The incision-free pubovaginal suspension due to Gittes and Loughlin is improved by simultaneous gas obturation and visual monitoring using a suprapubic endoscope, inserted with the aid of a urethral trocar. It is further improved by simultaneous manipulation of the urethra, bladder and other tissues by the trocar, to optimize alignment for the Gittes procedures. The trocar, and procedure for its use, are refinements of the present inventor's earlier apparatuses and procedures for suprapubic cystostomy with endoscopy, and for gas obturation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to medical procedures and apparatus; and more particularly to refinement of such procedures and apparatus for treating stress incontinence in women by pubovaginal suspension without surgery.
2. Prior Art
Ruben F. Gittes and Kevin R. Loughlin have introduced "a modified needle suspension for urinary incontinence that eliminates all incisions." 138 The Journal of Urology 568-70 (1987). In their method, as described in an abstract:
"The anterior vaginal wall is suspended from the rectus fascia with 2 heavy nonabsorbable monofilament mattress sutures. The sutures pass down through and back up through the full thickness of the vaginal wall, and are tied suprapubically to bury the knot into the fat in the suprapubic puncture site . . . [M]onofilament mattress sutures that are tied under tension to include the outside abdominal skin will cut through the skin, and become internalized and accepted without any residual inflammation if the knot is buried initially. . . . " PA0 "makes routine use of outpatient surgery and allows for the use of local anesthesia only in selected patients. At 21/2 years the continence rate in the first 38 patients exceeded 87 percent. There were no failures among the last 14 patients after the technique was modified to include an extra full thickness pass of the mattress suture through the vaginal wall. There have been no significant complications." PA0 "A special long mattress-type needle is needed. . . . A small puncture is made . . . into the suprapubic fat pad. . . . The long needle is popped through the rectus fascia and the anteriorly deflected tip is advanced carefully down the posterior aspect of the pubic bone. At the same time, the operator's second hand elevates the anterior vaginal wall lateral to the Foley balloon, thus, just lateral to the bladder neck. Wiggling the needle from above and directing it toward the fingertip by rocking forward the suprapubic portion of the needle shaft avoids a false passage into the bladder or past the lateral vaginal wall. While controlling the tip of the needle with the tip of the finger, the operator examines the tented-up vaginal wall to make sure it is not too medial or lateral, and then the tip is popped through the wall and then forward through the introitus." Id. at 568. PA0 "Before the suspending sutures are tied down, cystourethroscopy must be done to rule out damage to the bladder wall by the sutures and to place a percutaneous suprapubic [cystostomy] under endoscopic control. The 70-degree telescope allows for close inspection of the bladder wall just inside the bladder neck. If any part of either suture is [seen], either perforating the bladder or even coursing submucosally, that arm of the suture is identified by traction, pulled out into the vagina and replaced upward with a new pass of the mattress needle. In difficult cases, as in bladders widely fixed anteriorly by the Burch modification of the Marshall-Marchetti operation, the passage of the needle can be monitored continuously endoscopically with the 120-degree telescope." PA0 (1) inserting a urethral trocar into the woman's bladder and therethrough to press outward firmly against the woman's abdominal wall, so as to be perceptible from the exterior of the woman's body; PA0 (2) then, with the exteriorly perceptible trocar as a guide, making a suprapubic incision in the woman's abdominal wall and bladder to gain access to a tip of the trocar; PA0 (3) then using the tip of the trocar directly or indirectly to guide a tip of a viewing device through the suprapubic incision and into the woman's bladder; and PA0 (4) then installing sutures between the woman's rectus fascia and vagina, by means of a needle inserted through the woman's abdomen and into the woman's vagina; PA0 (5) substantially during the suture-installing step, monitoring the interior of the bladder through the viewing device to avoid placement of sutures in the bladder wall--so that the viewing device is remote from the neck of the bladder, where inadvertent placement of sutures is particularly likely; and PA0 (6) substantially during the suture-installing and monitoring steps, maneuvering the trocar or the viewing device, or both, to manipulate tissues of the woman's bladder, urethra, or abdominal wall, or combinations of any of these tissues, to facilitate accurate placement of the sutures, particularly avoiding the bladder and urethra.
The Gittes and Loughlin procedure evidently provides significant benefits for patients. As also pointed out in the abstract, this procedure:
Without detracting in the least from these potential benefits, it is important to recognize significant limitations in the reported procedure. First, it calls for significant manual dexterity, as well as a visualization capacity approaching the clairvoyant, on the part of the physician:
With dexterity and experience, and great care, this procedure undoubtedly can be performed reliably. None of these characteristics, however, can be guaranteed, as Gittes and Loughlin in effect concede:
Although Gittes and Loughlin go on to recommend using a suprapubic "puncture" later for placement of a "suprapubic tube of the trocar variety"--for postprocedure drainage--they clearly do not use that puncture for placement of a viewing device for the monitoring step.
From their discussion it is evident that they instead insert an endoscope through the urethra. Their suprapubic drain is installed in a puncture made from the outside while watching the anterior bladder wall from within. That procedure is only a slight improvement on the conventional method, which employs a large trocar inserted suprapubically from above, blind--that is, puncturing the abdominal wall and bladder from the exterior, without any guidance.
The latter method is extremely dangerous and in fact potentially lethal--especially if the patient's anatomy is abnormal, as for example can occur as a result of previous surgery, leaving, e.g., the patient's bowel ventral to the bladder. The improvement gained by the procedure of Gittes and Loughlin is only slight, because watching the anterior bladder wall from within the bladder affords only a fairly rough view of the entry point, and of the bladder configuration and position relative to the abdomen.
The methods described by Gittes and Loughlin are derived from a technique introduced in 1973 by T. A. Stamey, 136 Surg., Gynec. & Obst. 547. An early modification by J. T. Mason and R. M. Soderstrom, 6 Urology 233 (1975) provided for suprapubic monitoring of needle placement, by means of a rigid cystoscope inserted through a Foley catheter that had been modified for the purpose.
In my opinion, although I have seen nothing in the prior art to support my opinion, that approach should be considered a major improvement. The reason is that using a urethroscope--whether it be a 70-degree or 120-degree instrument--to monitor the needle passage has important drawbacks, as follows.
The area of greatest concern with respect to inadvertent puncture of the vesical wall is the neck of the bladder, for the very reason that the neck is the portion to be elevated, and is immediately adjacent to the vaginal wall--the target of the needles. In other words, it is in this region that the needles must be brought closest; but this is precisely the spot at which the 'scope itself is introduced. The urethroscope is not only immediately adjacent to the neck of the bladder, but also mechanically coupled to the neck of the bladder in a somewhat complicated and unpredictable way.
Hence the practitioner is faced with difficult demands, to say the least, upon dexterity. The objective is to somehow position the urethroscope for best viewing of the immediately adjacent bladder neck, without actively making matters worse by inadvertently pushing the neck itself toward the advancing needle tip.
In many cases these two constraints seem to be mutually inconsistent. Yet Gittes and Loughlin evidenced no appreciation in their 1987 paper for the advance introduced long earlier by Mason and Soderstrom.
Very recently, however, Loughlin has proposed, 142 J. Urology 1532 (1989), to update the Mason and Soderstrom modification. (Loughlin's work is not deemed to be prior art with respect to the present document.) Loughlin now substitutes a flexible ureteroscope for the cystoscope, thereby facilitating continuous observation of the bladder wall and neck during passage of the needles. Still, neither Mason and Soderstrom nor Loughlin has offered anything to mitigate the hazards of introducing the viewing device by a blind puncture.
In another area of prior practice, the present inventor some twenty years ago introduced certain procedures and instrumentation for introducing suprapubic catheters without the potentially lethal use of a large trocar in blind insertion. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,640,281 and 3,656,486 (both filed 1970); and "Suprapubic Cystostomy with Endoscopy" 41 Obstetrics-Gynecology 624-27 (1973).
The system there described is not in prevalent use today, and Gittes and Loughlin make no reference to it. It provides a trocar that is inserted through the urethra, into the bladder, and against the bladder lining and abdominal wall from within; the resulting acute bulge at the exterior of the patient's abdomen is then used by the physician to identify the proper point for a small puncture. The puncture itself is preferably made from the exterior, against the tip of the trocar that is within.
The trocar is then preferably passed through that puncture outward, from within the bladder, and attached outside the body to a catheter or other instrument. Alternatively the trocar need not be actually passed out from the abdomen but can be attached to the catheter or other instrument while lying just within the puncture.
The trocar motion is then reversed to draw the trocar and external instrument through the puncture and into the bladder. Thereupon the trocar can be forthwith disconnected and withdrawn from the urethra, or can be temporarily kept in place for other purposes such as inflation of the bladder.
To facilitate connection and later disconnection of the trocar and the catheter or other instrument, the trocar was fashioned with either a hook, in a lateral recess near its end, or an aligning socket in its tip.
The present inventor also introduced a method and apparatus for facilitating endoscopy through obturation by means of gas--described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,214 (filed 1971). The system there described involves placing a gas-obturating endoscope into bodily cavities or organs such as the bladder; and particularly in the case of the bladder involves placement through the urethra.
Gas obturation provides less trauma than mechanical obturation, less cumbersomeness and discomfort than liquid inflation, and a clearer view than either. This system is in somewhat greater use modernly, but also not mentioned by Gittes and Loughlin--or even in Loughlin's most recent paper reintroducing suprapubic viewing.

