A silicon crystallizing device includes a laser beam source emitting a laser beam, a projector unit converging and changing a pattern of the laser beam from the laser beam source, a stage loading/unloading a substrate, a mirror deflecting the laser beam from the projector unit to an outside of the substrate, and a cooling device receiving the laser beam deflected by the mirror and sinking heat generated by the laser beam received, thereby warming up the projection lens before completion of loading the substrate, or cutting off laser beam incident on the substrate after crystallization of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to silicon crystallization, and more particularly, to a silicon crystallizing device. Although the present invention is suitable for a wide scope of applications, it is particularly suitable for preventing non-uniform crystallization of silicon due to variation of a focal length caused by temperature variation of a projection lens which determines a laser beam pattern.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With development of information technology, flat display devices in various forms are in great demand. For example, LCDs (liquid crystal displays), PDPs (plasma display panels), ELDs (electro luminescent displays), VFDs (vacuum fluorescent displays), have been researched and developed as monitors for various apparatuses. Recently, the LCDs have attracted considerable attention because of good picture quality, light weight, thin profile, and low power consumption. As a substitute for a CRT (cathode ray tube), the LCD may be utilized as a mobile display for a notebook computer, a television receiver set for receiving and displaying a broadcasting signal, or the like.
Such an LCD includes a liquid crystal panel for displaying a picture, and a driving unit for applying a driving signal to the liquid crystal panel, wherein the liquid crystal display panel is provided with two glass substrates: a TFT array substrate and a color filter substrate, and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the two glass substrates.
On the TFT array substrate, a plurality of gate lines are arranged at regular intervals in one direction, a plurality of data lines are arranged perpendicular to the gate lines at regular intervals, a plurality of pixel electrodes are respectively formed on pixel regions defined by the gate lines and the data lines crossing each other in a matrix form, and a plurality of thin film transistors are formed to switch in response to a gate line signal for transmission of a data line signal to each pixel electrode. On the color filter substrate, a black matrix layer is formed for shielding a light incident on parts excluding the pixel regions, R, G, B color filter layers are formed for expressing colors, and a common electrode is formed for reproducing a picture. Moreover, the two glass substrates are made to have a gap therebetween by means of spacers, and bonded together with a sealant having a liquid crystal injection hole, through which a liquid crystal material is injected into the gap.
A general driving principle of the LCD device employs an optical anisotropy and polarity of liquid crystals. Molecules of the thin and elongated liquid crystals tend to orient, and thus enable to control orientation of the molecules by applying an electric field to the liquid crystals as intended. Therefore, if the orientation of liquid crystal molecules is changed, light is refracted accordingly by the optical anisotropy to express picture information. Currently, the active matrix LCD is the most attractive because of its good resolution and motion picture reproduction capability, in which thin film transistors and pixel electrodes connected thereto are arranged in a matrix form.
In the LCD, a semiconductor layer of the thin film transistors is formed of polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon). The thin film transistors and the driving circuit may be formed on the same substrate, which can dispense with a step for connecting the thin film transistors and the driving circuit, thereby simplifying a fabrication process. Moreover, since the polysilicon has a field effect mobility greater than amorphous silicon by 100 to 200 times, the polysilicon has a fast response speed and is stable to temperature and light.
The polysilicon may be formed either by a low temperature process or by a high temperature process. Because the high temperature process is disadvantageous in that a process temperature, which is about 1000° C., for example, and higher than a deformation temperature of an insulating substrate, requires use of an expensive quartz substrate. The quartz substrate has a heat resistance higher than the glass substrate, the low quality crystal with poor surface roughness, and fine crystal grain size that leads to have a poorer applicability than the polysilicon formed by the low temperature process. Research and development are conducted to deposit amorphous silicon at a low temperature and crystallize it to form the polysilicon.
The low temperature process includes laser annealing, metal induced crystallization, and the like. In the laser annealing, a pulse form of a laser beam is directed to the substrate to repeat melting and solidification in 10˜102 nano seconds, thereby minimizing damages to a lower insulating substrate. A related art silicon crystallizing device will be described with reference to the attached drawings, in which a laser beam is directed to a substrate to progress crystallization of the substrate.
FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating a relationship between amorphous silicon grain size and laser energy intensity. As shown in FIG. 1, crystallization of the amorphous silicon may be divided into first, second, and third regions according to intensities of the laser energy.
