A rotatable display fixing module is described. The rotatable display fixing module has a first rotational device, a second rotational device and a fixing switch. The first rotational device rotatable connects with a display and the second rotational device. The fixing switch rebounds up to fix the second rotational device at predetermined angles and then the display can rotate with the first rotational device only. The module further comprises a locking device to lock the fixing switch when the fixing switch is pressed down. A linkage device can release the fixing switch from the locking device at the predetermined angles and then the fixing switch rebounds up due to a spring device.

The present invention relates to a rotatable display fixing module and especially to a rotatable display fixing module for a notebook computer.
Recently, liquid crystal displays (LCD) have been widely applied in electrical products, due to the rapid progress of optical technology and semiconductor technology. Moreover, with the advantages of high image quality, compact size, light weight, low driving voltage, and low power consumption, LCDs have been introduced into portable computers, personal digital assistants, color televisions, and are gradually replacing the cathode ray tubes (CRT) used in conventional displays. LCDs are becoming the mainstream display apparatus.
A conventional display of a notebook computer is disposed in the upper cover of the notebook computer. The display shows information and images thereon when the upper cover of the notebook computer is opened. The upper cover and a base of the notebook computer are connected by a pivot. Therefore, the working angle of the display can be adjusted according to user requirements by way of adjusting an angle of the upper cover.
Notebook computers are convenient to carry and therefore are frequently used for business meetings. In different environments, the notebook computer has to provide different display angles to enhance demonstration capabilities thereof. However, due to a conventional restricted display angle, the notebook computer cannot provide a clear image to all viewers. Moreover, due to software and hardware improvement, a tablet personal computer (Tablet PC) combines the notebook computer with a hand writing input device on the display. The tablet PC changes the input habits of the computer user and advances the information industry to a new milestone. A dual-purpose tablet PC with high processing performance combines the hand writing input device on the display panel and the keyboard input of the notebook computer. The dual-purpose tablet PC provides a humanizing input interface for a user who usually works in a moving environment. The display of a dual-purpose tablet PC can rotate about 180 degrees so that viewers around the tablet PC can easy see the information and images on the display.
Because the display is able to rotate, and is not fixed, the display can shake when the tablet PC is working so that the display is in an unstable working situation. Furthermore, because the rotatable display is usually rotated around a rotating mechanism, there is a concave hole around the rotating mechanisms to provide room for the rotating mechanism to move. Therefore, the user may directly see the concave hole under the rotatable display when the display of the dual-purpose tablet PC is opened. The concave hole may appear unattractive and further allows foreign objects that drop into the concave hole to interfere with the rotation of the rotating mechanism and even to damage the rotating mechanism.
Therefore, there is a need to fix effectively the display on the dual-purpose tablet PC and cover the concave hole to provide an attractive appearance and a more stable working situation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotatable display fixing module to fix the display after the display reaches a predetermined angle so as to reduce the shaking phenomenon when the display is in use.
It is another object of the present invention provides a fixing switch. The fixing switch can rebound to cover the concave hole around the rotating mechanism to prevent foreign object from dropping thereinto when the display reaches the predetermined angle.
To accomplish the above objectives, the present invention provides a rotatable display fixing module. The rotatable display fixing module includes a first rotational device, a second rotational device and a fixing switch. The first rotational device rotatably connects a display to the second rotational device. Therefore, the display is capable of rotating on both the first rotational device and the second rotational device. The first rotational device is capable of rotating on the second rotational device. The fixing switch further includes a fixing surface. If the fixing switch rebounds to a rebound position, the fixing surface fixes the second rotational device at a predetermined angle and the display is still capable of rotating on the first rotational device.
The display is a liquid crystal display of a notebook computer. The fixing switch further includes a locking device that is disposed under the fixing switch. The locking device locks the fixing switch when the fixing switch is pressed down. A linkage device is utilized to link the fixing switch and the second rotational device. The locking device releases the fixing switch when the second rotational device reaches the predetermined angle and pushes the linkage device and then the linkage device pushes the locking device to release the fixing switch. The predetermined angle is the second rotational device at 0 degrees or 180 degrees.
Hence, the rotatable display fixing module according to the present invention locks the display to avoid turning to the left and right when the fixing switch rebounds up so that the shaking problem can be eliminated and the appearance can be attractive. Furthermore, the fixing switch can cover the concave hole to prevent the foreign objects from dropping into the concave hole so as to protect the rotating mechanism from damage. The display can fully rotate on the first and second rotational device when the fixing switch is pressed down.


A method for feedback control of cooperative problem solving for real-time applications in complex systems utilizes solvers parameterized by control variables. The method includes initializing the time setting and selecting at least one solver parameter value. The solver is operated with the selected solver parameter value or values for a specified interim and the operational conditions are reviewed. A solution is transmitted to the system if a solution quality condition is satisfied. The solver continues to operate if the solution quality condition is not satisfied and the performance differential is not greater than a specified threshold. If the solution quality condition is unsatisfied, but the performance differential exceeds the threshold, at least one alternate solver parameter value is selected and the solver is operated with the new solver parameter value for a specified interim. The solver continues to operate until the solution quality condition is satisfied.

This disclosure relates generally to the field of computerized problem solving and in particular to a system and method for tuning solving behavior by utilizing resource bounds.
In certain control system applications, there exists a significant need for systems which can provide satisfactory decisions in critically time-constrained situations for complex systems having subsystems consisting of many networked sensors and actuators, with each subsystem having control, monitoring and fault diagnosis capabilities. Advances in hardware technology, such as inexpensive processors, low-cost micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) actuators and sensors, and decreasing communication costs, result in systems with unprecedented reconfigurability, flexibility, and robustness. Such applications would benefit from the use of generic problem solvers, such as constraint solvers, to improve fault tolerance and reconfigurability. However, such problem solvers are typically not able to adapt their execution to or even execute within the resource bounds of the applications, such as time and memory limits.
One problem solving technique for such systems is off-line adaptive problem solving, or what might be called open-loop control of solving, in which some parameters are learned off-line and the solver is then run with different parameter values depending on the problem instance. Various approaches have utilized feedback-type information, such as that suggested by Borrett, Tsang and Walsh. in "Adaptive Constraint Satisfaction: the Quickest First Principle", Technical Report CSM-256, University of Essex Department of Computer Science, 1995, which uses on-line performance feedback to switch between solving algorithms, or Horvitz, Ryan, Gomes, Kautz, Selman and Chickering, "A Bayesian Approach to Tackling Hard Computational Problems", Proceedings of the Seventheenth Conference on Uncertainty and Artifical Intelligence, Seattle, Wash., August 2001, which use it as part of a dynamic restart policy.
There are also a variety of approaches that dynamically build up estimates of value or cost functions to guide the search, such as Baluja et al., "Statistical Machine Learning for Large-scale Optimization", Neural Computing Surveys, 3:1–58, 2000. In this case, functions are measurements of the "goodness" of particular states or action choices, and are developed on-line using accumulated performance data. In the evolutionary algorithms community, a variety of techniques have been used to adapt genetic operators and parameters based on various performance measures, as in Eiben, Hinterding, and Michalewicz, "Parameter Control in Evolutionary Algorithms", IEEE transactions on evolutionary computation, 3:124–141, 1999. Similar approaches have been used with other techniques, such as simulated annealing, as in Wah & Wang, "Tuning Strategies in Constrained Simulated Annealing for Nonlinear Global Optimization", International Journal of Artificial Intelligence Tools, 9(1), 2000.
Such techniques have also been used to modify the problem representation, as in the "open-loop" off-line design approach for problem reformulation proposed by Hnich and Flener in "High-level Reformulation of Constraint Programs", Proceedings of the Tenth International French Speaking Conference on Logic and Constraint Programming, pages 75–89, 2001. Feedback approaches have been used as well. For example, Pemberton and Zhang, "ε-transformation: Exploiting Phase Transitions to Solve Combinatorial Optimization problems", Artificial Intelligence 81(1–2):297–325, 1996, uses (open-loop) phase transition information and on-line branching estimation to identify complex search problems and transform them into easier searches producing sub-optimal solutions. Modification of penalty weights or chromosome representations in response to performance has also been explored in the evolutionary algorithms community by Eiben et al., "Parameter Control in Evolutionary Algorithms".
However, these techniques do not utilize a generic framework, nor are they time-bounded, explicitly taking a time bound, a time value by when a solution must be computed, into account when selecting solver parameter values. Although some of these techniques represent anytime algorithms that can be stopped when a time bound is reached, the time bound is not considered earlier. Additionally, none of these techniques consider resource limits such as limits in computing memory.


The invention relates to an adjustable belt sander, comprising a continuous sanding belt (11) and a sanding module (4), which supports the sanding belt in the sanding region and has a profiled guide surface which faces the sanding belt back and represents a rounding radius to be sanded, wherein the sanding module has a disk shape, is mounted centrally rotatably about a pivot pin (5) on a main body (3) arranged transversely to the sanding direction and at the peripheral profile has at least two quadrant circle contours having different radii, which determine the respective guide surface for the sanding belt.

