A metformin-cysteine prodrug. It is believed that the prodrug of the present invention will transport in the LAT1 and LAT2 transporter system. Because the LAT1 and LAT2 transporters are important and effective transporters of amino acids in both the small intestine and colon, it is believed that the LAT-transportable prodrugs of the present invention will be effectively absorbed both in small intestine and in the colon. The increased absorption window provided by the present invention should result in highly sustained plasma concentrations of metformin, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the medication and allowing for a single daily dose.

"A consensus statement from the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes recommends metformin therapy as first-line therapy along with lifestyle modification to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus." Philbrick, Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., 2009 Nov. 15; 66 (22):2017-23. According to Wikipedia, metformin was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1958, Canada in 1972, and the United States in 1995. Metformin is now believed to be the most widely prescribed anti-diabetic drug in the world. In the United States alone, more than 40 million prescriptions were filled in 2008 for its generic formulations. Because of metformin's status as a first line diabetic therapy, Bristol-Myers Squibb's diabetic drug Glucophage® brought in peak sales of $1.7 billion before its patent expired in 2000.
Metformin is a synthetic biguanadine having a molecular weight of about 165. Its molecular structure is shown in FIG. 1a.
It is believed that metformin improves glucose control in diabetics by increasing AMPK in hepatocytes, thereby providing control over glucose production.
Despite the effectiveness of metformin as a diabetes medication, it nonetheless suffers from some drawbacks. In particular, Marathe, Br. J. Clin., Pharmacol., 50, 325-332 (2000) has reported that, while metformin is effectively taken up in the small intestine, it is poorly absorbed in the colon. As a result, the time window for effective plasma concentrations of metformin is limited to about 6 hours. See, for example, FIG. 4 of US Patent Publication 2007-0154548 (Cheng Xiu), which reports that the window in which metformin is above ½ of its Cmax is only about 6 hours. Because of this narrow absorption window, metformin is typically presecribed to be taken about 2-3 times a day.
A number of attempts at improving the bioavailability of metformin involve providing metformin in an extended release dosage form that releases metformin in the colon. See, for example, US Patent Publication 2007275061; US Patent Publication 2007264331; and US Patent Publication 2009124702. However, these efforts to not improve the uptake efficiency of metformin in the colon.
Other attempts at improving the bioavailability of metformin involve providing metformin salts of lipophilic acids. See, for example, US Patent Publication 2003-0220301 (Lal).
US Patent Publication 2005-0158374 (Wong) discloses a complex comprised of metformin and a transport moiety, such as a fatty acid, is described. Wong reports that this complex has an enhanced absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, particularly the lower gastrointestinal tract. The complex, and compositions and dosage forms prepared using the complex, provide for absorption by the body of the drug through a period of ten to twenty-four hours, thus enabling a once-daily dosage form for metformin.
Other attempts have been made to improve the bioavailability of metformin by delivering it as a more lipophilic prodrug. In particular, the investigators in Huttunen, J. Med. Chem., 2009, 52, 14, 4142-4148 noted that N—S bonds may be cleaved by endogenous thiols and created sulfonamide prodrugs of metformin (FIG. 1c). The investigators report that the enhanced lipophilicity of these prodrugs appear to allow their passive diffusion into intestinal cells and that the metformin bioavailability increased from about 43% to about 60%.


A method of handling uplink time alignment for a communication device in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The method comprises being configured a primary cell and at least a secondary cell by a network of the wireless communication system, transmitting a random access preamble of a random access procedure on the secondary cell when one of the at least a secondary cell is activated, and receiving a random access response including a timing advance command for the secondary cell on the primary cell, the secondary cell, or another one of the at least a secondary cells.

1. Field of the Invention
The application relates to a method utilized in a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method of handling uplink time alignment in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A long-term evolution (LTE) system, initiated by the third generation partnership project (3GPP), is now being regarded as a new radio interface and radio network architecture that provides a high data rate, low latency, packet optimization, and improved system capacity and coverage. In the LTE system, an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) includes a plurality of evolved Node-Bs (eNBs) and communicates with a plurality of mobile stations, also referred as user equipments (UEs).
According to structure of the LTE system, time alignment (TA) functionality allows a user equipment (UE) with a component carrier to be synchronized with a serving base station on uplink timing for preventing signals transmitted from the UE from colliding with those sent from other UEs under the coverage of the base station. In the TA functionality, the UE has to maintain a time alignment timer whose running state indicates that uplink transmission is still synchronized. The network controls the TA functionality of the UE with a timing advance command. In detail, the network uses a MAC Protocol Data Units (MAC PDU) to transmit the timing advance command to the UE. A MAC PDU consists of a MAC header, zero or more MAC Service Data Units (MAC SDU), zero, or more MAC control elements, and optionally padding. A MAC PDU header consists of one or more MAC PDU subheaders, and each subheader corresponds to either a MAC SDU, a MAC control element or padding. A MAC PDU subheader consists of the six header fields R/R/E/LCID/F/L but for the last subheader in the MAC PDU and for fixed sized MAC control elements. The last subheader in the MAC PDU and subheaders for fixed sized MAC control elements consist solely of the four header fields R/R/E/LCID. A MAC PDU subheader corresponding to padding consists of the four header fields R/R/E/LCID.
Moreover, MAC PDU subheaders have the same order as the corresponding MAC SDUs, MAC control elements and padding. In addition, the MAC control elements are always placed before any MAC SDU. Padding occurs at the end of the MAC PDU. Note that, a MAC control element carrying the timing advance command is called a timing advance command MAC control element, and is identified by a MAC PDU subheader with a LCID.
Toward advanced high-speed wireless communication system, such as transmitting data in a higher peak data rate, LTE-Advanced system is standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as an enhancement of LTE system. LTE-Advanced system targets faster switching between power states, improves performance at the cell edge, and includes subjects, such as bandwidth extension, coordinated multipoint transmission/reception (COMP), uplink multiple input multiple output (MIMO), etc.
For bandwidth extension, carrier aggregation is introduced to the LTE-Advanced system for extension to wider bandwidth, where two or more component carriers are aggregated, for supporting wider transmission bandwidths (for example up to 100 MHz) and for spectrum aggregation. According to carrier aggregation capability, multiple component carriers are aggregated into overall wider bandwidth, where the UE can establish multiple links corresponding to the multiple component carriers for simultaneously receiving and transmitting. In carrier aggregation, the UE only has one RRC connection with the network. At RRC connection establishment/re-establishment/handover, one serving cell provides the NAS mobility information, and at RRC connection re-establishment/handover, one serving cell provides the security input. This cell is referred to as a primary cell (PCell). In the downlink, the component carrier corresponding to the PCell is the Downlink Primary Component Carrier (DL PCC) while in the uplink it is the Uplink Primary Component Carrier (UL PCC). In addition, cells other than the PCell are named secondary cell (SCell).
Note that, the PCell (i.e. the UL and DL PCC) is always activated, whereas the SCell may be activated or deactivated according to specific conditions (e.g. an amount of data for transmission). The UE shall not monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of a deactivated SCell and shall not receive any downlink assignments or uplink grants associated to a deactivated SCell. The UE shall not transmit on UL-SCH on a deactivated SCell. In addition, the network activates and deactivates the SCell by sending the Activation/Deactivation command.
According to the prior art, it is possible to configure a UE of a PCell and one SCell or more SCells. Therefore, multiple timing advances are needed for PCell and SCell or more SCells in different bands. To get a multiple timing advance for a configured SCell, the UE performs a random access procedure by transmitting a preamble on the configured SCell. However, the LTE-Advanced system does not clearly specify from where (e.g. PCell or which SCell) the UE should receive a random access response including a timing advance command. Furthermore, the LTE-Advanced system does not clearly specify how to handle the configured SCell when the UE fails to complete the random access procedure.
A conventional MAC control element contains one timing advance command for updating uplink timing of a UE in RRC connected mode. When the UE receives the conventional MAC control element, the UE does not know which cell (e.g. PCell or SCell) the timing advance command should be applied. Besides, if a network wants to update uplink timing for the uplink component carriers (i.e. 5 component carriers), the network has to send 5 MAC control elements in 5 MAC PDUs, which is not efficient.

Method of handling uplink time alignment


A multilayer polyester film is characterized in that a polyester (B) layer mainly composed of a polyester (B) is arranged on at least one side of a polyester (A) layer mainly composed of a polyester (A). The multilayer polyester film is also characterized by having an elastic modulus of 20 to 1000 MPa in an atmosphere at 23° C. and an elastic modulus of 10 to 200 MPa in an atmosphere at 120° C., and having substantially no-orientation.

