JP2010-240885A discloses a method of comparing image data (reference data) as a comparison reference for quality determination with read data, which is obtained by reading a printed image with a scanner, and detecting a discharge defect of a nozzle from the difference between the pixel values of both the data items. JP2010-240885A discloses: causing a scanner to read an image, which is drawn on paper by discharging ink from a nozzle while moving a head unit and the paper relative to each other based on image data for printing, in a resolution that is lower than the resolution of the image data in the relative movement direction of the head unit and the paper; generating reference data having the same resolution as the resolution in the relative movement direction in the read data, based on the image data; and detecting a nozzle defect by comparing a plurality of read data pixels in the same pixel row in the relative movement direction on the read data with a plurality of reference data pixels, each corresponding to the plurality of the read data pixels.

Method and apparatus for detecting discharge defect, image processing apparatus, computer-readable recording medium, and printing system


Apparatus, systems and methods for tetrahedral color conversion for image processing are disclosed. In one implementation a system includes memory at least capable of storing and/or holding one or more color conversion look-up tables. The system also may include an image processor at least capable of determining address values in response to input color component values, accessing a selected first look-up table of two or more first look-up tables in response to the address values, and of generating output color component values in response to accessing the selected first look-up table. The system may also include an image output device responsive to the output color component values.

Image processing has traditionally been undertaken using either devices designed specifically to provide image processing (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)) or more general purpose devices (e.g., digital signal processors (DSPs)) where the image processing has been adapted to match existing device functionality. Although ASICs may provide specific functionality they are also costly to design, have long development cycles and tend to be inflexible. While DSPs may, on the other hand, be more flexible than ASICs they are also more difficult to optimize for image processing.

Method, apparatus and system for performing tetrahedral color conversion for image processing


According to an embodiment, an LED current control apparatus controls conduction of a switching transistor which is connected to a primary winding of a flyback convertor. The LED current control apparatus includes a pseudo sine wave generation unit, a synchronous control unit, a first comparator, a switch control unit, a crest value correction unit, and a pulse monitor control unit.

In a case to perform LED illumination with commercial AC power, full-wave rectification is performed with a diode bridge circuit on output of a dimmer connected to the AC power, and an LED is operated via a transformer (flyback convertor) having a flyback configuration. At that time, an LED current control apparatus controls a current flowing through a primary winding of the flyback convertor with a switch circuit to control a current flowing through a secondary winding. A conventional LED current control apparatus monitors a width of a current flowing through the secondary winding, and PWM control is performed on switching timing of the switch circuit connected to the primary winding, for example. Thus, the LED connected to the secondary winding is lighted with mean current control.
When peaks of the AC input voltage are constant, energy accumulated at the primary winding of the flyback convertor is constant as well. Accordingly, energy supplied to the LED connected to the secondary winding is constant and brightness of the LED illumination is stabilized as well.
However, peak voltages of commercial AC powers largely vary in accordance with regions and infrastructures to be in a range of 100 to 240 V as standard. With a conventional LED current control apparatus, there has been a problem that a mean LED current fluctuates in proportion to magnitude of a peak voltage of an AC power and that brightness of LED illumination fluctuates as well.
Further, since an LED has smaller consumption power than a conventional filament lamp and a phase of an AC input current waveform is not delayed owing to that an LED is not an induction load, there has been a problem that a high power factor is difficult to be obtained.


A method for fabricating an integrated circuit providing an enlarged contact process window while reducing device size is disclosed. The method comprises providing a substrate including a first region and a second region, the first and second regions having one or more gate structures including a dummy gate layer; removing the dummy gate layer from at least one of the one or more gate structures in the first and second regions to form one or more trenches in the first and second regions; filling the one or more trenches in the first and second regions with a conductive layer; selectively etching back the conductive layer of the one or more gate structures in the second region of the substrate; forming a protective layer over the etched back conductive layer of the one or more gate structures in the second region; and forming one or more contact openings in the first and second regions.

The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. However, these advances have increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed.
In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling-down has also significantly decreased the space separating contact openings (or windows) from adjacent devices of ICs. Contact openings provide contact between various devices and features of the integrated circuit. Due to the scaled down devices and decreased space separation between devices, it has been observed that conventional processing provides a smaller than desirable contact process window, which leads to restrictive processing and design issues. For example, the smaller contact process window results in design rules requiring a minimum spacing between the contact openings and device features (e.g., gate structures), which provides a smaller than desirable margin of contact/gate structure overlay. Further, if the minimum spacing between the contact openings and such device features varies, poor device performance results, such as contact/gate structure short and contact open issues.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for making a semiconductor device that addresses the above stated issues.

Self-aligned static random access memory (SRAM) on metal gate

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A thermometer includes a processing unit configured to receive a plurality of timed apart temperature readings from first and second sensors and a processor calculates heat flux value, Q, and obtains values of the heat flux vs. temperature (Q vs. Ts.) as the temperature approaches a steady state. The processor empirically predicts the steady state temperature of the sensor Ts, using the peak value of the values of Q vs. Ts.