Such devices for sanding rounded edges are suitable in general for postmachining circular segments on straight, rectangular workpieces, predominantly made of wood materials, such as stair steps, furniture elements, or the like, which can thus be sanded to improve their surfaces. This is predominantly done on machines with a conveyor device for feeding the linear workpieces and with a belt sanding assembly disposed on the conveyor. Suitably shaped tools of plastic, wood, metal, or composite materials are used. Tools of metal are also known that are each made for a particular radial dimension and through which during the sanding operation compressed air flows through bores made in them, thus reducing the friction between the sanding belt and the tool.
In these methods, in order to avoid sanding errors at the beginning and end of the workpiece, a device is required that makes it possible to insert the sanding shoe at the beginning of the workpiece and to lift it at the end of the workpiece, in both cases in an exact way. Replacing these individual tools to change the profile shape, and positioning them in the belt sanding assembly, require corresponding conversion times. A substantial disadvantage of the known belt sanding devices is also that the transitions between the rounding curves and the straight surfaces adjoining them cannot be sanded cleanly, so that postmachining by hand is usually required.
In order not to have to provide a separate sanding show for every possible profile shape, a continuously variably adjustable belt sanding device is known (Austrian Patent Disclosure AT 413 958 B) with laminations displaceable relative to one another, which adapt to a profiled surface by pressing against a corresponding pattern counter to the resistance of an elastic material and can be fixed in that position by firmly clamping the laminations. However, that operation has to be done anew each time a change is made to a different rounding radius.
A profile sanding assembly (European Patent Disclosure EP 0 396 067 A2) is also known that has a tool holder, described as a tool turret, in which various tools are embodied.


An information processing method includes storing information identifying an external service and information of an acquisition method for acquiring folder information from the external service; receiving, from a device, a request to acquire the folder information from the external service; identifying the acquisition method for acquiring the folder information from the external service, based on the stored information; acquiring the folder information from the external service, based on the identified acquisition method; and sending the acquired folder information to the device. When the identified acquisition method is a first acquisition method, folder information of a hierarchy of a specified folder and in a predetermined number of lower hierarchies is acquired from the external service. When the identified acquisition method is a second acquisition method, folder information of a hierarchy of a specified folder and in all lower hierarchies is acquired from the external service.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing apparatus, and an information processing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various external services have been provided by cloud computing, etc. For example, there is known an external service for storing electronic data in an external storage. In order to use such an external service, there is conventionally known a technology of storing electronic data, which is managed in a client terminal, in an external storage specified by the user (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
However, in the above conventional technology, depending on the Web API (Application Programming Interface) provided by the external storage, there have been cases where the user's comfortable usage is impaired. For example, depending on the external storage, there are cases where a Web API, which is for collectively acquiring folder information of folders in the hierarchy of the specified folder and in all hierarchies lower than that of the specified folder in the external storage, is not provided. In the case of an external storage without such a Web API, for example, the folder information of folders in the hierarchy of the specified folder and in one hierarchy lower than that of the specified folder is acquired in units of one hierarchy, and the user has to wait until all of the folder information is acquired.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2013-92833

Information processing system, information processing apparatus, and information processing method


The present disclosure relates to biosensors, kits and methods for detecting and/or quantifying lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in a liquid sample such as a serum sample from a subject. The present disclosure also relates to linker compounds that are useful, for example, in the biosensors, kits and methods of the present disclosure and to methods for preparing a biosensor for detecting and/or quantifying lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in a liquid sample.

In women over 50, cancer is one of the leading causes of death, at 15%, making it a serious problem around the world.1 Among female cancers, one of the most dangerous is ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is a general term used to identify any cancers that originate or find their main tumors in an ovary.2 Though ovarian cancer is less common than other female cancers, such as breast cancer, it has the highest fatality to case ratio of all gynecological cancers making it a serious issue especially for post-menopausal women.3
Ovarian cancer accounts for over 225,000 new cases and over 140,000 deaths worldwide each year.3 Though the majority of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed in older women, the disease is also present in younger populations, with girls in their teens being diagnosed and even dying of the disease each year.4 Despite increased survival rates for other cancers over the last few decades, the survival rate for ovarian cancer has remained roughly steady since 1995, with a 5 year survival rate of less than 40% of those women who survive their first year.5 Survival rates for the disease have improved little since the 1970s despite advances in cancer treatment and surgery.6
At more than 70%, the majority of women are diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, the five year survival rate for women diagnosed at a late stage, versus those diagnosed in stages I or II, is extremely low with less than 40% of late stage women surviving 5 years compared to 90% for those diagnosed in early stages.4 This decreased survival rate is mostly due to the unusually rapid rate of ovarian cancer metastasis, which is due to a lack of anatomical barrier to prevent seeding of the tumor into the peritoneal cavity.2 As a result, it may be useful to improve diagnosis in the early stages of the disease to increase the survival rate for those women who suffer from it.
Ovarian cancer often presents with few symptoms at an early stage and vague symptoms at later stages. These symptoms include, for example, bloating, nausea, difficulty eating, back pain and urinary urgency among others, which tend to persist and worsen as the cancer advances.7 Because these symptoms don't tend to appear until the later stages of the disease, early detection may, for example, be more difficult as women with the disease may, for example, have little to no physical indication of its presence.
Ovarian cancer typically presents as adnexal masses, which are relatively common and rarely malignant.8 In approximately 1% of women who have these adnexal masses, the adnexal masses do turn out to be malignant, and for the remaining majority it is useful to avoid unnecessary interventions.9 As such, it may, for example, be useful to establish the nature of these masses by imaging techniques before proceeding with biopsies and further testing.
The most common technique for imaging ovarian masses is transvaginal ultrasonography (TVU), which allows for basic imaging of the masses. Early stage and benign masses share different physical characteristics to later stage and malignant masses, which can be seen by TVU. These characteristics of late stage tumors include, for example, more papillary projections, more commonly being multilocus, larger in size, and containing more solid mass than early stage tumors.10
Differences also exist between benign and malignant masses when imaged by magnetic resonance imaging. Due to the presence of solid and cystic areas within malignant masses, as well as necrosis within the solid tissue, they appear to be hyperintense on diffusion-weighted images, with only intermediate intensity on T2-weighted images, whereas benign masses tend to be hypointense on both of these images.8
Currently there is no viable blood-based detection method in use for the disease to indicate if a woman is in need of further imaging studies. One biomarker for the disease currently being tested for is cancer antigen 125 (CA-125). CA-125 has been used to monitor ovarian cancer patients for over three decades, but is not viable on its own for the detection of ovarian cancer. This is because it is only present at elevated levels in approximately half of patients at an early stage, and 92% of late stage patients. So, on its own, it can't be used to identify most early stage ovarian cancer patients when detection is most useful, and it isn't applicable for monitoring of all patients, as 8% of late stage patients and approximately 50% of early stage patients won't show elevated levels. It is also present at elevated levels in benign conditions such as pregnancy or menstruation giving it a high rate of false positives when used for detection.11
Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a signaling lipid.12 In two separate studies, this signaling lipid was found to be elevated in 90% of stage I ovarian cancer patients, and 100% of later stage patients.13,14 It was also found that LPA elevation correlated to the stage of the disease with stage III and IV patients presenting higher LPA serum concentrations than stage I and II patients.14 However, as with the CA-125 biomarker discussed above, LPA levels were found to be elevated in a subset of healthy controls and patients with benign gynecological diseases, approximately 10% and 25% respectively.13

Biosensors and methods for detection of lysophosphatidic acid for signaling of ovarian cancer

Thompson Surface Innovations Corporation


An apparatus is described for measuring the size of a particulate, without contacting the particulate, and therefore without extra forces on the particulate. Stripped gaps of interference fringes are measured behind the particulate when a monochromatic beam is radiated on the particulate.