Biaxially oriented polyester films have been conventionally used as a forming film for use in molding a transfer foil (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 6-210799 and 2000-344909), but formability for transferring the foil to a material having a large drawing ratio or a complicated shape is insufficient when the biaxially oriented polyester films are used in forming use, e.g., for use as transfer foils.
In addition, as a polyester film for the improvement of formability, a transfer foil using a copolymerized polyester film with a lower forming stress compared with a biaxially oriented polyester film (for example, see Japanese Patent No. 3090911) and a polyester film directed for use in formed, processed, and printed products, containing a specific glycol component (e.g., butanediol) as a glycol component constituting a polyester (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-97261) have been proposed. However, transfer foils using these polyester films are easily whitened by an organic solvent contained in a printing ink, such as ethyl acetate, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, acetone and the like and, thus, the transparency and smoothness of the film surface become deteriorated, causing a problem of easy occurrence of printing defects because printability is not considered particularly although formability is good. Accordingly, a film having a solvent resistance to various solvents contained in a printing ink, i.e., a film excellent in printability, has been demanded.
Further, although a non-oriented polyester film has a good formability compared to a biaxially oriented film, the film is sequentially coated with a release film layer, a top layer, and a printing layer when it is used, for example, for forming uses such as transfer foils. Each layer can be sequentially formed by applying a coating solution dissolved in a solvent for the formation of these layers, such as ethyl acetate, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, acetone and the like or a mixture thereof, and drying the solvent. The temperature to dry the solvent under heating is near the boiling point of each solvent, or at or above the boiling point of each solvent (ethyl acetate (boiling point: 77° C.), methyl ethyl ketone (boiling point: 80° C.), toluene (boiling point: 110° C.), acetone (boiling point: 56° C.)). However, compared to the biaxially oriented film, the non-oriented polyester film is easy to produce a transformation such as wrinkles, elongation, shrinkage and the like when a tension is applied at a drying temperature which is at or above the glass transition temperature because the molecules are not fixed due to such an stretching and thermal treatment, as well as when it is transferred on a molded product, a printed matter is transformed to cause a molding defect, resulting in a problem that the heat resistance to 80 to 120° C. is insufficient.
Moreover, a polyester sheet for molded part obtained by laminating a thermoplastic polyester having a melting point of 180° C. or higher and a crystallization parameter Δ Tcg (crystallization temperature-glass transition temperature) of 50° C. or lower on both sides of another thermoplastic polyester has been proposed (for example, see Japanese Patent No. 3139512). However, heat resistance and solvent resistance of the film are insufficient because the thickness of the multilayer laminate and the crystallinity on the surface of the multilayer laminate have not been considered and, thus, such a film does not satisfy all of the heat resistance, solvent resistance, and formability.
Furthermore, non-oriented polyester films are an amorphous film obtained by rapid cooling to a glass transition temperature or lower, followed by solidification upon cooling. These amorphous films are thermodynamically in the non-equilibrium state, and thermodynamic quantities such as volume and enthalpy in a range of from room temperature to the glass transition temperature are relaxed to cause physical degeneration without chemical changes. It is said that a heterogeneous structure is generated in the amorphous film due to the enthalpy relaxation or volume relaxation, and such a heterogeneous structure as a fault causes embrittlement. On the other hand, because a biaxially oriented film is crystallized or oriented by stretching or heat-set, the molecule is difficult to move and these relaxation phenomena do not occur. The thinner the amorphous film thickness is, the more easily the relaxation phenomenon progresses. The thicker the film thickness is and the longer the length of the molecule is (the larger the intrinsic viscosity of the film is), the more the relaxation phenomenon occurs although its progress is delayed. Specifically, an elongation at break of the film immediately after its production shows a few hundred percent, but the elongation at break after the passage of time is a few percent, and when various processings such as slit formation are performed, break and tear easily occur, leading to bad handling. Accordingly, improvements have been demanded for this embrittlement over time.
Therefore, a film which can satisfy all of flexibility, heat resistance, solvent resistance, printability, formability, and embrittlement resistance over time has been desired.
It could therefore be helpful to provide a multilayer polyester film including a polyester (B) layer mainly composed of a polyester (B) laminated on at least one side of a polyester (A) layer mainly composed of a polyester (A), wherein the flexibility and embrittlement resistance over time of the film are retained by specifying the elastic modulus of the multilayer film in an atmosphere at 23° C. and 120° C., and the heat resistance, solvent resistance, printability, and formability are also retained by defining the thickness of the polyester (B) layer within a specific range as well as defining a face orientation coefficient within a specific range.


An image forming system configured to eject ink onto a sheet conveyed in a first direction including a first head including a plurality of first ejection ports configured to eject the ink; a second head including a plurality of second ejection ports configured to eject the ink; an input part configured to be input ejection port information on the plurality of first ejection ports and the plurality of second ejection ports; and a controller configured to control ejection of the ink from the first ejection ports and the second ejection ports based on the ejection port information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an image forming system including inkjet heads configured to eject ink to a sheet to form an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A serial recording system or a line head recording system is applied to most of image forming apparatuses with printing functions for forming images using ink (printers, multi-functional peripherals, etc.). The serial recording system includes a recording head configured to scan a sheet. The line head recording system includes a fixed head unit.
The head unit used for the image forming apparatus with the line head recording system ejects the ink onto a conveyed sheet to effect a recording operation. The head unit includes a plurality of ejection ports arranged in accordance with the width dimension of the sheet.
Many types of image forming apparatuses are configured to effect printing operation on various sizes of sheets. The length of the fixed recording head mentioned above is set in accordance with the width of the largest sheet. In many cases, the head unit includes a plurality of connected heads in order to ensure a printing area large enough for the largest sheet. The head unit with the plurality of heads is produced relatively easily.
The alignment of the ejection ports in the head unit in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction significantly affects qualities of an image to be formed. The heads therefore have to be connected carefully. An excessively wide space between the ejection ports at a connection portion of the heads causes a defective area, where the ink does not adhere in an image formed on the sheet. The defective area where the ink does not adhere to the image looks like a stripe extending along the conveying direction of the sheet. An excessively narrow space between the ejection ports at the connection portion of the heads causes a partial or overall overlap of dots of the ink ejected from the ejection ports at the connection portion. The overlapped dots results in a deeper printing area on the formed image. As a result, the highly deeper printing area looks like an outstanding stripe on the sheet. Therefore, the distance between the ejection ports at the connection portion of the heads has to be determined very carefully.
A specific head unit includes a pair of heads partially overlapped so as to align a pair of ejection ports in the sheet conveying direction in the connected part between the heads. The ejection of the ink from the pair of ejection ports is switched selectively.
The heads including the pair of ejection ports mentioned above are positioned on a supporting board. The heads has to be mounted onto the supporting board very accurately in order to prevent the formation of the stripe on the sheet by selectively ejecting the ink from the pair of ejection ports.
In order to check if the heads are mounted onto an appropriate position or not, a user forms an image on the sheet by ejecting the ink from the heads mounted onto the supporting board. The user then measures a relative space between dots of the ink forming the image through microscopic observation. When the heads are mounted onto inappropriate positions, the user displaces the heads on the supporting board and checks the space again. Therefore, the user is required to perform a complicated adjustment work for positioning the heads according to the conventional manner.


A rotary vacuum drum drying system is described. The system may include a plurality of sensors and a control system operatively coupled with the plurality of sensors. The control system includes a processing device to monitor a plurality of parameters of the vacuum drying system received from the plurality of sensors and automatically adjust one or more of the plurality of parameters based on the monitor of the plurality of parameters.

Rotary vacuum drum dryers were originally developed as a means to separate solids from a slurry. Vacuum drum dryers are one of the first industrial systems created to separate solids from liquids, and are prevalent in diverse industries from food production, wine and distilled spirits production, and the production of various materials for the construction sector. In basic vacuum drum dryers, the level of the slurry tank with respect to the rotating drum and the rotational speed of the drum are the two parameters most commonly used to make performance adjustments.

Intelligent control system for rotary vacuum drum drying system


Consumer operated kiosks for recycling electronic devices are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the kiosk includes a rotatable inspection plate configured to receive an electronic device when the inspection plate is in a first position. The kiosk can include a camera having a field of view including at least a portion of the inspection plate. The kiosk can include a wired and/or wireless connectivity device configured to connect to the electronic device and one or more processors configured to: receive characteristic information about the electronic device via the wired and/or wireless connectivity device; cause the inspection plate to rotate to a second position; receive one or more images of the electronic device via the camera when the inspection plate is in the second position; and facilitate determination of an offer price for the electronic device based at least in part on the characteristic information and the one or more images.

There are more mobile phones in use now than there are people on the planet. The rapid growth of mobile phones is due in part on the rapid pace at which these devices evolve. Because of the rapid pace of development, a relatively high percentage of mobile phones are replaced every year as consumers continually upgrade to obtain the latest features or a better operating plan. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. alone disposes of over 370 million mobile phones, PDAs, tablets, and other electronic devices every year. Millions of other outdated or broken mobile phones are simply tossed into junk drawers or otherwise kept until a suitable disposal solution arises.
Although many mobile phone retailers and cell carrier stores now offer mobile phone trade-in or buyback programs, many old phones still end up in landfills or are improperly disassembled and disposed of in developing countries. Unfortunately, however, mobile phones and similar devices typically contain substances that can be harmful to the environment, such as arsenic, lithium, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc. If not properly disposed of, these toxic substances can seep into groundwater from decomposing landfills and contaminate the soil with potentiality harmful consequences for humans and the environment.
As an alternative to retailer trade-in or buyback programs, consumers can recycle and/or sell their used mobile phones using self-service kiosks located in malls, retail stores, or other publicly accessible areas. Such kiosks are operated by ecoATM, LLC, the assignee of the present application, and aspects of these kiosks are described in, for example: U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,881,965, 8,195,511, 8,200,533, 8,239,262, 8,423,404 and 8,463,646; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 62/169,072, 62/202,330, 62/332,736 62/782,302 and 62/782,947; and U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 14/498,763, 14/500,739, 14/506,449, 14/568,051, 14/598,469, 14/660,768, 14/663,331, 14/873,145, 14/873,158, 14/925,357, 14/925,375, 14/934,134, 14/964,963, 14/967,183, 14/966,346, 15/057,707, 15/130,851, 15/176,975 and 16/719,699, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Kiosk for evaluating and purchasing used electronic devices


A polyacetal resin composition suitable for providing a plate-shaped resin molded article that satisfies all of the following: high flatness, low shrinkage ratio anisotropy (high dimensional stability), high creep resistance, high impact strength, and excellent color stability during residence in the molding machine. The polyacetal resin composition for molding a plate-shaped molded article includes 100 mass parts of a polyacetal resin having a melt index (according to ASTM D1238, 190° C., 2.16 kgf) of 2.0 g/10 min to 4.0 g/10 min; 0.1 mass parts to 2 mass parts of a polyacetal copolymer that is a copolymer of (b1) trioxane, (b2) a compound having two to four cyclic ether units per one molecule, and (b3) a compound having one cyclic ether unit per one molecule, the polyacetal copolymer having a branched or crosslinked structure; and 0.1 mass parts to 1 mass part of a hindered phenol antioxidant.