The present invention relates to thermometry and more particularly to thermometers that are more accurate and faster acting. Thermometers may be classified as invasive, where the thermometer is placed in a body cavity such as the rectum, under arm or mouth or non-invasive where the thermometer does not enter the body cavity but at most, contact's the subject's skin. Non-invasive thermometers are growing in popularity both because of their ease of use and gentleness to the subject. A common type of non-invasive thermometer includes a probe with a heat conducting membrane designed to be placed against the skin of a subject's temple, behind the ear or other body surface. An early version of such a thermometer utilized a probe to obtain temperature readings at the measuring site and an algorithm to utilize parameters derived form the measured temperature to correct a fixed bias to a reasonable proximation and clinically accepted value of the subject's core temperature, that is the temperature of blood flowing in the pulmonary artery. An improvement on this thermometer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,597,668 to Yarden wherein a deep tissue temperature, that is, the local temperature below the skin surface at the measuring site that is the source of heat to the probe is calculated utilizing parameters derived from the measured temperatures and an algorithm is utilized to correct the calculated deep tissue temperature to core. Non-invasive temperature measurement of a deep tissue is challenging. One can measure it with commonly acceptable accuracy using a well insulated contact temperature sensor attached to the external surface above the deep tissue. When the temperature sensor is reaching to its equilibrium, the temperature value at steady state is approaching to the deep tissue temperature value and is a good representation of it. However, in some thermometers, the steady state value of the temperature sensor can be calculated within a shorter time than required to reach equilibrium. This calculation is called prediction, i.e. the thermometer is predicting the steady state value of the sensor before it reaches to the steady state and might be determined using prediction algorithms such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,621 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,000.
Once the local temperature (which is the steady state value of a surface temperature sensor) is determined, further algorithms are used to correct the local temperature to core.
Other non-invasive thermometers utilize IR sensors to determine the surface temperature at a measuring site along with an algorithm to convert parameters derived from the measured surface temperatures to core temperature. That is, the local or steady state value of the skin temperature is measured and then corrected to reflect the core body temperature. Such a thermometer, for example, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,292,685 to Pompei.
An assumption in the algorithms of exiting non-invasive thermometers for converting parameters derived from temperature measurements at the measuring site to core temperature is that physiological factors other than the subject's temperature are the same or closely similar for all subjects, regardless of age, skin tone, weight, etc. That is, the assumption is that the relationship between the steady state temperature at the measuring site and a subject's core temperature is only thermal. However, it has been found that other physiological characteristics of the subject's anatomy come into play, such as the thermal conductivity, thermal impedance and blood perfusion of the subject's skin and tissue at the measuring site.
In view of the above it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved thermometer capable of more accurately and/or more rapidly determine the steady state temperature at a measuring site.
A further object is to provide such a thermometer that is able to rapidly calculate core temperature from the temperature and other non-temperature physiological parameters obtained preferably but not necessarily at the measuring site.

Fast responsive personalized thermometer

Abstract: The processor may also empirically calculate a bias value as a function of the peak value of Q vs. Ts. The bias value represents the difference between the temperature reading (Ts) at steady state and core temperature of the subject and is added to the steady state temperature to arrive at core. The thermometer probe may include one or more additional sensors for obtaining physiological readings from the subject other than temperature and the processing unit is configured to use empirical formulas to calculate the bias value using the physiological readings which may include blood perfusion, pulse rate and the bio-impedance of the subject.


In summary, this application describes a psycho-acoustically motivated, parametric description of the spatial attributes of multichannel audio signals. This parametric description allows strong bitrate reductions in audio coders, since only one monaural signal has to be transmitted, combined with (quantized) parameters which describe the spatial properties of the signal. The decoder can form the original amount of audio channels by applying the spatial parameters. For near-CD-quality stereo audio, a bitrate associated with these spatial parameters of 10 kbit/s or less seems sufficient to reproduce the correct spatial impression at the receiving end.

Within the field of audio coding it is generally desired to encode an audio signal, e.g. in order to reduce the bit rate for communicating the signal or the storage requirement for storing the signal, without unduly compromising the perceptual quality of the audio signal. This is an important issue when audio signals are to be transmitted via communications channels of limited capacity or when they are to be stored on a storage medium having a limited capacity.
Prior solutions in audio coders that have been suggested to reduce the bitrate of stereo program material include:
'Intensity stereo'. In this algorithm, high frequencies (typically above 5 kHz) are represented by a single audio signal (i.e., mono), combined with time-varying and frequency-dependent scalefactors.
'M/S stereo'. In this algorithm, the signal is decomposed into a sum (or mid, or common) and a difference (or side, or uncommon) signal. This decomposition is sometimes combined with principle component analysis or time-varying scalefactors. These signals are then coded independently, either by a transform coder or waveform coder. The amount of information reduction achieved by this algorithm strongly depends on the spatial properties of the source signal. For example, if the source signal is monaural, the difference signal is zero and can be discarded. However, if the correlation of the left and right audio signals is low (which is often the case), this scheme offers only little advantage.
Parametric descriptions of audio signals have gained interest during the last years, especially in the field of audio coding. It has been shown that transmitting (quantized) parameters that describe audio signals requires only little transmission capacity to resynthesize a perceptually equal signal at the receiving end. However, current parametric audio coders focus on coding monaural signals, and stereo signals are often processed as dual mono.
European patent application EP 1 107 232 discloses a method of encoding a stereo signal having L and an R component, where the stereo signal is represented by one of the stereo components and parametric information capturing phase and level differences of the audio signal. At the decoder, the other stereo component is recovered based on the encoded stereo component and the parametric information.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Steven Leonardus Josephus Dimphina Elizabeth


A plasmonic coating for reflecting electromagnetic energy is disclosed. The coating includes a plurality of layers, at least one of which is a dielectric layer; and a patterned dielectric layer in structural communication with the plurality of layers and having a pattern configured to plasmonically reflect electromagnetic energy incident thereon.

1. Field
A plasmonic coating is disclosed which can reflect light within a selected spectral range.
2. Background Information
Known coating technology utilizes multilayer dielectric coatings or metallic coatings to affect the reflectance properties of different optical devices. A dielectric multilayer coating can include multiple layers of different transparent optical materials. Known dielectric multilayer coatings can operate based on an interference effect, and can have a thickness of a few microns depending on the desired wavelength.
Metallic coatings can also be used where, for example, a broadband reflectance property and/or omnidirectional property is desired. Metallic coatings can reflect incoming light at any incidente angle.
A coating can include alternating layers of metallic and dielectric materials. Such a coating has been disclosed by the following article: "M.I.T. Scientists Turn Simple Idea Into 'Perfect Mirror'", by Bruce Schechter, in the National Science of the New York Times Company dated Dec. 15, 1998 (4 pages).


Systems, processes and devices process telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) data received from a satellite. A data acquisition system receives data packets comprising the TT&C data received from the satellite from one or more cortexes. A data extractor node (DEN) directs the decommutation of the received TT&C data in real time as the TT&C data is received. The decommutated TT&C data from the data acquisition system is stored in a database for subsequent processing. The data extractor node obtains requested TT&C data from the database and processes the obtained portion of the decommutated TT&C data in real time.

