Disclosed in the present invention are an emodin succinyl ester compound, a preparation method therefor and a use thereof, the emodin succinyl ester compound having the structure as represented by formula I (R being a C1-5 alkyl group). The method provided in the present invention has a simple method course, and may effectively save time in synthesis and reduce costs, being simple to operate, being easy to implement, and being suitable for industrial production. Experiments show that the emodin succinyl ester compound of the present invention may better promote the healing of diabetic wounds than emodin, and may be used for preparing a drug for promoting the healing of diabetic wounds. Moreover, it has been confirmed by means of performing pharmacological experiments on rats suffering from experimentally mixed hyperlipidemia that the emodin succinyl ester compound of the present invention is superior to emodin, and has the advantages of having a remarkable blood fat lowering effect, being safe, being simple and convenient to administer, the raw materials being low cost and readily available, and being easy to transport and store.

With the improvement of living standards, people's dietary structure has changed, the intake of cholesterol and saturated fatty acids has increased significantly, but the physical activities are relatively insufficient, resulting in the incidence of hyperlipidemia rising year by year. Hyperlipidemia, referring to high blood lipid levels, such as an increase in total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoprotein (LDL-C) in the serum and a decrease in high density lipoprotein (HDL-C), can directly cause some diseases that seriously endanger human health, such as atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Hyperlipidemia can also cause diseases such as fatty liver, liver cirrhosis, cholelithiasis, pancreatitis, peripheral vascular disease and hyperuricemia. Clinical studies have shown that most patients with sudden cardiac death have coronary artery sclerosis lipid abnormalities and coronary artery sclerosis lipid abnormalities may play an important role in ischemic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Disorders of lipid metabolism aggravate disorders of glucose metabolism on the one hand and increase the incidence and mortality of diabetic macrovascular complications, on the other hand.
Most of the commonly used lipid-regulating drugs in clinical practice are chemical synthetic preparations, which need to be taken for a long time. Various statins, such as simvastatin and lovastatin, can prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents while treating hyperlipidemia. However, long-term or large-dose use of statins may lead to serious adverse reactions such as biochemical changes of liver tissue cells or cardiac rhabdomyolysis, thus limiting the long-term use of the statins. Therefore, it is of great significance to research and develop new and effective lipid-regulating drugs.
At present, diabetes has become the third chronic non-communicable disease that threatens human health worldwide. China is the country with the most diabetic patients in the world. In 2016, the estimated prevalence of diabetes diagnosed according to the latest international clinical diagnostic standards among adult samples aged 18 and over in China has reached 11.6%. About 30%-80% of the diabetic patients have skin lesions, which are manifested as tissue destruction in the feet or lower limbs, causing ulcers, infections and difficult-to-heal wounds, also known as diabetic foot. Diabetic foot is an important complication of diabetes and can lead to amputation in severe cases. The results of epidemiological investigations show that the probability of amputation of the lower limbs of patients with diabetes is 25 times higher than that of people without the disease and in some countries, diabetes causes an amputation even every 30 seconds. In addition, the cost of treatment and care for diabetic foot is also very high. The data shows that the cost of treatment and care for diabetic foot without primary ischemic symptoms in the first stage of healing is about $16,000. If a patient has the diabetic foot combined with major ischemic symptoms, the treatment cost of the patient will increase to $26,700; the cost of treatment and care for minor post-amputee healing is approximately $ 43,000, while the cost of treatment for major post-amputee healing increases to $ 63,100; in developing countries, at least 40% of the treatment cost for diabetes and its complications is for the treatment and care for diabetic foot. It can be seen that diabetic foot has caused a huge economic burden and social burden to the society, and the problem of diabetic wound healing disorders needs to be solved urgently.
Wound healing disorders seriously affect people's daily life, and effective prevention and treatment of diabetic wound healing disorders has important clinical significance. The current clinical treatment methods are generally supportive, such as: systemic therapies such as correction of dyslipidemia, correction of anemia and hypoalbuminemia, improvement of malnutrition, anti-infective therapy, improvement of microcirculation, improvement or nourishment of neurological function, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, surgical treatment and stem cell transplantation. These treatment methods are not only costly and unbearable for most patients, but also have unsatisfactory treatment effects. Therefore, research and development of effective drugs to promote the healing of diabetic wounds, speeding up the early healing process of diabetic wounds to shorten the process of diabetic wound healing and reduce the disability rate are the key issues in the medical field.
Emodin (1,3,8-trihydroxy-6-methylanthraquinone) is a major effective monomer that exists in the rhizomes and the senna leaves of Rheum, Polygonum and Rhamnus and is a plant-based drug. In recent years, many scholars have studied the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of emodin, and found that emodin has a wide range of pharmacological effects such as lowering blood lipids, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antitumor effects, inhibiting cell proliferation, improving immunity, and protecting liver and kidneys. Emodin has a significant lipid-lowering effect and has little toxic and side effects. However, due to the low bioavailability of emodin, the absolute bioavailability in male SD rats is 7.5% and is only 5% in females. The emodin succinyl ester compound disclosed in the present invention is obtained through structural modification of emodin, and the pharmacodynamic evaluation of emodin succinyl ethyl ester for lowering blood lipids was performed, and it was found that emodin succinyl ethyl ester had a significant effect on the treatment of hyperlipidemia and its blood lipid lowering effect was significantly better than that of emodin at the same dose. The present invention uses atorvastatin calcium as a main control drug, with an intention to observe the pharmacological effect of the emodin succinyl ester compound of the present invention on experimental rats with mixed hyperlipidemia. In addition, chemically modified emodin succinyl ester compounds can show better effects in promoting the healing of diabetic wounds than emodin. Therefore, it is necessary to modify emodin.

Emodin succinyl ester compound, preparation method therefor and application thereof


Described is a system for intelligently storing and recovering backup data using multiple storage tiers of a cloud-based storage. The intelligent storing of backup data may leverage different cost structures associated with various cloud-based storage tiers by efficiently distributing data to more cost effective tiers. The system may also provide a coordinated (e.g. phased) recovery that prioritizes the recovery of certain files so that a user can gain access to such files in a shorter amount of time. The system may also provide enhanced storage and recovery functionality (e.g. via specialized user interface elements) by leveraging placeholder files to offload and recover individual files, and expedite the recovery of individual files during a substantial recovery process.

Users of personal computing devices such as desktop or laptop devices often use cloud-based backup services delivered as a "Software-as-a-Service" (SaaS). More particularly, these backup services are typically referred to as "Backup-as-a-Service" (BaaS). These backup services may periodically (or continuously) copy data to a cloud-based storage by performing an initial copy of all files, and then subsequently only sending changed files. However, these backup services often store backup files on the same cloud-based storage, which may be provided by a third-party storage provider. Accordingly, the storage solution may not be optimized for storage costs that may be incurred by the BaaS provider or the user. For example, when files are stored on the same storage tier, the same costs may be are incurred to store each backup file irrespective of the access requirements associated with the individual backup files. Moreover, these backup services often implement an uncoordinated recovery process from the cloud-based storage. For example, an uncoordinated recovery process often creates a certain amount of downtime during which a user cannot access files that have been backed-up. Accordingly, there is a continued need to provide efficient storage and recovery tools when using cloud-based backup services.

Intelligent storage and recovery of backup data using multiple storage tiers of a cloud-based storage


There are provided a method and system for testing software for an industrial machine with continuous test values reflecting actual environmental factors, using a simulator before the software for the industrial machine is embedded into an actual industrial machine. A method for testing software for an industrial machine, the method comprising the steps of: coding a program for a diagram through which the industrial machine is driven; compiling the program into an instruction with which the industrial machine is driven; downloading the compiled program onto a simulator for implementing a programming interface provided by the industrial machine; executing the compiled program in the simulator: generating a first data for testing the compiled program: transmitting the first test data to the simulator having the downloaded program from a testing tool; and outputting a result data obtained after executing the program having the transmitted first test data and then transmitting the result data to the testing tool. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce a time taken for testing, to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the testing and to save cost required in the testing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for testing software for an industrial machine, and more particularly, to a method and system for testing software for an industrial machine with continuous test values reflecting actual environmental factors by using a simulator before the software for the industrial machine is embedded into an actual industrial machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
When coding software for an industrial machine, diagrams such as a programmable logic controller (PLC), a ladder diagram (LD), a function block diagram (FBD) and a sequential function chart (SFC) are used. Each of the diagrams is compiled into a code or instruction capable of driving the industrial machine by a compiler, based on requirements or standards accompanied by the diagrams. The compiled program is directly downloaded onto the industrial machine, and it is then tested whether or not the downloaded program is properly operated.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for testing software for an industrial machine according to a related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, a program is first coded through a diagram such as LD, FBD or SPC (step 100). The coded program is then compiled by a compiler (step 110). The compiled program is directly embedded onto an industrial machine such as PLC (step 120). The industrial machine having the embedded program is tested for a predetermined time (step 130). If an error is found through the testing, the original code or program is modified by detecting the error (step 160). The steps of compiling, embedding and testing are repeated through the modified code or program. If no error is detected, the testing is finished (step 150).
As can be seen in the related art, after the program is verified with respect to its logic to some degree, it is immediately compiled and then embedded onto the industrial machine to be tested. Conventionally, industrial machines had a small scale and a low complexity of design. Hence, testing was sufficiently performed only by downloading a program to the industrial machine and making a trial operation of the industrial machine for some months. However, as industrial machines gradually become larger in size and more accurate, the complexity of logics for controlling the industrial machines is increased. Therefore, when using the related art method for testing software for industrial machines by actually downloading a compiled program to the industrial machines, it takes a long time for testing. In addition, since the testing is performed using actual industrial machines, it is almost impossible to test a program in consideration of various environmental factors as parameters.
When testing is performed using the related art method, data required in the testing are inputted one by one in a developing tool, and hence, it takes a long time for testing. Further, in a simulator provided from the developing tool, only logic verification for diagram engineering is possible, but system verification for diagram engineering is impossible.