Currently, in doors of many automobiles, so-called power windows are adopted. A power window is provided with a window regulator which raises and lowers a window glass by electric power, and a window regulator is constituted by comprising a carrier plate which holds the window glass, and a guide rail which extends in a raising and lowering (up and down) direction, and which moves the carrier plate in a raising and lowering (up and down) direction by the operation of a motor.
It is preferable for the carrier plate to be made of resin, because it is possible to attempt to design for mass reduction of the vehicle, and to increase cost efficiency. Among these, it is preferable for the carrier plate to be made of a polyacetal (POM) resin, because it is excellent in mechanical characteristics, thermal characteristics, slidability, moldability, and the like.
Patent Document 1 discloses a carrier plate made of polyacetal resin reinforced by a thickened reinforcing portion or the like, constituted by comprising a plate-shaped main body, and a reinforcing portion.
Incidentally, the carrier plate is mounted in a space between a door outer panel and a door inner panel in a door main body constituted by comprising a door outer panel and a door inner panel. The volume of this space is limited, moreover, members other than the carrier plate are also accommodated in this space. In addition, the carrier plate is a relatively large resin molded article, occupying a length of about 10 cm in both the longitudinal and transverse directions.
Hence, when molding a plate-shaped molded article from a polyacetal resin composition, there is demand for increasing the flatness of the resin molded article, such that it can be suitably accommodated in a limited space without interfering with other members, and increasing the dimensional stability while suppressing shrinkage ratio anisotropy due to molding as much as possible. Furthermore, in addition to creep resistance and impact strength, from the viewpoint of the quality consistency of the molded article when molding, there is high demand for color stability when remaining in the molding machine. If the color is unstable when remaining in the molding machine, molding condition dependency arises, whereby it may not be possible to consistently maintain a stable product quality.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-314819

Polyacetal resin composition for molding plate-shaped molded article, plate-shaped molded article, and carrier plate of window regulator


The present invention provides a gate driver and liquid crystal display device. The gate driver, for driving scan lines of liquid crystal display device, includes: an input buffer, for receiving clock signal, first frame start pulse signal and second frame start pulse signal; shift register, including n+2 triggers, connected serially from the first trigger to the n+1st trigger, a clock signal input terminal of the n+2nd trigger being connected to the clock signal transmission line, wherein n being a natural number, when the first frame start pulse signal starting, the shift register shifting vertical synchronization signal and outputting n+1 outputs of shift registers based on the clock signal; a voltage level shifter, for shifting the output of the shift register to predefined voltage level and outputting shifted result serially; and an output buffer, for applying output of voltage level shifter to scan lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of liquid crystal displaying techniques, and in particular to a gate driver and liquid crystal display device.
2. The Related Arts
To solve the problem of color shift at large view angle in large-size thin film transistor liquid crystal display device (TFT-LCD), a low color shift (LCS) technique is often used. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the known driver of LCS liquid crystal display device. The LCS liquid crystal display device is usually large-size full high definition (FHD) TFT-LCD. LCD 1 usually comprises a display panel 2, source drivers SD1, SD2, . . . , SD6, gate drivers GD1, GD2, GD3, GD4, a timing controller 3, on a control board 4. The control board 4 is connected to driver board (X board) through flexible bus FFC so that the timing controller 3 can provide control signals to the source drivers SD1, SD2, . . . , SD6. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the structure of the internal circuit of the display panel surrounded by the dash lines. The LCS structure demands that the total number of output channels of a plurality of gate drivers disposed in a cascade manner at one side of the display panel is more than the total number of rows displayed by the TFT-LCD by one. The number of rows of pixels displayed by FHD TFT-LCD is 1080, which results in a total of 1081 output channels of the plurality of gate drivers. The number of output channels of known gate drivers is usually divisible factor of 1080, such as, 270 output channels, 360 output channels, or 540 output channels. As a result, four 270-channel gate drivers, three 360-channel gate drivers or two 540-channel gate drivers can be cascaded to form 1080 output channels. However, the above configurations cannot support the last, i.e., the 1081st scan line driving of the LCS in FIG. 2. A known method uses an additional gate driver to drive the 1081st scan line, and the extra output channels in the additional gate driver are all wasted. In addition, the numbers of the output channels in each of the cascaded gate drivers will be different, which also complicates the setting of the voltage levels of the related pins of the output channels of gate drivers.

Gate driver and liquid crystal display device

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


A composition and method is provided to modify sperm fertility and sex ratio of mammalian offspring. The composition includes an amount of a class of compounds of phenoxazine or phenothiazine, having the structure (see FIG. 1) and ionic derivatives thereof, wherein R1 is H, a lower alkyl group or N (R3)2, R2 is N, S, O, and R3 is H or a lower alkyl group. A second component of the composition is an amount of an electron transfer agent capable of oxidizing a reduced cofactor (NADPH or NADH). A third component of the composition is an amount of a hexose sugar and/or the phosphorylated esters of such. When mixed with living sperm prior to or at the time of insemination, the composition results in modified rates of conception and an alteration of birth sex ratio.