Satellites and other spacecraft generate a large amount of telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) data. Such data typically includes sensor data (e.g., temperatures, pressures, voltages and the like), data collected by scientific instruments, data related to the command and control of the satellite (e.g., adjustments to attitude or altitude), event messages (e.g., OOLs or other command data), and/or other data as desired. Modern satellites often record TT&C data for thousands, or even tens of thousands, of data points.
TT&C data for each of the monitored points on the satellite is typically received at a relatively high frequency, and this data is generally stored for the lifetime of the satellite, which is often on the order of five or more years. The amount of TT&C data to be collected and maintained, then, can occupy a substantial amount of mass storage, and can be very unwieldy to process. Simple data queries can readily consume substantial processing resources due to the sheer volume of data that is maintained for each spacecraft. This problem is compounded for operators of multiple satellites, since large volumes of data are maintained for each spacecraft.
It is therefore desirable to provide improved systems and processes for storing and processing TT&C data for one or more spacecraft. Various desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section.

Satellite telemetry, tracking and control data tracking and archiving system


A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a trench gate structure is provided. In the method, a first voltage-current characteristic indicating a relation between the main current and the gate voltage under a first temperature is measured to calculate a first threshold voltage. A second voltage-current characteristic indicating a relation between the main current and the gate voltage under a second temperature different from the first temperature is measured to calculate a second threshold voltage. It is determined whether the semiconductor device is a non-defective product or a defective product based on whether a difference between the second threshold voltage and the first threshold voltage is larger than a determination threshold value.

As a conventional power semiconductor device having a trench gate structure, there are a MOSFET and an insulated gate bipolar transistor (hereinafter, referred to as IGBT). An electrical characteristic inspection is performed to a semiconductor device to determine whether the semiconductor device is a non-defective product having a desired characteristic. For example, in the case of the IGBT, a standard value serving as a criterion for determining whether the device has a desired electrical characteristic is set, and a Vg-Ic characteristic indicating a relation between a gate voltage Vg and a collector current Ic when the IGBT is turned on is measured. When the relation indicated by the Vg-Ic characteristic is within a standard value range, it is determined that the device is a non-defective product. When the relation is out of the standard value range, e.g., when the relation falls below the standard value, it is determined that the device is a defective product.
There may be a potentially-defective product, which has a characteristic within the standard value range at the stage of electrical characteristic inspection but would be deteriorated during usage of the product and would have a characteristic out of the standard value range. Such a defective product cannot be specified in the electrical characteristic inspection. In this regard, a new and useful method is desired.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device


An image forming device includes a rear plate having a conductor set to a low voltage, an electron emitter disposed on the rear plate, the electron emitter including the conductor, and a face plate having an electrode set to a high voltage and facing the rear plate. An image forming source is provided on the face plate and includes the electrode. A spacer is electrically connected to the conductor and the electrode and includes an insulating substrate having a first end surface facing the rear plate, a second end surface facing the electrode, and side surfaces connecting the first end surface and the second end surface. A first high-resistance film covers the side surfaces of the insulating substrate, and a second high-resistance film covers at least one of the first end surface and the second end surface of the insulating substrate and has a sheet resistance greater than or equal to a sheet resistance of the first high-resistance film. In addition, the spacer, the conductor and the electrode are electrically connected via a third high-resistance film interposed between the conductor or the electrode and the second high-resistance film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device, such as a display using an electron beam and, more specifically, to an image forming device including spacers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known image forming device using an electron emitter is a flat display panel. The known flat display panel comprises an electron source substrate including a plurality of cold cathode electron emitters and an anode substrate including an anode electrode and phosphors. The electron source substrate and anode substrate are disposed parallel to each other. A vacuum is generated between the electron source substrate and the anode substrate. Generally known cold cathode electron emitters are surface-conduction type emitters, field electron emission (FE) type emitters, and metal-insulator-metal (MIM) type emitters. The flat display panel including known cold cathode electron emitters is light-weight and has a large display area compared to other widely used CRTs. Moreover, the flat display panel is brighter and is capable of displaying higher quality images compared to other flat display panels using liquid crystal and flat display panels such as plasma displays and electroluminescent displays.
In general, the above-described image forming device comprises a face plate and a rear plate facing each other. The face plate is the display surface for displaying an image. The face plate includes a metal back, which receives an acceleration voltage Va, and a fluorescent film. The rear plate is the electron source for generating light from the phosphors. The rear plate includes cold cathode electron emitters and wires, wherein the wires electrically connect the electron emitters and run in the longitudinal and horizontal directions. Sidewalls seal the circumference of the face plate and the rear plate, forming a vacuum vessel. Spacers are interposed between the face plate and the rear plate to maintain the plates apart from each other at a predetermined distance and to support the plates against atmospheric pressure. The spacers are usually interposed between and are in contact with the conductor of the rear plate (e.g., the wires in the horizontal direction) and the electrode on the face plate (e.g., the metal back) (for example, refer to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,614,781 and 5,742,117 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-180821).
In such an image forming device, sometimes the spacers emit a secondary electron when a part of an electron beam or a reflected electron strikes the surface. This secondary electron generates an electric potential in the area where the secondary electron was emitted from. Accordingly, the electric potential distribution at the spacer and the vicinity is distorted. As a result, not only the trajectory of the electron beam becomes unstable but also an electric discharge will occur inside the image forming device.
To prevent electrical charging of the spacers, the spacers may be formed of an insulating substrate covered with a high-resistance film, which is capable of preventing electrical charging. This method of preventing electrical charging is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,614,781 and 5,742,117 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-180821.
The inventors propose a more preferable method for preventing electrical charging of spacers in which spacers formed of an insulating substrate covered with a high-resistance film are disposed intermittently in contact with the conductors on the rear plate (refer to Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-136741).
However, when the contact area of the spacer actually in contact with the conductor is small in comparison with the surface area (including the contact area) that faces the conductor, electrical currents are converged (or, in other words, current crowding occurs) at the edge of the contact area. This current crowding occurs, for example, when the spaces contact the conductors intermittently, as described above, or when the thickness (width) of the planer spacers is greater than the width of the conductors in contact.
FIG. 11 illustrates the latter case in which the contact area of a spacer 1020 contacting a conductor (horizontal wire 1013) on a rear plate 1015 or an electrode (metal back 1019) on a face plate 1017 is smaller than the area of the surface including the contact area. In such a case, current crowding occurs at the edges of the contact area (points b in the drawing). Due to current crowding, heat is generated locally at the points b and the vicinity. Therefore, depending on the type of material used for a high-resistance film 1001, the property of the film (such as resistance) may change when the high-resistance film 1001 is used for a long period of time (i.e., when Va is applied for a long period of time). As a result, the electric field in the vicinity of the spacer 1020 is distorted, causing the formed images to be distorted. FIG. 11 also illustrates an insulating substrate 1000, a fluorescent film 1018, a longitudinal wire 1014, and an insulating layer 1021.
Current crowding that occurs at some of the edges of the high-resistance film even when the high-resistance film is disposed on the edge of the spacer, as illustrated in FIG. 11, is known to be caused by the relationship of electric properties between the high-resistance film on the side of the spacer, the film on the edge of the spacer, and the conductor in contact with the spacer in addition to the above-described case in which the contact area of the spacer is only partially in contact with the rear plate or the face plate contact. When the entire end surface of the spacer is a contact area, it is desired to effectively use the entire high-resistance film on the end surface as a current path.