Refined suspension procedure with implement for treating female stress incontinence


The main surface of a first semiconductor substrate is bonded to the main surface of a second semiconductor substrate with an insulation film interposed therebetween to form a composite substrate. The first semiconductor substrate and insulation film are selectively etched to form an etched portion which reaches at least the second semiconductor substrate. An impurity layer with an impurity concentration different from that of the first semiconductor substrate is formed on or in the surface area exposed to the etched portion of the first and second semiconductor substrates. An epitaxial layer having an impurity concentration different from that of the impurity layer is formed in the etched portion. The first semiconductor substrate, impurity layer and epitaxial layer are planarized. The first semiconductor substrate, impurity layer and epitaxial layer are etched to make a pattern of the impurity layer on the surface of the composite substrate and the composite semiconductor substrate is aligned for formation of elements based on the pattern. The elements are formed in the composite substrate thus aligned.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a substrate structure for a composite semiconductor device suitable for the formation of a plurality of functional elements which require element isolation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a composite semiconductor device having a plurality of active elements or passive elements integrated on a single substrate it is necessary to electrically isolate such elements from other elements. An isolation method for this purpose includes, for example, a method utilizing a reverse-biased PN junction, or a method utilizing an insulating material.
A semiconductor substrate having areas separated by a PN junction will be explained below by way of example.
An N type epitaxial layer is deposited on a P type semiconductor substrate, and P.sup.+ type impurity is diffused into an epitaxial layer to form an element isolation area reaching the semiconductor substrate. In this way an island-like element area is obtained which is surrounded by the PN junction. The element area is electrically isolated from other epitaxial layer portions by a depletion layer when a reverse bias is applied to the PN junction. This system offers an advantage of being lower in cost. When, on the other hand, a P.sup.+ type element isolation area is formed, diffusion unavoidably occurs in a lateral direction to an extent substantially equal to that to which it occurs in a depth direction, causing an increase in element isolation area. In the PN junction isolation a reverse bias is used in which case, since the P.sup.+ type element isolation area is usually grounded, an N type layer in the element area adjacent to the isolation layer needs to be held normally at a positive potential. Thus a bias circuit in an integral circuit which is formed within the element area is restricted. Where, for example, transistors of different conductivity types are to be formed, it will be necessary to provide a very complex bias circuit. Furthermore, in the PN junction isolation a parasitic element is usually liable to be formed. Where a transistor is formed, for example, with emitter and base layers formed in the element area and with a semiconductor substrate as a collector, a parasitic transistor can be formed due to the presence of the emitter layer, base layer and P.sup.+ type element isolation area.
The element isolation method using an insulating layer will be explained below with respect to FIG. 1.
In a plurality of N type semiconductor element areas, island-like areas are formed which are separated by oxide silicon film 2 and polysilicon layer 3. This method obviates the necessity of providing a reverse bias circuit which is required in the PN junction separation. Furthermore, a restriction caused by the parasitic element can be alleviated. However, since in this system, the substrate is formed of a polysilicon, a thicker substrate is needed, which presents an economical disadvantage. It is also noted that, in a completed device, the back surface or reverse surface of the substrate cannot be used as a current passage because the lower portion, including the reverse surface of the substrate, is insulated.
In order to solve the above problem, there has been proposed a substrate structure for a composite semiconductor device in European Patent Specification (Publication No. 0 217 288; Application No. 86113185.2, Date of filing, 25, 09, 1986). A corresponding U.S. patent application was filed on 26, 09, 1986 and the application number thereof is 911,895. With the substrate structure disclosed in the European Patent Specification, it is possible to form an integrated circuit having a large current capacity and high withstanding voltage and form an electrode on the back or reverse surface of the semiconductor substrate.
However, when the substrate structure disclosed in the European Patent Specification is used, it is difficult to determine the location of an insulation film embedded in the substrate by the external appearance thereof after the substrate is completed. As a result, it becomes difficult to align the substrate structure when active elements are formed in the substrate structure.

Substrate structure for composite semiconductor device


The apparatus for preparing coffee comprises a holder arranged for receiving a pouch made of filter material and filled with a product to be extracted. The holder comprises at least one overflow opening and one access opening for placing the pouch in the holder. The apparatus further comprises a cover for closing and releasing the access opening and clamping means for pressing the holder and the cover towards each other when the cover closes of the access opening of the holder.

The invention relates to an apparatus for preparing coffee, comprising a holder arranged for receiving a pouch made of filter material and filled with a product to be extracted, the holder comprising at least one outflow opening and one access opening for placing the pouch in the holder, the apparatus further comprising a cover for closing and releasing the access opening and clamping means for pressing the bolder and the cover towards each other when the cover closes off the access opening of the holder.
Such an apparatus is known from the international patent application WO 94/02059. In this publication, the apparatus, as shown in FIG. 11, is provided with clamping means, which engage a circumferential edge of the cover for pressing the cover and the holder towards each other when the cover closes off the holder. A disadvantage of the known apparatus is that the frequent opening and closing of the holder reduces the reliability of the liquid seal between the cover and the holder. When, in use, under high pressure, hot water is supplied to the holder for preparing coffee, it may therefore happen that water leaks from the holder. This is caused by improper closure of the cover and the holder. If water leaks out, even if only to a slight extent, the pressure in the holder decreases. When the pressure in the holder decreases, this leads to a deterioration of the quality of the coffee extract obtained. This is the case in particular when the outflow opening has such a small diameter that the coffee extract spouts from the outflow opening for obtaining coffee with a small-bubble froth layer (cafxc3xa9 crxc3xa8me). When the pressure decreases, however, it may happen that the speed at which the coffee extract spouts from the outflow opening is not sufficient for preparing cafxc3xa9 crxc3xa8me.
The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that provides a solution to the above-stated problem. The construction should then be so reliable that even after the holder has frequently been closed and opened again, still a reliable seal between cover and holder can be obtained.
To that end, the apparatus according to the invention is characterized in that the clamping means for pressing the cover and the holder towards each other when the cover closes off the access opening engage at least two mutually different engagement positions located on an external surface of the cover, the cover further comprising a connection located on the external surface of the cover, for the supply of water to the holder, the two mutually different engagement positions each not coinciding with the positions on the external surface where the connection is located, the cover being rotatably connected with the clamping means for rotation over a limited angle about an engagement rotation axis, which engagement rotation axis extends along the two mutually different engagement positions. What is achieved in that the clamping means engage at least two mutually different engagement positions located on an external surface of the cover, is that the engagement positions do not each need to coincide with the position on the external surface where the connection is located, and that, moreover, the cover can be connected to the clamping means for rotation over a limited angle about the engagement rotation axis, the engagement rotation axis extending through the two mutually different engagement positions. The engagement positions can then be used for movably connecting the cover and the clamping means and can moreover be used for pressing the cover and the holder towards each other, when the cover is to close off the access opening of the holder. Preferably, therefore, the cover is movably connected to the clamping means at the two engagement positions. More in particular, the connection is located approximately in the center of the external surface of the cover. In this manner, at a central position, water can be supplied to the holder. In particular, the connection is also located approximately centrally of the at least two engagement positions. Then, the force exerted by the clamping means on the engagement positions of the cover when the cover closes off the holder can be equivalent to a force exerted by the clamping means on the holder at a position coinciding with the center of the cover, where the connection is preferably located.
This has as a result that a good liquid seal between the cover and the holder is obtained at all times. To that end, in particular, the external surface is of at least substantially circular design.
According to a preferred embodiment of the apparatus, the apparatus further comprises a housing to which the holder is detachably connected, the clamping means comprising a rotation element with a first and a second opposite end, the rotation element adjacent its first end being rotatably connected to the housing for rotation about a horizontally directed first rotation axis between a first and a second rotational position, for closing off the access opening of the holder in the second rotational position, and releasing the access opening again in the first rotational position, the apparatus further comprising a closing arrangement for detachably connecting the rotation element, adjacent the second end, with the housing when the cover in the second rotational position closes off the access opening, the cover being attached to the rotation element such that in the second rotational position, the rotation axis extends along a first side of the cover and the second end is located on a second side of the cover, located opposite the first side.
According to a first further elaboration of this embodiment, the first rotation axis is located above a flat plane through the access opening of the holder. An advantage of this embodiment is that the housing can have a relatively narrow design. In this connection, the apparatus can be further characterized in that the plane defined by the first rotation axis and the second end and the plane through the opening include an acute angle when the cover closes off the holder in the second rotational position.
In particular, the cover is movably connected to the rotation element, so that the cover, when the holder is being closed, can optimally position itself relative to the holder.
According to a further elaboration, the engagement rotation axis runs at least substantially parallel to the first rotation axis. When during closure of the cover a part of the edge of the cover initially engages the holder, it is possible, upon further rotation of the rotation element about the first rotation axis, for the cover to simultaneously rotate through a limited angle about the engagement rotation axis. This ensures that the cover is positioned optimally relative to the holder, that is, the cover is positioned such that it seals the holder liquid-tightly. To guarantee, when closing the holder, that the cover and the holder initially engage each other at one point only, the apparatus preferably further comprises spring means which exert such a force on the cover that an underside of the cover comes to lie approximately parallel to the plane defined by the first rotation axis and the second end by rotation of the rotation element about the engagement rotation axis when the cover is lifted off the holder by rotation of the rotation element about the first rotation axis.
According to a highly advantageous embodiment, the spring means comprise a flexible hose which is attached to the cover for supplying hot water to the holder. The flexible hose then has a double function.
The invention will be further elucidated on the basis of the drawing.