The present invention relates to compositions and methods for treating sperm for the purpose of modifying sperm function and the gender ratio in offspring of mammalian species. The invention is further directed to a method of using the composition to modify the functionality of mammalian sperm in general and more specifically, to increase sperm fertility for the purpose of enhancing conception. In addition, the invention can be used to modify the fertility of X-chromosome and Y-chromosome bearing sperm and using said sperm in the reproduction processes of artificial insemination (AI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and embryo transfer (ET) for the purpose of modifying gender in mammals.
It is well documented in mammalian species that the X-chromosome contains a unique set of genes which are highly conserved across mammals as well as other vertebrates. One of the X-linked genes codes for the ubiquitous enzyme, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH). G6PDH is a pivotal enzyme in glucose metabolism and is the primary regulator of the hexose-mono phosphate shunt (HMS), also known as the pentose phosphate shunt (PPP). The main function of the HMS is to produce NADPH, which is necessary for reduction-oxidation reactions and to form ribose-5-phosphate for nucleic acid synthesis.
G6PDH also play an important role in glucose oxidation via glycolysis, a primary source of cellular energy. Glucose metabolism is implicated in the fertilization process in many mammalian species. It is well accepted that glucose metabolism through glycolysis provides energy to sperm. However, the role of glucose metabolism through the hexose-monophosphate shunt (HMS) in spermatozoa is not understood. The existence of an HMS pathway in mouse and human sperm has been documented, but not in other species including ram or bull sperm. However, techniques used for these early studies have come into question and the evidence does not disprove the existence of the HMS in sheep or cattle sperm.
The implications of a functioning HMS in sperm, as found in human and mouse sperm, suggests that sperm need to produce NADPH via the HMS to achieve fertilization. Since NADPH metabolism has been implicated in sperm motility and fertilization, it also suggests that the HMS is a key metabolic pathway in sperm capacitation, the acrosome reaction, and oocyte fusion.
While investigating the role of G6PDH and the HMS as a method to sex mouse embryos, I first used the phenoxazine compound, brilliant cresol blue (BCB) in living embryos to detect and semi-quantify G6PDH activity and successfully transplant these embryo to produce normal living offspring. This study demonstrated that BCB and its metabolites were relatively non-toxic in the early-staged mouse embryos. My studies with bovine embryos revealed similar results.
Prior art teaches that the HMS in bovine oocytes, the phenoxazine/phenothiazine class of compounds can be used to increase glucose oxidation specifically through the Hexose Monophosphate Shunt (HMS) and that BCB stimulates a 15-fold increase in oxidation of glucose through the HMS as well as an increased level of glucose metabolism through the HMS in female embryos.
I also first used the electron transfer agent, NADPH oxioreductase (Diaphorase) to further amplify the HMS in living mouse and cattle embryos No patents concerning the use of phenoxazine/phenothiazine and/or electron transfer agents in living gametes or embryos have arisen from these studies.
It is well documented that early staged female embryos exhibit preferential metabolism of glucose via the HMS. This is due to the presence of two X-chromosomes and elevated levels of G6PDH. However, there is no prior art concerning differential glucose metabolism of X-chromosome and Y-chromosome bearing sperm. Concerning this invention, it is postulated that mammalian sperm (like embryos) retain a HMS pathway and metabolize glucose and more specifically, G-6-P, through this pathway to produce NADPH. It is also postulated that the X-chromosome bearing (female) sperm can preferentially oxidize G-6-P through the HMS pathway due to higher levels of X-linked enzyme, G6PDH, relative to the Y-chromosome bearing (male) sperm. The reason for the sex differential in oxidation of G-6-P is speculative but could have arisen as a mechanism to regulate sex allocation in natural populations. Given this assumption, the X-chromosome bearing (female) sperm is thought to readily oxidize glucose-6-phosphate through the HMS pathway. When sperm are exposed to a chromo-phenoxazine compound, the HMS pathway is promoted and amplified to produce large amounts of NADPH. This amplification occurs until the phenoxazine compound is completely reduced to the leuco-phenoxazine form or the reaction is inhibited due to substrate depletion. With the addition of excess pentose substrate (preferentially G-6-P), the reaction continues until complete phenoxazine reduction. The other major component and potentially rate-limiting to the reaction is NADP+. This cofactor is needed in the first and third steps of the HMS pathway. Endogenous electron transfer agents such as NADPH dehydrogenase or NADPH oxidase are unlikely to be available in sustainable titers. However, with the addition of an exogenous electron transfer agent such as NADPH oxioreductase (usually coupled with a cofactor flavin mononucleotide), the NADPH is oxidized to NADP+ during the transfer of electrons, i.e., the reduction of the chromo-phenoxazine. The NADP+ is then available for reuse in the HMS pathway. Under these conditions, the oxidation of the available pentose sugar, G-6-P, can continue until the substrate becomes limiting or the phenoxazine become completely reduced. The result of the amplification of the HMS are large amounts of reducing power in the form of NADPH which are correlated with increased sperm function, motility, and fertilization capacity. Other substrate precursors such as ribose-5-phosphate, lactate, pyruvate, and NADH would also be generated in high titers and would be available for increased rates of glycolysis, ATP production, and respiration. These precursors could result in increased sperm function, higher motility, and more specifically, increased fertilization capacity for of the X-chromosome bearing (female) sperm.
Another observation I have made is that when sperm are exposed to Brilliant Cresol Blue, there is reduced sperm motility and fertility. This loss of motility is postulated to be due to a quenching of the HMS, a shut-down of oxidative phosphorylation, a loss of respiration potential and reduced ATP production. The result is a potential loss of fertilization capacity and sperm viability. In the composition of this invention, it is postulated that the Y-chromosome bearing (male) sperm are exposed to phenoxazine compounds without the benefit of G6PDH. As a result, the male sperm cannot oxidize the available G6P through the HMS pathway and are unable to generate large quantities of NADPH necessary to reduce the chromo-phenoxazine. This in turn results in reduced motility and fertility of the Y-chromosome bearing (male) sperm.
In addition, NADPH oxioreductase may have the opposite effect on the Y-chromosome bearing sperm than what occurs in the X-chromosome bearing sperm. One possibility is that NADPH oxioreductase inhibits glycolysis. This inhibition may be competitive, related to redox potential, or may be due to the high level of specificity of the NADPH oxioreductase enzyme for the NADH that is generated in glycolysis. While the exact mechanism is unknown, it has been observed that the Y-chromosome bearing (male) sperm, when exposed to the composition of this invention, have reduced fertility.
Patent documents of interest concerning methods to preferentially modify sperm function include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,191,749, 4,191,749, 4,999,283, 4,788,984, 6,627,655, and 20070166694.
Patent documents of interest concerning the use of phenoxazine BCB in living tissue are limited to in vitro assays, dye indicators, and staining methodology. These include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,790,411, 6,867,015, 6,967,015, 6,420,128, and 4,622,395.
Patent documents of interest related to methods of modifying sex ratio in mammals by cell sorting technology include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,524,860, 6,372,422, 6,149,867, 6,071,689, and 5,135,759.
Patent documents of interest related to modifying sex ratio in mammals by antigen or antibody sorting include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,489,092, 6,153,373, 5,660,997, and 5,439,362.

Composition and method to modify sperm fertility and female gender ratio in mammals


Disclosed is a novel means for accurate qualitative and quantitative analyses for each N-glycosylation site. The method of analyzing N-linked sugar chain(s) of glycoprotein according to the present invention comprises: treating a part of a glycopeptide-containing sample to be analyzed with endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidases to cleave off sugar chains while leaving one GlcNAc of the chitobiose core on the Asn at the N-glycosylation site; subjecting the obtained sugar chain-cleaved sample to preliminary liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry; predicting the retention time of the glycopeptide of interest and the mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of the precursor ion in main analysis based on the results of the preliminary liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry; and carrying out the main analysis. By this method, the binding sites and structures of N-linked sugar chains in a glycoprotein can be analyzed. By using the sugar chain-cleaved sample as an internal standard in the main analysis, quantitative analysis of sugar chains at each glycosylation site also becomes possible.

Sugar chains are important post-translational modifications of proteins. In recent years, analyses of their structures and functions have been rapidly advanced. As methods for such analysis of glycoproteins and glycopeptides, a method using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry has been widely used. One of the most common techniques for analyzing the structures of N-linked glycoproteins and glycopeptides using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry is to cleave sugar chains off with peptide-N-glycanase (PNGase F), change the asparagine (Asn) to which an N-linked sugar chain is bound into aspartic acid (Asp), and detect this change, thereby determining a position where the N-linked sugar chain is bound (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Non-patent Document 1).
However, the methods of observing the change of Asn present in an N-glycosylation site to Asp using PNGase F have two problems: one is that it can not be determined whether the change to Asp is due to deamidation of Asn or due to treatment with PNGase F; and the other is that misidentification tends to frequently occur due to the change in mass from Asn to Asp being as small as +1 Da.
These problems have been handled, for example, by a method in which sugar chain cleavage is carried out in stable isotopically labeled H218O to label the hydroxy group of the carboxyl group of Asp with 18O during conversion of Asn at the glycosylation site into Asp. According to this method, the change in mass becomes +3 Da, which makes it possible to discriminate the conversion of Asn from deamidation of Asn, thereby reducing misidentification due to mistakes in monoisotopic peak picking (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).
As for quantitative analysis of sugar chains released from glycoproteins or glycopeptides, a method in which all N-linked sugar chains are cleaved off and released from proteins with PNGase F, labeled, and then measured using liquid chromatography or the like is well known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Method and system for analyzing N-linked sugar chains of glycoprotein

PUBLIC UNIVERSITY CORPORATION YOKOHAMA CITY UNIVERSITY


A filter for use in a baghouse. The filter is to be supported by a tubesheet that separates dirty fluid and clean fluid chambers of the baghouse. The filter including a filtration bag that has an open end adjacent to the tubesheet and an encircling sidewall that extends from the open end to a distal end along a direction of a central axis of the filtration bag. The bag sidewall permits passage of fluid there through so that the fluid may pass from the dirty fluid chamber to the clean fluid chamber and blocks passage of at least some particulate material against proceeding to the clean fluid chamber. The filter includes a cage located within the filtration bag. The cage has structure to permit expansion of the cage to increase a cage diameter that forces the bag sidewall taut against the cage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fluid (e.g., air) filters, and more particularly, to bag fluid filters that can be utilized with a baghouse environment.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Fluid filters are known and used in many different applications, including baghouses. Each baghouse may be provided with one or more fluid filters for filtering dirty fluid (e.g., air) in various functions such as fuel-based power generation, chemical/cement/mineral processing, incineration, etc. Current technology filters include filter cartridges, which have filtration media and associated structures provided and replaced as a unit, and replaceable "bag" media which envelope cages that need not be replaced as often as the bag-type media.
Focusing upon bag-type media, the underlying cages are generally elongate and have a cylindrical shape. The filtration bag generally has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the cage enveloped by the filtration bag. It is to be appreciated that replacement of the filter media onto a cage involves an insertion movement of the cage into the bag, with the bag being a receptacle for the cage. The dimensions of the cage relative to the bag are such that the cage can be inserted into the filtration bag without binding of the bag and also such that the filtration bag is not damaged (e.g., torn, punctured, or otherwise stressed). As such, there is some amount of space or looseness of the filtration bag relative to the cage. In other words, the filtration bag is not form-fitting to the cage to allow the insertion to occur.
In view of the looseness of the bag, it is possible that some bag movement relative to the cage can occur during operation. For example, during filtration flow, the filtration bag may be forced against the cage because of a flow. However, during a pulse cleaning cycle, the filtration bag may move away from the cage. Movement of the filtration bag may cause stresses, wear or the like. It may be beneficial to reduce or eliminate some filtration bag movement to help avoid stress, wear, etc.
Such stress, wear, etc. can be more of an issue for certain types of bags. For example, some types of bags include glass fibers. One specific example type of glass-containing bags are bags that include woven glass fibers. Often the woven glass fibers may include fibers extending vertically and fibers extending horizontally. The glass fibers can and do break if bent/flexed beyond a tolerance level during bag movement. The above-mentioned bag movement can thus cause breakage of the glass fibers. Such fiber breakage may be especially prevalent at folds, pleats, creases or the like. Fibers that extend transversely to such folds, pleats, creases or the like may have a heightened amount of bending/flexing at the folds, pleats, creases or the like and thus may have a heightened propensity to break. As such, the bag may develop damage or wear "patterns" at the folds, pleats, creases or the like. For very long bags, the folds, pleats, creases tend to extend along the elongation of the bag. So, if the bag is vertically oriented, the folds, pleats, creases or the like would similarly be vertically extending. Therefore, the damage or wear "patterns" may extend along the relatively long extent of the bag and thus can become significant.
Accordingly, it may be beneficial to reduce or eliminate some filtration bag movement to help avoid stress, wear, etc.