The first region is a partial melting region in which the laser beam is directed to the amorphous silicon layer at an intensity of laser energy only to melt a surface of the amorphous silicon layer, thereby forming fine crystal grains in the surface of the amorphous silicon layer through partial melting and solidification. The second region is a near-complete melting region in which the laser beam is directed to the amorphous silicon layer at an intensity of laser energy higher than the first region to melt almost all the amorphous silicon layer, thereby obtaining crystal grains grown more than the first region by growing crystals using fine nuclei remained after the melting as seeds. However, it is difficult to obtain uniform crystal grains. The second region has a width substantially smaller than the first region. The third region is a complete melting region in which the laser beam is directed to the amorphous silicon layer at an intensity of laser energy higher than the second region to melt all the amorphous silicon layer, enough to solidify to progress homogeneous nucleation, leading to obtain a crystalline silicon layer of fine and uniform crystal grains.
In the process of forming the polysilicon, the number of applications and an overlap ratio of the laser beam with an energy intensity of the second region are controlled to form uniform and coarse crystal grains. However, the polysilicon shows some problems in that boundaries of the plurality of crystal grains of the polysilicon impede current flow, making fabrication of a reliable thin film transistor device difficult, the collision currents are formed from the collision between electrons in the plurality of crystal grains, and the degradation damages an insulating film, resulting in defects in products. In order to resolve these problems, research and development are conducted to form single crystal silicon by using an SLS (sequential lateral solidification) technology in which a silicon crystal grain grows from a boundary surface of liquid silicon and solid silicon perpendicular to the boundary surface (Robert S. Sposilli, M. A. Crowder, and James S. Im, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 452, 956˜957, 1997). In the SLS technology, by appropriately controlling intensity, area of application and a translation distance of the laser beam, to grow a silicon crystal grain in a lateral direction by a predetermined length, amorphous silicon can be crystallized to single crystal larger than 1 μm.
A laser applying device for the SLS process cannot convert an amorphous silicon layer on a large area of a substrate into the polysilicon at a same time, because the device focuses the laser beam onto a small area. For this reason, after a substrate having the amorphous silicon layer is loaded on a stage such that a laser application position on the substrate may be changed, the laser beam is applied to the entire area of the substrate by applying the laser beam to a predetermined area of the substrate and then moving the substrate to apply the laser beam to the next area.
FIG. 2 is a view schematically illustrating a related art SLS laser applying device. As shown in FIG. 2, the related art SLS laser applying device includes a laser emitting device (not shown) for emitting a laser beam, an attenuator 1 for controlling an intensity of laser beam energy to attenuate the intensity, a first mirror 2a for changing a path of the laser beam, a telescopic lens 3 for diverging the laser beam, a second mirror 2b for changing the path of the laser beam again, a homogenizer and condenser lens 4 for homogenizing and converging the laser beam, a third mirror 2c for deflecting and changing the path of the laser beam, a field lens 5 for appropriate change of a form of the laser beam to a level enough to incident on a laser beam pattern mask, a laser beam pattern mask 6 having a pattern for passing the laser beam in a predetermined pattern, a projection lens 7 for converging the laser beam from the laser beam pattern mask 6 at a converge ratio and applying to the substrate, and a stage 8 for holding a substrate 10 having amorphous silicon to be crystallized deposited thereon.
The laser emission device is an Excimer Laser of 308 nm XeCl or 248 nm of KrF, which emits an unprocessed laser beam passing the attenuator 1, the mirrors 2a, 2b and 2c, the lenses 3-5 and 7 of various functions, and the laser beam pattern mask 6, to incident on the substrate 10 in a predetermined laser beam pattern. The mirrors 2a, 2b, and 2c are provided to prevent the SLS laser applying device from being elongated in one direction and to use a space effectively. If necessary, the number of the mirrors may be adjusted to increase or decrease the space the SLS laser applying device occupies. Though not shown, there is a fastening means for fastening the stage 8, and a moving means for moving the stage 8. That is, in order to crystallize the entire area of the substrate 10, the laser beam is applied to the substrate 10 while fine movements of the stage 8 in an X-axis, and Y-axis directions are conducted to gradually expand the crystallized area.
FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating a relationship between temperature variation and focal length variation measured at the projection lens 7 in FIG. 2. The projection lens 7 has a plurality of lenses of quartz with 99% or more transmittivity arranged in a shape of a barrel. The projection lens 7 has a predetermined pattern of the laser beam incident thereon through the laser beam pattern mask 6 (of FIG. 2), converges the pattern of the laser beam, and directs to the substrate 10 (of FIG. 2). However, as shown in FIG. 3, since the projection lens 7 is involved in linear elongation of a focal length according to a temperature, it is required that no deviation of the focal length be generated at the time of crystallization by maintaining the projection lens 7 at a predetermined temperature in the crystallization when the laser beam pattern is applied in an order of μm level.