Method and system for testing software for industrial machine


A capacitor includes a controlled collapse chip connection system coupled by vias to a plurality of conductive layers embedded in a dielectric. The capacitor and a die can each be mounted on opposite surfaces of a substrate using a controlled collapse chip connection. The controlled collapse chip connection provides a large number of leads for coupling to the conductive layers of the capacitor. The large number of leads reduce the inductance in the connection. For a thin substrate, the length of the conductive material connecting the capacitor to the die is short, and the inductance and resistance of the conductive material is low. A system comprising two dies can be fabricated in a small volume using a plurality of substrates and a single controlled collapse chip connection compatible capacitor for decoupling the two dies.

The present invention relates to capacitors, and more particularly to capacitors having a high capacitance, low inductance, and low resistance.
Voltage levels on a die exhibit a droop when there is a sudden increase in demand for power on the die. This voltage droop on the die increases the switching time of the transistors on the die, which degrades the performance of the system fabricated on the die. To decrease the voltage droop during power surges, discrete decoupling capacitors are mounted adjacent to the die and connected to the conductors that provide power to the die. For a processor die, the die is mounted on a substrate, and a ring of capacitors, usually ten to fifteen two microfarad capacitors, are mounted on the substrate along the periphery of the die. These capacitors are coupled to the power supply connections at the die through lands formed on the substrate. Problems with this decoupling solution and the capacitors used to implement this solution are long standing, well known, and interrelated.
One problem with this decoupling solution is that a large number of external decoupling capacitors are required to control the voltage droop on a die. Mounting a large number of external decoupling capacitors wastes substrate real estate and reduces the die packing density on the substrate. In addition, surface area on the substrate is reserved for handling and mounting the discrete capacitors, and this reserved area is unavailable for mounting other information processing dies.
A second problem with this decoupling solution relates to the long leads needed to connect the capacitors to the power supply connections sites on the die. Power supply connection sites are usually scattered across a die. In general, it is desirable to run short leads from a power supply plane in a substrate to the power supply sites on the die. Unfortunately, with the decoupling capacitors located near the periphery of the die, long leads must be run to the power supply connection sites scattered across the die. The long leads increase the inductance and resistance of the decoupling capacitors, which tends to increase the voltage droop in response to a power surge. The long leads used to connect a die to a decoupling capacitor limit the high frequency performance of the decoupling capacitor.
A third problem is that capacitors having a large capacitance value typically have a large inherent inductance and resistance. This inherent inductance and resistance causes a large voltage droop at the die.
One solution to these problems is to fabricate a large number of capacitors on the die for decoupling the power supply connections on the die. Unfortunately, capacitors already take up a large amount of real estate on a die for a typical integrated circuit, and fabricating more capacitors on a die reduces the area available for information processing circuits.
For these and other reasons there is a need for the present invention.
A capacitor comprises a plurality of conductive layers embedded in a dielectric. A plurality of vias couple at least two of the plurality of conductive layers to a plurality of connection sites.


A photoreceptor including: (a) a substrate; (b) a charge generating layer including a binder, a n-type charge generating material, and a plurality of needle shaped n-type particles; and (c) a charge transport layer, wherein the charge generating layer and the charge transport layer are in any sequence over the substrate.

Benzimidazole perylene particles are a known extrinsic charge generating material that can be employed in a charge generating layer of a photoreceptor. Photogenerated charge carriers need to be brought out of the surface of the benzimidazole perylene particles before the charge carriers recombine and move into the charge transport layer under the applied electric field. The process is slowed down in certain types of binder resin employed in the charge generating layer, especially at low electric field. Therefore, the photoinduced discharge curve ("PIDC") gets softer at low electric field. Soft PIDC means that as the exposure light energy is increased, the amount of surface voltage change due to the exposure of the photoreceptor to light is proportionally less. Such a soft PIDC will require a more powerful light source for imaging. Thus, there is a need, which the present invention addresses, for a more sensitive photoreceptor. A photoreceptor with enhanced sensitivity will reduce the need to employ a more powerful light source, thereby reducing cost.
Conventional photoreceptors and their materials are disclosed in Katayama et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,496; Yashiki, U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,801; Yashiki, U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,669; Seki et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,605; Kawahara, U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,407; Markovics et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,599; Monbaliu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,734; Terrell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,080; and Yoshihara, U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,449.
Conventional charge blocking layers are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,450; U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,573; U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,796; and Obinata et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,824.

Charge generating layer with needle shaped particles


A bearing assembly comprises one side exposed to a fluid and the other side to a dry area or compartment(s) which can be emptied. To replace part(s) of the bearing assembly a compartment is located in the compartment(s) through which a section of the bearing is guided. After a part of the bearing section has been moved backwards the compartment can be closed via a valve, then the bearing section can be removed completely from the cavity thus preventing considerable quantities of fluid from entering the compartment(s). This bearing structure can be used in a vessel turret assembly.

The subject invention relates to a bearing assembly having at least a section of which one side is exposed to a first condition and the other side to a second condition. Such bearing assemblies are Generally known in the art and e.g. used below water level. E.g. such bearing assemblies are used in vessel turret structures, wherein the vessel is provided with an internal shaft extending from the deck of the vessel to the bottom of the hull for receiving a turret structure. To obtain optimum journaling of the turret relative to the vessel, the bearings are positioned as far away from each other as possible. This means that one bearing is provided near the deck of the vessel whilst the other bearing is provided near the bottom of the hull of the vessel. Whilst the upper bearing functions under relatively favourable conditions the lower bearing is exposed to the influence of (salt) water. This means that it is subjected to considerable wear and tear. To this end it is proposed to use a bearing pad which can be adjusted afterwards to take up any wear. However, if the bearing pad is used it has to be replaced. The bearing pad is adjusted from the wall of the shaft of the vessel and to replace the bearing pad, it is necessary to remove it to the internals of the vessel. This means that an open communication is realized between the surrounding water and the internals of the vessel. Except from safety point of view it will be clear that it is quite inconvenient to replace such a bearing because this has to be done in a submerged condition and divers are necessary to replace the bearing pad inside the hull of the vessel.
The invention aims to obviate these drawbacks and to provide a bearing assembly of which at least one part can be removed without taking any further special precautions or complicated steps.

Bearing assembly and vessel turret assembly


A system for constructing a composite structure includes a braiding machine, a winding tool and a forming machine. The composite structure is constructed of a wound tubular braiding. The wound tubular braiding is constructed of a biaxial or triaxial tubular braid of unidirectional tape.

An increasing number of composite materials are being used on aircraft. Composite materials typically include reinforcing fibers bound to a polymer resin matrix. The fibers may be unidirectional. Alternatively, the fibers may take the form of a woven cloth or fabric. The fibers and polymer resin are arranged and cured to form a composite structure. Some examples of composite materials that may be used in an aircraft include aircraft windows and door frames.
There are various challenges that exist when fabricating composite structures using conventional processes. For example, circular or elliptical composite components may require specific lay-up schemes to create lay-ups. The lay-up schemes are often controlled by the limitation of existing processes. Examples of these existing processes include fiber placement or fabric making machines. However, fiber placement or fabric making machines are typically tailored specifically for a particular configuration or final structure of the finished product. Current processes based on automated fiber placement or woven fabric are costly, time consuming, and may not be advantageous for components having tight radii.
Some composite components require a hole or aperture defined within the structure. For example, aircraft window frames define an aperture. It may be especially difficult and laborious to orient the reinforcing fibers for a composite component having an aperture. Additionally, when conventional manufacturing processes are used to fabricate a composite component having an aperture, relatively large amounts of material waste may be produced.
Thus, while current methods and systems for fabricating composite structures achieve their intended purpose, there is a need for anew and improved system and method of fabricating composite structures.