This invention relates to an apparatus of measuring particulate size without actually contacting the particulate and more particularly to a new apparatus for measuring the size of a particulate simply and rapidly based on interference fringes generated at striped gaps corresponding to the size of the particulate, when a monochromatic beam is radiated on the particulate. By using this invention, improved quality control is available for ceramic powders, magnetic recording material powders and also powder metallurgy and, moreover, it is possible to measure the size of solid state powders as well as liquid state powders, which benefits largely the industrial world.
As well known, about 200 years ago, Thomas Young advanced a theory that interference fringes can be observed at equivalent gaps and in a concentric condition caused by secondary spherical waves originating from the boundary of a subject when a beam is radiated on a subject. At that time, however, interference fringes were not obtained correctly at equivalent gaps, even when experiments were conducted based on the theory of Thomas Young, and therefore his theory was originally concluded to be in error. Thereafter, Young's theory was studied by many scholars, and finally it came to be recognized as a correct theory. However, up to now actual experiments applying the above theory have not been successful.
In view of this situation, the present inventor has performed various experiments, in a trial and error manner, in order to prove Young's theory. As a result, the inventor has found that the interference fringes appear in "shade portions" at equivalent gaps and in a concentric condition when a monochromatic beam is radiated on a particulate having a size in the range of, e.g., 100.about.1000 micrometers. "Shade portions" means a region which is created behind the subject on the opposite side from the light source. This region can also be called a "Geometrical Shadow Region" and is illustrated in FIG. 4.
Further, he has developed the formula mentioned below based on four elements--a gap of interference fringes (.DELTA.x), wavelength of monochromatic beam (.lambda.), size (D) of a particulate, and the distance (Z) between the particulate and a place (e.g., screen) where the interference fringe is measured: ##EQU1##
From the above formula, the size (D) of the particulate is obtainable through the derived formula below: ##EQU2##
This invention utilizes the above-described discoveries for measuring the size of a particulate.
Thus the present invention has an object to provide a new apparatus, by which correct and rapid measuring of particulate size is available without any actual physical contact of the particulate.
The invention has another object to provide a new apparatus to obtain a value for a size of very tiny particulates, even within a range of a few micrometers.
This invention has an even further object to provide a new apparatus to improve quality control for various powder materials such as ceramic powders and so on.
Other objects and advantages of the instant invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

Apparatus for measuring particulate size without contacting the particulate


The present invention is a clamp assembly having two clamp halves. A cushion insert is disposed within the clamp halves to retain a tube, conduit, or other cylindrical member within the clamp assembly. The cushion insert includes means for allowing the cushion insert to flex and be disposed about the tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a two-piece clamp for securing elongated cylindrical members, more particularly to, a two-piece clamp with a cushion for securing an elongated cylindrical member therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Presently, there exists a clamp assembly having two clamp halves and a stud non-rotatably anchored on one of the clamp halves. The stud includes an integral or separable spacer portion which controls the clamping force exerted on the tubing and prevents deformation of the tubing when the stud assembly is tightened.
An example of such a clamp assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,296, issued May 14, 1985, by inventor Clarence A. Sherman, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The patented clamp assembly includes a cushion insert for indirectly engaging the tubing through the elastomeric cushion insert which partially encircles the tubing and is retained within the clamp assembly as illustrated in FIG. 1. The cushion insert 10 includes a generally planar base portion 12 with upwardly and inwardly extending arcuate side walls 14 that substantially encompass the tubing. The ends of the side flanges 14 form a gap 16. The side walls 14 form a smooth continuous passageway 18 extending axially through the cushion insert 10 in which the tubing is disposed. The side walls 14 also include end flanges 20 extending outwardly at the ends of the cushion insert 10 to limit the relative axial movement between a clamp half disposed between the end flanges 20 and the cushion insert 10.
One disadvantage of the above patented clamp assembly is that when small diameter tubes are used, e.g. one-half inch diameter, a large amount of force must be exerted by the operator on the cushion insert to spread the side walls of the cushion insert apart to fit over and about the tube. As a result, the cushion inserts were slid or disposed about one end of the tubing and moved to the desired position along the tubing. Another disadvantage of the above patented clamp assembly is that the cushion insert is used for generally continuous tubing of constant diameter which is used for fluid lines running from a power supply to a machine or the like, e.g. in the fluid power market. Also, the patented clamp assembly is used for typically thin walled copper tubing to prevent the tubing from being deformed if the clamp assembly is over-tightened. However, if the patented clamp assembly is used for thick walled steel tubing or the like, the spacer prevents the clamp halves from being tightened together to the extent required to prevent leaking of a junction between tubing or relative movement between the tubing and clamp assembly.
Currently, a rail mounted system or clamp assembly is used in the fluid power market as illustrated in FIG. 2. Typically, the rail mounted clamp assembly 21 includes a junction adapter or fitting 22 having a square or hexagon nut 23 formed on its outer surface with male or female threaded ends 24. The assembly also includes a rectangular tube or housing 25 about the nut 23 which is adapted to be secured to a support surface. A pair of cylindrical members 26 pass through the housing 25 on both sides of the adapter 22 to prevent rotation of the adapter 22. The cylindrical member 26 has a nut or base 27 at one end abutting the outside of the housing 25 and a fastener 28 which threadably engages the other end of the cylindrical member 26 to secure it to the housing 25. Typical examples of such rail mounted clamp assemblies used in the fluid power market are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,431, issued Aug. 20, 1978, by inventor W. R. Walker and U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,220, issued Dec. 3, 1968, by inventor W. R. Walker.
One disadvantage of the above rail mounted clamp assembly is that it must be disassembled to attach the tubing to the junction adapter or other assembly. Another disadvantage is that a pair of cylindrical members must be used on each side of the nut or the adapter to prevent it from rotating in the housing.
Some examples of other clamp assemblies are disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 4,037,810, issued July 26, 1977, by inventor Harold T. Pate and U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,994, issued Apr. 17, 1984, by inventor Duane D. Logsdon. Although both of these patents disclose a clamp with a point of flexure, Pate merely discloses a plastic cap or lid hinged to the remaining portion of the plastic clamp to secure tubing therein. Also, Logsdon's pipe hanger would be unsuitable to support the weight of the fluid in the tubing when used for fluid lines in the fluid power market. Further, Logsdon's pipe hanger would be unsuitable for non-constant diameter and non-smooth outer surfaced or discontinuous pipe or tubing and channel or rail mounted systems.
It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide an easy-to-use cushion insert to fit over tubing or other cylindrical members of relatively small diameters.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a clamp assembly which can be used for fluid lines in the fluid power market.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cushion insert that can be used for non-constant diameter and non-smooth outer surface or discontinuous tubing or other cylindrical members.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a clamp assembly that can support the weight of the fluid and tubing or other cylindrical member.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a clamp assembly which prevents rotation of the tubing or other cylindrical member within the clamp assembly.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a clamp assembly which does not require disassembly to attach the tubing or other cylindrical member to it.


An apparatus and method are provided for mixing a gas and a liquid to produce a gaseous vapor of the liquid that is substantially free of droplets. Gas, e.g., carbon dioxide, is divided into first and second streams. The first stream is combined in an atomization zone with the liquid, e.g., acetic acid, to form an atomized mixture of the gas and liquid. This atomized mixture is then contacted with the second gas stream in a mixing zone within a mixing/separation chamber in which the second gas stream vaporizes substantially all of the atomized liquid, and the resulting mixture of gas, vaporized liquid and residual droplets moves to the separation zone of the mixing/separation chamber. In the separation zone, the residual droplets gravitationally separate from the vaporized mixture, and the vaporized mixture free of a substantial amount of residual droplets is removed from the chamber. A vaporized mixture of carbon dioxide and acetic acid is useful as, among other things, a preservative for perishable products, e.g., baked goods.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for mixing a gas and a liquid. In one aspect, this invention relates to an apparatus and method for mixing a carrier gas with an atomized liquid while in another aspect, this invention relates to the formation of a mixture of carrier gas and vaporized liquid with little, if any, entrained droplets. In yet another aspect, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for applying a preservative to a perishable product.
The preservation of perishable products has been and continues to be the focus of considerable commercial interest. By extending the shelf life of a food product, e.g., a baked good, considerable economic value can be added to that product. Approaches to this end are many and varied, e.g., tight control of storage conditions, packaging, post and in situ applications of preservatives, and various combinations of these and other techniques are known and in practice to one extent or another.
In the context of baked goods, e.g., muffins, crumpets, scones, bagels, cookies, breads, etc., all of these techniques are in use, e.g., frozen or refrigerated storage, anaerobic packaging, and the addition of preservatives either to the batter or mix from which the baked good is prepared, or the application of a preservative to the finished baked good. With respect to the latter, the application of a small amount of acetic acid to a finished baked good, e.g., a crumpet, can extend the shelf life of the baked good from a typical 6-8 days to an extended 14-16 days (all other conditions, e.g., packaging, storage conditions, etc., being equal). One problem, however, in the application of a preservative to a food product is to apply the preservative in a manner that does not interfere with the natural sensient properties of the product, e.g., taste, smell, texture, etc. In the case of applying acetic acid to a finished baked product, too much acetic acid can impart an unwanted tartness to the product.
Another problem with the application of a preservative to the finished baked good is consistent application of the preservative in a production line setting. Commercially distributed baked goods, along with most other commercially manufactured and distributed perishable goods, are made in large quantities, and consistency from one item to the other is important to the commercial success of the product line. In the case of applying acetic acid to baked goods, the amount of acetic acid applied to the first baked good in the production cycle should be essentially the same as the amount of acetic acid applied to the last item in the production cycle (and all items throughout that production cycle, for that matter). This can be difficult to control over extended periods of time due to, among other things, variations in the temperature of the equipment, the preparation and delivery of the acetic acid to the finished product, and the like.
For example, the application of acetic acid as a preservative to a finished baked good typically begins with the conversion of liquid acetic acid to gaseous acetic acid. This conversion is accomplished by any one of a number of different procedures, e.g., flash evaporation, atomization, etc., and the gaseous acetic acid is then transported, typically by a carrier gas, e.g., carbon dioxide, to a treatment chamber. Finished baked goods are fed on a batch basis to the chamber in which they are exposed under predetermined conditions to the acetic acid, removed from the chamber, and then the cycle repeats. One common problem with this technique is that the gaseous acetic acid often has entrained within it small droplets of liquid acetic acid and these droplets, when deposited on the finished baked good, can constitute an overdose of preservative and impart a tartness to the product. The droplets originate from either incomplete vaporization of the acetic acid and/or as a condensate from the gaseous acetic acid as it is transported from a vaporization zone to the treatment chamber. Similar problems exist, of course, with the application of other gaseous preservatives to other perishable products.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus and method for mixing a gas and a liquid


Disclosed are polymers that include components produced from renewable resources and methods for forming the disclosed polymers. The polymers include the reactive intermediates that in turn include components derived from, for example, lactide or sorbitol. The reactive intermediates can be polymerized with each other as well as with more traditional resins to form polymeric networks. In one embodiment, the disclosed intermediates can be utilized in forming vinyl ester resins. In particular, the vinyl ester-styrene resins and thermoset networks formed therefrom including the disclosed intermediates can include lower styrene content than previously known vinyl ester-styrene resins, and can exhibit physical characteristics such as glass transition temperature and flexural strength properties equal to previously known vinyl ester-styrene resins that include a higher styrene content.