Particularly, as shown in FIG. 3, since a deviation of the focal length in a range of ±20˜40 μm is generated by a temperature difference of ±1° C. at an X° C. at which there is no deviation of the focal length, it is required to warm-up the projection lens 7 up to a preset temperature before the crystallization is progressed so as to obtain regular crystallization characteristics. For an example, when the projection lens 7 at the time of loading/unloading the substrate 10 has a temperature lower than a temperature of the projection lens 7 at the time of regular crystallization, the focal length may become shorter during the time the substrate 10 is unloaded from the stage 8 (of FIG. 2) after the crystallization, or the substrate 10 is loaded on the stage 8 before the crystallization,
If the crystallization is made before the projection lens 7 is restored to the regular crystallization temperature after the loading of the substrate 10, the regular crystallization cannot be realized due to incorrect focal length at an initial stage. The related art silicon crystallizing device is not provided with an element, which can prevent an unintended formation of a beam overlap area on the substrate 10 having the crystallization completed at the time when the laser beam pattern is applied through the projection lens 7 before unloading of the substrate 10 and after the crystallization of the substrate 10.
The laser beam pattern mask 6 is provided with a pass through portion for passing the laser beam, and a shielding portion for shielding the laser beam. A width of the pass through portion defines a length of lateral growth of a grain for one time of exposure. Also, the laser beam pattern mask 6, and the area of the substrate 10 having the laser beam applied thereto through the laser beam pattern mask 6 will be described in detail, with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating the laser beam pattern mask 6 for application of a laser beam, and FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a crystallized area formed by one time application of the laser beam by using the laser beam pattern mask 6 in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the laser beam pattern mask 6 is provided with a pass through portion 'A' having a pattern opened at first intervals 'a', and a shielding portion 'B' having a pattern shielded at second intervals 'b'.
The laser beam is applied by using the laser beam pattern mask 6 as follows. The laser beam is applied, for one time, to an upper portion of a substrate having an amorphous silicon layer deposited thereon through the laser beam pattern mask 6. Herein, the laser beam passes through a plurality of pass through portions 'A' in the laser beam pattern mask 6, and melts portions 22 (in FIG. 5) of the amorphous silicon layer onto which the laser beam is incident to liquefy the portion in correspondence to the pass through portions 'A'. The intensity of the laser energy used in this case is a complete melting region in which the portions of the amorphous silicon layer, having the laser beam applied thereto, completely melts.
A region of the substrate having the laser beam applied thereto by one time of application of the laser beam in correspondence to a region of the laser beam pattern mask having a plurality of successive pass through portions 'A' (that is, a region defined by a width L and a height S) is called as a unit region 20 as shown in FIG. 5. After application of the laser beam, growth of silicon grains is progressed from boundary surfaces 21a and 21b of the amorphous silicon region and a liquid silicon region melt completely toward laser applied regions in a lateral direction. The lateral growth of the grains 24a and 24b is perpendicular to the boundary surfaces.
If a width of the portion 22 having the laser beam applied thereto in correspondence to the pass through portion 'A' is shorter than a growth length of the crystallized silicon grain 24a, the opposite grains, grown inwardly from and perpendicular to opposite interfaces 21a and 21b of the amorphous silicon region and the portion 22, collide at a middle point (grain boundary 25) to stop the grain growth.
Next, in order to grow more silicon grain, the stage having the substrate placed thereon is moved, and the laser beam is applied to a region next to the laser beam applied portion, to form crystals continuous from the crystals formed at the first time laser beam application. Similarly, the laser beam applied portion melt completely and instantly at the time of the laser beam application has the grain growth from opposite sides in a lateral direction. In general, a length of the grain growth continuous from an adjacent laser beam applied portion progressed as a general laser beam application process is fixed according to widths of the pass through portion "A", and the shielding portion "B" of the laser beam pattern mask.
The foregoing related art silicon crystallizing device has the following problems. The variation of the focal length of the projection lens with a temperature in the related art silicon crystallizing device leads to require a warming up to a predetermined level at the time of crystallization when the laser beam application is required at a precision in an order of a few μm before progressing crystallization. Therefore, as a method of the warming up, a dummy laser shot may be made before the crystallization to elevate the temperature of the projection lens to a level higher than a predetermined level. However, this causes a problem of reduced productivity in that a laser beam application time period is reduced, or the glass having the dummy laser shot applied thereto cannot be used.
Alternatively, the variation of the focal length of the projection lens with a temperature is predicted in advance, to compensate for the variation of the focal length by changing a distance (Z-axis) between the projection lens and the substrate as much as a deviation. However, this requires a very complicate silicon crystallizing device.