Composite structures constructed of wound tubular braiding


An air handling unit for a data centre, a data centre comprising such, a method of operating such, and a method of cooling IT equipment in a data centre using such, is disclosed. The unit comprises an external airflow path (102) arranged to be in fluid communication with outside air, a separate internal airflow path (103) arranged to be in fluid communication with inside air, and heat tube panels (106). Preferably, each heat tube panel (106) comprises a heat tube comprising a first section in the external airflow path (102) and a second section in the internal airflow path (103). Preferably, the plurality of heat tube panels (106) is in a row across the internal and external air flow paths (103, 102). Preferably, at least one of the heat tube panels (106) is removable and extends through an opening between the internal and external air flow paths (103, 102).

A data centre is a late 20th Century development that has grown as a response to the increasing demand for computer processing capability and a recognition of the importance of IT in the place of every business and organisation today. Whereas smaller organisations have sufficient processing power with laptops, PCs and occasionally servers, larger organisations require higher capacity centralised processing to serve a wide range of needs and applications. A few years ago this capacity was supplied by large mainframe computers, but more recently the method used has been to provide data centres comprising many networked computer servers known as blades installed in racks enabling controlled and modular expansion of capacity. The racks also typically house telecommunications equipment such as routers to handle data flow between the computer servers and data flow between the data centre and the outside world.
Data centres can mirror the growth and business activities of successful companies. The growth of a data centre within in an expanding company may typically work as follows:
1. Initially the data centre may start as single rack of servers in an air conditioned room—sometimes referred to as a 'data closet'.
2. As the organisation expands and along with it the number of IT racks employed increases, the closets become 'Server Rooms' or 'IT Rooms'.
3. Eventually the number of racks and size of room expands, often to the point where a dedicated building or part of a building houses the IT. Whilst there is no strict definition of when the size of an IT facility becomes large, or sophisticated, enough to be termed a "data centre", data centres are typically relatively large IT facilities providing robust and resilient IT facilities. Typically, there will be more than 50 servers (often many more) and at least some redundancy in the power supply powering the servers to ensure continuity of service.
4. As the company grows and/or becomes a multi-national organisation additional data centres will be built and sometimes numbers of these will be consolidated into 'Super Data Centres'.
Data centre facilities can require a floor space ranging from a few hundred square feet to a million square feet. The most prevalent size for a small data centre is five to ten thousand square feet with fifty to a hundred thousand square feet being the most common floor area requirement for a large data centre.
As data centres grow, improved methods for efficient cooling of the servers have become more sought after. In air-cooled data centres, servers are typically arranged in rows of racks separated by alternating 'hot' and 'cold' aisles. Cooling air is supplied to the cold aisles, often from an underfloor plenum via perforated floor tiles, and then drawn into the servers in racks adjacent to the cold aisle by internal server fans. The internal fans also exhaust warmed exhaust air into a hot aisle on the other side of the row of racks. In such an arrangement, it is important that the volume of cold air supplied is equal to or greater than that drawn through the servers by their internal fans. If the volume is not sufficient, then the servers can be starved of cooling air or draw in warm air from other areas of the data centre, possibly resulting in the IT equipment overheating. In a traditional data centre in which cooling air is supplied to the cold aisles via an underfloor plenum, it can be difficult to supply the cold aisles with a sufficient volume of cooling air at a given temperature because of the comparatively small cross-sectional area of the underfloor plenum. Furthermore, such underfloor plenums typically have a high air-flow resistance due to their small size, tight corners and the need to force air through perforated floor tiles, thus increasing the amount of energy required to drive air through the system. An approach to overcoming the difficulties of providing large volumes of cooling air through such high-resistance air-flow paths is to provide cooling air at a lower temperature. However, it will be appreciated that providing cooling air at a lower temperature also increases the energy usage of the data centre.
WO2010/139919 and WO2010/139921 (Bripco BVBA) disclose data centres in which cooling air is transported to cold aisles via a corridor at least 1.5 m high, for example a personnel corridor. Entrainment of the cooling air through a corridor having a large cross-sectional area provides a low resistance air flow path enabling large volumes of cooling air to be transported around the data centre at low velocity. Those data centres also make use of 'free-air' cooling, in which air from outside the data centre is used as the cooling air. Throughout most of the year, such data centres can be operated with only adiabatic cooling of outside air, thus avoiding the cost of Direct Expansion, or "mechanical" air cooling required with systems that utilise low temperature cooling air.
A disadvantage of such 'free-air' cooling methods is that the outside air must be carefully filtered and treated to avoid bringing contaminants such as particulates into the data centre, which contaminants may damage the servers. WO2011/148175 (Bripco BVBA) discloses control processes for data centres utilising 'free-air' cooling methods, which processes may comprise a 'smoke detection' system which allows the data centre to switch between modes of operation in which outside air is used as the cooling air and modes in which the cooling air consists entirely of air recirculated from within the data centre. It will be appreciated that such a system is relatively complex to operate and remains vulnerable to ingress of contaminated air if detection equipment is deficient or if the time taken for the system to switch mode is too long. Furthermore, when running in 'full recirculation' mode, the cooling system typically relies on mechanical cooling to reduce the temperature of hot air returning from the servers.
One approach to making use of 'free-air cooling' of a data centre without allowing outside air to come into regular contact with servers is to use a heat exchanger to transfer heat from the warm, recirculated data centre air to cool, outside air. US2010/0300650 (APC) discloses a data centre cooling system comprising an air-to-air heat exchanger in which warm, recirculated air inside the data centre is passed through the inside of a tube as cool outside air is circulated around the outside of the tube. Cooling of the internal recirculated air inside the tube is improved by evaporation of water running over the outside of the tube. A disadvantage of such a system is the relatively high resistance to airflow through the heat exchanger tubes.
US2013/0081784 (AST) discloses a data centre including a passive air-to-air heat exchanger comprising heat tubes. The vertically mounted heat tubes are arranged so that their lower ends are in contact with warm, internal recirculated air from inside the data centre, while their upper ends are in contact with cool, external air drawn through the cooling unit from outside the data centre. The warm, internal air heats the fluid contained in the heat tubes, which evaporates and rises to the top of the tubes, drawing heat out of the internal air. As the cooler, outside air passes over the tops of the heat tubes, the evaporated fluid inside the tubes condenses, releasing heat to the outside air, and the condensed fluid returns to the bottom of the heat tubes. US2015/0034270 (Thermo-Tech) also discloses an air conditioning system for a data centre comprising heat pipes. The air conditioning system includes a sprayer which sprays cooling fluid onto the parts of the heat pipes in contact with the external air to improve the cooling capacity of the system.
A problem associated with known data centre cooling systems using heat exchangers is how to achieve close control of the cooling capacity. It will be appreciated that although it may be desirable to increase the cooling capacity of the heat exchanger by, for example, spraying the parts of the heat exchanger in contact with the external air flow with a fluid (such as water) which evaporates into the external air stream, it is nevertheless costly and inefficient to run such sprayers when they are not needed. Furthermore, introducing substantial quantities of liquid coolant into the system in this way may lead to a degradation of components, for example due to corrosion by the fluid itself or by damage caused by contaminants in the fluid.
The IT industry itself has long recognised the criticality of central computing facilities and the need for energy efficient operations to control cost effectiveness. Current data centre technology is the summation of 30 years of innovation and engineering design thought and has come a long way in recent times. The increasing reliance of organisations of all types on their computing resources has led to data centres often being regarded as 'mission critical' facilities, which must be kept online at all costs. To achieve this, data centres are designed to be resilient, often with redundancy built into the design to ensure that if one component or section fails, another can take its place without interruption of the data centre's operation. For example, a data centre's power supply is typically backed up with emergency batteries and/or generators that automatically cut in in the event of a power cut, and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems are provided to cover any time interval between loss of external power and start-up of the backup power source. Each aspect of the power system is itself designed to have built-in redundancy, for example by having the power connection to the external power supply duplicated throughout the data centre, and by providing n+1 batteries/generators and UPS devices where n is the number of such devices required for operation of the data centre (or a particular section of the data centre in larger installations) at full load.
It will be appreciated that a data centre's cooling system should also be resilient, since allowing equipment to overheat can rapidly lead to damage to servers and ultimately to failure of the data centre. One approach to providing resilience in data centre cooling systems is to build redundancy into the design by including n+1 air handling units where only n units are required for operation of the data centre (or a particular section of the data centre in larger installations) at full load. Thus, data centres traditionally comprise more air handling units than required for normal operation. It will be appreciated that such an approach is wasteful, both in terms of the data centre footprint (data centre air handling units are typically large, occupying many hundreds of square feet) and in terms of the cost of duplicating all air handling components. For example, an air handling unit, for example an indirect air handling unit, for cooling 200 kW of IT equipment may have a footprint of around 18 m2 and a height of around 4 m, whereas a similar unit with the capacity to cool 390 kW of IT equipment may have a footprint of around 36 m2. Often, this approach is particularly wasteful because only a limited number of the air handler components are prone to failure or require maintenance.
In traditional, direct free-air cooling data centre air handling units, in which the servers are cooled by direct contact with air from outside the data centre drawn through the air handling unit into the data centre, essential components of the air handling unit (such as fans, filter banks, humidification units and back-up mechanical cooling units) can be duplicated within the handling unit so that if, for example, one fan fails or requires maintenance, other fans are capable of maintaining operation of the cooling unit even when the data centre is at full load.
While a similar approach can be taken with certain components of an indirect air handling units, care must be taken to ensure not only that the air handling unit can meet the cooling requirements of the data centre at full load when one or more components fail or are shut down for maintenance, but also that components can be maintained or repaired without mixing the separate internal and external air streams. The latter requirement is particularly challenging for the heat exchange elements (such as heat tubes) of an indirect air handling unit. It will be appreciated that the heat tubes of an indirect air handling unit are in contact with both the internal air stream and the external air stream. Typically, in order to replace one or more heat tubes if they fail or require off-site maintenance, the air handling unit must be shut down.
The present invention seeks to mitigate one or more of the above-mentioned problems. Alternatively or additionally, the present invention seeks to provide an improved data centre and an improved method of cooling IT equipment in a data centre.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A control method for detonators (1) fitted with an electronic ignition module (15). Each module (15) is associated with specific parameters including at least one identification parameter and one explosion delay time, and includes a firing capacitor and a rudimentary internal clock. The modules (15) are capable of establishing a dialogue with a firing control unit (17) fitted with a reference time basis. The identification parameters are stored in the modules using a programming unit (18); the specific parameters are stored in the firing control unit (17); for each successive module, its internal clock is calibrated using the firing control unit and the associated delay time is sent to the module; the modules are ordered to load the firing capacitors; and a firing order is sent to the modules using the firing control unit, triggering off eventual resetting of the internal clocks as well as a firing sequence.