Image display device having a spacer structure for reducing current crowding


A three dimensional (3D) microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) multi-push voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) and methods of making the same is provided. The 3D MMIC multi-push oscillator includes a plurality of matching frequency oscillators coupled to a phasing ring in substantially equidistantly spaced apart locations. A combined VCO output signal is provided at a central output connection point of the phasing ring. The central output connection point resides on a first plane. An output conductor transition has a first end coupled to the central output connection point and a second end provided as an output to the quad-push VCO. The output conductor transition extends transverse to the first plane and terminates at a second plane separated from the first plane. The multi-push oscillator can be a push-push, quad-push or N-push type VCO based on a particular implementation.

A voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) or oscillator is a component that can be used to translate DC power into a radio frequency (RF) signal. In general, VCOs are designed to produce an oscillating signal of a particular frequency corresponding to a given tuning voltage. The frequency of the oscillating signal is dependent upon the magnitude of a tuning voltage. A high frequency signal can be generated either by an oscillator operating at a fundamental frequency or a harmonic oscillator. An oscillator operating at the fundamental frequency typically suffers from a low Q-factor, insufficient device gain and higher phase noise at a high frequency of operation. In contrast, harmonic oscillators may be operated at a lower frequency, and generally include a high Q-factor, high device gain and low phase noise. A frequency doubler and other means of up-conversion may provide a practical and quick solution to generate a high frequency signal from an oscillator operating at a lower frequency, however, they may also introduce distortions and provide poor phase noise performance.
It is very difficult to design a high frequency signal source with good phase noise for millimeter wave applications. Conventional implementations employ multipliers and buffer/power amplifiers to multiply the fundamental frequency of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) to millimeter wave bands (e.g., greater than 50 GHz). These conventional implementations have several problems. For example, the employment of the several multipliers and buffer/power amplifiers add to the complexity of the topology in addition to adding to the phase noise degradation. Additionally, the performance of the high frequency source signal is parasitic sensitive, such that the parasitics of each buffer/amplifier stage further degrade the performance of the high frequency source signal. The employment of several multipliers and buffer/power amplifiers results in high power consumption, tedious and challenging tuning work associated with one or more tuning resonators in addition to high overall costs.

3D MMIC VCO and methods of making the same


According to an example, an apparatus for collecting a material to be spectrally analyzed includes a body having a first end and a second end, in which the body is elongated along a first axis from the first end to the second end. The body also includes a hole having an opening formed in an external surface of the body at a location between the first end and the second end and extending at least partially through the body at an angle with respect to the first axis. The body further includes a plurality of surface-enhanced spectroscopy (SES) elements positioned inside the body.

In surface-enhanced spectroscopy (SES), such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), vibrationally excitable levels of an analyte are probed. The energy of a photon can shift by an amount equal to that of the vibrational level excited by the photon (Raman scattering). A Raman spectrum, which consists of a wavelength distribution of bands corresponding to molecular vibrations specific to the analyte being probed, may be detected to identify the analyte. In SERS, the analyte molecules are in close proximity, for instance, less than tens of nanometers, to metal nano-particles that may be or may not be coated with a dielectric, such as silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, and a polymer, that, once excited by light, set up plasmon modes, which create near fields around the metal nano-particles. These fields can couple to analyte molecules in the near field regions. As a result, concentration of the incident light occurs at close vicinity to the nano-particles, enhancing the Raman scattering from the analyte molecules.
SERS has recently been performed to probe materials beneath a surface through insertion of an optical fiber having a hollow core containing metal nanoparticles through the surface. Conventional optical fibers have openings at distal ends of the optical fibers for the material to be collected into the hollow core and onto the metal nanoparticles. SERS is then performed on the collected material through application of excitation light onto the metal nanoparticles and materials and detection of Raman scattered light from the materials.

Apparatus for collecting material to be spectrally analyzed

HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.


There is provided a highly functional one-step light-curing dental adhesive composition i) based on a multifunctional prepolymer mixture of 2,2-bis-[4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloyloxypropoxy)phenyl]propane (“Bis-GMA”) and a multifunctional prepolymer formed by substitiuting hydrogen atoms of hydroxyl groups present in Bis-GMA molecules with methacrylate groups, in which the Bis-GMA is used as a base prepolymer of conventional dental adhesive compositions; and ii) comprising and acidic monomer for removing a portion of smear layer, which is allowed to be bonded without separate treatment of acid etchant, an adhesive monomer having both hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties, a hydrophilic monomer which is allowed to be bonded in the present of moisture, an inorganic filler for improving mechanical properties, diluent, water for demineralization, a photoinitiation system and other additives.