A charge control apparatus for a battery pack having a cooling structure includes: a refrigerant temperature sensor for detecting a refrigerant temperature of a refrigerant which cools the battery pack; a battery temperature sensor for detecting a battery temperature of the battery pack; an ambient temperature sensor for detecting an ambient temperature of the battery pack; and a control section for controlling the charge of the battery pack, based on the refrigerant temperature detected by the refrigerant temperature sensor, the battery temperature detected by the battery temperature sensor and the ambient temperature detected by the ambient temperature sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charge control apparatus for a battery pack having a cooling structure, and more specifically relates to a charge control apparatus for a battery pack using the ambient temperature of the battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Laid-open Publication No. 8-148187 discloses a technique of controlling the temperature of a battery through a heat-transfer plate by controlling the external temperature.
In the charge control of a battery pack having an air cooling structure, the temporal change dT/dt of the battery temperature is controlled based on a battery temperature TB and the air temperature TA, which is represented by the following formula:
dT/dt=(TBxe2x88x92TB-1)+K(TBxe2x88x92TA),
where:
TB is the battery temperature;
TA is the air temperature; and
K is the heat radiation coefficient.
In the charge control of a battery pack having a liquid cooling structure, the temporal change dT/dt of the battery temperature is controlled based on the battery temperature TB and a coolant temperature TW, which is represented by the following formula:
dT/dt=(TBxe2x88x92TB-1)+K(TBxe2x88x92TW),
where:
TB is the battery temperature;
TW is the coolant temperature; and
K is the heat radiation coefficient.
In a battery pack having a cooling structure, however, the battery temperature is affected not only by the coolant temperature but also by the ambient temperature. Therefore, if the temporal change dT/dt of the battery temperature is controlled based only on the battery temperature and the coolant temperature, a precise control of the temporal change dT/dt of the battery temperature Is impossible in the case where the difference between the ambient temperature and the coolant temperature is great.
Also, in the case where the difference between the ambient temperature and the battery temperature is great, the battery temperature is affected by the ambient temperature. As a result, the baseline of the temporal change dT/dt of the battery temperature varies as the ambient temperature varies. Accordingly, the charge capacity of the battery fluctuates greatly in accordance with the ambient temperature.
The charge control apparatus for a battery pack having a cooling structure of this invention includes: a coolant temperature sensor for detecting temperature of a refrigerant which cools the battery pack; a battery temperature sensor for detecting a battery temperature of the battery pack; an ambient temperature sensor for detecting an ambient temperature of the battery pack; and a control section for controlling the charge of the battery pack, based on the refrigerant temperature detected by the refrigerant temperature sensor, the battery temperature detected by the battery temperature sensor and the ambient temperature detected by the ambient temperature sensor.
In another aspect of the invention, a charge control apparatus for an EV battery having a liquid cooling structure includes: a coolant temperature sensor for detecting a coolant temperature of coolant which refrigerates the EV battery; a battery temperature sensor for detecting a battery temperature of the EV battery; an ambient temperature sensor for detecting an ambient temperature of the EV battery; and a control section for controlling the charge of the EV battery, based on the coolant temperature detected by the coolant temperature sensor, the battery temperature detected by the battery temperature sensor and the ambient temperature detected by the ambient temperature sensor.
In one embodiment of the invention, the control section may control the charge capacity of the battery pack based on a value of a temporal change dT/dt of the battery temperature of the battery pack, when:
dT/dt=(TBxe2x88x92TB-1)+(KW/1+k)xc3x97(TBxe2x88x92(TW+kTA)/(1+k))+((kxc3x97kA)/(1+k))xc3x97(TBxe2x88x92((TW+kxc3x97TA)/(1+k)),
where:
dT/dt is the temporal change of the battery temperature;
TW is the refrigerant temperature;
TA is the ambient temperature;
TB is the battery temperature;
KW is the heat radiation coefficient of the refrigerant;
kA is the heat radiation coefficient of the ambient; and
k is the coefficient defining the final resultant temperature of the battery.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the control section may control the charge capacity of the EV battery based on a value of a temporal change dT/dt of the battery temperature of the EV battery, when:
dT/dt=(TB=TB-1)+(KW/1+k)xc3x97(TBxe2x88x92(TW+kTA)/(1+k))+((kxc3x97kA)/(1+k))xc3x97(TBxe2x88x92((TW÷kxc3x97TA)/(1+k)),
where:
dT/dt is the temporal change of the battery temperature;
TW the coolant temperature;
TA is the ambient temperature;
TB is the battery temperature:
KW is the heat radiation coefficient of the coolant;
kA is the heat radiation coefficient of the environment; and
k is the coefficient defining the final resultant temperature of the battery.
In another embodiment of the invention a charge control apparatus for a battery pack may further include a circulator for supplying the refrigerant to the battery pack.
In still another embodiment of the invention a charge control apparatus for an EV battery according to claim 2 may further include a circulator for supplying the coolant to the EV battery
Thus, the invention described herein makes possible the advantages of (1) providing a charge control apparatus for a battery pack, which Is capable of precisely controlling the temporal change dT/dt of the battery temperature even when the difference between the ambient temperature and the coolant temperature is great, and (2) providing a charge control apparatus for a battery pack, in which the fluctuation of the charge capacity of the battery caused by the difference of the ambient temperature is small.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying figures.