Provided are a focusing apparatus for generating an image signal by converting image light incident through a focus lens to an electrical signal by an image pickup device, storing the image signal un a memory, calculating an AF evaluation value for an image signal read from the memory in a direction different from a reading direction of the image pickup device, and driving the focus lens by deriving a focus lens position corresponding to the calculated AF evaluation value, a focusing method thereof, and a recording medium for recording the focusing method. Accordingly, a focus can be correctly adjusted for various subject images, and a focus can be effectively adjusted for the images even in a high speed capturing mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a focusing apparatus, a focusing method, and a medium for recording the focusing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to a conventional focusing method using a contrast scheme, focusing is performed by calculating a focus evaluation value of an image signal generated by an image pickup device while changing a position of a focus lens. A peak value of the focus evaluation value is derived, and a position of the focus lens corresponding to the peak value is set as a target position. However, an image obtained by capturing a subject may have a small change in a horizontal direction but have a big change in a vertical direction. For such an image, a correct peak value of a focus evaluation value is often not derived by using the conventional focusing method.

Focusing apparatus, focusing method and medium for recording the focusing method


A physical therapy apparatus having a padded top surface upon which a patient comfortably reclines in the face up position with the spinal area being placed in contact respective a plurality of massaging members. The massaging members are recessed within the padded top and have a massaging members extending into contact with the patients back while jointly moved along the spine with the members being individually rapidly oscillated in a circular pattern at a selected magnitude of pressure and rate of travel. At the same time, the massaging members are moved a limited length along the entire spine causing each to describe a longitudinally moving circular pattern of a spiral, with each massaging member describing a different size pattern with the member that contacts the uppermost part of the spinal column moving within a relatively small pattern while the massaging members that contact the lower part of the spinal column move within a relatively large pattern with the pattern of movement progressively increasing sequentially from one to the other end of the spinal column. The terminal ends of the massaging members each are elevated into contact with the spine and assume a curve approximating the curvature of the spinal area so that a patient reclining in a supine position will gravitate into proper contact with all of the massaging members.

Many people have discovered that their medical problems often can be solved by obtaining help from trained personnel, such as masseurs, athletic trainers and chiropractors to massage the spinal areas along the length of the spinal column. These trained professionals have knowledge of many manual techniques that can be applied to one's back, using the hands and fingers. Accordingly, various massage machines have been developed for manipulating and flexing the back muscles on both sides of the spinal column of a person lying in a supine position such as seen, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,175,614. This patent discloses a machine having a plurality of rollers that are each supported by coil springs arranged along each side of a carriage that is movably mounted on tracks arranged to move along the spinal area. The carriage is moved back and forth along its tracks so that the rollers engage and massage the back of the person lying face-up on a hammock suspended above the rollers but with the rollers being in contact with the spinal area.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,577,646, also discloses a massaging machine having a horizontal table that accommodates a person lying face-up on the table with his spine centered over an elongated longitudinal opening in the central portion of the table. A plurality of rollers are rotatably mounted to the edges of parallel endless belts arranged below the surface of the table within the opening. The belts drive the rollers to move along the length of the elongated opening and thereby contact the spine with a rolling action to the spinal area of the person lying on the table.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,272 discloses therapeutic traction applied to the body by carriages supported on rails for cyclic longitudinal movement.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,862 shows another massaging machine which includes two sets of rollers having ends positioned to provide an upwardly-facing concavity for receiving the back of a person as the rollers are moved along each side of the spinal column of that person.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,738 is a disease testing apparatus for the spine and is cited to show an arrangement of pressure members 64, as seen in FIG. 8 thereof, for example.
Another prior-art massaging apparatus arranged to impart upward and downward movements to a massaging device is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,638,025. This massaging apparatus includes elongated bars that are operatively journaled at their ends to rotate and move the bars about parallel longitudinal axes, with there being curved portions of the bars transversely aligned and the ends of a plurality of closely-spaced slats are loosely connected to the bars to support a person midway between the bars. As the bars rotate, the slats remain horizontal and move vertically for imparting a rocking and undulating motion to the back of a person lying on the slats.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,528 shows a machine with a single horizontal roller mounted on a carriage that is moved to selectively position the roller below a person's back area that requires a massaging action. The roller is rotatably mounted between spaced vertically-movable members and reciprocated by cranks mounted in an out-of-phase relationship on opposite ends of a rotating shaft, whereupon rotation of the shaft rocks the roller in a vertical plane as the opposed ends alternately move up and down by the members.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,808 applies cyclic thrusting force against the back of a person by the use of thruster members around one or more vertebra of the spinal column, as shown in FIG. 3 at 201, 202 and 203. Fluid cylinder 300 reciprocates the rod 200 longitudinally to engage the back with the round members at 260, 261 and 262.
By the present invention, there is made available an improved massaging machine, made in accordance with the present invention, which is capable of imparting a selected massaging action to a multiplicity of areas adjacent the spinal column on the back of a person in a new and different manner. The resultant massaging action provides unexpected beneficial results that would be difficult to manually duplicate by most trained professionals. This desirable massaging treatment is achieved by the provision of an array of massaging thrusters, each having a massaging fixture attached thereto and having a massaging members depending there-from for engaging both sides of the spinal column at the same time with an unusual motion that commences in proximity of the lower spinal column where a relative large circular motion is imparted to the massaging member; and terminates at the head end of the spinal column where a relative small circular motion is imparted to the massaging members contacting the back. At the same time, the array of thrusters are all moved up and down longitudinally of the spinal column at a low rate of travel respective to the rate of rotation imparted into each of the thrusters. Accordingly, the combination of the reciprocating movement and the circular movement provides a resultant motion that describes a spiral pattern commencing with a large diameter spiral in the lower spinal region and progressively diminishes along the spinal column towards the head.
The thrusters are resiliently biased into engagement with the spinal area with an adjustable force that include means for selecting the magnitude of the force of the engaging massaging members.
An unexpected advantage of this method and apparatus of mechanically massaging a persons back in the area of the spinal column is realized from an apparatus made in accordance with this invention. The geometry of the thrusters together with the supporting structure and the complex pattern of movement described by the thrusters induce a harmonic motion into the resiliently biased thrusters which is translocated to the interface between the skin of the back and the massaging member whereby unexpected low friction engagement is realized while the longitudinal and circular moving massaging members bear against the skin, which is very desirable for it enhances the therapeutic value of the massaging action of the massaging apparatus.
Method and apparatus for achieving the above desirable results is made possible by the provision of an apparatus made in accordance with the present invention as will be more fully realized when this disclosure is more fully digested.


Disclosed is a coating composition that can provide structural materials having hydrophilicity, excellent self-cleaning property and long service life. The present invention also discloses a method for preparing the composition, a substrate, such as a film or structural exterior material like vinyl sidings, with the applied coating composition, and a method to prepare a substrate with the coating composition. The coating composition has hydroxy group-containing inorganic particles that improve the initial hydrophilicity of conventional coating agents. Additionally, by using two types of inorganic particles having different particles diameters, the coating composition can form a hydrophilic coating layer having a contact angle with water of 30° or less. Additionally, a low boiling point organic solvent having erosive property to a substrate to be coated may be used to allow the application of the coating layer to a conventional production line for structural exterior materials without adding a separate coating line.