The production of polymers through utilization of renewable resources has been a field of increasing interest for many years. For example, great interest has been shown in polymers formed from lactic acid. Lactic acid occurs in nature via fermentation of carbohydrates such as glucose, sucrose, and lactose. Lactic acid is commercially produced by fermentation of whey, cornstarch, potatoes, molasses, and the like. In forming lactic acid-based polymers, the lactic acid is first oligomerized then depolymerized to form lactide monomer which is then polymerized to high molecular weight polylactide or polylactic acid (PLA). According to current commercial processes, the lactide is processed so as to obtain high purity L-lactide, which is then subjected to a ring-opening polymerization process to form the product crystalline polymers. Polymers formed to date derived from D-lactide and meso-lactide monomers have been shown to be more amorphous, and thus D- and meso-lactide polymers have not been considered to be particularly useful for commercial applications, and particularly in applications in which high semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer performance characteristics (e.g., high strength, high glass transition temperature (Tg), etc.) are required.
The polymers obtained to date including renewable resource-derived materials tend to have very limited applications, though some polylactide products based upon L-lactide alone such as those commercialized by Natureworks, LLC are beginning to show possible application in some fiber and film technologies. Attempts to include materials derived from renewable resources in broader-based applications have been limited due to cost considerations as well as due to loss of critical properties of the polymeric product upon replacement of the traditional components with the renewable resource derived intermediates. For example, the hydrolytic stability of polymers formed from renewable resources is often such that they degrade too quickly during use, rendering them unsuitable for many applications. Other problems encountered include unacceptable increase in the viscosity of resins upon alteration or removal of the traditional components and unacceptable loss of mechanical and thermal properties, e.g., glass transition temperature, modulus, and strength characteristics, upon inclusion of the renewable resource derived components.
What is needed in the art are polymeric materials that can include monomers, oligomers, polymer blocks, and even entire polymers derived from renewable resources. Moreover, what is needed in the art are polymeric materials incorporating these components that can exhibit qualities suitable for use in applications currently employing materials derived exclusively from non-renewable resources such as traditional vinyl ester-styrene resins.

Polymeric materials from renewable resources


A method is provided for forming a split-gate flash memory cell having a sharp beak of poly which substantially improves the programming erase speed of the cell. The sharp beak is formed through an extra and judicious wet etch of the polyoxide formed after the oxidation of the first polysilicon layer. The extra oxide dip causes the polyoxide to be removed peripherally thus forming a re-entrant cavity along the edge of the floating gate. The re-entrant beak is such that it does not get damaged during the subsequent process steps and is especially suited for cell sizes smaller than 0.35 micrometers.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to split-gate memory cells used in flash EEPROMs (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memories), and in particular, to a method of forming a sharp peak of poly to improve erase speed in split-gate flash cell.
(2) Description of the Related Art
The shape and size of different portions of memory cells have different effects on the performance of the memory cells in different ways. Thus, with the one-transistor memory cell, which contains one transistor and one capacitor, many variations of this simple cell have been advanced for the purposes of shrinking the size of the cell and, at the same time, improve its performance. The variations consist of different methods of forming capacitors, with single, double or triple layers of polysilicon, and different materials for the word and bit lines. Another variation which is disclosed in this invention relates to the shape of the edge of the floating gate which significantly affects the erase speed of split-gate flash memory cells.
Memory devices include electrically erasable and electrically programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs) of flash electrically erasable and electrically programmable read-only memories (flash EEPROMs). Many types of memory cells for EEPROMs or flash EEPROMs may have source and drains regions that are aligned to a floating gate or aligned to spacers. When the source and drain regions are aligned to the floating gate, a gate electrode for a select transistor is separate from the control gate electrode of the floating gate transistor. Separate select and control gates increase the size of the memory cell. If the source and drain regions are aligned to a spacer formed after the floating gate is formed, the floating gate typically does not overlie portions of the source and drain regions. Programming and erasing performance is degraded by the offset between the floating gate and source and drain regions.
Most conventional flash-EEPROM cells use a double-polysilicon (poly) structure of which the well known split-gate cell is shown in FIGS. 1g. The forming of the cell is shown in FIGS. 1a-1f which will be described shortly. In the final form of the cell shown in FIG. 1g, a MOS transistor is formed on a semiconductor substrate (10) having a first doped region (11), a second doped region (13), a channel region (15), a gate oxide (20), a floating gate (30), intergate dielectric layer (60) and control gate (70). Substrate (10) and channel region (15) have a first conductivity type, and the first (11) and second (13) doped regions have a second conductivity type that is opposite the first conductivity type.
As seen in FIG. 1g, the first doped region, (11), lies within the substrate. The second doped region, (13), lies within substrate (10) and is spaced apart form the first doped region (11). Channel region (15) lies within substrate (10) and between first (11) and second (13) doped regions. Gate oxide layer (20) overlies substrate (10). Floating gate (30), to which there is no direct electrical connection, and which overlies substrate (10), is separated from substrate (10) by a thin layer of gate oxide (20) while control gate (70), to which there is direct electrical connection, is generally positioned over the floating gate with intergate oxide (60) therebetween.
In the structure shown in FIG. 1g, control gate (70) overlaps the channel region, (17), adjacent to channel (15) under the floating gate, (30). This structure is needed because when the cell is erased, it leaves a positive charge on the floating gate. As a result, the channel under the floating gate becomes inverted. The series MOS transistor (formed by the control gate over the channel region) is needed in order to prevent current flow from control gate to floating gate. The length of the transistor, that is the overlap of the control gate over the channel region (17) determines the cell performance. Furthermore, the shape of the edge (33) and, in particular, that of edge (37) can affect the programming of the cell. It is disclosed in this invention that the shape and size of edge (37) will affect the programming erase speed of the cell substantially. The relatively rounded shape that is found in conventional cells shown in FIG. 1g and which affects the erase speed adversely is the result of the commonly used process which is illustrated in FIGS. 1a-1f.
In FIG. 1a, layer of gate oxide (20) is thermally grown over substrate (10) using conventional methods. Next, a first polysilicon layer (30) is formed followed by the deposition of nitride layer (40). A photoresist layer (50) is then spun over the substrate and then patterned with a floating gate pattern, which in turn, is etched into the nitride layer as shown in FIG. 1b. The photoresist layer, which is no longer needed, is removed. Next, the first polysilicon that is exposed in the pattern openings in the nitride layer is oxidized to form polyoxide (35) as shown in FIG. 1c. Subsequently, the nitride layer is removed leaving the polyoxide as shown in FIG. 1d, where now the polyoxide serves as a hard mask to remove all the first polysilicon portions except those that are covered by the polyoxide. As is well known in the art, this is usually accomplished by main etch followed by over-etch. It is at this etching step that the corner edge (37) is usually rounded off, as seen in FIG. 1e, which is not desirable for achieving fast program erase speed described below. It will be shown later in the embodiments of this invention that by employing a different process step, the sharpness of corner edge (37) can be preserved such that charge transfer (23) between substrate (10) and floating gate (30), and then the charge transfer (63) between the floating gate and control gate, (70), is fast. The Control gate is formed by depositing a second polysilicon layer over intergate layer (60), also known as interpoly, which separates the two polysilicon layers, namely, the floating polygate and the control polygate.
To program the transistor shown in FIG. 1g, which is an enlarged view of FIG. 1f as well as showing the placement of gate, source and drain voltages or Vg, V.sub.s and V.sub.d, respectively, charge is transferred from substrate (10) through gate oxide (20) and is stored on floating gate (30) of the transistor. The amount of charge is set to one of two levels to indicate whether the cell has been programmed "on" of "off." "Reading" of the cell's state is accomplished by applying appropriate voltages to the cell source (11) and drain (13), and to control gate (70), and then sensing the amount of charge on floating gate (30). To erase the contents of the cell, the programming process is reversed, namely, charges are removed from the floating gate by transferring them back to the substrate through the gate oxide.
This programming and erasing of an EEPROM is accomplished electrically and in-circuit by using Fowler-Nordheim tunneling as is well known in prior art. Basically, a sufficiently high voltage is applied to the control gate and drain while the source is grounded to create a flow of electrons in the channel region in the substrate. Some of these electrons gain enough energy to transfer from the substrate to the floating gate through the thin gate oxide layer by means of Fowler-Nordheim tunneling. The tunneling is achieved by raising the voltage level on the control gate to a sufficiently high value of about 12 volts. As the electronic charge builds up on the floating gate, the electric field is reduced, which reduces the electron flow. When, finally, the high voltage is removed, the floating gate remains charged to a value larger than the threshold voltage of a logic high that would turn it on. Thus, even when a logic high is applied to the control gate, the EEPROM remains off. Since tunneling process is reversible, the floating gate can be erased by grounding the control gate and raising the drain voltage, thereby causing the stored charge on the floating gate to flow back to the substrate. Of importance in the tunneling region is the quality and the thinness of the tunneling oxide separating the floating gate from the substrate. Usually a thickness of between about 80 to 120 Angstroms is required to facilitate Fowler-Nordheim tunneling.
Several different methods of forming split-gate flash memory cells are described in prior art. Ahn in U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,161 is concerned about the degradation of the tunnel oxide in a flash EEPROM cell due to the band-to-band tunneling and the secondary hot carrier which are generated by a high electric field formed at the overlap regions between the junction region and the gate electrode when programming and erasure operations are performed by a high voltage to the structure in which the tunneling region is separated from the channel with a thick insulation film. In a separate U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,747, Ahn, et al., disclose a different method for manufacturing a flash EEPROM cell in order to prevent over-erasure of the cell and decrease the cell area by forming a floating gate in the form of a spacer on a side wall of a select gate and by forming a control gate to surround the select gate and the floating gate.
Hong, et al, describe in U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,292 another process for fabricating split-gate flash EEPROM memory where the isolation between the floating gate and the control gate is improved by using a first and second oxide layer so that the problem of leakage does not occur. Jeng, on the other hand, discloses a method of re-crystallizing a floating gate for the purposes of maximizing the coupling between the floating gate and the drain and the portion of the channel regions over which the gate is disposed.
In addition to these prior methods, what is needed is a method for improving the program erase speed of split-gate flash memory cells by shaping the edge of the floating gate as disclosed in the present invention.