Charge control apparatus for controlling a charge of a battery pack based upon refrigerant temperature, battery temperature and ambient temperature

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention entails a collet tool for removing a collet from a circumferential retainer and for inserting that collet or another collet into a retainer. The tool includes an elongated sleeve having a collet receiving section formed about one end and a plunger reciprocally mounted within the opposite end of the sleeve. To remove a collet from a retainer, the free end of the collet is inserted into the collet receiving section and the sleeve is pressed onto the collet causing the collet to be radially compressed and lodged within the sleeve and released from its associated retainer. To eject the collet from the sleeve, the plunger is moved into engagement with the collet and the collet is pushed from the sleeve.. A collet may be readied for insertion into a retainer by inserting the rear portion of the collet into the collet receiving section. The sleeve is pressed on to the free end of the collet, causing the same to be radially compressed and lodged in the sleeve. To insert a collet into the retainer, the end portion of the collet opposite the free end is inserted into the retainer and the plunger is moved into engagement with the collet and the collet pushed from the sleeve. Once the collet has been ejected from the sleeve, the same may radially expand within the retainer.

The present invention relates to collet tools, and more particularly to a hand held collet tool capable of removing and inserting collets into a circumferential retainer
Collets are typically used in conjunction with chucks to hold tools such as drill bits, etc. Most single angled collets have a tendency to stick in the chuck. This is because the tapered angle of the collet is usually so shallow that the collets stick in the chuck after the clamping force has been removed. In order to change collets, there is a need to overcome this "self sticking" tendency and pull the collet from the chuck. To accomplish this, some collets are designed such that their forward end portion can be confined within a retainer, typically referred to as a nose piece. To confine the forward end portion of the collet within a nose piece, it is accepted practice to form a circular retaining ring about the forward end of the collet and provide a circular groove within the nose piece for receiving and retaining the retaining ring formed about the collet Thus, when the nose piece is secured to the collet, the collet can be easily pulled from the chuck.
The problem now becomes one of removing and re-inserting a collet within the nose piece. This is often a very difficult and frustrating exercise, not to mention the potential damage that can be done to the collet and nose piece in the process. For example, it is not uncommon for an individual attempting to remove a collet from a nose piece to apply a side force to the rear or free end of the collet. In applying the side force attempting to pull the collet from the nose piece, it is very easy to mar the collet by impacting the collet with the sharp thread forms of the nose piece. Beyond that, by attempting to remove the collet by applying side forces produces very asymmetric stresses on the collet which is a precision device that needs to be treated and handled with care at all times.
There are collet removal tools commercially available. For example, Sandvik offers a ring type collet removal tool. Essentially, this device is nothing more than a ring designed to be inserted over the free or tapered end of the collet. By moving the ring toward the opposite end of the collet, the collet is compressed such that it can be removed from its associated nose piece. The ring type collet tool has a number of shortcomings. First, it is difficult to press a ring type collet tool over a collet, especially if the resistance to compression is substantial. Beyond that, there is no easy and convenient way to eject the collet from the ring once it has been lodged within the ring tool. Again, this problem becomes of greater concern when the collet is tightly held within the tool.
Therefore, there is and continues to be a need for a simple collet handling tool that is capable of both removing a collet from a nose piece and re-inserting the collet into the nose piece.