In general, when advertising films and structural exterior materials are exposed to outdoor environments for a long time, there are serious problems in that the films and materials are contaminated by dust, smoke and exhaust gas and discolored by ultraviolet rays. Therefore, it is particularly required for such outdoor films and exterior materials to show physical properties such as self-cleaning property and weather resistance with long-term reliability.
Contamination on surfaces of outdoor films and structural exterior materials mainly results from dust in the air, combustion products such as carbon black and inorganic materials such as clay particles. Generally, contaminants deposited on surfaces of outdoor films and structural exterior materials may be cleaned by rain intermittently, so that the films and materials recover their original conditions. However, in the case of a fine rain, such contaminants are captured by the rain and adhered to the surfaces. Then, such adhered contaminants are present on the surfaces in the form of stripes of dust, contaminants and stains while they dry. Additionally, during the dry season, generation of pollutants in the air increases due to the lack of rain. Any cleaning effect from rain cannot be obtained, resulting in continuous deposition of contaminants. Therefore, coating materials having staining resistance have been conventionally used in order to solve the above problems.
The most widely used method comprises using photocatalyst particles. When the surface of photocatalyst particles is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the surface shows strong hydrophilicity. Although such a strongly hydrophilic state is maintained for several hours to one-week even if the irradiation is stopped, the surface gradually recovers its original hydrophobic state. Additionally, after the surface recovers the original hydrophobic state, it may regain ultra-hydrophilicity rapidly by irradiating ultraviolet rays again. In other words, intermittent irradiation rather than continuous irradiation is sufficient to maintain surface hydrophilicity and staining resistance. However, such methods using a photocatalyst coating layer are disadvantageous in that they need an additional step of coating a primer on a plastic substrate formed of thermoplastic resin, etc., before coating a photocatalyst, because photocatalysts generally have a possibility for decomposing organic substances.
Additionally, fluoro group-containing water repellent coating materials such as polytetrafluoro ethylene (PTFE) have been considered as preferred staining resistant material. Water repellent coating materials serve to remove dust from a surface layer while water drops on a coating film move downwardly by low surface tension. However, when water drops are too small to be moved by gravity, said water drops are dried along with pollutants, thereby forming local stains.
Further, a method for coating a hydrophilic graft heteropolymer has been suggested. However, the coating film formed by the hydrophilic graft heteropolymer shows a contact angle with water of between 30 and 40 degrees, while conventional mineral dust shows a contact angle with water of between 20 and 50 degrees (Newspaper Daily Chemical Industry, 30, 1995). Therefore, such heteropolymers cannot efficiently clean stains and contaminants formed by mineral dust deposited on surfaces. Additionally, because other easily available hydrophilic coatings have a contact angle with water of between 50 and 70 degrees, they are problematic in that they cannot prevent pollution by dust in the city efficiently.
Meanwhile, it is not known that conventional structural exterior materials (for example, vinyl siding) are available as products having self-cleaning property and staining resistance. A staining resistant coating is required in order to provide such properties. However, because vinyl siding materials are generally firm and rigid, it is difficult to produce them in a large scale as general roll-shaped films
Additionally, structural exterior materials are produced by a production line comprising an extruder, calibration table (for molding and cooling) and a press (for cutting). The production line optionally further comprises additional supplementary units so that such materials are produced by a production line including an extruder, embossing unit (Embo unit), calibration table (for molding and cooling), punching unit, haul-off (for tension control) and a press (for cutting).
In order to impart staining resistance to a structural exterior material, it is necessary to carry out an additional coating step after the above-mentioned production process. Therefore, an additional coating line is also required, thereby reducing production yield and increasing production cost. In other words, the overall process is inadvisable in both terms of cost and working space.

Films or structural exterior materials using coating composition having self-cleaning property and preparation method thereof


An oral pharmaceutical composition of isotretinoin containing at least two lipidic excipients, one of them being hydrophilic (i.e. having an HLB value superior or equal to 10), the other being an oily vehicle.

The present invention relates to an oral pharmaceutical composition of isotretinoin containing at least two excipients, one of them being hydrophilic (i.e. having an HLB value superior or equal to 10), the other being an oily vehicle.
Isotretinoin (13-cis retinoic acid or 13-cis vitamine A), its isomers and some of its analogs are widely known to have a therapeutical activity in the treatment of several severe skin disorders like cystic acne, hypertrophic lupus erythematosus, keratinization disorders. Some evidences have also been brought about the activity of isotretinoin in basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
Unfortunately, isotretinoin is also a highly toxic drug. Indeed, although isotretinoin, which is a cis derivative, is known to be less toxic than all trans vitamine A derivatives, side effects resulting from its use such as headache, vomiting, irritation of mucosa and liver toxicity, occur frequently. Furthermore, isotretinoin is known to be highly teratogenic in both animals and humans.
In order to well understand the interest of this invention, it is important to briefly summarize the physico-chemical pharmacokinetic properties. Isotretinoin is a reddish-orange powder. It is decomposed in presence of light and atmospheric oxygen. Isotretinoin is very poorly soluble in water what mades its bioavailability quite low after an oral intake (25% in fasted conditions and 40% in fed conditions). The maximum concentration (Cmax) is reached after 24 hours, while the (Cmax) of the active metabolite, 4-oxo-isotretinoin is reached after 6 hours. The elimination half-life of isotretinoin is of 7 to 37 hours while the half life (t1/2) of the active metabolite is of 11 to 50 hours. The steady-state concentrations of isotretinoin are reached after 1 week of treatment.
Very few publications and/or patents about the pharmaceutical formulation of isotretinoin are available. The drug is available on most markets under the form of a soft gelatine capsule containing a fatty liquid formulation of isotretinoin.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,394 describing for the first time the therapeutical use of isotretinoin also describes briefly some possibilities of compositions including it. It involves the use of one antioxidant agent and of one carrier like lactose, starches or polyethyleneglycols.
The EP patent 0184942 describes more specific compositions of isotretinoin involving the use of one antioxidant, one chelating agent, one pharmaceutical carrier and one suspending agent. The composition obtained is stable during time.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,977 relates to improved compositions of isotretinoin wherein taurine is associated with isotretinoin to reduce the side effects thereof.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,928 describes a method for increasing bioavailability and for reducing inter and intra individual variability of an orally administered hydrophobic pharmaceutical compound, which comprises orally administering the pharmaceutical compound with an essential oil or essential oil component in an amount sufficient to provide greater bioavailability of the active ingredient.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,054 relates to a method for increasing bioavailability of an orally administered hydrophobic pharmaceutical compound to human, which comprises orally administering the pharmaceutical compound concurrently with a bioenhancer comprising an inhibitor of e-cytochrome P450 3A enzyme or an inhibitor of P-glycoprotein mediated membrane transport.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,858 describes a self microemulsifying excipient formulation for increasing the bioavailability of a drug which includes an emulsion including an oil or other lipid material, a surfactant and an hydrophilic co-surfactant.
What is not described is a composition of isotretinoin containing at least two lipid materials, one of them being hydrophilic. The said composition may be a suspension, emulsion or microemulsion.

Pharmaceutical semi-solid composition of isotretinoin


An X-ray tube anticathode, intended to be used, for example, in medical iruments, such as scanners, includes a support made of a ceramic/ceramic composite material and a refractory metal film directly in contact with this support. The use of a ceramic/ceramic composite makes it possible to rotate the anticathode at an extremely high speed. In addition, this composite is selected 1) so that its coefficient of expansion is as compatible as possible with that of the refractory metal, which favors adhesion between the support and the active film, and 2) so that the phenomenon of the diffusion of carbon atoms is suppressed or minimized at the active film under the effect of the rise of temperature by not using a graphite material, which renders it ineffective in using an anticarbonizing film, such as rhenium, indium, SiC, etc.

X-ray tube anticathodes are rotating disks constituted by a support coated at least partly with an active film made of a refractory metal. They are used in medical instruments, such as scanners.
The current trend of medical instrument manufacturers is to be able to increase the power received by the anticathode and/or to reduce the size of the impact spot of the electron bombardment in such a way as to improve definition of the image obtained. This desire to increase the power or reduce the size of the spot is limited by the slow progress of the anticathode in evacuating the stored heat and consequently by the temperature of the focal track rising to the temperature for melting the material constituting the active film of the anticathode on which this track is formed.
Most frequently, the support of the anticathode is made of a material containing carbon and constituted by a polycrystalline graphite whose coefficient of expansion is compatible with that of the refractory metal, such as tungsten, a tungsten/rhenium alloy or a molybdene-based alloy which is secured (for example, by brazing) or deposited (for example, in a vapor phase or by electrolytic means) onto this support.
So as to keep the temperature of the focal track to acceptable values in a steady or transient state whilst increasing the power or by reducing the size of the spot, one solution would consist of significantly increasing the rotation speed of the anticathodes so as to reach speeds equal to or greater than 20,000 rpm, for example, unfortunately, the polycrystalline graphites normally constituting the support of anticathodes do not possess sufficient mechanical resistance. In fact, they splinter under the effect of centrifugal force before reaching such a speed.
Furthermore, in conventional anticathodes with a graphite support coated with a rhenium/tungsten alloy film, it is essential to insert an extremely fine rhenium sub-film. In fact, from several hundreds of degrees, the carbon atoms of the graphite tend to migrate so as to form with the tungsten a fragile film of tungsten carbide provoking a loss of cohesion between the substrate and the active film and disturbing the thermal transfer. Up to a temperature of about 1200.degree. C., the rhenium prevents this migration and thus plays the role of an anticarbonizing barrier. However, beyond this temperature, the rhenium is increasingly less effective and the anticathode then exceeds its functioning limit. Moreover, the rhenium is an expensive substance and thus increases the cost of the anticathode.
Other less costly materials, such as SiC and TaC, may play the role of an anticarbonizing barrier, but the fact that an additional stage needs to be added to the method results in increasing the overall cost of said method.
The document EP-A-0 236 24A proposes a method to embody an anticathode from a composite support formed of carbon fibers embedded in a carbon matrix ("carbon/carbon" composite). Such a composite material possesses mechanical resistance much greater than the polycrystalline graphites used previously, which makes it possible to rotate the anticathode at an extremely high speed without the disk risking being splintered under the effect of centrifugal force.
Unfortunately, such a composite carbon/carbon material has a coefficient of expansion widely differing from that of the metallic film. Thus, the coefficient of expansion of a carbon/carbon composite is 0.5.10.sup.-6 .degree.K..sup.-1 at 25.degree. C. and 2.10.sup.6 .degree.K..sup.-1 at 1000.degree. C., whereas the coefficient of expansion of a rhenium/tungsten alloy metal film is 4.10.sup.-6 .degree.K..sup.-1 at 25.degree. C. and 4.5.10.sup.-6 .degree.K..sup.-1 at 1000.degree. C.
To overcome this drawback, the document EP-A-0 236 241 proposes depositing the metallic film on a graphite substrate with a coefficient of expansion similar to that of the metal, this graphite substrate being associated by any means (brazing, glueing, embedding, etc) with the carbon/carbon composite support.
Thus, an anticathode is embodied having a mechanic resistance enabling it to rotate at a high speed, but the production of the anticathode is complicated by virtue of the incompatibility of firstly the coefficients of expansion of the carbon/carbon composite support and secondly of the metal film/graphite assembly. In addition, the presence of a graphite substrate between the metal film and composite support requires the insertion between the graphite substrate and the metal film an extremely fine sub-coating of rhenium to be used as an anticarbonizing barrier, as in conventional anodes with a graphite support. The use temperature of the anticathode is thus limited and increases its cost.