Method of forming sharp beak of poly to improve erase speed in split-gate flash EEPROM

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A compact pulse oximetry system which separates the combined signal into its respective AC and DC components. By separating the signal into AC and DC components, a smaller order bit A/D converter may be used while still maintaining signal accuracy. Instead of using the combined signal to calculate the oxygen saturation content, the system microprocessor computes the Ratio of Ratios using the derivative of the separated AC component of the diffused signal to calculate the oxygen saturation of the measured fluid. To calculate the Ratio of Ratios, a ratio of the derivative value of the separated AC component is used. Instead of taking a single sample between the peak and valley of the signal, the oximeter system samples each value. To decrease the effect of system noise, a linear regression is performed over each sample.

Certain components in the blood absorb light more strongly at different wavelengths. For example, oxyhemoglobin absorbs light more strongly in the infrared region then in the red region. Therefore, highly oxygenated blood having a high concentration of oxyhemoglobin will tend to have a high ratio of optical transmissivity in the infrared region. The ratio of transmissivities of the blood at red and infrared wavelengths can be employed in calculating oxygen saturation of the blood.
This principle has been used in oximeters for monitoring oxygen saturation of the blood, as for example, in patients undergoing surgery. Oximeters for this purpose may include a red and infrared light emitting diode together with a photodetector. The oximeter is typically clamped to an appendage of the patient's body, such as an ear or finger. The oximeter directs a beam of red and infrared light of known frequency and wavelength into the appendage. A sensor on the other end of the appendage receives the diffused light. Knowing the change in wavelength, frequency, and intensity of the diffused light beam, the oximeter can quickly determine the oxygen saturation level of the patient.
The diffused light signal received by the photodetector is an analog signal which includes both an AC and DC component. The diffused light signal includes an AC component which reflects the varying optical absorption of the blood due to variance in the volume of the blood due to the pulsatile flow of blood in the body. The diffused signal also includes an invariant or DC component related to other absorption, such as absorption by tissues other than blood in the body structure.
The diffused analog light signal is converted into a digital signal. The digital representation is used by the oximeter system microprocessor for processing the oxygen saturation level. Because calculation of the oxygen saturation is critical for determining the status of the patient, a high degree of accuracy is required for the digital representation of the diffused analog light signal. A problem in converting from an analog to a digital representation of the signal is that the DC component is so much larger than the AC component of the diffused signal. To encompass both the AC and DC components of the entire diffused signal requires using a 16 bit A/D converter. Using a smaller A/D converter, for example an 8 bit A/D converter, would cut off the least significant bits of the signal, namely the AC component of the signal. Receiving an accurate representation of the AC component is critical, since it is the AC component of the diffused signal which reflects the oxygen absorption.
Because of the degree of precision necessary to accurately reflect the AC component of the signal, currently available oximeter systems typically uses a 16-bit A/D converter. A 16 bit A/D converter may be four times as expensive as currently available microprocessors which include an 8 bit A/D converter and a pulse width modulator in a single chip. Since 8 bit does not give a sufficient degree of accuracy to encompass for oxygen absorption measurements, a combined 8 bit microprocessor A/D converter chips cannot be used. A separate 16 bit A/D converter must be used.
In addition to increasing the costs of the oximeter system, using a separate 16 bit A/D converter increases the size and power consumption of the system. Adding a separate 16 bit A/D converter adds to the size of the measurement system. Because the oximeter measurement system is connected to a patient and because the system is often moved between patient rooms, compactness of size of the pulse oximeter measurement system is highly desirable.
The digital representation of the diffused signal is used by the oximeter system microprocessor to calculate oxygen saturation level in the blood of a patient. The Ratio of Ratios, a variable used in calculating the oxygen saturation level, is typically calculated by taking the natural logarithm of the ratio of the peak value of the infrared signal divided by valley measurement of the red signal. The aforementioned value is then divided by the natural logarithm of the ratio of the peak value of the red signal divided by the value of valley measurement of the infrared signal.
The diffused signal is sampled several times during each period to determine the peak and valley measurement for each period of the waveform. In calculating the Ratio of Ratios, the peak value is assumed to be the high sample value during the period of the waveform. The valley measurement is assumed to be the low measured value. Although this method leads to a good estimate of the variable R, taking the peak and valley measurements over the entire time interval is prone to error since the sampling is taken between a single pair of points. This ignores variation in the signal between different pulses during the measured time interval.
A problem with choosing a single peak and valley measurement during a sampling interval, is corruption of the measurement by system noise. For example, patient motion of the oximeter during the sampling period may cause drift in the AC component of the signal. Also, ambient light or electrical noise may increase system noise. If the added noise on the pulse creates a false peak or valley measurement during the sampling interval, this will cause an incorrect value for the Ratio of Ratios. An inexpensive, noise insensitive oximeter measurement system is needed.

Condensed oximeter system with noise reduction software


A multimodal communication system and method creates and accesses a multimodal profile (114) that contains at least multimodal preference information (202), such as desired input modality and a desired output modality for a given multimodal communication session. The multimodal profile (114) may also include at least one identifier (204) associated with the multimodal preference information (202). A multimodal communication apparatus (102) includes a multimodal profile generator (110) that accesses and/or generates a multimodal profile (114). A multimodal communication apparatus configuration controller (112) which is operatively responsive to the accessed multimodal preference information (124) from a given user profile, configures the multimodal communication apparatus (102) and/or a network element for the multimodal communication session based on the accessed multimodal preference information (124) in the multimodal profile.

An emerging area of technology involving communication devices, also known as terminal devices, such as handheld devices, mobile phones, laptops, PDAs, internet appliances, non-mobile devices or other suitable device, is the application of multi-modal interactions for access to information and services. Typically resident on the terminal device is at least one browser, wherein the browser is an application or other mechanism which responds to fetch requests (entered by a user through an interface or from another device or application), receive fetched information, navigate through content servers via internal, e.g. intranet, or external, e.g. internet, connections, and present information to the user. The browser may be a graphical browser, voice browser, or any other suitable browser as recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art. Such browser may include but are not limited to J2ME applications, Java applications or any suitable mechanism.
Multi-modal technology allows a user to access information, such as voice, data, encrypted information, video, audio or other information, and services such as email, weather updates, bank transactions, and news through one or more browsers. More specifically, the user may submit an information fetch request in one or more modalities, such as speaking a fetch request into a microphone, and the user may then receive the fetched information in the first or a second mode, such as viewing the information on a display screen. Within the terminal device, the browser works in a manner similar to a standard web browser or other suitable application resident on a computer connected to a network or to other terminal devices.
As such, multimodal communication systems are being proposed that may allow users to utilize one or more input and output interfaces to facilitate communication in a plurality of modalities on a per session basis. For example, a user may wish to use a different modality in different circumstances. For example it may be desirable to input a request via a tactile interface on a communication device, such as a portable or non-portable device such as desktop units, hand held Internet appliances, mobile telephones, PDAs or any other suitable device in the form of text and receive retrieved information in an audio format such as voice. Specifying such input and output modality preferences each time a user is in a communication session can be time consuming and potentially complicated.
In addition, user profiles are known, such as stored software files, that may contain user information such as a user's preferences for a software application, contact information and, for example, a communication device's capabilities, such as whether or not the communication device can encrypt or decrypt information, and other capabilities. However, no user profiles are known which deal with multimodal communication systems.
Accordingly, a need exists for a multimodal apparatus and method that facilitates customization of input and output interface selection along with other desired multimodal preferences.