Generally, dental adhesion is divided into enamel adhesion and dentine adhesion. In case of enamel adhesion, it was found in 1995 by Buonocore that sustainability could be enhanced through changing a soft surface of enamel to a rough surface via acid corrosion in order to facilitate capillary phenomenon development therein. This allows a dental restoration material to permeate through minute pores. As such, excellent physical properties could be achieved via enamel adhesion (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,102,856 and 4,131,729, etc).
Furthermore, in case of dentine adhesion, enamel is considered non-live tissue while dentine is considered as being an extension of the dental pulp. Therefore, any materials that are applied to dentine should not have any biologically detrimental effects or threaten the biological stability of the teeth.
Kanca demonstrated that if a primer having high hydrophilic property and an adhesive monomer having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties are used together, the bonding strength becomes stronger (see Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication Nos. 53-33687 and 54-10986, and Japanese Patent Application No. 56-120610). Thereafter, various compounds have been suggested, and the treating method has been further developed. Recently, products that exhibit excellent bonding strength were mainly used. These products were applied in a two-step procedure, first involving treatment with an acid etchant and a primer, an adhesive agent or an acid etchant, and then with a primer and an adhesive agent.
Also, in case of dentine adhesion, an acid etchant, a primer and an adhesive agent is applied in a one-step procedure. However, there is a problem in that the bonding strength obtained via the one-step procedure is lower than that obtained by the aforementioned two-step procedure.

Highly functional dental adhesive composition

Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Dentkist, Inc.


A drain overflow alarm for a washing machine drain, which alarm is mounted in a vertical drain line offset provided with a check valve and extending from the vertical fixed drain line or standpipe of a structure. In a preferred embodiment the alarm includes a float switch located in the top end of the drain line offset and a transformer, relay, alarm and optical reset button, all provided in a control housing. The float switch is electrically connected to the transformer, relay and alarm, such that obstruction of the fixed drain line causes water to rise in the fixed drain line and through the check valve into the drain line offset. The rising water raises the float element of the float switch and closes the switch to activate the transformer relay and alarm, as well as terminate operation of the washing machine. Clearing of the drain line allows water to flow from the drain line and drain line offset, which causes the float element to drop, and manipulation of the optional reset button facilitates resumption of operation of the washing machine. Alternatively, current to the washing machine may be automatically restored when the float switch is opened, without the necessity of using a reset button.

1. Cross-References to Related Applications
This application contains subject matter which is related to the disclosure in my copending application Ser. No. 07/396,112, filed Aug. 21, 1989.
2. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to water-activated alarm systems and more particularly, to a drain overflow alarm which responds to a high water level condition in a vertical washing machine drain line or standpipe to sound an alarm and terminate operation of a washing machine. In a most preferred embodiment of the invention, the drain overflow alarm is characterized by a float switch mounted in a vertical offset segment of the vertical, fixed drain line or standpipe which receives wash water from the washing machine and a transformer, relay, alarm and optional reset button electrically connected to the float switch. If the fixed drain line or connecting drain system becomes obstructed, water rises in the fixed drain line and in the drain line offset and causes the float element of the float switch to rise, thereby closing the float switch and energizing the transformer, relay and alarm circuit for sounding an audible or visual alarm or both, and terminating operation of the washing machine. Removal of the obstruction in the fixed drain line allows the water to flow from the fixed drain line and drainage of the drain line offset and operation of the washing machine is resumed, responsive to return of the float element in the float switch to its normal "switch open" position and manipulation of the reset button. Alternatively, the washing machine may be restarted automatically upon opening of the float switch, by altering the design of the relay, transformer and alarm circuit.
A common problem in all structures containing washing machines is the periodic obstruction and overflow of the washing machine drain line or standpipe, which overflow frequently causes damage to and/or in the structure. Since there is normally no alarm system provided in a conventional washing machine, overflow water from the washing machine is pumped into the drain line and will overflow from the drain line to the floor of the structure if the drain line is obstructed, thereby causing damage to tile, carpet and other floor coverings, as well as the structure itself. Depending upon the proximity of the washing machine to the more expensive floor coverings such as carpet, wood overlay and the like, a considerable amount of damage can be caused by drain line overflow in a single washing machine cycle.


In some embodiments, ethylene-propylene branched copolymers are synthesized with pyridyldiamido catalysts and a chain transfer agent, and their performance as viscosity modifiers in oil are detailed. In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides for ethylene-propylene branched copolymers having a shear thinning onset of less than about 0.01 rad/s and an HTHS value of less than about 3.3. In some embodiments, the ethylene-propylene branched copolymer is used as a viscosity modifier in a lubricating composition and a fuel composition.