COMURHEX Societe pour la Conversion de l'Uranium en metal et Hexafluore


The present disclosure includes methods and apparatuses for read cache memory. One apparatus includes a read cache memory apparatus comprising a first DRAM array, a first and a second NAND array, and a controller configured to manage movement of data between the DRAM array and the first NAND array, and between the first NAND array and the second NAND array.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can require power to maintain its data (e.g., information) and includes random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), among others. Non-volatile memory can provide persistent data by retaining stored data when not powered and can include NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, resistance variable memory, such as phase change random access memory (PCRAM) and resistive random access memory (RRAM), and magnetic random access memory (MRAM), such as spin torque transfer random access memory (STTRAM), among others.
Memory devices can be combined to form a solid state drive (SSD). A solid state drive can include non-volatile memory such as NAND flash memory and/or NOR flash memory, and/or can include volatile memory such as DRAM, among various other types of non-volatile and volatile memory. In some instances, caching can be utilized in SSDs.

Data movement between volatile and non-volatile memory in a read cache memory


Disclosed herein identifies audiences of mobile devices that behave a like a seed group of devices. That is, the behave alike group are those devices that move in similar patterns and visit the similar locations with a similar frequency as the devices of the seed group. Similarity is based on correlative similarity in having visited matching categories of location styles identified via mapping data (e.g., devices that visit national parks at a similar frequency). Correlative similarity is performed using a machine learning model trained via a follow the regularized leader proximal.

The mobile devices that people carry with them everywhere records a notable amount of information about the respective users. That information often includes who the user is and where the user has been (often via GPS coordinates or base station location identification coordinates). Audience identification is where one set of people are compared against a larger set to find those whom are similar in the larger set. The methods for performing audience identification vary in computational complexity and effectiveness.

Identification of location-tracked audiences


Apparatus, system and method for detecting defects in an adhesion area that includes an adhesive mixed with a fluorescent material. One or more illumination devices may illuminate the fluorescent material in the adhesion area with a light of a predetermined wavelength. A camera may be configured to capture an image of the illuminated adhesion area. A processing device, communicatively coupled to the camera, may be configured to process the captured image by applying one or more boundary areas to the captured image and determining an image characteristic within each of the boundary areas, wherein the image characteristic is used by the processing device to determine the presence of a defect in the adhesive, such as an excess of adhesive or an insufficient application of adhesive.

In manufacturing apparatuses and systems, the ability to inspect dispensed adhesives, especially during a final assembly of a product, becomes important as the product yield loss at this stage may be exceedingly costly. In addition to ensuring that proper adhesion has been applied, adhesively bonded interfaces for materials on a product visibly impact the cosmetics and perceived quality of a product. If excessive adhesive compounds are visible around edges or periphery of a device (e.g., integrated circuit, mechanical device, display, etc.) affixed to a product, this may not only affect the integrity of the adhesion, but further provide the impression to a user that the product is of inferior quality.
Of course, manual visual inspections have long been utilized to inspect quality of products. However, such inspections are often slow to conduct and are prone to human error. Furthermore, in certain cases, adhesives may be transparent or colored to match the bonding surface, which makes human optical inspection more difficult. Accordingly, an effective quality control and inspection technology is needed to provide improved inspection of devices that have been affixed to a surface using an adhesive.

System, apparatus and method for dispensed adhesive material inspection


A fastener has a head and a shank with two ends. One of the ends includes the head while the other includes a pilot point. Also, the shank includes a threaded portion adjacent to the pilot point. A pair of recesses are formed 180.degree. from one another on the point and threaded portion. The recesses extend from the end of the point through at least a first full thread.

The present invention relates to fasteners and, more particularly, to bolts with a cleaning point.
When a bolt is screwed into a threaded port, where the port is subjected to foreign material such as dust, dirt, metal shavings or the like, the foreign material is carried into the mating area between the external and internal threads as the bolt or fastener is threaded into the port. If foreign material is carried into the threads, galling and/or seizing usually results during assembly. This galling and seizing of the bolts causes substantial down time during an assembly operation, since the seized fastener must be removed, the hole cleaned out, and a replacement fastener installed.
Various types of fasteners have been utilized to eliminate the foreign material which would otherwise be carried into the mating area between the internal and external threads. These threaded bolts generally include a recess or space in its threads to enable the foreign material to accumulate in the recesses. Generally, a bolt includes a multiplicity of flutes or recesses which are equally spaced and extend deeply into the threads. Sometimes the flutes are formed at an angle with respect to the axis of the fastener. Also, some of these fasteners include pilot points to enable the fastener to easily enter the threaded ports.
While these types of fasteners are adequate for performing their function, designers are striving to improve the art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides the art with a fastener which, when entering a tapped port, accumulates foreign material that would otherwise be carried into the mating area between the external and internal threads. The invention provides recesses, approximately 180.degree. apart, which enable the material, when the fastener is threaded into the port, to receive the foreign material. The invention provides recesses or flutes which extend from the end of the pilot tip into at least the first full thread of the threaded shank portion of the bolt. Thus, the present invention provides a fastener which substantially prevents foreign material from being carried into the threads which, in turn, eliminates galling and seizing during assembly.
From the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and subjoined claims, other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

Bolt including a cleaning thread point tip


Apparatus for depositing ink on a substrate includes a nozzle defining an outlet for the ink, with at least a portion of the nozzle being electrically conductive. A first voltage source applies a first potential to the outlet nozzle. One or more auxiliary electrodes are located adjacent the outlet nozzle, and a second voltage source applies a second potential to the auxiliary electrodes. The apparatus includes a piezo-electric or thermal actuator for expelling ink from the nozzle towards a target zone on a substrate, the ink comprising a liquid vehicle and pigment particles dispersed in the vehicle. At least the pigment particles are electrically charged, typically due to the applied potentials. In one embodiment, an auxiliary electrode is disposed coaxially around the electrode formed by the nozzle. In another embodiment, an auxiliary electrode located beyond the nozzle, on a common axis with the electrode formed by the nozzle. The configuration of the nozzle, the auxiliary electrodes, and the values of the first and second potentials are selected to cause pigment particles to be concentrated in the target zone, so that a quantity of the pigment particles is deposited in the target zone having a higher concentration than the concentration of the pigment particles in the ink. The invention extends to a method of depositing ink on a substrate.