Multimodal communication method and apparatus with multimodal profile


A distributed file system that includes multiple computing node tiers. Each of at least some of the multiple computing node tiers has multiple computing nodes having like characteristics. The distributed file system also has an executable component in the form of a distribution component that comprises logic that distributes state of file system entities amongst the computing node tiers. The distribution is performed so that latency of file system requests are reduced due to state responsive to many requests being much closer latency wise to the file system requestor(s). Furthermore, the distribution considers durability guarantees of the state, thereby meeting durability guarantees.

Computing systems and associated networks have revolutionized the way human beings work, play, and communicate. Nearly every aspect of our lives is affected in some way by computing systems. Computing systems rely on having ready access to data. To promote ready access, file systems typically organize data within files, and allow those files to be placed within a directory structure. The file system also allows for creation, modification and deletion of files or directories. Accordingly, data may be organized in a fashion that is convenient, intuitive, and deterministic way for a human user and/or a computer program so that data can be properly retrieved as needed.
A directory structure for a file system may be confined to a particular local hard drive. However, more recently, the directory structure may include directories that include files accessible over a network. Remoting software often allows a local view of a file system in which the entirety of the file system is remotely located. Accordingly, file systems may conventionally be distributed.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

File system with distributed entity state


The present invention is vehicle electric power supply system (A) that supplies electric power wirelessly to a vehicle (M) that is positioned within an electric power supply area (X). The vehicle electric power supply system (A) has: a power-receiving device (m1) that is provided in the vehicle; a plurality of power-transmitting devices (1a1, 1a2, 1a3, 1b1, 1b2, 1b3, 1c1, 1c2, 1c3) that are provided at mutually different positions within the electric power supply area; a position detecting device (4) that detects the position of the power-receiving device within the electric power supply area; and a control device (4) that, based on detection results from the position detecting device, selects from among the plurality of power-transmitting devices the power-transmitting device that is located in a position that corresponds to the power-receiving device, and then causes power to be supplied wirelessly from the selected power-transmitting device.

It is sometimes difficult for vehicles such as hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles to travel long distances because of problems such as the performance of the mounted batteries and the like. Because of this, in recent years, in addition to supplying electric power to such batteries at users' homes and the like, it has been proposed that electric power supply areas be provided in a variety of locations along routes traveled by vehicles such as, for example, road stops, gas stations, hill slopes, and intersections and the like. For example, in Patent document 1 a vehicle electric power supply system is disclosed that supplies power wirelessly to a vehicle by utilizing traffic signals.


A method for producing a silicon compound containing an iodophenyl group, including substituting iodine for a trialkylsilyl ((R0)3Si) group bonded to a phenyl group by using an iodine-containing electrophilic reagent (I-X) as shown by the following reaction equation:

Iodine-containing compounds highly efficient in absorbing EUV light are expected to improve the performance of resist for EUV, which is currently one of problems in the industrialization of EUV lithography. As a stable iodine-containing compound, an organic group having iodine directly bonded to an aromatic ring, particularly an iodophenyl group, is introduced into a silicon-containing resist underlayer film (hereinafter referred to as polysiloxane underlayer film). Such an underlayer film is expected to have a possibility of improving the performance of patterning an EUV resist.
To obtain such a polysiloxane underlayer film having an iodophenyl group, a hydrolysable silicon compound having an iodophenyl group introduced therein is necessary (hereinafter referred to also as iodine-containing silicon compound). As methods for producing such an iodine-containing silicon compound, there have been known: a method in which a Grignard reagent is prepared from a bromophenylsilane compound and Mg and reacts with iodine (Patent Document 1: paragraph [0058]); a method in which iodophenylene and a certain Grignard reagent are allowed to react on each other and then react with a tetraalkoxysilane (Patent Document 2: paragraph [0085]); and so forth.
However, in the method of Patent Document 1, to prevent the self-reaction with the Grignard reagent, the hydrolysable alkoxy groups of the iodine-containing silicon compound have to be a particular group having low reactivity. This limits the hydrolytic properties of the iodine-containing silicon compound to be obtained, and consequently only a compound which is narrowly applicable is produced in some cases. Moreover, to prevent the self-reaction in the method of Patent Document 2 also, the production reaction progresses under moderate conditions for a period as long as 44 hours, which is uneconomical.
Further, as another organic chemistry method, an iodophenyl group is possibly synthesized via a benzene diazonium salt as shown in the following reaction equation. Nevertheless, this is not suitable for the production of a hydrolysable silicon-containing compound because an aqueous reagent needs to be used during the course of the reaction.

Method for producing iodine-containing silicon compound

Abstract: where all of R0's may be identical to or different from each other and each represent an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms; R1 represents a single bond or a divalent organic group; R2 represents an organic group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; R3 represents an organic group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; R represents an organic group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms; n0 is 1, 2, or 3, n1 is 1, 2, or 3, n2 is 0, 1, or 2, and n3 is 0, 1, or 2, provided that 1≤n1+n3≤3; and X represents a counter substituent of iodine, acting as an electrophilic reactive species.


A (000-1) C-plane of an n− type silicon carbide substrate having an off-angle θ in a <11-20> direction is defined as a principal plane, and a periphery of a portion of this principal surface layer defined as an alignment mark is selectively removed to leave the convex-shaped alignment mark. The alignment mark has a cross-like plane shape such that two rectangles having longitudinal dimensions tilted by 45 degrees relative to the <11-20> direction are orthogonal to each other. When a film thickness of a p− type epitaxial layer is Y; a width of the alignment mark parallel to the principal surface of the n− type silicon carbide substrate is X; and an off-angle of the n− type silicon carbide substrate is θ, an epitaxial layer is formed on an upper surface of the alignment mark such that Y≧X·tan θ is satisfied.