This invention relates to a detonator control method of the electronic ignition module type, as well as to an encoded firing control assembly and to a ignition module for its implementation.
In most works involving explosives, the bursters containing the detonators are caused to detonate according to a very accurate time sequence, in order to improve the working yield of the explosive and to better control its effects.
Conventionally, a pyrotechnic device at the level of the detonators themselves enables to obtain various delay times between the explosions of the bursters. The detonators are actuated simultaneously by an exploder which delivers a certain electric energy to a firing line linking the detonators, in series or in parallel. The combustion of retarding pyrotechnic compounds then generates the requested pyrotechnic delays.
However, these pyrotechnic delays often exhibit insufficient relative accuracy.
To overcome this shortcoming, it has been suggested to use integral delay detonator ignition devices of the electronic type. Such devices enable to take advantage of the accuracy of electronic systems to enrich and to fine-tune the delay time ranges obtained previously in a pyrotechnic manner.
The application for patent FR-2.695.719 suggests a detonator control method with an integral delay electronic ignition module in which the ignition modules can be programmed using a programming unit. They call for an accurate time basis at the level of each detonator.
It has also been suggested in the patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,047, to use detonators fitted with electronic means enabling them to establish a dialogue with an external control unit. Each detonator is fitted with a capacitor whose discharge actuates the burster. The delay times of each detonator can be programmed on-site, whereas an identification code has been ascribed previously to each detonator, for example when leaving the factory. During a firing sequence, the detonators receive from the control unit successive orders, first to discharge the capacitor above mentioned, then to fire. They send back to the control unit, pieces of information enabling this unit to check the firing sequence for correct operation. The detonators are fitted to this view with a microprocessor-based local intelligence. The delay times which have been ascribed to the said are stored on non-volatile memories in their microprocessors.
In this last known system, each of the detonators has an internal time basis enabling it to perform a countdown in relation to the delay time which it has been ascribed. At the time of programming the detonator, its time basis is compared to a reference time basis for the control unit. Any possible error is then compensated for by a delay time adjusted value, whereby this adjusted value is stored in a memory of the detonator.

Method of detonator control with electronic ignition module, coded blast controlling unit and ignition module for its implementation


There are provided a method of manufacturing a jelly roll-type electrode assembly and a method of manufacturing a secondary battery using the electrode assembly. The method of manufacturing the electrode assembly includes notching a cathode and an anode, elongated in one direction, in a constant size and shape to form a plurality of electrode units, laminating the cathode and the anode with a separator disposed therebetween to form a unit cell, and winding the unit cell by bending the connection units so that the electrode units of the cathode and the anode overlap each other. In the manufacturing of the jelly roll-type electrode assembly and the polymer secondary battery, whose production process can be easily simplified, a jelly roll-type electrode assembly and a polymer secondary battery, both of which exhibit excellent design flexibility, can be manufactured.

Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a jelly roll-type electrode assembly and a method of manufacturing a polymer secondary battery including the electrode assembly, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a jelly roll-type electrode assembly allowing for improved design flexibility and a method of manufacturing a polymer secondary battery including the electrode assembly.
Description of the Related Art
In general, a jelly roll-type polymer battery is manufactured by laminating a cathode and an anode with a separator disposed therebetween and winding the cathode and anode laminate in a single direction. A schematic process of manufacturing such a jelly roll-type electrode assembly and a jelly roll-type electrode assembly obtained by the process are illustrated in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, a jelly roll-type electrode assembly 1 may be obtained by winding a plurality of electrodes in a single direction, unlike a method of manufacturing an electrode assembly by laminating a plurality of electrodes as a stack-type electrode assembly, or a stacking/folding type electrode assembly, which does not require a process of laminating the plurality of electrodes and a separator. Accordingly, this method has advantages in that the manufacturing process is relatively simpler than the other methods, which results in easy production.
However, when the electrode assembly 1 is manufactured as such a jelly roll type electrode assembly, two linear electrodes, that is, an anode 31 and a cathode 33, both of which generally have a rectangular shape elongated in a single direction, and a separator 50 are used, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Therefore, the jelly roll-type electrode assembly 1, obtained as described above by laminating the anode 31 and the cathode 33 with the separator 50 disposed therebetween and simply winding the anode 31 and the cathode 33, and a battery obtained using such an electrode assembly typically have a rectangular shape as illustrated in FIG. 1, which may restrict the shapes of batteries. As a result, a degree of design freedom may be significantly reduced, compared to stack-type or stacking/folding-type polymer batteries.
Korean Patent Publication No. 2002-0082729 discloses a method of manufacturing a button-type lithium battery in which a jelly roll type battery is manufactured by coupling circular electrode collector plates to a quadrilateral connection unit. However, the secondary battery provided in the patent document is limited to a button-type lithium battery. In particular, the patent document discloses that a separator is disposed between a cathode collector plate and an anode collector plate, but does not specifically describe the shape of the separator. Also, the patent document does not disclose specific contents regarding the shape of the separator corresponding to the shape of the collector plates.
Accordingly, a degree of design freedom may be limited when the quadrilateral separator is used, and when a separator having the same shape as the collector plate is used, the separator has to be processed to have the same shape as the collector plate. Additionally, when a separator is processed to have a specific shape, the separator should be realized in advance in a shape corresponding to the shape of an electrode plate. In this case, a certain degree of dimensional precision is required. In particular, the separator is typically a very thin film formed of a plastic material, and thus is not easily cat to have a predetermined shape, which results in difficulty in realizing a desired shape.
An aspect of the present disclosure may provide methods of manufacturing a jelly roll-type electrode assembly and a polymer secondary battery, both of which exhibit excellent design flexibility, in the manufacturing of the jelly roll-type electrode assembly and the polymer secondary battery, whose production process can easily be simplified.
An aspect of the present disclosure may also provide an effective method of processing the separator used in the manufacturing of the electrode assembly to correspond to the shape of the electrode assembly.

Method of manufacturing jelly roll-type electrode assembly and method of manufacturing jelly roll-type polymer secondary battery


An antenna disposed on a mobile terminal, where the mobile terminal includes a radiation portion and a circuit board, the circuit board includes a lateral side and a grounding layer, and an insulating slot divides the radiation portion into a feed stub and a parasitic stub. A gap is encompassed by the circuit board and the radiation portion. There is a first branch that extends from the feed stub to the gap for feeding the antenna, and there is a second branch that extends from the parasitic stub to the gap and that is electrically connected to a grounding portion. The antenna excites a current loop winding around the gap on the grounding portion, the feed stub, and the parasitic stub.

Most of current mobile terminals have a call function, and are internally provided with antennas used to communicate with the outside. When a user makes a call, a mobile terminal is usually in a head-hand mode, and antenna signal attenuation is relatively serious when the mobile terminal is in the head-hand mode, affecting a call effect of the mobile terminal.