Lubrication fluids are applied between moving surfaces to reduce friction, thereby improving efficiency and reducing wear. Lubrication fluids also often function to dissipate the heat generated by moving surfaces.
One type of lubrication fluid is a petroleum-based lubrication oil used for internal combustion engines. Lubrication oils contain additives that help the lubrication oil to have a certain viscosity at a given temperature. In general, the viscosity of lubrication oils and fluids is inversely dependent upon temperature. When the temperature of a lubrication fluid is increased, the viscosity generally decreases, and when the temperature is decreased, the viscosity generally increases. For internal combustion engines, for example, it is desirable to have a lower viscosity at low temperatures to facilitate engine starting during cold weather, and a higher viscosity at higher ambient temperatures when lubrication properties typically decline.
Additives for lubrication fluids and oils include rheology modifiers, such as viscosity index (VI) improvers. VI improving components, many of which are derived from ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymers, modify the rheological behavior of a lubricant to increase viscosity and promote a more constant viscosity over the range of temperatures at which the lubricant is used.
It is anticipated that the performance of VI improvers can be substantially improved, as measured by the thickening efficiency (TE) and the shear stability index (SSI), by appropriate and careful manipulation of the structure of the VI improver.
The use of blends of amorphous and semi-crystalline ethylene-based copolymers for lubricant oil formulations has allowed for increased thickening efficiency, shear stability index, low temperature viscosity performance and pour point. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,402,235 and 5,391,617, and European Patent 0 638,611, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Currently, for olefin-based viscosity modifier applications, commercial materials are linear ethylene-propylene polymers (either random or blocks of ethylene- or propylene-rich). Other commercial materials such as SV and PMAs have different molecular architectures.
There remains a need, however, for novel rheology modifier compositions comprised of ethylene and alpha-olefin-based copolymers suitable for use as VI improvers which have good high temperature thermal-oxidative stability, high temperature corrosion resistance, low frictional property, low cold crank viscosity, and low gelation property while still having excellent low temperature solution rheological properties. Moreover, there remains a need for highly-branched ethylene-propylene-based polymer viscosity modifiers (EP-based VMs) which have close performance to other commercial products but at lower costs.
References of interest include: 1) U.S. Publication No. 2014/0256893; 2) U.S. Publication No. 2015/0141596; 3) U.S. Pat. No. 8,053,529; 4) U.S. Pat. No. 8,188,200; 5) U.S. Pat. No. 8,338,557; 6) U.S. Publication No. 2015/0141601; 7) U.S. Pat. No. 7,087,686; 8) U.S. Pat. No. 7,928,164; 9) U.S. Pat. No. 9,580,533; 10) U.S. Pat. No. 6,300,451; 11) U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,595; 12) A. Valente, et al., Chem. Rev., 2013, 113, 3836-3857; 13) Vaughan, A; Davis, D. S.; Hagadorn, J. R. in Comprehensive Polymer Science, Vol. 3, Chapter 20, "Industrial catalysts for alkene polymerization"; 14) Gibson, V. C.; Spitzmesser, S. K. Chem. Rev. 2003, 103, 283; 15) Britovsek, G. J. P.; Gibson, V. C.; Wass, D. F. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1999, 38, 428; 16) International Publication No. WO 2006/036748; 17) McGuire, R. et al. Coordination Chemistry Reviews, Vol 254, No. 21-22, pages 2574-2583 (2010); 18) U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,753; 19) U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,794; 20) P. Chem. Rev. 2013, 113, 3836-38-57; 21) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 9913-9923; 22) Lub. Sci. 1989, 1, 265-280; 23) Lubricant Additives, Chemistry and Applications, pages 293-327, CRC Press, 2003; 24) Chemistry and Technology of Lubricants, 3rd edition, pages 153-187, Springer, 2010; 25) U.S. Publication No. 2013-0131294; 26) U.S. Publication No. 2002/0142912; 27) U.S. Pat. No. 6,900,321; 28) U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,657; 29) International Publication No. WO 2005/095469; 30) U.S. Publication No. 2004/0220050 A1; 31) International Publication No. WO 2007/067965; 32) Froese, R. D. J. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, pp. 7831-7840; 33) International Publication No. WO 2010/037059; 34) U.S. Publication No. 2010/0227990 A1; 35) International Publication No. WO/0238628 A2; 36) Guerin, F.; McConville, D. H.; Vittal, J. J. Organometallics 1996, 15, p. 5586; 37) U.S. Pat. No. 7,973,116; 38) U.S. Pat. No. 8,394,902; 39) U.S. Patent No. 2011-0224391; 40) U.S. Publication No. 2011/0301310 A1; 41) U.S. Pat. No. 9,321,858; and 42). International Publication No. WO 2015/073157.

Ethylene-propylene branched copolymers as viscosity modifiers with enhanced fuel economy


A system for quickly and easily accessing preselected desired addresses or URLs on the Internet is disclosed in which a unique jump code for a particular desired address is published by printing it in an advertisement in a Yellow Pages directory or in a newspaper advertisement or by announcing it during a television or radio program. The user enters the jump code into an Internet location for receiving it, e.g., the home page of the Yellow Pages publisher, to access the desired address without typing the full URL. The user can then receive more information, promotional coupons, or the like.