A silicon carbide semiconductor has a large band gap as compared to a silicon (Si) semiconductor and therefore, has high dielectric breakdown electric field intensity. ON-resistance is resistance in a conductive state and is inversely proportional to the cube of the dielectric breakdown electric field intensity and therefore, for example, widely used silicon carbide semiconductors called a 4H type (four-layer cycle hexagonal crystals: 4H—SiC) can suppress the ON-resistance to a few hundredth as compared to silicon semiconductors.
Therefore, also because of large thermal conductivity characteristics facilitating heat radiation, silicon carbide semiconductors are expected as a next-generation, low-loss, power semiconductor device. For example, a silicon carbide semiconductor is used for developing silicon carbide semiconductor elements of various structures such as Schottky barrier diodes, insulated gate field-effect transistors (MOSFET), PN diodes, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), and gate turn-off thyristors (GTO).
Multiple photomasks are necessary for producing such semiconductor elements. The photomasks are used in a process of dry etching of silicon carbide, a process of ion implantation into silicon carbide, a process of forming a contact hole of an oxide film, and a process of forming electrode patterns such as a source electrode, a gate electrode, and an emitter electrode. To automatically align the photomasks and a semiconductor substrate in the processes, an alignment mark acting as a position recognition target is first formed on a surface of a silicon carbide substrate. A conventional alignment mark forming process will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a state of the silicon carbide substrate during conventional alignment mark formation. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a state of the silicon carbide substrate after conventional alignment mark formation. First, as depicted in FIG. 5, in a first process of producing an element structure of a silicon carbide semiconductor element, an oxide layer 102 with a sufficiently thick film thickness is formed on a silicon carbide substrate 101 and a photoresist 103 is then applied to a surface of the oxide layer 102. The photoresist 103 is irradiated with (exposed to) ultraviolet light through a photomask provided with an alignment mark.
The photoresist 103 in an exposed portion is removed by immersion in developer. As a result, the photoresist 103 in an unexposed portion remains in the same pattern as the photomask. The remaining photoresist 103 is baked to cure. The remaining photoresist 103 is used as a mask to remove the oxide layer 102 exposed in an opening portion of the photoresist 103 through dry etching using methane trifluoride (CHF3), etc. as the main raw material gas.
As depicted in FIG. 6, the photoresist 103 is entirely removed by ashing. The oxide layer 102 is used as a mask to remove the silicon carbide substrate 101 exposed in an opening portion of the oxide layer 102 to a depth of about 1 to 2 μm through dry etching using fluorine sulfide (SF6), carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), etc. as main raw material gas. As a result, a concave-shaped alignment mark 104 is formed in the silicon carbide substrate 101. Subsequently, the oxide layer 102 is removed through wet etching using buffered hydrofluoric acid (BHF: buffered hydrogen fluoride) etc.
The alignment mark 104 is formed not only in the oxide layer 102 but also in the silicon carbide substrate 101 in this way because the oxide layer 102 must be removed to leave only the silicon carbide substrate 101 for an annealing step executed at a temperature of 1500 degrees C. or higher for the purpose of activation of ion implantation species implanted into the silicon carbide substrate 101. If the annealing step is executed in a state in which the oxide layer 102 is formed on the silicon carbide substrate 101, the oxide layer 102 evaporates due to the high annealing temperature of 1500 degrees C., causing a problem that the silicon carbide substrate 101 is etched when the oxide layer 102 evaporates.
In an example of a fabrication method of a silicon carbide semiconductor element, after an alignment mark is formed in the silicon carbide substrate, an epitaxial layer may be grown on a surface of the silicon carbide semiconductor provided with the alignment mark. For example, a base layer of a MOSFET is generally formed by ion implantation and is known as being formed by epitaxial growth in which crystals are enlarged while atomic arrangement of the crystals is maintained. A method has been proposed for forming a base layer of a MOSFET through epitaxial growth and suppressing crystal defects in the base layer to improve mobility of carriers flowing through an inversion layer (channel) (see Patent Document 1).
The epitaxial layer grown on a principal surface of the silicon carbide substrate 101 will be described. FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view of a state of the principal surface of the silicon carbide substrate for epitaxial growth. To grow an epitaxial layer with fewer defects, a <0001> c-axis of the silicon carbide substrate 101 must be tilted slightly from a normal line N direction of a principal surface 110 in a <11-20> direction. FIG. 7 depicts a state in which the axis is tilted from the normal line N direction of the principal surface 110 by α degrees in the <11-20> direction. In this case, since a stepped {0001} c-plane emerges on the principal surface 110 of the silicon carbide substrate 101, the principal surface 110 of the silicon carbide substrate 101 includes a {0001} c-plane terrace portion 111 having a weak interatomic bonding force and a step portion 112 having a strong interatomic bonding force.
A growth mechanism of the epitaxial layer includes a combination of reactions such as adsorption of Si atoms and carbon (C) atoms onto the principal surface of the silicon carbide substrate, surface migration (diffusion) and binding of the adsorbed atoms, and desorption (sublimation) of the adsorbed atoms from the principal surface of the silicon carbide substrate. The probability of occurrence of these reactions varies depending on growth conditions such as a substrate temperature and a pressure of raw material gas and changes a growth rate and a crystal defect density in the epitaxial layer. To grow a high-quality epitaxial layer with a lower crystal defect density, it is proposed that growth conditions must be achieved so as to suppress epitaxial growth in the terrace portion 111 and facilitate epitaxial growth in the step portion 112 (see Non-Patent Literature 1).
The epitaxial growth in the terrace portion 111 is epitaxial growth in the <0001> c-axis direction (vertical direction) around a nucleus formed by an atom adsorbed on the terrace portion 111. In this case, the vertical layering sequence of atoms in a 4H structure of a principal surface of an underlying silicon carbide substrate is not reflected. This generally results in an epitaxial layer including cubic silicon carbide (3C—SiC) formed on the principal surface of the underlying silicon carbide substrate. Since 3C—SiC does not have a sufficiently high material physical property as compared to 4H—SiC, the element performance expected of vertical power device semiconductor elements cannot be realized.
On the other hand, in the epitaxial growth in the step portion 112, the epitaxial growth proceeds in the <11-20> direction (lateral direction) such that the step portion 112 is defined as the origin for each of atomic layers in the {0001} c-plane. Therefore, an epitaxial layer is formed that directly takes over the 4H structure of the principal surface of the underlying silicon carbide substrate. To facilitate the epitaxial growth in the step portion 112, a surface migration length of absorbed atoms on the surface of the step portion 112 must be increased. Therefore, an increased substrate temperature and a reduced gas pressure are mainly implemented during epitaxial growth. Such an epitaxial growth mode will hereinafter be referred to as step-flow growth.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-036655    Non-Patent Literature 1: T. Kimoto, et al, "Growth mechanism of 6H—SiC in step-controlled epitaxy", Journal of Applied Physics, Volume 73, Issue 2, pp. 726-732, January 1993

Fabrication method of silicon carbide semiconductor element


A method and apparatus for decoding turbo encoded data. A first turbo decoding iteration is performed to produce a most likely sequence of symbols, each symbol having an amplitude value and a positive or negative sign. The sequence of symbols is error checked, and if an error is detected, the apparatus forms a next most likely sequence by reversing the positive or negative sign of the symbol having the smallest amplitude. If an error is again detected, additional sign reversals are performed on symbols with larger amplitudes, and on multiple symbols. Each modification is error checked. If none of the modifications produce an error-free sequence, and a maximum number of modifications are performed, the apparatus performs another turbo decoding iteration to produce another sequence of symbols. The process is then repeated until an error-free sequence is produced or a maximum number of iterations are performed.

The present invention relates to communication systems. More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for decoding of a turbo encoded data stream in a radio telecommunication system.
In a cellular radio telecommunication system such as a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, data frames or packets may be encoded in a process known as turbo encoding. These systems use forward error correction (FEC) encoding (turbo code) as well as forward error detection encoding using, for example a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). The challenge is to successfully recover the transmitted encoded block of information.
The standard approach is to apply turbo decoding. Existing methods of turbo decoding are more fully described in the article, C. Berrou et al., "Near Optimum Error Correcting Coding and Decoding: Turbo-Codes," IEEE Trans. Commun., Vol. 44, pp 1261-1271, October 1996, which is incorporated herein by reference. Turbo codes are a new class of error-control coding systems that offer near optimal performance while requiring only moderate complexity. The widely used iterative decoding algorithm for turbo-codes is a special case of a general local message-passing algorithm for efficiently computing a posteriori probabilities in acyclic directed graphical (ADG) models (also known as "belief networks"). Iterative decoding is used and the iterative process is stopped when the CRC checks. If the CRC does not check after a predefined number of iterations, the frame is declared to be in error, and other mechanisms, such as Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), are used to recover the lost information.
The disadvantage of this approach is that the decoder may be close to the right answer, but because the CRC detects an error, the frame is lost. In fact, the decoder may be close to the right answer early in the iterative process, and performing additional iterations to get the answer right unnecessarily utilizes system resources.
In systems employing a convolutional code instead of a turbo-code, generalized Viterbi decoding (also referred to as "list Viterbi decoding") provides improved performance. With this approach, the decoder finds the most likely set of decoded bits, the second most likely set of decoded bits, and so on. If the CRC detects an error in the most likely set of bits, then the CRC check is applied to the second most likely, and so on. As a result, the decoder successfully decodes some frames that would have been declared in error based on conventional decoding. Viterbi decoding is more fully described in the following articles: T. Hashimoto, "A List-type Reduced-constraint Generalization of the Viterbi Algorithm," IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, Vol. IT-33, pp. 866-876, November 1987; C. Nill et al., "List and Soft Symbol Output Viterbi Algorithms: Extensions and Comparisons," IEEE Trans. Commun., Vol. 43, pp. 277-287, February/March/April 1995; and N. Seshadri et al., "List Viterbi Decoding Algorithms With Applications," IEEE Trans. Commun., Vol. 42, pp. 313-323, February/March/April 1994. Each of these articles is incorporated herein by reference.
It is noted that the generalized Viterbi approach trades error detection capability for better information recovery. This approach has been shown to provide significant gains in performance. Unfortunately, however, the algorithms developed for generalized Viterbi decoding cannot be used with turbo decoders, because turbo decoders do not perform Viterbi decoding.
It would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus for decoding of turbo encoded data that overcomes the disadvantages of existing methods while also providing significant gains in performance. The present invention provides such a method and apparatus.

Method and apparatus for decoding of turbo encoded data in a communication system


Disclosed herein are methods and kits useful in the detection of protein folding and in the identification of compounds that promote proper protein folding. In one example approach, fluorophores and a protein tag are incorporated into a nascent polypeptide within a ribosome-nascent-chain complex during cell free translation and the resulting labeled ribosome-nascent-chain complex is conjugated to a solid surface via the tag. Fluorescence imaging via FRET is then preformed to assess the folding state of the ribosome-nascent-chain complex under a variety of conditions.