A photo-conductor layer for constituting a radiation imaging panel, which photo-conductor layer is capable of recording radiation image information as an electrostatic latent image, is produced. The photo-conductor layer contains a Bi12MO20 sintered material, in which M represents at least one kind of element selected from the group consisting of Ge, Si, and Ti. Sintering processing for the formation of the Bi12MO20 sintered material is performed in an inert gas, atmosphere. Alternatively, the sintering processing is performed at a sintering temperature falling within the range of 800° C. to 900° C. and in an atmosphere, in which an oxygen partial pressure PO2 (Pa) satisfies the condition 10−3≦PO2≦10−1.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a photo-conductor layer for constituting a radiation imaging panel, which is appropriate for use in a radiation imaging apparatus, such as an X-ray imaging apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have heretofore been proposed X-ray imaging panels designed for use in a medical X-ray image recording operation, such that a radiation dose delivered to an object during the medical X-ray image recording operation may be kept small, and such that the image quality of an image and its capability of serving as an effective tool in, particularly, the efficient and accurate diagnosis of an illness may be enhanced. With the proposed X-ray imaging panels, a photo-conductor layer sensitive to X-rays is employed as a photosensitive material. The photo-conductor layer is exposed to X-rays carrying X-ray image information, and an electrostatic latent image is thereby formed on the photo-conductor layer. Thereafter, the electrostatic latent image, which has been formed on the photo-conductor layer, is read out by use of light or a plurality of electrodes. The techniques utilizing the X-ray imaging panels have advantages over the known photo-fluorography utilizing TV image pickup tubes in that an image is capable of being obtained with a high resolution.
Specifically, when X-rays are irradiated to a charge forming layer located in the X-ray imaging panel, electric charges corresponding to X-ray energy are formed in the charge forming layer. The thus formed electric charges are read out as an electric signal. The photo-conductor layer described above acts as the charge forming layer. As the material for the photo-conductor layer, amorphous selenium (a-Se) has heretofore been used. However, ordinarily, amorphous selenium has the problems in that it is necessary for the layer thickness of the photo-conductor layer to be set to be large (e.g., at least 500 μm) because of a low radiation absorptivity of amorphous selenium.
However, in cases where the layer thickness of the photo-conductor layer is set to be large, the electric charge collecting efficiency becomes low, and it becomes necessary for a high voltage to be applied across the photo-conductor layer. However, in such cases, the problems occur in that electric charges due to a dark current are apt to occur, the contrast in a low dose region becomes low, and device deterioration is apt to occur. Also, the problems occur in that noise (structure noise) occurring due to a variation in selenium in the thickness direction is apt to be collected. Further, ordinarily, the photo-conductor layer is formed by use of a vacuum evaporation technique. However, in cases where the vacuum evaporation technique is employed, considerable time is required to grow the photo-conductor layer up to the large layer thickness described above, and management of the growth of the photo-conductor layer is not easy to perform. As a result, the production cost of the photo-conductor layer is not capable of being kept low, and the cost of the X-ray imaging panel is not capable of being kept low.
Because of the problems described above, it has been studied to utilize materials for the photo-conductor layer other than amorphous selenium. By way of example, as a substance for constituting the photo-conductor layer, there has been proposed a bismuth oxide type of a composite oxide. The proposed bismuth oxide type of the composite oxide may be represented by the formula BixMOy, in which M represents at least one kind of element selected from the group consisting of Ge, Si, and Ti, x represents a number satisfying the condition 10≦x≦14, and y represents the stoichiometric oxygen atom number in accordance with M and x. The proposed bismuth oxide type of the composite oxide is described in, for example, each of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 11(1999)-237478 and 2000-249769. With the proposed bismuth oxide type of the composite oxide, it is expected that the efficiency, with which the X-rays are converted into the electric charges, will be capable of being enhanced.
However, in each of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 11(1999)-237478 and 2000-249769 described above, as a technique for forming the photo-conductor layer, a technique is employed, wherein a sol or a gel having been obtained from hydrolysis of a bismuth alkoxide and a metal alkoxide is subjected to sintering processing, and wherein the resulting sintered material is subjected to dispersion and coating. However, with the aforesaid technique for forming the photo-conductor layer, limitation is imposed upon a packing density of the photo-conductor substance in the photo-conductor layer which is capable of being formed with the coating. Also, the problems occur in that a binder, which is contained in the photo-conductor layer having been formed with the coating, has a large effect of obstructing the movements of the generated electric charges, electric noise becomes large, and therefore graininess characteristics of the obtained image are not capable of being kept good.
A process for producing a Bi12MO20 sintered material by use of a solid phase technique is described in, for example, each of J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 84, 2900 (2001) to "Processing and Dielectric Properties of Sillenite Compounds Bi12MO20-8 (M=Si, Ge, Ti, Pb, Mn, B1/2P1/2)", by M. Valant and D. Suvorov, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., Vol. 84, pp. 2900-2904, 2001 and Ceramic Bulletin 58, 613 (1979)to "Sintering of an X-Ray Photosensitive Ceramic: Bi12GeO20", by A. Morell and A. Hermosin, Ceramic Bulletin Vol. 58, pp. 613-615, 1979. The Bi12MO20 sintered material, which is obtained with the sintering processing, has the advantages over the photo-conductor layer, which is formed with the coating, in that the packing density of the photo-conductor substance in the photo-conductor layer is capable of being enhanced because of a dense structure, and therefore the sensitivity of the photo-conductor layer is capable of being enhanced. However, with the process for producing a Bi12MO20 sintered material by use of a solid phase technique, which process is described in each of J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 84, 2900 (2001) and Ceramic Bulletin 58, 613 (1979), though the packing density of the photo-conductor substance in the photo-conductor layer is capable of being kept higher than the packing density of the photo-conductor substance in the photo-conductor layer having been formed with the coating, the sensitivity is not always capable of being enhanced to an expected level.
In the field of ceramic materials, it has been found that the state of oxidation of an oxide is determined by an oxygen partial pressure, and that the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere is determined by a ratio of a CO gas to a CO2 gas. (The aforesaid findings are described in, for example, "Handbook of Ceramics", Second Edition, edited by The Ceramic Society of Japan, pp. 423-426.) Also, in "Handbook of Ceramics" there is a description concerning a technique for controlling the oxygen partial pressure by use of a gas, which contains an N2 gas as a principal constituent and which contains at least one kind of gas selected from the group consisting of H2, H2O, CO2, and CO, in a sintering step for a laminated ceramic condenser.
The inventors have conducted extensive research concerning the conditions for the production of a Bi12MO20 sintered material and found that a Bi12MO20 sintered material, which is free from defects obstructing the movements of electric charges, is capable of being obtained, and that a radiation imaging panel having a high sensitivity is capable of being obtained by use of the aforesaid defect-free Bi12MO20 sintered material for the photo-conductor layer.

Process for producing photo-conductor layers for constituting radiation imaging panels


A method for the recovery of proteins in a solubilized form from host cells including providing a source of host cells incorporating a synthesized or expressed protein; providing a source of at least one cationic surfactant; and treating the host cells with at least one cationic surfactant, in an amount sufficient to effect solubilization of the proteins.

The present invention relates to a method for the preparation of a protein in a biologically active or native form.
Recombinant DNA technology provides potentially extremely valuable means of synthesizing amounts of desirable eukaryotic (usually mammalian) proteins such as hormones, interferons, and enzymes. Although it has proved to be relatively easy to manipulate organisms such as bacteria to produce the desired protein, the host organism may not secrete the over-produced protein product into the culture medium. Thus physical or chemical lysis of the organisms (for example bacteria), followed by mechanical isolation of the insoluble desired protein is usually necessary. In the prior art, solubilization of the insoluble protein then proceeds with high concentrations of denaturants such as an aqueous urea or guanidine hydrochloride (International patent application WP 83/04418). Thus, solubilization has been conducted with relatively pure forms of the desired protein being obtained by a multistep process. Such processes are capital intensive and are best avoided when applied industrially.
In copending Australian patent application 66874/86, applicants have described a highly advantageous, albeit multistep, economical method for the recovery of proteins in a soluble form from an insoluble protein source utilising a cationic surfactant. While this process allows for the efficient recovery of proteins in a soluble form, the ultimate recovery of active protein has been limited. For example, the overall recovery is normally less than 50%. Significant losses may occur in the collection of host cells, their lysis and concentration of protein aggregates thus released via physical concentrative methods including differential centrifugation.


In the manufacture of an integrated-circuit device, periodic interruption of grain growth during chemical vapor deposition of a metal film results in enhanced surface smoothness and ease of patterning. Interruption of grain growth is by deposition of an auxiliary material which, in the interest of high conductivity of the film, may be conductive, may form a conductive compound or alloy, or may be eliminated upon additional metal deposition. When the metal is tungsten, silicon is a preferred grain-growth interrupting material.