The present invention is directed to a system for providing users of the Internet with easy access to the World Wide Web. More particularly, the present invention is directed to providing a central location which World Wide Web users of the Internet can reach and can then instruct to provide them with ready access to a particular location on the World Wide Web portion of the Internet.
Use of the Internet, a worldwide network of millions of computers in more than a hundred countries, has become a major communications and information medium influencing many aspects of business and personal life. At the present time, almost every large corporation, university, government, organization, and many businesses and individual users around the world are connected to and have access to the worldwide network known as the Internet. The Internet is a collection of individual computer networks which are connected to each other by means of high-speed telephone and satellite data links, and which are all connected by a public-domain communications software standard.
The Internet was developed in the late 1960s, when it was established by the United States Defense Department as a research project for use by defense contractors and universities. The purpose of the Internet at that time was to create a military computer network which could still function reliably if any parts of it were destroyed in a nuclear war. A series of standardized communications protocols for sending information around the computer network were developed in order to ensure against the inherent unreliability of telephone lines and exposed telephone switching stations.
For over 25 years, the Internet was used primarily as a research-oriented computer communications network for universities, defense contractors, governments, and organizations in science and academia. During those years, it grew slowly but steadily, and its proved, freely available communications protocols were also adopted by the computer and telecommunications industries and by large corporations, who used the Internet for electronic mail communications between and among their companies. In 1992, the United States Government turned over operation of the Internet""s high-speed data links to commercial communications networks. That transfer, as well as the concurrent explosion in the use of personal computers, local area networks, bulletin boards systems, and consumer-oriented on-line services, caused the Internet to grow tremendously. Because of the convergence of those events, a critical mass for acceptance of the Internet as a standard means for the worldwide connection of individual computer networks of all kinds and sizes was created.
One of the reasons for the explosive growth of the Internet is the widespread acceptance of the Internet as the standard for electronic mail. The Internet is also well known for its two other main features, its Usenet newsgroups, which constitute thousands of on-line discussion groups covering a wide variety of business, personal, and technical subjects, and perhaps the most commercially important Internet phenomenon, the World Wide Web. The Internet is also increasingly used for real-time chat.
The World Wide Web or Web, as it is more commonly known, is a standardized method of combining the display of graphics, text, video and audio clips, as well as other features, such as secure credit card transactions, into a standardized, graphical, friendly interface that is easy for anyone to use. That is in contrast to the use of the Internet for electronic mail, which primarily consists of rapid text-based communications among individuals.
The Web was designed by a British scientist in 1991 as a way to let researchers easily publish scientific documents online. The creation of the first point-and-click software for xe2x80x9cbrowsingxe2x80x9d the Web, known as Mosaic, by the University of Illinois, enabled ready access to the Web by non-technically skilled users. Then, commercial companies, such as Netscape Communications Corporation, developed more sophisticated Web browsers, such as Netscape""s Navigator. Another Web browser is Internet Explorer from Microsoft Corporation, which is distributed with Microsoft Windows. Web browsers are also provided by well-known major on-line computer services such as America Online (AOL) and the Microsoft Network (MSN).
The standard protocols which define the Web work in combination with a Web browser which runs on personal computers and handles the chores of accessing and displaying graphics and texts, and playing back video and audio files found on the Web. In addition to providing Web access, Web browsers and the Web tie together all the Internet""s other useful features that existed before the advent of the Web, such as the newsgroups, FTP text file access, and, of course, sending or receiving electronic mail.
The World Wide Web standards are essentially a text coding, or xe2x80x9cmark-upxe2x80x9d method, where selected elements in a text file, such as article headlines, subheads, images and important words highlighted in the body of a text file can, by the insertion of special, bracketed codes (called HTML or Hyper Text Mark-up Language codes), be turned into hot links that are easily and instantly accessible by anyone with a Web browser.
The World Wide Web is considered by many to be the true information superhighway. In fact, the World Wide Web is such an important aspect of the Internet in most people""s minds that the terms xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cWorld Wide Webxe2x80x9d are popularly (but incorrectly) used as synonyms. The World Wide Web lays the foundation for the use of the Internet as an entirely new broadcast medium, one which provides individuals, groups, and companies with unprecedented new opportunities for broadcast communication. For example, it is now fairly easy to create one""s own Web site or address on the Web such that all users on the Internet can reach it. The Web thus provides an outlet for anyone who desires to self-publish articles, graphics, video clips, and audio files over the net. Since any individual Web site can be freely accessed by anyone else with Web access, anyone who creates a Web site has a form for broadcasting their information, news, announcements, or creative works to an audience of millions. In addition, communication by Internet electronic mail can be established by any member of this audience with the author of a Web site, thus providing a new level of two-way communication to this new broadcast medium.
Because the Web provides several key benefits for Internet users, those benefits are encouraging the explosive growth of the Web and, ultimately, the acceptance of the Internet as the world""s de facto computer communications medium.
First, using the Web is simplicity itself. Compared to the confusing Unix based commands which were once required to use the Internet, using a Web browser provides the user with the same friendly, graphical point-and-click access to all the Internet""s features that the users have come to expect from any good stand-alone Windows commercial software product. Once a user has accessed the Web, any of the millions of Web sites and their linked articles, text articles, graphic images, video/audio clips, extensive software libraries, and communications features are easily accessible with a click of the user""s mouse key. In addition, any good Web browser software also opens up the Web""s multimedia potential by providing users with instant and automatic access to helper applications software that automatically plays video and sound clips. Such multimedia potential has become a big attraction on the Web.
Web browsers also have a bookmark or favorites feature, which allows the user to capture and save the location of any Web site that is visited, so that such sites can be readily reaccessed by clicking on it from the user""s Web browser at any time.
Using the Web, users can get instant access to many types of information, entertainment, and interactive resources which are now available on the Web. Because of the explosion of newly created Web sites, the user can get access to useful, practical information on an almost infinite variety of subjects. The Web also provides an instant connection to millions of other people on the Internet. The resources which may be found on the Web are almost limitless.
In order to understand the use and operation of the Web, it is believed that certain terms that will be used herein should be defined. A Web browser, as previously discussed, is a software program used to access the Web; typically, it is a graphical, Windows-based software program which is used on a personal computer to access the Web. A Web site or Web page (terms often used interchangeably, although, as noted below, they are not strictly synonymous) describes an individual location on the Internet containing a single Web-published feature. A Web site is basically a collection of files located under a directory somewhere on someone""s computer connected to the Internet. A Web site may consist of one Web page or of many Web pages, and usually also includes on-screen graphics, pictures, texts and video and audio clips, or an archive of software that can be downloaded, stored and used freely on the visitor""s own personal computer.
Frequently, Web pages utilize links or hot links, two terms which are used interchangeably, to describe words or groups of words which are highlighted on Web pages. When a visitor clicks on a link with his mouse, he is immediately linked to another Web site or location on the current Web site containing the information that is referred to by the link. Any single Web site may contain dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of hot links, both to other sections within the same site or to other Web sites located anywhere else in the world.
Some Web pages also include a links page which consists of lists of links to many other Web sites. These are often a Web site author""s favorite sites or feature links to Web sites pertaining to a specific subject.
Every Web site has an exact address, or location on the Web. Such addresses are known as a Uniform Resource Locator or URL. URLs consist of a confusing string of subdirectories, files or executable commands, separated by slashes, which are extremely difficult to work with and which must be typed into the user""s Web browser exactly as they appear, including the use of upper and lower-case letters, in order to go to a Web site. While clicking on hot links will get the user to a Web site without having to type in a URL or copying a URL from a text file (if it is located on the user""s computer) and pasting it into the user""s Web browser-screen, can save the user from this arduous task, the use of URLs has become the bane of the use of the Web.