An automatic performance apparatus which easily changes the tempo and direction of automatic performance of a musical instrument, for example, to a rhythm of a rap music such that a disc jockey operates a scratch disc. Clock frequency SQCK of sequence counter 202 is changed in accordance with the speed and quantity of rotation of disc 102 and ball 1101 rotated with user's fingers, so that the timing of reading event data and event time data out of sequencer memory 206 is controlled and the tempo of the automatic performance is changed. When the user changes the rotational direction of disc 102, counter 202 performs a decrementing operation in accordance with a rotational direction signal output from rotational direction detector 110, thereby giving a reverse automatic performance. At the start of the automatic performance, disc 102 starts to rotate at a predetermined rotational speed in accordance with tempo data read out of sequencer memory 206 to thereby determine the initial tempo of the automatic performance (FIG. 1).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for control of a read-out state of data on automatic performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
An automatic performance apparatus sequentially reads out data on automatic performance stored in a memory, and delivers this data to a sound source circuit to thereby reproduce a musical tone automatically.
In this case, the reproduction tempo of the automatic performance is generally determined by a fixed tempo clock. General techniques for changing the reproduction tempo use an up switch and a down switch such as those disclosed in published unexamined Japanese patent application Hei 2-244094 (published Sep. 28, 1990). The user operates the up switch and down switch to change the frequency of the tempo clock and hence the reproduction tempo. However, depression of a switch such as that technique is not easy for the user to use because the user must depress the switches many times/continue to depress them to gradually change the frequency of the tempo clock in order to arrive at a desired reproduction tempo.
A "disk jockey" who is in charge of control of record reproduction in a "discotic" manner uses an operating method "scratch" such as changes the rotational speed of the record disk by depressing the rotating record disk with his fingers to change the reproduction tone of the record.
When such operation technique "scratch" is applied to the automatic performance apparatus, the use of the up switch/down switch would not achieve a very rapid tempo adjustment.
CASIO Computer Co., Ltd. to which this invention is expected to be assigned has manufactured and sold since Jun. 20, 1991 articles which produce a sound in accordance with the rotation of a "scratch disk" attached to an electronic musical instrument under the trade name "RAP-1 ".
This article has a first and a second switch below the scratch disk. By rotating the scratch disk clockwise through a predetermined angle to render the first switch conductive while it is rotated counterclockwise through a predetermined angle to render the second switch conductive. When the first and second switches are rendered conductive, sounds with different timbre scratch effects are produced. As just described above, the scratch disk of the conventional electronic musical instrument only rotates the rotating disk through a predetermined angle to produce a special effect sound in place of depression of a push button.
Therefore, even if the scratch disk techniques for the conventional electronic musical instruments are applied to an automatic performance apparatus, the device still has the same drawbacks as the conventional up switch/down switch. Thus, the development of a scratch disk suitable for automatic performance has been desired.

Automatic performance apparatus with operated rotation means for tempo control


An electrode includes a structure comprising a porous material and an electrically-conductive liquid covering at least a portion of the porous material, wherein the electrode is configured to be immersed in fluids of interest, the electrically-conductive liquid being immiscible in the fluids of interest.

Production of hydrocarbons involves extracting fluids from reservoirs in geologic formations. Typically, the extracted fluids include more than just a hydrocarbon of interest. For example, production of oil may involve producing oil, water and gas. Operators obtain production logs, which provide an indication of an amount of a component relative to other components in extracted fluid, to analyze dynamic well performance and assess the productivity or injectivity of different zones in a reservoir. Production logging helps diagnose problems in wells or monitor a stimulation or completion operation. Further actions involving production, such as changing production parameters or providing further stimulation, are contemplated depending on the results of the production logs. Hence, innovations that improve the accuracy and reliability of production logging would be well received in the production industry.


An adhesive patch is provided in which piroxicam is formulated as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic. In particular, provided is a piroxicam-containing transdermally absorbable adhesive patch in which an absorption promoter to piroxicam is formulated to achieve high anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects without inhibiting releasing of these drugs. The piroxicam-containing transdermally absorbable adhesive patch contains piroxicam as a medicinal component and oxybuprocaine or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof as an absorption promoter. In the piroxicam-containing transdermally absorbable adhesive patch, the content of piroxicam is from 0.1% to 5% by weight to the total weight of a drug-containing plaster and the content of oxybuprocaine or the pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof is from 1% to 30% by weight to the total weight of the drug-containing plaster.

A variety of adhesive patches of the transdermally absorbable preparations formulated with various local anesthetics as transdermal absorption promoters for a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic have been developed and studied for many years (Patent Documents 1 to 9).
This is based on the idea that release of the absorption promoter formulated in the adhesive patch preparation promotes release of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic, thereby resulting in an effective transdermally absorbable adhesive patch showing excellent transdermal absorption.
However, many local anesthetics are basic drugs while many non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics are acidic drugs. Therefore, when these drugs were simultaneously formulated in the adhesive patch, these formed salts and inhibited drug releasing of each other thereby to fail to obtain the desired medicinal effect.

Piroxicam-containing transdermally absorbable preparation


A metal-resistant radio frequency tag that has a broader band pass band (frequency versus communication range) characteristic compared to conventional techniques is achieved. For this purpose, the radio frequency tag according to the present invention includes a first resonator pattern, the first resonator pattern including a chip connecting section to which a chip is to be connected, and an inductance section that is capable of adjusting an impedance matching with the chip; and a second resonator pattern that is fed through electromagnetic induction coupling via the inductance section.

The RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system has been known as one of wireless communication systems. Such an REID system generally includes a radio frequency tag (also referred to as an RFID tag) and a reader-writer (RW) apparatus, wherein information is read from or written into the radio frequency tag from the RW apparatus by means of wireless communication.
Known radio frequency tags include one type of tags that can operate by using a power source embedded in the radio frequency tag (such a type is referred to as "active tags") and another type of tags that operate by using radio waves received from a RW apparatus as driving power (such a type is referred to as "passive tags").
In an RFID system using a passive tag, the radio frequency tag operates an embedded integrated circuit, such as an IC, an LSI, or the like, using radio signals from an RW apparatus as driving power, and performs various processing in accordance with received radio signals (control signals). The transmission from the radio frequency tag to the RW apparatus is achieved using reflected waves of the received radio signals. That is, various information, such as a tag ID or results of the processing, is carried on the reflected waves, which is sent to the RW apparatus.
Note that a variety of frequency bands have been used for RFID systems, and recently the UHF band (860 MHz-960 MHz) is attracting attentions. The UHF band enables long distance communications, compared to the 13.56 MHz band or the 2.45 GHz band that have been conventionally used. Frequencies around 868 MHz, 915 MHz, and 953 MHz are used in Europe, in the United States, and in Japan, respectively. The communication ranges of radio frequency tags (hereinafter, simply referred to as "tags") in the UHF band are about between 3 meters and 5 meters, although they depend on an integrated circuit, such as an IC chip, an LSI, or the like, used in the tags. In addition, the output powers of RW apparatuses are about one watt (W).
Note that conventional radio frequency tags include those disclosed in Patent Reference 1 and Patent Reference 2 that are listed below, for example.
Patent Reference 1 discloses a planar antenna that can simplify the structure and reduce the cost, wherein the planar antenna includes a cut-out section that is formed by cutting the base plate into a certain shape from a certain edge. The folded structure is provided only in the cut-out section, which can reduce impedance, enabling matching to a 50Ω feed line without requiring additional circuits, such as an impedance conversion circuit.
Patent Reference 2 discloses a radio frequency tag including a planar antenna formed from a pair of antenna patterns and an IC chip connected to a feeding point of the planar antenna for the purpose of achieving a broader band coverage while reducing the antenna impedance in the radio frequency tag. In the antenna patterns forming the planar antenna, the increased pattern width at the sides distant from the feeding point is formed as a surface pattern with respect to the edge of the feeding point, thereby achieving a broader band coverage of the planar antenna (covering a width of 89 MHz). At the same time, an auxiliary pattern formed adjacent to the planar antenna is formed as a surface pattern having the same area as one antenna pattern of the planar antenna, instead of forming as a linear antenna for reducing the antenna impedance.
Typical sheet-like radio frequency tags that are designed to be attached to a corrugated cardboard or a plastic surface have pass bandwidths of about 200 MHz, and thus can cover the operating frequencies used in all of Europe, the United States, and Japan. However, metal-resistant tags that can be attached on a metal surface have quite narrow pass bands and are designed to be country-specific.
For example, if a planar antenna that has the shape depicted in FIG. 16 and has the communication range characteristic with respect to frequency as depicted in FIG. 15, when the central frequency is adjusted to the operating frequency used in the United States (US), the communication range is extremely dropped at the operating frequencies used in the Europe (EU) and Japan (JP) which are located at two ends. When the central frequency is adjusted to the operating frequency in Europe or Japan, the communication range is similarly extremely dropped at operating frequencies of other regions. In addition, even when used within the same country, the communication range of tags is dropped due to the shift of the frequency characteristic if the tags are attached to a curved surface, or the permittivity (∈r) or the thickness (t) of dielectric substrates (spacer substrates) that are included in the tags.
Accordingly, tags that can be attached on a metal surface and has a broader band frequency characteristic covering all of the operating frequencies used in Europe, the United States, and Japan are desired.
Although patch antennas are typically used for such metal-resistant tags, it is also possible to arrange multiple patch antennas having different sizes in order to achieve a broader band coverage, for example. Non-Patent Reference 1 that is described later discloses an example of such a configuration, although it is not for an RFID tag.
According to Non-Patent Reference 1, when multiple patch antennas are arranged on the same plane, as depicted in FIG. 1 of Non-Patent Reference 1, in order to prevent the patch antennas from interfering with each other, the patch antenna are required to be spaced apart with a spacing of at least half wave (0.5λ).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-140735
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-109396
Non-Patent Reference 1: Desai, B.; Gupta, S., "Dual-band microstrip patch antenna", Microwave, Antenna, Propagation and EMC Technologies for Wireless Communications, 2005. MAPE 2005. IEEE International Symposium on Volume 1, 8-12 Aug. 2005 Page (s): 180-184 Vol. 1