In semiconductor integrated-circuit technology, metals are commonly used in the form of patterned layers for establishing electrical connections to and between individual devices such as, e.g., field effect transistors on a silicon chip or substrate; metal may be deposited over a dielectric which previously has been patterned for the sake of access to selected portions of semiconductor material. Typically, a free surface is blanketed with metal, and the deposited metal layer is then patterned to form the desired interconnection configuration. At present, aluminum is the material most widely used for integrated-circuit metallization; however, other refractory metals are receiving attention, and tungsten in particular. Blanket deposition of metal can be carried out, e.g., by (low-pressure) chemical vapor deposition, and patterning by conventional lithographic and plasma- or sputter-etching techniques.
Accurate pattern definition on a surface to be pattern-etched depends on adequate surface smoothness. However, chemical-vapor deposited metal often is found to have a relatively rough surface, surface roughness being attributed to undesirably large grain size in layers having desired thickness. Large grains also inhibit pattern definition in that, when the dimensions of features in a desired pattern become comparable to the grain size, adequate definition becomes difficult, if not impossible. Accordingly, and since preferred film thickness is determined primarily by the requirement that a deposited film have sufficiently high conductivity, it is desirable to deposit relatively thick layers which also have relatively small grain size.
According to one proposed method for producing fine-grained metal deposits, an intended metal layer is provided with grain-growth-interrupting sublayers of a metal compound; see U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,983, issued Feb. 23, 1988 to H. Hirada et al. For example, in the deposition of an aluminum layer by physical sputter deposition, periodic introduction of oxygen leads to the formation of sublayers of aluminum oxide. It is apparent, however, that the presence of compounds such as aluminum oxide, nitride, or carbide in a metallization layer tends to reduce conductivity. Reduced conductivity has also been observed in layers made by a method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,101, issued Jun. 14, 1988 to R. V. Joshi, where tungsten is deposited by silicon reduction of tungsten hexafluoride.

Process for making integrated-circuit device metallization


A radial piston pump comprising a rotating pump shaft (2), one portion (1) of which is connected to an eccentric ring (4) which is arranged rotationally fast thereon, said radial piston pump further comprising a needle roller bearing arranged on an outer peripheral surface of the eccentric ring (4), pump plungers (13) arranged radially of the pump shaft (2) in a star pattern in a pumping housing supported by end faces on the needle roller bearing, the bearing being configured as a self-contained, inseparable assembled unit in which the eccentric ring (4) is arranged within the needle roller bearing between rims (10, 11) of the needle roller bearing which advantageously reduces the axial design space requirement and simplifies assembly.

An arrangement of the said type of an eccentric of a reciprocating piston pump is known from EP 0 539 849 B1. According to FIG. 3 of this document, this prior art eccentric arrangement comprises a drive shaft having a shaft journal on which is fixed an eccentric unit which eccentric unit is made up of a bearing bushing having two radially inwards directed rims with cage-guided needle rollers arranged between these rims. The outer raceway for the needle rollers is formed by the inner peripheral surface of the bearing bushing, and the inner raceway is formed by the outer peripheral surface of an eccentric ring.
A drawback of this prior art is that the eccentric unit is held together on the one hand by the radially inwards directed rims of the bearing bushing and on the other hand, by the radially outwards directed rims of the eccentric ring.


An adapter plate for a container unit that can be coupled to at an additional container unit to form an intermodal container having the approximate dimensions of a standard ISO container. The intermodal container can be handled by a medium tactical vehicle with a load handling system. The container unit has first and second substantially parallel corner posts, an upper frame support extending between first ends of the corner posts, a lower frame support extending between second ends of the corner posts, and a connection block disposed adjacent the second ends of the corner posts. The adapter plate is disposed adjacent the connection block. A proximal end of the adapter plate is connected to the connection block and positioned generally flush with an outer facing surface of the connection block. A distal end of the adapter is angled to connect to an outer surface of the lower frame support.

1. Field of Invention
The present application relates to ISO containers and container units coupled to form an ISO container, and more particularly to an adapter plate for ISO containers and container units.
2. Related Art
Standard (International Organization for Standardization) shipping containers are capable of being formed by using multiple container units or modules. Standard ISO shipping containers having three equal sized modules are known. Each module is known as a tri-con container. The three tri-con containers, when coupled together, have generally the size and shape of a standard ISO shipping container. The standard size for such containers is about 8 feet tall, 8 feet wide, and 20 feet long. The tri-con containers may be coupled together by coupling devices that extend through mating, locking holes on corner posts of the containers. The resulting assembled container may be shipped by commercial means, such as by truck, railway, boat or aircraft, including military aircraft. If need be, such a tri-con container may be deployed at a remote location.
Expandable shelters are known which can be inflated at a remote location for medical uses, temporary housing, disaster recovery, meeting space, office space or laboratory space. These shelters typically include a skin or fabric which may rest on a frame. Such a frame may be formed from an air beam structure. Air beam structures typically comprise tubes which have a desired size and shape and which are inflated with air to form a relatively rigid structure. Prior to deployment, these shelters may be rolled up and stowed in relatively small space.

Mobile Medical International Corporation


A semiconductor device includes an element separating insulating film provided on a semiconductor substrate to separate an element region. A gate electrode is arranged above the element region. Source/drain regions are formed in the semiconductor substrate to sandwich a region below the gate electrode. A silicide film is provided on the source/drain regions, extending onto the element separating insulating film. A contact hole extends through the interlayer insulating film, which is provided on the element separating insulating film and the silicide film, and reaches the silicide film. Ends of the contact hole are positioned on the silicide film and on the element separating insulating film. The contact hole includes a trench portion whose one end contacts with the edge of the silicide film in the bottom of the contact hole and in an upper portion of the element separating insulating film. A wiring layer is arranged in the contact hole.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-201127, filed Jul. 10, 2002, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, particularly, to a MIS (Metal Insulator Semiconductor) type FET (Field Effect Transistor) device having a silicide film formed in a part of the source/drain diffusion layers.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device comprising a transistor such as an MIS (including MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor)) type FET, so called a border-less contact technology may be adopted. The technology does not provide an allowance between the transistor region in which a transistor is formed and the contact region in which a contact is formed in order to avoid an inconvenience caused by a deviation of a mask pattern.
FIGS. 9 to 12 collectively show the conventional manufacturing process of a transistor by using the border-less contact. As shown in FIG. 9, an element separating insulating film 102 and a well diffusion layer 103 are formed in the surface region of semiconductor substrate 101, followed by forming a gate insulating film 112, a gate electrode 113 and a first side wall insulating film 115. Then, a second diffusion region 122 is formed in a surface region of the well diffusion layer 103.
Then, as shown in FIG. 10, a second side wall insulating film 116 and a first diffusion region 121 are formed. Then, silicide films 114a, 114b are formed.
Then, as shown in FIG. 11, an interlayer insulating film 131 is formed, followed by forming a contact hole 134 in the interlayer insulating film 131 by an anisotropic etching such as RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) using a mask having an opening in the position corresponding to the contact hole 134.
Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the contact hole 134 is filled with a tungsten film 132 with the laminate structure (not shown) interposed therebetween.
In the lithography process, a mask position may be deviated, causing the opening of the mask for the contact hole 134 to sit on the element separating insulating film 102. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, a trench 141 may be formed in the element separating insulating film 102 in forming the contact hole 134.
FIG. 13 shows in a magnified fashion the region surrounded by a circle of the solid line in FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 13, if the trench 141 is formed, the contact 132a, 132b are also formed in the trench 141 when filling the contact hole 134. If the trench 141 is deep enough to reach the junction between the first diffusion region 121 and the well diffusion layer 103, a short circuit is brought about in the junction.
Also, even when the trench 141 is not seriously deep, the trench 141 may reach the side surface of the first diffusion region 121, as shown in FIG. 13, causing a silicide layer 142 to form. As a result, a leak current flowing through the silicide layer 142 increases between the first diffusion region 121 and the well diffusion layer 103.
It also should be noted that the first diffusion region 121 is rendered shallower as the semiconductor device shrinks, which makes the distance between the bottom of the silicide film 114b and the junction between the first diffusion region 121 and the well diffusion layer 103 decrease. Even if the silicide layer 142 is not formed, the junction leak current from the silicide film 114b increases.
It should be noted that due to, e.g. the etching conditions, these problems are not generated uniformly, which lowers the yield of the semiconductor device.
Further, if the gate length is rendered 100 nm or less, simply lowering the accelerating energy in the ion implantation process to form the second diffusion layer 122 greatly rises the sheet resistance of this region, which makes the driving capability of the transistor deteriorate. The dose, i.e. the number of impurity atoms to be implanted, can be increased to avoid the problem. However, this solution scarcely increases the amount of the impurity atoms that are actually activated within silicon, and does not overcome the problem. In addition, the deeper the second diffusion region 122 reaches, the more device characteristics deteriorate. Particularly, the short channel effect occurs.
The formation of the trench 141 may be avoided by controlling, for example, the etching time for forming the contact hole 134. However, it is difficult to avoid the problem for each element separating insulating film 102, due to the controllability of the etching.
It is also conceivable to form a liner material layer such that the liner material layer extends from above the element separating insulating film 102 onto the silicide layer 114a. However, it is impossible to ensure a sufficiently large etching selectivity between the materials generally used for the insulating films 131, 102 and the liner material to overcome the problem.
Incidentally, in a conventional NMOS device, the aforementioned problems in a PMOS are also generated.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device comprising: a semiconductor substrate; an element separating insulating film provided in a surface region of the semiconductor substrate, the element separating insulating film separating element region; a gate electrode provided on the element region of the semiconductor substrate with a gate insulating film interposed therebetween; a pair of source/drain regions formed in a surface region of the semiconductor substrate in a manner to sandwich a region below the gate electrode; a silicide film provided on the surfaces of the source/drain regions such that the silicide film extends onto the element separating insulating film, the silicide film having an upper surface positioned above the surface of the semiconductor substrate; an interlayer insulating film provided on the element separating insulating film and the silicide film; a contact hole extending through the interlayer insulating film to reach the silicide film, having one end and the other end positioned on the silicide film and on the element separating insulating film, respectively, and having a trench portion formed in the bottom portion of the contact hole and in the upper portion of the element separating insulating film, the trench portion having one end being in contact with an edge of the silicide film; and a wiring layer provided in the contact hole.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising: forming an element separating insulating film separating the element region in a surface region of a semiconductor substrate; forming a pair of source/drain regions in a surface region of the element region of the semiconductor substrate; forming a gate structure including a gate insulating film and a gate electrode on that region of the semiconductor substrate which is positioned between the source/drain regions; forming a silicide film extending from a part of the source/drain regions onto the element separating insulating film; forming an interlayer insulating film on the element separating insulating film and the silicide film; selectively etching the interlayer insulating film so as to form a contact hole and a trench portion, the bottom of the contact hole being in contact with the silicide film and the contact hole having one end and the other end positioned on the silicide film and on the element separating insulating film, respectively, and the trench portion having one end being contact with an edge of the silicide film in an upper portion of the element separating insulating film; and filling the contact hole with a conductive film.