Another difficulty with Web addresses is faced by advertisers who desire to use the Internet to provide their potential customers with targeted promotional offers and other highly specific information in connection with their ongoing marketing programs. For example, a company wishing to print an Internet Web address in its print advertising, featuring a link to a special promotional offer available to readers of that advertisement, or a link to a Web page containing information which is highly specific to the individual product being advertised, would ordinarily have to include a long Web address in its advertising, which the reader of the ad would have to enter, manually, to reach the specific promotional or informational Web page on the Internet, referenced by the company""s advertisement.
This problem increases with the size of the company""s marketing programs. For example, a large company with a large product line and an extensive nationwide advertising program may wish to offer readers of its print advertising many highly targeted Internet links; for example, with links to special promotions offered only in certain regional areas, or for a certain products, or to provide other highly specific information which is pertinent only to readers of a particular advertisement placed in a limited number of print publications. Ordinarily, to provide such links, this large company would have to print a long Web address in each of its print advertisements to link the reader of the ad directly to the pertinent, highly specific Web-based information on the company""s product. Readers of the company""s print advertising would find it a very tedious and difficult process to enter these long Web addresses. Because of this problem, most advertisers, regardless of the sizes of their advertising budgets, are unable to realize the full potential of the Internet""s ability to provide their potential customers with instant, targeted promotional offers and other useful, highly-specific product information.
In light of the above-described drawbacks of accessing the World Wide Web, it is clear that there is still a need in the art for a system for quickly and easily accessing selected beneficial sites or addresses on the World Wide Web portion of the Internet.
Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a system by which users of the World Wide Web portion of the Internet can readily access preselected Web sites or Internet addresses, after they have gained access to the World Wide Web portion of the Internet. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a specialized Web site which can be used in conjunction with published jump codes to readily and automatically access other Web sites or Internet locations, without the user having to remember or input the URL of the desired Web site.
Even more particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printed publication containing descriptions of selected Web sites or addresses together with jump codes therefor which can readily be used in conjunction with a specialized Web site which includes software which, upon recognizing the inputted jump code, quickly and automatically accesses the desired Web site.
It is a further object of the present invention to be able to use the system of the present invention with any one of personal computers connected to the Web, Television Internet Terminal devices, wireless devices, or any other electronic device which can be used for Internet access.
The system of the present invention utilizes a published list of preselected Web sites. Each of the selected Web sites is assigned a specific jump code (of four digits in one particular embodiment). A user desiring to access one of the preselected Web sites first gains access to the World Wide Web, using a Web browser, by accessing a special Web site which contains software for receiving any of the published four-digit jump codes and, based upon the stored relationship of the URLs corresponding to the input jump code, directly accesses the Web site corresponding to the jump code inputted by the user.
In the case of so-called xe2x80x9cset topxe2x80x9d TV Internet Terminals, the user accesses the specialized Web site using the TV Internet Terminal and then enters the desired jump codes using a remote control which is similar to a standard television channel selector. In that manner, users with the TV Internet Terminal will be able to access the desired Web sites using their television, the TV Internet Terminal, and the remote control push buttons.
Of course, the invention is usable with any device capable of accessing the Internet, such as a personal computer, a set-top device, or a WAP-enabled mobile device. That device can access the Internet in any way; for example, it is contemplated that home users will typically use dial-up access, DSL, or a cable modem.
The published compilation of preselected Internet locations is published in any of a variety of ways. One example is a localized printed Yellow Pages telephone directory published in a localized metropolitan area, in which case the unique predetermined jump code is published within a printed display advertisement in the localized Yellow Pages telephone directory published for a localized metropolitan area. The unique predetermined jump code can be published within any printed display advertisement for a restaurant business establishment, in which case the printed display advertisement is published in the xe2x80x9cRestaurantsxe2x80x9d category of the localized Yellow Pages telephone directory published for a localized metropolitan area. The same can be done for a doctor""s office or health care provider, an automobile dealership, a local retail store, or any other business that advertises in the Yellow Pages.
Another example is that of newspaper advertisements. In that example, the published compilation of preselected Internet locations is published as a printed newspaper published for a localized metropolitan, area, in which case the unique predetermined jump code can be published within a printed display advertisement in the newspaper. Alternatively, it can be published in a text classified advertisement, e.g., a xe2x80x9cClassifieds-For Sale,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cReal Estate,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cHelp Wanted,xe2x80x9d or similarly-worded classified advertising category.
Still other embodiments concern the characteristics of the desired preselected Internet location. For example, in one such embodiment, the desired preselected Internet location displays a viewable screen which contains one or more promotional savings coupons or other promotional offers, which are displayed to the user after entry of the jump code corresponding to the desired preselected Internet location. In another, the desired preselected Internet location displays a viewable screen which contains an on-screen map and/or text providing the user with directions to the location of the advertised business establishment, which is displayed to the user after entry of the jump code corresponding to the desired preselected Internet location. In still another, the desired preselected Internet location displays a viewable screen which contains a photograph of the actual advertised item being offered for sale by the advertiser, which is displayed to the user after entry of the jump code corresponding to the desired preselected Internet location. In yet another, the desired preselected Internet location displays a viewable screen which contains an HTML-based hyperlink which provides for transmission of an electronic document file, which is displayed to the user after entry of the jump code corresponding to the desired preselected Internet location. As one particular example, the electronic document file to be transmitted can be a resume to be sent to a prospective employer. Technologies for providing coupons, maps and the like over the Internet are well known in the art and will therefore not be described in detail here; however, their use in conjunction with the present claimed invention is considered to be novel.
In the cases involving Yellow Pages and newspapers, a specific URL for entry of the jump code can be assigned to each publication and printed in the publication. Similarly, if jump codes are published over broadcast media, such a URL can be assigned to each network or to each station. In that manner, jump codes can be reused from publication to publication (network to network, etc.) with no fear of confusion.
With these and other objects, advantages and features of the invention that may become hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, the appended claims and to the several drawings attached herein.
Another problem solved by at least one embodiment of the invention is the need for print publishers and advertisers to link their print readers to very specific Internet addresses from their print publications, for the purposes of offering readers highly specific and targeted Internet-based promotions and specific and useful supplemental information on the advertised item. For example, an advertiser wishing to link a reader to a specific Web address containing additional, highly-specific information on the item or topic being referenced by the advertisement (such as a promotional offer which is targeted specifically to the readers of a particular issue of a publication), is faced with the option of having to print a long Web URL in the print advertisement which references that specific information available at the specific Internet location. Without the use of a jump code which links the reader to the specific Internet location providing this information, the advertiser would have to use additional, costly advertising space to print a long URL in the ad, and would subject the reader to the arduous task of having to enter this long URL to reach this Internet location. Since entry of long URLs can be a confusing task that is subject to a high probabilility of error, and since URLs must be entered in exactly by the user to reach the Internet location, a reader who mis-types this URL will be unable to reach the desired Internet location.
A short, 4- or 5-digit jump code printed in display or text classified advertisements, which links the reader to the specific Web address containing the promotional or other highly-specific information referenced in the advertisement, makes it much easier for the user to reach the specific Internet location containing the promotion or information desired by the user. By mapping a highly specific Web link to an easily-entered jump code, an advertiser can also offer a promotion which is highly targeted to the advertisement placed in the specific issue of the publication, and is able to offer promotional opportunities or useful supplemental information to the reader that are highly specific to the advertising placement in that specific issue of the printed publication.

System and method for providing easy access to the world wide web