Radio frequency tag and method of manufacturing the same


An expanded sequence number is added to PDUs in a Bluetooth® low energy system. The expanded sequence number provides more accurate identification of the PDUs and allows the system to avoid delaying transmission of PDUs while retransmitting other PDUs. A PDU security sequence number may also be added to the PDUs. The security sequence number is used to create a unique nonce for use in encrypting or decrypting and authenticating the PDU. Using the security sequence number, a failed connection can be reestablished between two devices without the need of generating an encryption key. The security sequence number allows the devices to perform encryption or decryption and authentication using an existing key and a nonce generated from the security sequence number.

In the Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) link layer, the header in each data channel protocol data unit (PDU) includes a sequence number (SN) bit and a next expected sequence number (NESN) bit for controlling the sequencing of PDUs exchanged between two devices. The SN bit in a PDU is set by the sending device of the PDU to indicate the sequence number of the PDU being sent. The SN bit value is stored by the device to track the sequence number of the last PDU sent. The SN bit is initialized to 0 by the device upon entering the connection state. The SN bit is changed (from 0 to 1 or vice versa) for each new PDU sent by the device, but is not changed when a PDU is resent by the device.
The NESN is set to indicate the sequence number of the next expected PDU. The NESN is initialized to 0 by a device before receiving a PDU in the connection state. The NESN value is stored by the device to track the sequence number of the next expected PDU. The NESN is changed (from 0 to 1 or vice versa) upon receiving an expected PDU, i.e., when a PDU is received with a valid cyclic redundancy check (CRC) and with an SN equal to the NESN currently stored on the device, but remains unchanged upon failing to receive an expected PDU, i.e., when a PDU is received with an invalid CRC or with an SN that is not equal to the NESN currently stored on the device.
Data PDUs are transmitted by a sender and acknowledged by a receiver. If a data PDU is not positively acknowledged by the receiver, then the data PDU will be retransmitted by the sender until a positive acknowledgement is received. Retransmissions of a PDU may take relatively long time. BLE has a short preamble, and its access address and PDU are uncoded. The probability of PDU reception failure due to erred access address or CRC, for example, is approximately thirty percent. PDU reception failure may occur in either direction, which effectively doubles the PDU failure rate. Also, because the SN and NESN are each only one bit long, failure to receive two expected data or acknowledgement PDUs in a row may not be detected by the receiving device.
PDUs are retransmitted by the sender until a positive acknowledgement is received, which can lead to excessive retransmissions of time-sensitive data. This can result in the meaningless transmission of old data. When the recipient eventually receives these aged PDUs, it will unknowingly treat the PDUs as containing timely information.
Additionally, while waiting for a proper acknowledgement of previously sent PDUs, the excessive retransmission of the old PDUs holds up timely transmission of new PDUs. By the time the new PDUs are finally transmitted—after waiting for an old PDU to be acknowledged, for example—the new PDUs will be aged too. BLE is prone to packet reception failures, and hence excessive retransmissions of PDUs result in the reception of aged information and the delay of new data.
The current one-bit sequence number does not allow the sender to discard packets in the retransmission process. Discarding a PDU by the sender leads to another packet being discarded by the recipient—without the knowledge of both the sender and recipient. If encryption is enabled, discarding a PDU at the sender leads to invalid message integrity code (MIC) at the recipient, causing unnecessary loss of the connection and suspicion of security attacks. BLE's current reliance on a packet counter to do implicit counting of received PDUs also does not allow the sender to discard packets in the retransmission process as a result different packet counter values may be derived at the sender and the recipient.
The BLE system and the operation of the sequence number (SN), connection formation, and encryption is described in the "Specification of the Bluetooth System, Specification Volume 6, Core System Package [Low Energy Controller volume]," dated Jun. 30, 2010 and published by the Promoter Members of Bluetooth SIG, Inc., ("the Bluetooth Low Energy Controller specification"), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Methods to improve bluetooth low energy performance


In many computer systems, the rate of data from an input source may become significantly faster than a processor""s ability to respond. This situation occurs when a faster and more modern system writes to an older and slower legacy system. The result of this interaction between disparate capacity systems may be system failure or data corruption, particularly due to overloading the slower system""s input queue to the point where it can no longer catch up to its workload. The invention provides a method, system, and computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for transferring data between disparate capacity systems. The method comprises the steps of receiving transactions from a first computer system at a first rate and providing the transactions to a second computer system, wherein the second computer system receives the transactions at a second rate. The second computer system may be a database legacy database server and the first computer system may be an updated database server The second rate is set at a capacity of the second computer system. The method further delays for a predetermined period of time the transactions when the first rate exceeds the second rate. The predetermined period of time is a function of the second rate.

The present invention relates to the field of data transfer. More specifically, the present invention relates to transferring data between disparate capacity database systems.
A database system is a collection of information organized in such a way that data may be accessed quickly. Database applications are present in everyday use including automated teller machines, flight reservation systems, and internet-account systems of all types. A database management system (DBMS) is a collection of programs that allow the entry, modification, and selection of data in a database. There are various types of DBMSs, ranging from small systems that run on personal computers to larger systems that run on mainframe systems.
Requests for information from a database are made by a database server using a query language. Different DBMSs support different query languages, including a standardized language called xe2x80x9cstructured query languagexe2x80x9d (SQL), for example. Database servers that use SQL are often referred to as xe2x80x9cSQL servers.xe2x80x9d SQL supports distributed database systems, which are databases that are spread out over several server systems, yet act as one. A distributed database system must replicate and synchronize data among its many databases. In this way, a distributed database system may enable several users on a network to access the same database simultaneously without interfering with one another. Therefore, a distributed database system may have many SQL servers located in various locations, each responsible for certain portions of the database""s overall operation.
In distributed database systems often there occurs a disparity in the relative capacity to perform work among the individual databases in the system. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to new demand conditions, addition of newer hardware in one subsystem which is substantially faster than the legacy systems, and progressive redesign and redeployment of portions of an existing system. Moreover, it may be more efficient to gain the functionality of a new distributed database by dividing the database""s operation between a newer and faster database server and the legacy server. In either case, the result is that various versions of database servers simultaneously may exist in one database system.
Although having multiple versions of SQL servers in one database system may be more cost efficient, often this scenario causes technical concerns. This is particularly true, for example, where a database system is designed to allow a faster upgraded database server to automatically transact with a slower legacy database that may be in various states of repair. In this instance, transactions may be received from the upgraded server at a rate faster than the legacy server can process them. This disparate capacity is particularly troubling in a distributed database system where the overwhelming rate of transactions entering the legacy system may break down the replication process and return corrupted or stale data to the upgraded server.
To date, when confronted with these disparate server systems, administrators are forced to upgrade the slower legacy system to be compatible with the faster upgraded system. Therefore, there exists a need to regulate incoming transactions from the upgraded server to a rate that is compatible with the slower legacy server.
In many computer systems, the rate of data from an input source may become significantly faster than a processor""s ability to respond. This situation occurs, for example, when a faster and more modern system writes to an older and slower legacy system. Such interactions between disparate capacity systems may result in failure or data corruption, particularly due to overloading the slower system""s input queue to the point where it can no longer catch up to its workload. For example, in a database computer system, when the rate of incoming transactions from an updated database system exceeds a smaller capacity database system""s ability to process transactions, system failure may occur. In some instances when this situation arises, system administrators may upgrade the legacy database system to operate with the updated database system. In running production systems, this is often operationally unfeasible, or not feasible in a reasonable time frame. Where system upgrade is impossible or unfeasible, there exists a need to slow incoming transactions down to a rate compatible with the slower legacy system.
The invention provides a method, system, and computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for transferring data between disparate capacity systems. The method comprises the steps of receiving transactions from a first computer system at a first rate and providing the transactions to a second computer system, wherein the second computer system receives the transactions at a second rate. The second computer system may be a database legacy database server and the first computer system may be an updated database server The second rate is set at a capacity of the second computer system. The method further delays for a predetermined period of time the transactions when the first rate exceeds the second rate. The predetermined period of time is a function of the second rate.