Semiconductor device having silicide film formed in a part of source-drain diffusion layers and method of manufacturing the same


In an electronic component having a built-in coil composed of coil conductors with a length of one turn, the inductance value can be increased while suppressing generation of short circuits inside the coil conductors. The electronic component includes a multilayer body formed by stacking a plurality of magnetic layers on top of one another. The built-in coil includes coil conductors and via hole conductors. The coil conductors each have a ring-shaped coil portion having a cut out portion in one side of one corner thereof, and a connecting portion that form an obtuse angle with a side extending from one end portion of the coil portion and is positioned in a region enclosed or surrounded by the coil portion. Via hole conductors connect the plurality of coil conductors to one another.

A known multilayer electronic component is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-66829 (Patent Document 1). FIGS. 8A and 8B are plan views of respective ceramic green sheets 202a and 202b used in the multilayer electronic component.
In the multilayer electronic component described in Patent Document 1, the ceramic green sheet 202a illustrated in FIG. 8A and the ceramic green sheet 202b illustrated in FIG. 8B are alternately stacked. The ceramic green sheets 202a and 202b are respectively provided with coil conductors 204a and 204b. The coil conductors 204a and 204b have a length of one turn and have end portions 206a and 208a and 206b and 208b. The ceramic green sheets 202a and 202b are alternately stacked. The end portion 206a is connected to the end portion 206b of a coil conductor 204b, which is provided on the upper side in the stacking direction, through a via hole conductor. The end portion 208a is connected to the end portion 208b of a coil conductor 204b, which is provided on the lower side in the stacking direction, through a via hole conductor. In this way, a coil is formed that is composed of a plurality of coil conductors 204a and 204b.
There is a problem with the multilayer electronic component described in Patent Document 1 in that it is difficult to obtain a large inductance value. In more detail, in the multilayer electronic component, the coil conductors 204a and 204b each have a length of one turn. Consequently, in order to connect the coil conductors 204a and 204b to one another without causing a short circuit, it is necessary to position the end portions 208a and 208b so as to be inside a rectangular region E1 enclosed by the coil conductors 204a and 204b.
However, if the end portions 208a and 208b are positioned inside the region E1, a region E2, which is enclosed by the coil conductors 204a and 204b, is formed inside the region E1. Lines of magnetic flux cancel each other out in this region E2. Therefore, the region E2 hinders obtaining of a large inductance value in the multilayer electronic component.
Methods of solving this problem, for example, include shifting the end portion 208b in the direction of the arrow "a," as shown in FIG. 8B. As a result the area of the region E2 is reduced and consequently the inductance value is increased.


Plagiarism of software source code is a serious problem in two distinct areas of endeavor—cheating by students at schools and intellectual property theft at corporations. A number of algorithms have been implemented to check source code files for plagiarism, each with their strengths and weaknesses. This invention consists of a combination of algorithms in a single software program to assist a human expert in finding plagiarized code.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to software tools for comparing program source code files to determine the amount of similarity between the files and to pinpoint specific sections that are similar. In particular, the present invention relates to finding pairs of source code files that have been copied, in full or in part, from each other or from a common third file.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Plagiarism detection programs and algorithms have been around for a number of years but have gotten more attention recently due to two main factors. One reason is that the Internet and search engines like Google have made source code very easy to obtain. Another reason is the growing open source movement that allows programmers all over the world to write, distribute, and share code. It follows that plagiarism detection programs have become more sophisticated in recent years. An excellent summary of available tools is given by Paul Clough in his paper, "Plagiarism in natural and programming languages: an overview of current tools and technologies." Clough discusses tools and algorithms for finding plagiarism in generic text documents as well as in programming language source code files. The present invention only relates to tools and algorithms for finding plagiarism in programming language source code files and so the discussion will be confined to those types of tools. Following are brief descriptions of four of the most popular tools and their algorithms.
The Plague program was developed by Geoff Whale at the University of New South Wales. Plague uses an algorithm that creates what is called a structure-metric, based on matching code structures rather than matching the code itself. The idea is that two pieces of source code that have the same structures are likely to have been copied. The Plague algorithm ignores comments, variable names, function names, and other elements that can easily be globally or locally modified in an attempt to fool a plagiarism detection tool.
Plague has three phases to its detection, as illustrated in FIG. 1:                1. In the first phase 101, a sequence of tokens and structure metrics are created to form a structure profile for each source code file. In other words, each program is boiled down to basic elements that represent control structures and data structures in the program.        2. In the second phase 102, the structure profiles are compared to find similar code structures. Pairs of files with similar code structures are moved into the next stage.        3. In the final stage 103, token sequences within matching source code structures are compared using a variant of the Longest Common Subsequence (LCS) algorithm to find similarity.
Clough points out three problems with Plague:                1. Plague is hard to adapt to new programming languages because it is so dependent on expert knowledge of the programming language of the source code it is examining. The tokens depend on specific language statements and the structure metrics depend specific programming language structures.        2. The output of Plague consists of two indices H an HT that needs interpretation. While the output of each plagiarism detection program presented here relies on expert interpretation, results from-Plague are particularly obscure.        3. Plague uses UNIX shell tools for processing, which makes it slow. This is not an innate problem with the algorithm, which can be ported to compiled code for faster processing.
There are other problems with Plague:                1. Plague is vulnerable to changing the order of code lines in the source code.        2. Plague throws out useful information when it discards comments, variable names, function names, and other identifiers.
The first point is a problem because code sections can be rearranged and individual lines can be reordered to fool Plague into giving lower scores or missing copied code altogether. This is one method that sophisticated plagiarists use to hide malicious code theft.
The second point is a problem because comments, variable names, function names, and other identifiers can be very useful in finding plagiarism. These identifiers can pinpoint copied code immediately. Even in many cases of intentional copying, comments are left in the copied code and can be used to find matches. Common misspellings or the use of particular words throughout the program in two sets of source code can help identify them as having the same author even if the code structures themselves do not match. As we will see, this is a common problem with these plagiarism tools.
The YAP programs (YAP, YAP2, YAP3) were developed by Michael Wise at the University of Sydney, Australia. YAP stands for "Yet Another Plague" and is an extension of Plague. All three version of YAP use algorithms, illustrated in FIG. 2, that can generally be described in two phases as follows:                1. In the first phase 201, generate a list of tokens for each source code file.        2. In the second phase 202, compare pairs of token files.
The first phase of the algorithm is identical for all three programs. The steps of this phase, illustrated in FIG. 2, are:                1. In step 203 remove comments and string constants.        2. In step 204 translate upper-case letters to lower-case.        3. In step 205, map synonyms to a common form. In other words, substitute a basic set of programming language statements for common, nearly equivalent statements. As an example using the C language, the language keyword "strncmp" would be mapped to "strcmp", and the language keyword "function" would be mapped to "procedure".        4. In step 206, reorder the functions into their calling order. The first call to each function is expanded inline and tokens are substituted appropriately. Each subsequent call to the same function is simply replaced by the token FUN.        5. In step 207, remove all tokens that are not specifically programming language keywords.
The second phase 202 of the algorithm is identical for YAP and YAP2. YAP relied on the sdiff function in UNIX to compare lists of tokens for the longest common sequence of tokens. YAP2, implemented in Perl, improved performance in the second phase 202 by utilizing a more sophisticated algorithm known as Heckel's algorithm. One limitation of YAP and YAP2 that was recognized by Wise was difficulty dealing with transposed code. In other words, functions or individual statements could be rearranged to hide plagiarism. So for YAP3, the second phase uses the Running-Karp-Rabin Greedy-String-Tiling (RKR-GST) algorithm that is more immune to tokens being transposed.
YAP3 is an improvement over Plague in that it does not attempt a full parse of the programming language as Plague does. This simplifies the task of modifying the tool to work with other programming languages. Also, the new algorithm is better able to find matches in transposed lines of code.
There are still problems with YAP3 that need to be noted:                1. In order to decrease the run time of the program the RKR-GST algorithm uses hashing and only considers matches of strings of a minimal length. This opens up the algorithm to missing some matches.        2. The tokens used by YAP3 are still dependent on knowledge of the particular programming language of the files being compared.        3. Although less so than Plague, YAP3 is still vulnerable to changing the order of code lines in the source code.        4. YAP3 throws out much useful information when it discards comments, variable names, function names, and other identifiers that can-and have been used to find source code with common origins.
JPlag is a program, written in Java by Lutz Prechelt and Guido Malpohl of the University Karlsruhe and Michael Philippsen of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, to detect plagiarism in Java, Scheme, C, or C++ source code. Like other plagiarism detection programs, JPlag works in phases as illustrated in FIG. 3:                1. There are two steps in the first phase 301. In the first step 303, whitespace, comments, and identifier names are removed. As with Plague and the YAP programs, in the second step 304, the remaining language statements are replaced by tokens.        2. As with YAP3, the method of Greedy String Tiling is used to compare tokens in different files in the second phase 302. More matching tokens corresponds to a higher degree of similarity and a greater chance of plagiarism.
As can be seen from the description, JPlag is nearly identical in its algorithm to YAP3 though it uses different optimization procedures for reducing runtime. One difference is that JPlag produces a very nice HTML output with detailed plots comparing file similarities. It also allows the user to click on a file combination to bring up windows showing both files with areas of similarity highlighted. The limitations of JPlag are the same limitations that apply to YAP3 that have been listed previously.
The Measure of Software Similarity (MOSS) program was developed at the University of California at Berkeley by Alex Aiken. MOSS uses a winnowing algorithm. The MOSS algorithm can be described by these steps, as illustrated in FIG. 4:                1. In the first step 401, remove all whitespace and punctuation from each source code file and convert all characters to lower case.        2. In the second step 402, divide the remaining non-whitespace characters of each file into k-grams, which are contiguous substrings of length k, by sliding a window of size k through the file. In this way the second character of the first k-gram is the first character of the second k-gram and so on.        3. In the third step 403, hash each k-gram and select a subset of all k-grams to be the fingerprints of the document. The fingerprint includes information about the position of each selected k-gram in the document.        4. In the fourth step 404, compare file fingerprints to find similar files.
An example of the algorithm for creating these fingerprints is shown in FIG. 5. Some text to be compared is shown in part (a) 501. The 5-grams derived from the text is shown in part (b) 502. A possible sequence of hashes is shown in part (c) 503. A possible selection of hashes chosen to be the fingerprint for the text is shown in part (d) 504. The concept is that the hash function is chosen so that the probability of collisions is very small so that whenever two documents share fingerprints, it is extremely likely that they share k-grams as well and thus contain plagiarized code.
Of all the programs discussed here, MOSS throws out the most information. The algorithm attempts to keep enough critical information to flag similarities. The algorithm is also noted to have a very low occurrence of false positives. The problem using this algorithm for detecting source code plagiarism is that it produces a high occurrence of false negatives. In other words, matches can be missed. The reason for this is as follows:                1. By treating source code files like generic text files, much structural information is lost that can be used to find matches. For example, whitespace, punctuation, and uppercase characters have significant meaning in programming languages but are thrown out by MOSS.        2. Smaller k-grams increase the execution time of the program, but increase the sensitivity. MOSS makes the tradeoff of time for efficiency and typically uses a 5-gram. However, many programming language statements are less than 5 characters and can be missed.        3. Most of the k-grams are also thrown out, reducing the accuracy even further.