Biochemical screens for small molecules that correct protein misfolding currently require large amounts of well-behaved, pure protein. Such screens are time consuming, expensive, limited to soluble pre-folded substrates, and lack the capacity to access intermediate folding states that may be defective in protein folding disorders.
One example of such a screen is a screen for small molecules that corrects misfolding and subsequent degradation of CFTR proteins. One common mutation in cystic fibrosis patients is a deletion of the phenylalanine at amino acid position 508. This mutation is referred to in the art and herein as ΔF508 CFTR. F508 is located in the first nucleotide binding domain (NBD1) of CFTR. The ΔF508 mutation has detrimental effects on the folding efficiency of the NBD1 in cells, and on the thermodynamic stability of NBD1 in vitro. The efficiency of NBD1 folding is a limiting factor in CFTR trafficking, which is further compromised by the ΔF508 mutation.
An important goal in cystic fibrosis (CF) therapeutics, therefore, is to understand how the NBD1 domain acquires and maintains its folded state in the cellular environment and to devise pharmacological strategies to improve folding efficiency. Clearly, methods that allow more efficient study of protein folding and that identify compounds that improve the folding efficiency of the NBD1 domain and other misfolded proteins that cause disease are needed.
As described in Khushoo et al, Mol Cell 41, 682-692 (2011), the entirety of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, FRET-based methods can be used in cell free translation systems to define the NBD1 folding pathway and showed that cotranslational NBD1 folding begins with compaction of the N-terminal ATP-binding subdomain, followed by alpha-subdomain folding and lastly, formation of the central α/β-sheet core. Thus, the ability to monitor folding directly on the ribosome is desirable because it allows access to folding intermediates that exist only transiently during translation.
However, while cell free translation systems enable quantitative incorporation of fluorescent probes, the concentration of proteins obtained from stalled ribosomes is exceedingly low (e.g., approximately 1 nM). This poses significant challenges to identifying small molecules that might promote protein stability and/or folding efficiency.

Fluorescent detection of in vitro translated protein on a solid surface


This invention relates to a system, device, and method for providing presence information using audio data. This invention provides a terminal device that displays a user list when predetermined input information is detected, receives, from a service device, presence information and audio information associated with the presence information of other user selected from the displayed user list, and controls an output unit, when the received presence information and audio information are displayed through the output unit, to implement audio data contained in the audio information. Accordingly, this invention can provide the users with the presence information intuitively by using audio data, and the users can gain a new user experience (UX), wherein the users can intuitively perceive the presence information via audio instead of text, that may boost the use of application for providing service exploiting the presence information.

With a remarkable growth of related technologies, a great variety of mobile electronic devices are increasingly popularized in these days. Particularly, mobile devices today outgrow their respective traditional fields and hence reach a mobile convergence stage.
Representatively, mobile communication devices are equipped with a variety of functions such as a TV watching function (e.g., DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) or DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting)), a music playback function (e.g., MP3 (MPEC Audio Layer-3)), a digital camera function, and an internet access function in addition to general communication functions such as voice calling and text messaging.
Additionally, recent mobile communication devices are providing a rich choice of features for convenience and entertainment, as they evolve into so called smart-phones, whereby users can install a variety of user functions at their discretion based on an open source OS. Due to vitalization of the open source market, the current smart-phones may not only provide the multi-functional applications for users, but also allow the users to conduct as many functions of PC as possible, along with a development of high-performance smart-phones.
While a variety of services and applications are available for smart-phones, one of the most commonly used services would be messaging service for exchanging messages among users, such as short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), instant messenger, and mobile messenger and so on.
As such a messaging service may be more cost-effective than a calling service and allow users to convey their messages or intentions in simpler way than direct phone calls, this messaging service has shown ever-increasing use and grown, these days, into a unified messaging service integrating the independently served messaging service of various sorts and allowing users to take advantage of diverse add-on features such as file transfer, content sharing, and the like.
In addition, the messaging service offers a presence service. The presence service is intended to provide the users concerned with indication about the current connection of a specific user's terminal device, that is, log-on or log-off state. Unfortunately, this conventional presence service is just provided in the form of simple texting.

System, device and method for providing presence information using audio data


A clip-on eyepiece system that enables a single portable digital imager to be used in both handheld and device-mounted applications is disclosed. The system has a clip-on eyepiece assembly that includes an inverting or a non-inverting eyepiece, a clip-on bracket, a T-mount, and a magnet. The digital imager comprises a display, a mounting rail, a Hall-effect sensor, and a processor all configured to dynamically determine which type of eyepiece, if any, is attached, and to dynamically set system parameters to configure the digital imager for use in either a handheld or a mounted mode. A method for setting operational parameters when the user attaches or detaches the clip-on eyepiece assembly is also disclosed.

Conventional portable digital imagers, such as clip-on thermal imagers (COTIs), are designed for use in either a handheld mode or an attached mode (such as when attached to night-vision goggles (NVG)), but not both. When a portable digital imager is attached to a device such as an NVG (hereinafter referred to as the mounted mode), the optical eyepiece or digital display that presents an image to the user is typically positioned too far from the eye to enable the user to easily use the device in the handheld mode, especially when the user is wearing eyeglasses or ballistic goggles. This limits the flexibility of conventional portable digital imagers and requires users who may need to use an imager in both the mounted and handheld modes to carry multiple devices.
In addition, conventional portable digital imagers are typically optimized for use in either the handheld or mounted mode. For example, owing to different distances of the display from the user's eye, the user might prefer different display brightnesses depending on whether the digital imager is mounted or handheld. A user who attempts to use an imager in both modes might therefore need to manually adjust system settings such as brightness when changing modes. Moreover, while manually adjusting the system settings, the user is unable to use the digital imager for visual augmentation, and can therefore fail to detect relevant objects during this adjustment period.
Furthermore, conventional digital imagers that use optical eyepieces are designed to use either inverting or non-inverting eyepieces, but not both. The user of a conventional digital imager who wishes to replace a heavier and bulkier non-inverting eyepiece with a lighter and smaller inverting eyepiece must also replace the digital imager with one that digitally inverts the image.
Therefore, there is a need for an eyepiece that can enable a portable digital imager, to which the eyepiece can be easily attached and from which it can be easily detached, to be used in both mounted and handheld modes.

Clip-on eye piece system for handheld and device-mounted digital imagers


A semiconductor memory device includes a substrate, a conductive layer provided on a major surface of the substrate, a stacked body, a memory film, and a channel body. The stacked body includes multiple insulating layers alternately stacked with multiple electrode layers on the conductive layer. The memory film includes a charge storage film provided on side walls of holes made to pierce the stacked body. The channel body includes a pair of columnar portions and a linking portion. The pair of columnar portions is provided on an inner side of the memory film inside the holes. The linking portion is provided inside the conductive layer to link lower ends of the pair of columnar portions. The electrode layers are tilted with respect to the major surface of the substrate. The columnar portions of the channel body and the memory film pierce the tilted portion of the electrode layers.

A memory device has been proposed in which memory cells are three-dimensionally arranged by making memory holes in a stacked body in which multiple insulating layers are alternately stacked with multiple electrode layers that function as control gates of the memory cells, forming a charge storage film on the side walls of the memory holes, and subsequently providing silicon used to form a channel inside the memory holes.
Further, in such a memory device, a memory string structure having a U-shaped configuration has been proposed in which the memory string includes a pair of columnar portions extending in the stacking direction of the stacked body, which includes multiple layers of the electrode layers, and a linking portion that is buried in the back gate to link the pair of columnar portions.

Semiconductor memory device and method for manufacturing same


A folding device for signatures includes a saddle-shaped folding sword having an upright folding edge and an inside guide element below the upright folding edge on which the signatures are folded while passing through the folding device. An outside folding element follows and operates jointly with the inside guide element for folding the signatures.

The invention relates to a signature folding device, comprising a saddle-shaped folding sword with an inside guide element on which the signatures are folded. The device furthermore comprises an outside folding element that follows along and operates jointly with the inside guide element for folding the signatures.
Folding devices of the aforementioned type are known. With these devices, the signatures to be folded are guided onto a stationary folding sword and are folded thereon while passing through, with the aid of the outside folding element that follows. Belts, round strings, V-belts or chains, for example, can form the folding element that follows. A folding design of this type has the particular disadvantage that the folding occurs only gradually and that the signatures do not fit form-fittingly against the folding sword until the end of the folding operation. Only at the end of this folding operation are the signatures held securely in place and can thus be transported without slipping. Prior to this, the signatures are quite unstable and can deviate from the predetermined course, thus resulting in an inexact folding. Another difficulty is that the signatures to be folded are slowed down on the inside, by the folding sword that is stationary, and at best have a tendency toward smearing. The higher the effect of the outside folding element, the higher the tendency to smearing.
The folding element on the inside is, for example, a chain with fitted-on roof-shaped elements or is formed by round strings.
A folding device as defined in the preamble is disclosed in Swiss Patent document CH 615 646 A. The inside folding element described in this document is formed by a linear row of folding rollers. On the one hand, the folding element on the inside should be a precision element, so that a sharp, closed and if possible complete fold can be formed. On the other hand, this folding element should also be robust to prevent the element from being bent or damaged during backups, which requires a certain structural size. These two requirements conflict with each other, so that compromises are necessary in the one or the other direction. If the folding element on the inside consists of rollers, arranged one behind the other as specified in the Swiss Patent, the difficulty arises that during the folding process the front edges of the signatures to be folded must repeatedly run in via the subsequent roller. If the signatures to be folded are not always positioned exactly the same way for the run in, the resulting fold is not sharp and the folding accuracy cannot meet high requirements. A precise run in of the signatures onto the rollers is difficult to realize since stresses in the signatures to be folded are hard to avoided during the process of folding the signatures while they are passing through.