Method of removing a collet from a retainer


An image forming apparatus and a method of controlling the same are provided. The image forming apparatus includes a device information storage unit, a determiner and a controller. The device information storage unit is included in a replaceable device of the image forming apparatus and stores device-related information. The determiner determines whether the replaceable deice is a licensed or recycled product by analyzing the information stored in the device information storage unit, and outputs the determination result. The controller controls an operation of the image forming apparatus in response to the determination result output from the determiner. Since an operation of the image forming apparatus can be controlled according to characteristics of the replaceable device installed in the image forming apparatus, printing quality can be prevented from being deteriorated, durability of the image forming apparatus can be lengthened, and a user can safely use the image forming apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile or a multi-function product (MPF). More particularly, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a method of controlling the same by analyzing information stored in storage media included in replaceable devices of the image forming apparatus and determining whether the replaceable devices are licensed or recycled products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Replaceable devices included in an image forming apparatus, such as a cartridge, an intermediate transfer belt, a developing drum, and a transfer drum, are regularly replaced according to toner consumption and can be recycled.
The replaceable devices are compatible with many types of image forming apparatuses, may be installed at physically movable positions, and can be controlled by firmware of an image forming apparatus if most related data, except variables, regarding main characteristics thereof stored in a memory included in the devices are compatible with the firmware.
An increase in the use of replaceable devices in image forming apparatuses causes an increase of the use in recycled products, which are cheaper than licensed original products.
However, recycled products supplied by suppliers other than authorized agents have various product characteristics. Yet, a conventional image forming apparatus controls replaceable devices using control variables predefined based on licensed products without considering the various product characteristics of recycled products.
Thus, when a conventional image forming apparatus does not recognize a recycled product's characteristics and cannot control its use, printing quality can be reduced due to background contamination and toner scatter. The lifespan of the image forming apparatus may also be reduced, and safety hazards in the use of the image forming apparatus, such as overheating or fire breaking out due to contamination of a temperature sensor attached to a fixing unit, can occur.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method for controlling an image forming apparatus by analyzing information stored in storage media included in devices installed in the image forming apparatus and determining whether the devices are licensed or recycled products.

Image forming apparatus for determining licensed or unlicensed products and method of controlling the same


A method for forming catalytic nanoparticles includes forming core-shell catalytic nanoparticles and processing the core-shell catalytic nanoparticles. The core-shell catalytic nanoparticles have a palladium core enclosed by a platinum shell. The core-shell catalytic nanoparticles are processed to increase the percentage of the surface area of the core-shell catalytic nanoparticles covered by the platinum shell.

Electrodes containing supported platinum catalyst particles are used in electrochemical cells, such as fuel cells. For example, in a conventional hydrogen fuel cell, a supported platinum catalyst is used to oxidize hydrogen gas into protons and electrons at the anode of the fuel cell. At the cathode of the fuel cell, another supported platinum catalyst triggers an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), leading to the formation of water.
The platinum catalyst particles can be core-shell catalyst particles having a palladium core and a platinum shell. Core-shell catalyst particles have an increased ORR activity compared to previous platinum catalysts, such as platinum nanoparticles. Core-shell catalyst particles also have a reduced material cost because expensive platinum is only used to cover the outer surface of the core.
The platinum shell is an atomically thin layer of platinum atoms that encapsulates the palladium core. While the platinum atoms cover the majority of the core, the shell can have voids, holes or gaps, known as pinholes. These pinholes expose the palladium core.