Method and system for transforming data between disparate capacity database systems


An object of the present invention is to provide a punching method using a punch, which makes it possible to effectively improve the durability of a tooth portion of the punch. In a punching method using a punch for forming a through-hole in a workpiece by punching the workpiece using a punch, at least a tooth portion of the punch is made substantially solid when the workpiece is punched by the punch, and the tooth portion is made substantially hollow, thereby a diameter of the tooth portion is reduced by a reaction force received from the workpiece, when the workpiece is separated from the punch after the punching of the workpiece.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a punching method using a punch for forming a through-hole in a workpiece by punching the workpiece using a punch and a punch for punching, which is employed for carrying out the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a punching method using a punch and a punch for punching are known from the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2006-305599.
Conventionally, a punch used for punching a workpiece is entirely solid, and thus has a high rigidity. This makes it possible to enhance the precision in dimensions of the hole formed by the punching. In this case, in order to improve the durability of a tooth portion of the punch, attention has been directed to improvements in the material of the punch and the thermal processing performed thereon. However, even such approaches have certain limitations.

Punching method using punch and punch for punching


A semiconductor device including integrated insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET) elements and one or more negative differential resistance (NDR) field-effect transistor elements, combined and formed on a common substrate. Thus, a variety of circuits, including logic and memory are implemented with a combination of conventional and NDR capable FETs. Because both types of elements share a number of common features, they can be fabricated with common processing operations to achieve better integration in a manufacturing facility.

The present application is also related to the following applications, all of which are filed simultaneously herewith, and which are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein:
An application Ser. No. 10/029,077 entitled xe2x80x9cMEMORY CELL UTILIZING NEGATIVE DIFFERENTIAL RESISTANCE FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORSxe2x80x9d; and
An application Ser. No. 10/028,394 entitled xe2x80x9cDUAL MODE FET and LOGIC CIRCUIT HAVING NEGATIVE DIFFERENTIAL RESISTANCE MODExe2x80x9d;
An application Ser. No. 10/028,089 entitled xe2x80x9cCHARGE PUMP FOR NEGATIVE DIFFERENTIAL RESISTANCE TRANSISTORxe2x80x9d;
An application Ser. No. 10/028,085 entitled xe2x80x9cIMPROVED NEGATIVE DIFFERENTIAL RESISTANCE FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR (NDR-FET) and CIRCUITS USING THE SAMExe2x80x9d.
This invention provides a semiconductor device, having a variety of applications such as a bistable latch or a logic circuit, in which one or more insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET) elements and one or more negative differential resistance (NDR) field-effect transistor elements are combined and formed on a common substrate. The present invention is applicable to a wide range of semiconductor integrated circuits, particularly for high-density memory and logic applications.
Devices that exhibit a negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristic, such that two stable voltage states exist for a given current level, have long been sought after in the history of semiconductor devices. A new type of CMOS compatible, NDR capable FET is described in the aforementioned applications to King et al. referenced above. The advantages of such device are well set out in such materials, and are not repeated here.
NDR devices and their applications are further discussed in a number of references, including the following that are hereby incorporated by reference and identified by bracketed numbers [ ] where appropriate below:
[1] P. Mazumder, S. Kulkarni, M. Bhattacharya, J. P. Sun and G. I. Haddad, xe2x80x9cDigital Circuit Applications of Resonant Tunneling Devices,xe2x80x9d Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 86, No. 4, pp. 664-686, 1998.
[2] W. Takao, U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,996, xe2x80x9cMultiple-valued logic circuitxe2x80x9d (issued Jun. 30, 1998)
[3] Y. Nakasha and Y. Watanabe, U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,145, xe2x80x9cResonance tunnel diode memoryxe2x80x9d (issued Feb. 14, 1995)
[4] J. P. A. Van Der Wagt, xe2x80x9cTunneling-Based SRAM,xe2x80x9d Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 87, No. 4, pp. 571-595, 1999.
[5] R. H. Mathews, J. P. Sage, T. C. L. G. Sollner, S. D. Calawa, C. -L. Chen, L. J. Mahoney, P. A. Maki and K. M Molvar, xe2x80x9cA New RTD-FET Logic Farnily,xe2x80x9d Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 87, No. 4, pp. 596-605, 1999.
[6] H. J. De Los Santos, U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,549, xe2x80x9cBipolar junction transistor (BJT)-resonant tunneling diode (RTD) oscillator circuit and method (issued Mar. 16, 1999)
[7] S. L. Rommel, T. E. Dillon, M. W. Dashiell, H. Feng, J. Kolodzey, P. R. Berger, P. E. Thompson, K. D. Hobart, R. Lake, A. C. Seabaugh, G. Klimeck and D. K. Blanks, xe2x80x9cRoom temperature operation of epitaxially grown Si/Si0.5Ge0.5/Si resonant interband tunneling diodes,xe2x80x9d Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 73, No. 15, pp. 2191-2193, 1998.
[8] S. J. Koester, K. Ismail, K. Y. Lee and J. O. Chu, xe2x80x9cNegative differential conductance in lateral double-barrier transistors fabricated in strained Si quantum wells,xe2x80x9d Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 70, No. 18, pp. 2422-2424, 1997.
[9] G. I. Haddad, U. K. Reddy, J. P. Sun and R. K. Mains, xe2x80x9cThe bound-state resonant tunneling transistor (BSRTT): Fabrication, d.c. I-V characteristics, and high-frequency properties,xe2x80x9d Superlattices and Microstructurer, Vol. 7, No. 4, p. 369, 1990.
[10] Kulkarni et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,903,170, xe2x80x9cDigital Logic Design Using Negative Differential Resistance Diodes and Field-Effect Transistors (issued May 11, 1999).
A wide range of circuit applications for NDR devices are proposed in the above references, including multiple-valued logic circuits [1,2], static memory (SRAM) cells [3,4], latches [5], and oscillators [6]. To date, technological obstacles have hindered the widespread use of NDR devices in conventional silicon-based integrated circuits (ICs). The most significant obstacle to large-scale commercialization has been the technological challenge of integrating high-performance NDR devices into a conventional IC fabrication process. The majority of NDR-based circuits require the use of transistors, so the monolithic integration of NDR devices with predominant complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors is the ultimate goal for boosting circuit functionality and/or speed. Clearly, the development of a CMOS-compatible NDR device technology would constitute a break-through advancement in silicon-based IC technology. The integration of NDR devices with CMOS devices would provide a number of benefits including at least the following for logic and memory circuits:
1) reduced circuit complexity for implementing a given function;
2) lower-power operation; and
3) higher-speed operation.
Significant manufacturing cost savings could be achieved concomitantly, because more chips could be fabricated on a single silicon wafer without a significant increase in wafer-processing cost.
A tremendous amount of effort has been expended over the past several decades to research and develop silicon-based NDR devices in order to achieve compatibility with mainstream CMOS technology, because of the promise such devices hold for increasing IC performance and functionality. Efforts thus far have yielded NDR devices that require either prohibitively expensive process technology or extremely low operating temperatures which are impractical for high-volume applications. One such example in the prior art requires deposition of alternating layers of silicon and silicon-germanium alloy materials using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to achieve monolayer precision to fabricate the NDR device [7]. MBE is an expensive process which cannot be practically employed for high-volume production of semiconductor devices. Another example in the prior art requires the operation of a device at extremely low temperatures (1.4K) in order to achieve significant NDR characteristics [8]. This is impractical to implement for high-volume consumer electronics applications.
Three (or more) terminal devices are preferred as switching devices, because they allow for the conductivity between two terminals to be controlled by a voltage or current applied to a third terminal, an attractive feature for circuit design as it allows an extra degree of freedom and control in circuit designs. Three-terminal quantum devices which exhibit NDR characteristics such as the resonant tunneling transistor (RTT) [9] have been demonstrated; the performance of these devices has also been limited due to difficulties in fabrication, however. Some bipolar devices (such as SCRs) also can exhibit an NDR effect, but this is limited to embodiments where the effect is achieved with two different current levels. In other words, the current-vs.-voltage (I-V) curve of this type of device is not as useful because it does not provide two stable voltage states for a given current.
Accordingly, there exists a significant need for the monolithic integration of three-terminal NDR devices with conventional field-effect transistors by means of a single fabrication process flow.
A first object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device having a variety of applications such as bistable latch or logic circuits through the combination of one or more insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET) elements and one or more negative differential resistance field-effect transistor (NDR-FET) elements.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a practical method of manufacturing a semiconductor device utilizing a single fabrication process flow, so that an IGFET and an NDR-FET can be formed on a common substrate.
For achieving the first object, the invention provides a semiconductor device comprising an IGFET including a gate and source/drain electrodes, and an NDR-FET including gate and source/drain electrodes, wherein the IGFET and NDR-FET elements are formed on a common substrate, and one of the gate or source/drain electrodes of the IGFET element is electrically connected with one of the source/drain electrodes of the NDR-FET. Thusly, various types of circuits having a variety of functions can be attained through the combination of an IGFET and an NDR-FET.
In one aspect of this invention, the NDR-FET can utilize silicon as the semiconductor material. Thus, the NDR-FET and the IGFET can be fabricated on a common silicon substrate and hence a semiconductor device incorporating one or more NDR elements and one or more conventional field-effect transistor elements can be practically realized.
In another aspect of this invention, the IGFET can be an n-channel enhancement-mode transistor, with the gate electrode and the drain electrode of the IGFET semiconductor element short-circuited and connected to a power-supply terminal, the source electrode of the IGFET electrically connected together with the drain electrode of the NDR-FET to a control terminal, the source of the NDR-FET connected to a grounded or negatively biased terminal, and the gate electrode of the NDR-FET biased at a constant voltage. Thus, among plural intersections between the current-vs.-voltage (I-V) characteristic of the NDR-FET and the I-V characteristic of the IGFET semiconductor element, an intersection at which the gradients (obtained as a change in current in accordance with a change of the control terminal voltage) of the characteristics have different signs (positive, negative, or zero) is a stable operating point of the semiconductor device. Therefore, the semiconductor device can function as a bistable memory cell.
In another aspect of this invention, the IGFET can be an n-channel enhancement-mode transistor, with the source electrode connected to a grounded or negatively-biased terminal, the gate electrode and the drain electrode of the IGFET semiconductor element short-circuited and electrically connected together with the source of the NDR-FET to a control terminal, the drain electrode of the NDR-FET connected to a power-supply terminal, and the gate electrode of the NDR-FET biased at a constant voltage. Thus, among plural intersections between the I-V characteristic of the NDR-FET and the I-V characteristic of the IGFET semiconductor element, an intersection at which the gradients (obtained as a change in current in accordance with a change of the control terminal voltage) of the characteristics have different signs (positive, negative, or zero) is a stable operating point of the semiconductor device. Therefore, the semiconductor device can function as a bistable memory cell.
In another aspect of this invention, the IGFET can be an n-channel depletion-mode transistor, with the gate electrode and the source electrode of the IGFET semiconductor element short-circuited and the drain electrode connected to a power-supply terminal, the source electrode of the IGFET electrically connected together with the drain electrode of the NDR-FET to a control terminal, the source of the NDR-FET connected to a grounded or negatively biased terminal, and the gate electrode of the NDR-FET biased at a constant voltage. Thus, among plural intersections between the I-V characteristic of the NDR-FET and the I-V characteristic of the IGFET semiconductor element, an intersection at which the gradients (obtained as a change in current in accordance with a change of the control terminal voltage) of the characteristics have different signs (positive, negative, or zero) is a stable operating point of the semiconductor device. Therefore, the semiconductor device can function as a bistable memory cell.
In another aspect of this invention, the IGFET can be an n-channel depletion-mode transistor, with the gate electrode and the source electrode of the IGFET semiconductor element short-circuited and connected to a grounded or negatively-biased terminal, the drain electrode of the IGFET electrically connected together with the source of the NDR-FET to a control terminal, the drain electrode of the NDR-FET connected to a power-supply terminal, and the gate electrode of the NDR-FET biased at a constant voltage. Thus, among plural intersections between the I-V characteristic of the NDR-FET and the I-V characteristic of the IGFET semiconductor element, an intersection at which the gradients (obtained as a change in current in accordance with a change of the control terminal voltage) of the characteristics have different signs (positive, negative, or zero) is a stable operating point of the semiconductor device. Therefore, the semiconductor device can function as a bistable memory cell.
In another aspect of this invention, the IGFET can be an n-channel enhancement-mode transistor, with one of the source/drain electrodes of the IGFET semiconductor element connected to the source electrode of a first NDR-FET and also to the drain electrode of a second NDR-FET, the gate electrode of the IGFET connected to a first control terminal, the other one of the source/drain electrodes of the IGFET connected to a second control terminal, the drain electrode of the first NDR-FET connected to a power-supply terminal, the source electrode of the second NDR-FET connected to a grounded or negatively-biased terminal, and the gate electrodes of the NDR-FETs each biased at a constant voltage. Thus, among plural intersections between the I-V characteristic of the first NDR-FET and the I-V characteristic of the second NDR-FET, an intersection at which the gradients (obtained as a change in current in accordance with a change of the control terminal voltage) of the characteristics have different signs (positive, negative, or zero) is a stable operating point of the semiconductor device. Therefore, the semiconductor device can function as a bistable memory cell, with access to the data storage node provided via the IGFET.
For achieving the second object, the invention provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including an IGFET semiconductor element having a gate electrode, a gate insulating film and a channel region and source/drain regions of semiconductor, and a NDR-FET having a gate electrode, a gate insulating film and a channel region and source/drain regions of semiconductor, wherein the IGFET and NDR-FET elements are formed on a common substrate, and at least one of the gate or source/drain electrodes of the IGFET element is electrically connected to one of the source/drain electrodes of the NDR-FET.
The method comprises the following steps: simultaneously forming electrically isolated xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d regions for the IGFET and NDR-FET elements in the surface of a semiconductor substrate; sequentially and separately adjusting the NDR-FET and IGFET channel dopant concentrations in the surface regions of the semiconductor substrate; forming the gate insulating films for the NDR-FET and IGFET elements by thermal oxidation and/or thin-film deposition; selectively forming charge traps in the gate insulating film or at the interface between the gate insulating film and the semiconductor channel of the NDR-FET element either by ion implantation and/or diffusion of an appropriate species or by depositing a charge-trapping layer either before or after part or all of the NDR-FET gate insulating film has been formed; forming contact holes in the source or drain region of the IGFET if needed; blanket depositing a gate-electrode material on the gate insulating films of the IGFET and the NDR-FET elements; simultaneously completing the fabrication of the IGFET and NDR-FET elements using conventional IC fabrication process steps to pattern the gate electrodes, dope the gate electrodes and form the source and drain electrodes, deposit passivation layer(s), and form interconnects.
In one aspect, the IGFET and NDR-FET may be fabricated side-by-side in the same active region, or xe2x80x9cwell.xe2x80x9d
In another aspect, the semiconductor substrate is monocrystalline silicon.
In another aspect, the semiconductor substrate is a silicon-on-insulator (monocrystaline silicon layer on top of an electrically insulating SiO2 layer on top of a silicon wafer) substrate.
In another aspect, the channel dopant concentration in the NDR-FET may be substantially different from the channel dopant concentration in the IGFET.
In another aspect, a portion or all of the gate insulating film for the NDR-FET may be formed before the gate insulating film for the IGFET is formed.
In another aspect, the semiconductor substrate may contain one or mote layers of silicon-germanium in either or both of the IGFET and NDR-FET active regions.
In another aspect, the thickness of the gate insulating film in the NDR-FET may be substantially different from the thickness of the gate insulating film in the IGFET.
In another aspect, formation of charge traps in the gate insulating film of the NDR-FET is facilitated by incorporating boron, which may be achieved by thermal oxidation of a boron-doped channel and/or thermal diffusion of boron from the channel into the gate insulating film.
In another aspect, charge traps are formed in the gate insulating film of the NDR-FET by depositing a layer of material, such as silicon or silicon-rich oxide, after a portion of the gate insulating film has been formed, and before the remaining portion of the gate insulating film is formed. The deposited layer may be continuous, in the form of a thin film, or it may be discontinuous, in the form of islands.
In another aspect, charge traps are formed in the gate insulating film of the NDR-FET by depositing a layer of material which contains a high density of charge traps, such as silicon-rich oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride, or high-permittivity dielectric, before the remaining portion of the gate insulating film is formed.
In another aspect, charge traps are formed in the gate insulating film of the NDR-FET by implantation of arsenic, phosphorus, fluorine, silicon, germanium, nitrogen, or metallic atoms.
In another aspect, a polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) or polycrystalline silicon-germanium (poly-SiGe) film can be deposited as the gate-electrode material.
In another aspect, a metal or conductive metal-nitride or conductive metal-oxide or metal-silicide film can be deposited as the gate-electrode material.
In this manner, a semiconductor device comprising one or more IGFET elements and one or more NDR-FET elements can be manufactured on a common substrate utilizing a fabrication sequence consisting of conventional process steps. Accordingly, the manufacture of the semiconductor device can be eased and the manufacturing cost can be relatively low.