Software tool for detecting plagiarism in computer source code

Software Analysis and Forensic Engineering Corp.


A signal from an input terminal (1) is supplied to a video signal processing circuit (2) which derives a carrier chrominance signal. The carrier chrominance signal is supplied through a low-pass filter (3) to an A/D converter circuit (4). A signal converted by the A/D converter circuit (4) is supplied to a bandpass filter (5) which limits the band of the chrominance signal. A signal from the bandpass filter (5) is supplied to a decoder circuit (6) which alternately derives color difference signals (R-Y) and (B-Y). The signal from the decoder circuit (6) is supplied to a decimation filter (7) which effects a decimation. The signal thus decimated is supplied to a multiplexer (8) and thereby generated as 2-bit series data. A signal from the multiplexer (8) is supplied to a CNR (chroma noise reducer) circuit (9). Thus, the number of bits can be reduced without reducing the number of lines of a chroma signal and data gradation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chrominance signal processing circuit that processes a chrominance signal by using a semiconductor field memory for use in a field/frame CNR (chroma noise reducer).
2. Description of the Related Art
In a field/frame CNR that reduces random noise contained in a chrominance signal or the like, an analog chrominance signal is converted to a digital signal. Then, the digital signal is written in a field/frame memory and noise is reduced by effectively utilizing an interfield/interframe correlation of a video signal.
When the analog chrominance signal is converted in the form of analog to digital signal, a sampling frequency for the A/D (analog-to-digital) conversion is 4 fsc (fsc is a color subcarrier frequency) that is the same as the sampling frequency used when a luminance signal, for example, is subjected to a sampling processing. Therefore, when such chrominance signal is written in the above memory, if the number of samples of chroma signal on one line is 910 samples, the number of memory lines is 250 lines and a data gradation is formed of 8 bits, then a memory having a large capacity of about 1.8 Mbits is required and a chrominance signal processing circuit becomes expensive.
To remove the aforesaid drawback, it has been proposed that the amount of data be reduced to 1/2 by writing a chroma signal in a memory at every other line in the vertical direction and that the number of bits of the memory be reduced by forming a data gradation by 4 bits. These previously-proposed methods cannot overcome the above defects. That is, if the number of lines written in the memory is reduced, then a so-called dither occurs in an oblique portion of a picture when a reproduced signal is reproduced on a picture screen of a television monitor. Further, if the data gradation is reduced, then there occur various problems that a color cannot be reproduced with high definition. The problems that the present invention intends to solve are as follows. That is, when the chroma signal is processed by using the memory, if the number of lines written in the memory is reduced and the data gradation is reduced in order to reduce the number of bits of the memory, there are then various problems that the definition of a reproduced chroma signal is deteriorated and that a distortion occurs.

Chrominance signal processing circuit for a chroma-signal noise reducer


A system and method for low delay fast update, using multiple fast update pictures, for video streaming are disclosed. In one embodiment, a fast update request is received from a media client via a network by a media server to recover from packet losses. Further, one or more low delay fast update frames are generated based on packet loss statistics obtained during a steady state video streaming session by the media server. Furthermore, the generated one or more low delay fast update frames are sent to the media client to recover from the packet losses by the media server.

Typically, video streaming applications over the Internet are sensitive to bandwidth availability. Further, current video compression methods pose difficulty for real-time video streaming applications since video compression is not always strictly a constant bit rate (CBR) and fluctuations in an encoding bit rate cause periodic delays and subsequent network congestion. This is especially true for intra pictures (I-pictures) or intra frames (I-frames) in a video stream that are on an average about 5-6 times the size of a predictive picture (p-picture) or a predictive frame (p-frame). Each such I-frame causes an instantaneous peak bandwidth requirement in a network and can result in network congestion and packet losses.
Existing techniques utilize a CBR mode of compression and transmission that does not send periodic I-frames to address the above network congestion and packet loss problems. However, these techniques still do not address random or burst packet losses in the network due to external factors. Due to the predictive nature of the video compression, any packet loss results in incorrect prediction and the I-picture needs to be updated. Typically, this is done using instantaneous decoding refresh (IDR). In interactive streaming applications, a receiver of the video stream requests for the IDR to recover from the packet losses. Such a request is generally referred to as a "fast update request".
In the interactive streaming applications, the receiver requests for the fast update to recover from the packet losses. Current systems provide the IDR as a response to the fast update request. However, under normal operating conditions, the IDR or I-frames cause the network congestion and packet losses. Further, in situations where the receiver is already experiencing packet losses and the network is congested, sending the IDR may multiply negative effects of the network congestion and hence the effect will be severe. This results in a recurring loop of the IDR and packet losses.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

System and method for low delay fast update for video streaming