The present invention relates to a method of inkjet printing of inks containing nanoparticles, and to printing apparatus for carrying out the method.
The method and apparatus are particularly, but not exclusively, suitable for printing of functional inks for electronic applications, where a high density of interconnecting particles and small feature size of the printed pattern are required.
Printing of functional inks has a long tradition in the electronic field. For example, pigment based inks are used to screen print interconnections and resistors on printed circuit boards. In these applications the thick film inks used consist of a vehicle, and pigments of silver and carbon respectively, where the pigment particles can have a dimension in the nanometer range. More recent developments are aimed at printing not only the passive components of a circuit, but also active components. One example is the disclosure of printed nanoparticulate silicon in International patent application WO 2004/068536 of the present applicant, providing semiconducting layers in devices like solar cells and transistors.
Traditionally most functional materials have been printed by conventional printing techniques, such as screen printing and flexography, both of which require the fabrication of a master pattern (e.g. a screen or printing plate) for each design to be printed. It is generally held desirable that digital printing methods, such as inkjet printing, should be applied, because of their flexibility in use and higher spatial accuracy. However, to prevent clogging of the ink jet nozzles, ink jet printing requires relatively dispersed solutions of particles and a low viscosity ink. This makes this method unsuitable for certain applications in the electronic field, in which a high density of particles has to be brought to a specific position on a substrate to achieve the required functionality of the printed pattern.
With regard to the deposition of small feature size patterns, inkjet printing of solutions containing nanoparticles, which provide functional properties to a printed structure, is known. The most common applications are ink jet printing of conductive traces for circuits, using conductive nanoparticles, e.g. silver nanoparticles, dispersed in the ink. In such applications a low resistance is obtained by heat treatment, with the effect of removing the dispersant, and subsequent sintering of the nanoparticles. A more recent development in functional layer deposition is inkjet printing of nanoparticulate transparent conducting oxide, where the patterned structure and the particle packing is controlled by a treatment with electromagnetic radiation in the drying process.
Another method to enhance the precision of patterning in ink jet printed structures composed of functional inks, including inks containing nanoparticles, is electrohydrodynamic jet printing, described by Jang-Ung Park et al (Nature, Vol 6 (2007) p. 782). In this case the resolution of the printed pattern is enhanced by an electrostatic field, applied to a microcapillary nozzle of the ink jet equipment, which shapes and controls the motion of the drops ejected from the nozzle. However, electrohydrodynamic jet printing has no effect on the density or arrangement of particles in the printed structure, and post processing is necessary to achieve the desired properties.
In certain applications the functionality of a deposited layer, containing particles in general, and nanoparticles in particular, is provided by an interconnecting network of these particles. To achieve compaction of such layers a modification of electrophoretic deposition has been disclosed by Tuck in GB2355338 for field emitting displays. This work teaches the forced sedimentation of particles from a dilute solution of the binder material by an applied electric field. The amount of binder in the solution is carefully calculated so that, after evaporation of the solvent, the sediment is held in place at the bottom of a microscopic well. As in other conventional electrophoretic deposition techniques, used for coating from a bath of solution, there is no forming of the pattern or control of the fluid flow during the process.

Inkjet printing of nanoparticulate functional inks


An object of the present invention is to prevent breakup of segments which constitute a split type retainer for a tapered roller bearing, when the tapered roller bearing is being mounted on target equipment, thereby improving operability in the mounting process. A segment for a tapered roller bearing is provided with a predetermined number of posts between a small-diameter-side end fringe which constitutes a small-diameter-side circumferential edge of a split type retainer and a large-diameter-side end fringe which constitutes a large-diameter-side circumferential edge thereof. Pockets are formed between the posts. At least the large-diameter-side end fringe, out of the small-diameter-side end fringe and the large-diameter-side end fringe, is provided with a large-diameter-side engagement piece. When the bearing is mounted, the large-diameter-side engagement piece is engaged with the large-diameter engagement member fitted and fixed onto the bearing's inner ring, whereby the segment is prevented from breaking up.

In tapered roller bearings, it is common to use split type retainers as retainers for tapered rollers for a purpose of improved assemblability (Patent Literature 1). In this case, a split type retainer is made of segments, each being a generally quadrangle frame given by equally dividing a cone-frustum-shaped cage-type retainer along planes of division each passing through a centerline of the retainer. The retainer has a smaller-diameter-side frame portion and a larger-diameter-side frame portion opposed thereto, with a plurality of posts connecting these two frame portions, and a plurality of pockets formed between the posts for retaining tapered rollers.
When the tapered roller bearing is mounted to target equipment, first, the bearing's inner ring is fitted and fixed around a shaft, and thereafter the segments loaded with tapered rollers are placed around the inner ring track. Then, an outer ring is fitted around the tapered rollers, and finally a housing of the equipment is fitted around the outer ring outer diameter surface to complete the mounting.

Retainer segment for tapered roller bearing, tapered roller bearing, and method for mounting tapered roller bearing


A method for implementing power loop control at a RBS controlled by an RNC includes receiving an SIR target at the RBS which is determined by the RNC for a mobile station in communication with the RBS. In a first mode, one or more transmit power control commands are generated at the RBS for issuance to the mobile station based on the SIR target received from the RNC. In a second mode, one or more transmit power control commands are generated at the RBS for issuance to the mobile station based on an SIR target determined by the RBS for the mobile station instead of the SIR target received from the RNC. Also in the second mode, artificial mobile station connection quality information is reported from the RBS to the RNC so that the SIR target determined by the RNC is adjusted in accordance with the SIR target determined by the RBS.

The uplink performance of WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) relies on the ability of the network to control the transmission power, and consequently, the quality of all connected mobile stations. In WCDMA, a radio network controller (RNC) controls the radio base stations (RBSs) such as NodeBs which service the mobile stations within the network. The RNC carries out radio resource management, including determining a quality target such as SIR (signal to interference ratio) using an OLPC (Outer Loop Power Control) function implemented at the RNC. The SIR target is determined on a relatively slow timescale. The RNC determines an individual SIR target for each mobile station serviced within the network. The task of maintaining a particular SIR target is then left to a more rapidly operating ILPC (Inner Loop Power Control) function performed by each RBS responsible for the corresponding mobile station. For example, an RBS may estimate a received SIR of the dedicated physical control channel allocated to a particular mobile station and compare the SIR estimate to the corresponding SIR target determined by the RNC. The RBS issues transmit power control (TPC) commands to the mobile station, ordering the mobile station to increase or decrease its transmission power depending on whether the SIR estimate is below or above the target SIR. Different mobile stations typically demand different SIR targets depending on the current service, radio conditions, movement, etc.
The target SIR provided by the OLPC function performed at the RNC is occasionally modified based on communication quality. For example, a certain targeted number of re-transmission attempts in a Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) process associated with an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH) transport channel can be evaluated by the RNC. If the communication quality is too low, i.e. the number of re-transmission attempts is above the set target, the RNC increases the target SIR. If the communication quality is too high, i.e. the number of re-transmission attempts is below the set target, the RNC decreases the target SIR. The SIR target can be similarly modified based on block error rate information. In either case, changes in an SIR target for a particular mobile station are communicated from the RNC to each RBS serving the affected mobile station. As such, the RNC implements the OLPC function and the RBSs implement the ILPC function.
In WCDMA, soft handover can occur from time-to-time meaning that the transmission power of a mobile station is controlled by two RBSs simultaneously. Soft handover is typically implemented in one of two different ways. With partial soft handover, two or more RBSs control the mobile station power to meet the SIR target specified by the RNC. However, data is only received by the RBS responsible for the serving cell. With full soft handover, two or more RBSs control the mobile station power to meet the SIR target specified by the RNC, and the data is received by at least two RBSs out of the two or more RBSs controlling the mobile station power. When no soft handover is performed, the active set of the mobile station contains only the serving cell which has the sole responsibility for transmit power control and data reception. In each of these scenarios, the design choice in WCDMA is typically to maintain the same SIR target in all controlling RBSs by having the OLPC function placed in the RNC, not the RBSs.
With the OLPC function placed in the RNC, there is limited information available to the RNC for determining the SIR target as compared to the additional information available at the RBSs. Consequently, conventional OLPC algorithms typically monitor the block error rate of the payload. Furthermore, placement of the OLPC function in the RNC introduces delay in the algorithm. The delay can be divided into two parts: the delay of the actual signaling between the RNC and the RBSs, which is not negligible; and the additional delay introduced by using the block error of the payload. In the case of HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access), the RNC is not aware of any failed transmissions until the transmission is correctly received and relayed up to the RNC. As such, placing the OLPC function in the RNC introduces delay and restricts the information available for determining a suitable mobile station SIR target.


The present invention is directed to a number of improvements in methods for reliability simulations in aged circuits whose operation has been degraded through hot-carrier or other effects. A plurality of different circuit stress times can be simulated within a single run. Different aging criteria may be used for different circuit blocks, circuit block types, devices, device models and device types. The user may specify the degradation of selected circuit blocks, circuit block types, devices, device models and device types independently of the simulation. Device degradation can be characterized in tables. Continuous degradation levels can be quantized. Techniques are also described for representing the aged device in the netlist as the fresh device augmented with a plurality of independent current sources connected between its terminals to mimic the effects of aging in the device. The use of device model cards with age parameters is also described. To further improve the circuit reliability simulation, a gradual or multi-step aging is used instead of the standard one step aging process. Many of these features can be embedded within the circuit simulator. A user data interface is also presented to implement these techniques and further allow users to enter their device models not presented in the simulator. For example, a proprietary model of, say, the substrate current in an NMOS could used be with a SPICE simulator employing a different model to simulate the aging of the circuit.

Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits may contain thousands or millions of transistors and other circuit elements. The design of such circuits is extremely complicated and usually employs simulators, such as SPICE, to predict circuit operation. In addition to predicting the operation of the circuit when it is new, it is frequently important to simulate the operation of the circuit as it ages from processes such as hot carrier effects.
FIG. 1 is a schematic of a field effect transistor, the example here being a P-channel MOSFET formed on a silicon substrate, although much of the following discussion applies NMOS transistors and other insulated gate devices. This device may also have a lightly doped drain (LDD) region that is not shown in FIG. 1. Some of the particulars for the NMOS case will be discussed later. The transistor 10 has a bulk N-type region 5, source region 11 and drain region 12 defined at and below the substrate surface, and a lightly doped N-type channel region 15 having a manufactured length LM in the region between the source 11 and the drain 12. Over the channel region is an oxide or other insulating layer 14 that supports the gate 13. (Here the gate is shown doped as N+, although in a PMOS this may alternately be P+.) When the transistor is turned on, current flows through the channel region below the oxide/silicon interface.
With operation over time, the PMOS transistor 10 will suffer degradation due to device aging. An important mechanism in the aging of insulated gate devices is the "hot carrier" effect. When the transistor is turned on, a current Ids of energized charge carriers flows through the channel 15 from the source 11 to the drain 12. Impact of these charge carriers with silicon atoms near the channel/drain juncture generates electron-hole pairs. Some of the resultant electrons have sufficient energy to pass through the insulating layer 14 by tunneling or other leakage mechanisms and are then collected at the gate 13, resulting in a gate current IG. The rest of the electrons result in a substrate current Isub contribution, with generated holes adding to the drain current Ids. Some of the impact induced electrons become trapped inside of the insulating layer 14 or become trapped at the interface of the channel 15 and the insulating layer 14. This attracts holes to the channel side of the channel/insulator interface, which cause the effective boundary of the P+ drain region 12 to shift closer to the source region. This is shown in FIG. 2, where drain is extended by the region 12′, shortening the effective channel length to L′<LM. Additionally, the oxide/silicon interface above channel region is damaged by the more energetic holes and electrons.
These effects degrade the transistor's operation in several ways. As these charges accumulate, the voltage needed at the gate to turn on the transistor, the device's threshold voltage Vth, changes, resulting in positive shift, ΔVth>0. This makes the PMOS threshold voltage less negative and reduces the Vth value at which the onset of leakage current is seen. When a sufficient number of trapped electrons are distributed over the manufactured length LM of the channel 15, a relatively large leakage current will flow through the transistor even when the gate voltage VG is set to an "off" level.
The damage to the interface results in a lower mobility, μ, as the carriers flow form source 11 to drain 12. The lower mobility results in more resistance and lowers Ids, where as the electrons trapped in the dielectric tend to raise the PMOS's Ids curve. The strength of these effects depend differently on bias conditions, but traditionally the change due to lower mobility has been smaller; however, as device sizes have decreased, this interface damage becomes more significant and, depending upon bias conditions, often becomes the larger effect below a quarter micron or so.
These problems are aggravated as device sizes decrease into the submicron region. One reason is that an amount of incursion of the region 12′ that produces a relatively small relative change for a channel length of, say, LM≈1.5 μm becomes a much larger relative change at LM≈0.25 μm. For example, if 12′ extends an absolute distance of 0.05 μm, this produces a change of(L′−LM)/LM=−20%for the shorter channel length, but of only −3% at the longer length. Another reason is that as the electric field in the channel is given byE=Vds/L′the resultant field strength, and consequently the number of electron/hole pairs produced, increases greatly in a submicron device even at low power operation. For example, in a LM≈0.25 μm MOSFET operating at 2.5 volts results in fields of ≈107 V/m. As L′ departs further and further from LM, the field strengths increase resulting in an even greater electron/hole pair production rate.
In the case of an NMOS transistor, the results of hot-carriers differ in several respects. Electrons will again be trapped in the dielectric and as the number of electrons in the oxide increases, a positive shift in voltage will again be needed at the gate to turn on the transistor results, ΔVth>0. As Vth is positive now, the threshold voltage becomes larger in magnitude and the Ids curve is lowered as the gate voltage must additionally overcome the negative charge embedded in the dielectric to cause the channel inversion.
The damage to the interface again lowers the mobility, μ, as the electrons flow form source 11 to drain 12, resulting in more resistance and lowering Ids. Thus in this case, both effects move the Ids curve in the same direction. Also as with the PMOS, the strength of these effects depends differently on bias conditions, with the change due to lower mobility traditionally smaller but becoming increasingly important as device size shrink. Unlike the PMOS, though, the effective channel length does not decrease.
These hot electron effects build up over time causing the device to degrade as it ages. To determine the aging of a circuit as a whole, the degradation of the various devices within the circuit must be considered. As an example, consider the simple circuit shown in the schematic of FIG. 3, consisting of three inverters manufactured to be identical.
FIG. 3 shows three inverters, 20a, 20b, and 20c, connected in parallel with a capacitive load C 25a, 25b, and 25c connected to the output of each. Each of these inverters consists of a circuit like that of FIG. 4, with a PMOS transistor Pa 21 and an NMOS transistor Na 22 connected as shown. To simulate the fresh circuit, a circuit simulation, such as of the SPICE or timing simulation type, can be performed using the same model card for each of PMOS transistors 21 and the same model card for each of the NMOS transistors.
To simulate the aged circuit, a model card representing the aged behavior of each of the elements needs to be used. To determine how the aged device will operate, the device is stressed to obtain the aging model information from the electrical test data. From this, the aged model card for the device can be extracted. However, the same aged model card can no longer be used for all of the similar devices. To see why, consider FIG. 3 again.
The amount of degradation in the PMOS 21 and the NMOS 22 of inverter 20a depends on the input signal supplied at node X, while the degradation in inverters 20b and 20c will instead depend on the input at nodes Y and Z, respectively. The waveforms at these nodes will differ from each other as the input waveform will change in both shape and magnitude as it propagates through the circuit. Thus, if the operation of a circuit after, say, 5 years, of use is simulated, the relative amount of degradation in each of the inverters will differ and, consequently, a different aged model card will be needed for each of the transistors. For even the simple circuit of FIGS. 3 and 4, this results in a three-fold increase in the required number of model cards for the aged circuit simulation compared with the fresh circuit. As a real circuit will often contain thousands or even millions of elements, the simulation of the aging of such circuits is a extremely complicated process for which a large number of improvements are desirable.

Hot carrier circuit reliability simulation


An apparatus includes multiple first reservoirs and multiple second reservoirs joined with a substrate. Selected ones of the multiple first reservoirs include a reducing agent, and first reservoir surfaces of selected ones of the multiple first reservoirs are proximate to a first substrate surface. Selected ones of the multiple second reservoirs include an oxidizing agent, and second reservoir surfaces of selected ones of the multiple second reservoirs are proximate to the first substrate surface.

The skin is a natural barrier against infection; however any surgery that causes a break in the skin can lead to a postoperative infection, often described as surgical site infections (SSIs). Following surgery, the chances of developing an SSI are about 1 to 3 percent. SSIs are often one or more of three types. A "superficial incisional" SSI occurs in the area of the skin where the surgical incision was made. A "deep incisional" SSI occurs beneath the incision area in muscle tissue and in fascia, as well as the tissue surrounding the muscles. An "organ" or "space" SSI can occur in any area of the body other than the skin, muscle, or fascia that was involved in the surgery, such as an organ or between organs.
Infections after surgery are often caused by microorganisms. The most common of these include the bacteria Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Pseudomonas. Microorganisms can infect a surgical wound through various forms of contact, such as from the touch of a contaminated caregiver or surgical instrument, through microorganisms in the air, or through microorganisms that are already on or in the body. The degree of risk for an SSI is linked to the type of surgery performed—risk factors for SSIs include surgery that lasts more than two hours; advanced age, obesity, smoking, diabetes, and cancer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and devices for surgical pre-treatment


The present disclosure discloses a method for managing e-notes of electronic books and an electronic device. The method includes: acquiring content data of an e-note when the e-note is generated for the electronic book; storing the content data of the e-note into an e-note file corresponding to the electronic book; in response to receiving an e-note management instruction, identifying the electronic book corresponding to the e-note management instruction, acquiring and displaying the e-note file corresponding to the electronic book, and managing the e-note based on the e-note file corresponding to the electronic book.

As the saying goes, "you can't read without writing". Many people are used to taking notes when they are reading. At present, mobile terminal-based electronic book reading software has been able to support electronic note (e-note) functions. For example, when a user reads a certain page of a document in an electronic book, he or she can select, with a box, the specified content in the document on that page and record an e-note next to the selected content. Correspondingly, when the user wants to view an e-note recorded in the past, he or she simply needs to turn to the page where the e-note is located and can view the e-note.
However, because each e-note is only recorded in the corresponding page of the electronic book, the total number of the pages of the electronic book easily reaches tens or even hundreds, and the positions of the e-notes in the electronic book are scattered, the user must flip through the pages in the electronic book one by one so as to be able to complete the query. It can be seen that the marking function provided by the existing electronic book reading software has at least the disadvantage of inconvenient querying.