Insulated-gate field-effect transistor integrated with negative differential resistance (NDR) FET


An identity system is provided that may include an attestation service that is configured to communicate with a user computer device and a blockchain platform, and create a blockchain account for the attestation service on the blockchain platform, the account having an associated backend blockchain identity application. The attestation service may further be configured to determine that a user of the user computing device owns a user blockchain account by obtaining a signed message of the user. The signed message may include a user access token from the user of the user computer device and a blockchain address of the user to associate with the access token, the user access token having been generated by a trusted identity provider service. The attestation service may further be configured to identify one or more identity claims associated with the token, and store the identity claim for future presentation to a third party.

Blockchain identities are anonymous and cost little or nothing to create for users. Decentralized applications built on blockchain technologies are thus potentially vulnerable to Sybil attacks, which are attacks in which a large number of user accounts are created by a nefarious actor and used to subvert aspects of the decentralized applications.
On the other hand, modern day web-based applications utilize trusted identity providers, which enable information regarding owner of the identity to easily be transferred between and persist between different web-based applications. In this way, both the user and the application provider build social value into the user's identity through its use across these various web-based applications. Current blockchain technologies do not enable such cross-platform utilization of trusted identities.

Identity system for use with blockchain platform


The invention provides LNA gapmer oligomers of between 10-20 nucleobases in length, which have a total of 1-3 phosphodiester internucleoside linkages. Such oligomers have been found to have superior bioavailability and have also been found to selectively accumulate in kidney cells.

Zhou and Agrawal et al, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters 8 (1998) 3269-3274, reports on 2′-O methylribonucleoside gapmer phosphorothioate oligonucleotides, which have flanks which each comprise four and five 2′-O methylribonucleoside units, where each flank comprises two phosphodiester bonds. The introduction of phosphodiester bonds was found to result in intravenous distribution patterns similar to the fully phosphorothioate molecules, but have reduced side effects.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Short oligomer antagonist compounds for the modulation of target mRNA