Method for e-note management of electronic books, and electronic device


To obtain a flow meter with which it is possible to facilitate establishing an electrical connection with a conductor exposed in a location through which a gas to be measured passes. A flow meter that is provided with a lead and a circuit component placed on the lead, and that has a package in which part of the lead is molded from a resin, wherein the package is provided with an exposure portion for exposing part of the lead from the resin member, the exposure portion being electrically connected to a conductor that constitutes part of an auxiliary passage.

As a flowmeter for measuring the mass flow rate of a measurement target gas flowing in a main path, there is a thermal type flowmeter. Such a flowmeter is configured such that a portion of a measurement target gas flowing in a pipe, which is a main path, is taken into a sub path and is guided to a flow rate measurement unit. In the flow rate measurement unit, a hot wire, a silicon element, or the like is disposed and the mass flow rate in the pipe is measured by using a fact that the hot wire, the silicon element, or the like is cooled by an air stream and the electrical resistivity changes.
In PTL 1, a technique of an thermal type flowmeter, in which a static electricity dissipation region is provided in a bypass path and electric charge of the corrupting substance is eliminated in viewpoint of a countermeasure against corruption for preventing a corrupting substance from adhering to the flow rate measurement unit, is proposed (PTL 1).


The present invention is directed to multicomponent fibers. The fibers may be in a side-by-side, sheath-core, segmented pie, islands-in-the-sea configuration, or any combination of configurations. Each component of the fiber will comprise destructurized starch and/or a thermoplastic polymer. The present invention is also directed to nonwoven webs and disposable articles comprising the multicomponent fibers. The nonwoven webs may also contain other synthetic or natural fibers blended with the multicomponent fibers of the present invention.

The present invention relates to multicomponent fibers comprising starch and polymers and specific configurations of the fibers. The fibers are used to make nonwoven webs and disposable articles.
There have been many attempts to make nonwoven articles. However, because of costs, the difficultly in processing, and end-use properties, there are only a limited number of options. Many compositions have limited processability.
Useful fibers for nonwoven article are difficult to produce and pose additional challenges compared to films and laminates. This is because the material and processing characteristics for fibers is much more stringent than for producing films, blow-molding articles, and injection-molding articles. For the production of fibers, the processing time during structure formation is typically much shorter and flow characteristics are more demanding on the material""s physical and rheological characteristics. The local strain rate and shear rate are much greater in fiber production than other processes. Additionally, a homogeneous composition is required for fiber spinning. For spinning very fine fibers, small defects, slight inconsistencies, or non-homogeneity in the melt are not acceptable for a commercially viable process.
Attempts have been made to process natural starch on standard equipment and existing technology known in the plastic industry. Fibers comprising starch are desired as the starch is environmentally degradable. Since natural starch generally has a granular structure, it needs to be xe2x80x9cdestructurizedxe2x80x9d before it can be melt processed into fine denier filaments. Modified starch (alone or as the major component of a blend) has been found to have poor melt extensibility resulting in difficulty in successfully production of fibers, films, foams or the like. Additionally, starch fibers are difficult to spin and are virtually unusable to make nonwovens due to the low tensile strength, stickiness, and the inability to be bonded to form nonwovens.
To produce fibers that have more acceptable processability and end-use properties, thermoplastic polymers need to be combined with starch. Selection of a suitable polymer that is acceptable for blending with starch is challenging. The polymer must have good spinning properties and a suitable melting temperature. The melting temperature must be high enough for end-use stability to prevent melting or structural deformation, but not too high of a melting temperature to be able to be processable with starch without burning the starch. These requirements make selection of a thermoplastic polymer to produce starch-containing multicomponent fibers very difficult.
Consequently, there is a need for a cost-effective and easily processable multicomponent fibers made of natural starches and thermoplastic polymers. Moreover, the starch and polymer composition should be suitable for use in commercially available equipment used to make the multicomponent fibers. There is also a need for disposable, nonwoven articles made from these multicomponent fibers.
The present invention is directed to multicomponent fibers. The configuration of the multicomponent fibers may be side-by-side, sheath-core, segmented pie, islands-in-the-sea, or any combination of configurations. Each component of the fiber will comprise destructurized starch and/or a thermoplastic polymer.
The present invention is also directed to nonwoven webs and disposable articles comprising the multicomponent fibers. The nonwoven webs may also contain other synthetic or natural fibers blended with the multicomponent fibers of the present invention.

Multicomponent fibers comprising starch and polymers


An ink jet recording head unit includes a plurality of nozzle elements, a plurality of piezoelectric elements and a driving unit. The plurality of piezoelectric elements is provided in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of nozzle elements. Each piezoelectric element has a positive pole and a negative pole. Each piezoelectric element expands and contracts when a voltage potential difference between the positive pole and the negative pole is varied. The plurality of nozzle elements includes a first nozzle element and a second nozzle element adjacent to the first nozzle element. A first piezoelectric element and a second piezoelectric element correspond to the first nozzle element and the second nozzle element respectively. The driving unit controls the first piezoelectric element and the second piezoelectric element to expand and contract in a complementary manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording head capable of recording high quality images rapidly and reliably, and to an inkjet recording device equipped with the recording head.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to record high-quality images rapidly and reliably using an on-demand inkjet recording device having a plurality of densely integrated nozzles, it is particularly necessary to increase the ink droplet ejection rate and to achieve stable ink ejection at a high frequency.
One structure of nozzles configured of push-type piezoelectric elements is disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent application publication No. HEI-6-270403. In this push-type piezoelectric element system, vertical vibrations of a pole-shaped piezoelectric element push a diaphragm that constitutes one surface of an ink pressure chamber, decreasing the volume in the pressure chamber and causing an ink droplet to be ejected from the nozzle hole. Pole-shaped piezoelectric elements of a number equal to the number of nozzle holes are arranged in a row. One end of the pole-shaped piezoelectric element opposite another side that contacts the diaphragm is fixed to a support base. The support base is affixed to a head housing.
However, when piezoelectric elements are driven in a recording head having this construction, vertical vibrations from the piezoelectric element are transferred not only to the diaphragm, but also to the support base, the head housing, and the like, making ink droplet ejection unstable. Vibrations from the piezoelectric element also affect nozzles adjacent to the nozzle corresponding to the piezoelectric element, generating what is called cross talk, which produces fluctuations in the ink droplet ejection characteristics.
In order to avoid this problem, Japanese unexamined patent application publication No. 2002-361868 discloses an inkjet recording device in which the piezoelectric element support base is configured of a stiff member capable of absorbing vibrations from the piezoelectric element.
Another inkjet recording device disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent application publication No. HEI-9-99554 supplies a piezoelectric element with a voltage considering the effects of vibrations on neighboring piezoelectric elements to alleviate mutual interference between nozzle units.
However, when using one of the methods described in Japanese unexamined patent application publications Nos. 2002-361868 and HEI-9-99554, abnormal vibrations were generated in a specific frequency range in parts or all of the print head when ejecting ink droplets. These abnormal vibrations generate ink mist or cause the ink ejection direction to deviate from the desired direction. These abnormal vibrations also cause ink to protrude from the nozzle hole and wet the region around the hole. This can result in ejection failures or, when ink droplets are ejected, irregular ejection characteristics due to cross talk.
This is particularly problematic when lengthening the head to integrate a plurality of nozzles therein, as in a push-type on-demand recording head, or when lowering the resonance frequency of such components as the piezoelectric element support base and increasing the excitation force in order to eject ink with a high viscosity.
Further, conventional recording head driving devices are provided with control elements, such as switching elements, and a flexible cable connecting each control element to a piezoelectric element, in order to selectively apply a drive pulse to piezoelectric elements corresponding to each nozzle. Accordingly, a recording head having a plurality of densely integrated nozzles requires a larger number of control elements and wires in the flexible cable, thereby increasing costs and leading to problems in mounting.

Recording head for inkjet recording device


An embodiment of the invention provides a method for determining relationships between physical entities, where one or more of the physical entities is associated with static feature(s) and changeable feature(s). An entity analytics engine determines that a first physical entity and a second physical entity may be in a relationship with a third physical entity based on a first rule and a first set of observations. The first rule is applicable to one or more static features of the first physical entity, the second physical entity, and the third physical entity. The first rule provides that the first physical entity and the second physical entity may be in a relationship with the third physical entity when the third physical entity includes one or more static features that are within a threshold degree of similarity to static features of the first physical entity and the second physical entity.

The Internet of Things has a variety of different solutions from different vendors, targeting a variety of different real world problem spaces. Given its breadth, the Internet of Things landscape appears as highly fragmented because typically applications appear as vertical silos only, and for any such typical application, the number and richness of functional components belonging to the system and their interaction patterns lets one appreciate the system complexity. Entity resolution provides a means for discovering identity matches and non-obvious relationships across multiple data silos.

Entity resolution for the Internet of Things

International Business Machines Corporation