Method to prepare full monolayer of platinum on palladium based core nanoparticles


Method for parallel approximation of distance maps on a discrete representation of a manifold, the method comprising: for at least one Euclidean grid applied on the discrete representation of a manifold, iterating over rows of the Euclidean grid in a first direction, and for each row currently visited during the iterating in the first direction, calculating a distance value for each single cell of the currently visited row in parallel, wherein the calculating is carried out according to a predefined approximation rule, using a distance value calculated for each one of respective cells of a row visited immediately before the currently visited row, wherein the cells of the row visited before the currently visited row are adjacent to the single cell in the Euclidean grid.

The present invention relates to computer graphics, geometry processing, image processing, computer vision and pattern recognition, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to approximation of distance maps used in applications therein.
Distance maps are often used for approximation of geodesic distances on manifolds, where manifold refers to an n-dimensional space with given local metric properties. Examples of manifold include images, curved surfaces, three-dimensional volumes (say, in computer games, or for collision detection, as known in the art), etc.
Approximation of geodesic distances on manifolds is an important computational geometry problem, appearing in many applications in the fields of computer graphics, geometry processing, image processing, computer vision and pattern recognition.
Examples include: Surface segmentation and editing methods which are based on cutting the surface along geodesic paths, Parameterization and texture mapping, Collision detection, Correspondence and matching, Shape classification, Mesh Deformation and Editing, Farthest point sampling, Path planning and navigation.
As known in the art, the problem of distance map approximation may be formulated as the viscosity solution of the eikonal equation. Eikonal equation governs the behavior of wavefront propagation from the source point through a medium with given properties. The solution of the eikonal equation demonstrates that the wavefront traverse the path between two points, which takes the least time, which is equivalent to choosing the shortest path available between the two points.
A widely used method for approximation of distance is known as Fast Marching.
The main idea of the fast marching method is to simulate a wave front advancing from a set of source points positioned in a Euclidean grid applied on a discrete representation of a manifold.
The propagating front may be thought of as a "prairie fire" evolution towards directions where the grid is not yet "burnt out". At time t=0, the fire starts at the source points, and the Fast Marching method's update scheme is used to compute the time values t for each grid point the advancing "fire front" reaches, as described in further detail hereinbelow.
For finding the shortest paths in a manifold, Fast Marching maintains a set of fixed grid points, for which the time of arrival is already known, and a priority queue of all other grid points sorted by their times of wave front arrival.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which illustrates an update step, according to prior art.
The basic operation of the fast marching method is the update step, using the Fast Marching update scheme. The Fast Marching update scheme is used to calculate the time of arrival of the wave front to a first grid point (x0) based on the previously calculated times of arrival of the wave front to grid points (x1, x2) immediately adjacent to the first grid points (x0), which comprises the distance value for the grid point (x0).
As illustrated using FIG. 1, fast marching method's original update scheme is based on simulating a planar wave front propagating inside the triangle. Distance values of two supporting grid points (x1, x2) on the grid allow approximation of the front direction.
Currently, the fast marching method is also generalized to arbitrary triangulated surfaces, unstructured meshes, implicit unorganized surfaces, and parametric surfaces.


A particle separator for an air inlet unit, comprising at least one inlet channel, for a fluid flow contaminated with particles, defined between two opposing fluid guide surfaces, narrowing in the fluid flow direction and opening in an outlet channel for particles, connected to at least one fluid channel for the purified fluid which leads away from the inlet channel in a region outside the inlet channel. A method for the purification of the fluid flow contaminated with particles whereby the above is led along one of the fluid guide surfaces, which is curved, at least in a part before the outlet channel, towards the interior of the inlet channel.

In the case of an air inlet unit, such as is used for example in the automobile industry or the smelting industry, it is necessary to remove contaminants in the form of particles from the air. The contaminants can occur in various forms depending upon the site where the units are situated. For example, in the smelting industry it is necessary to filter from the air dust grains which are greater in size than 10 μm, such as for example wind-borne sand or dusts, which differ greatly in density and size from organic dusts such as for example pollen.
The following methods for purifying incoming air are currently known:
In the case of a cyclone the contaminated air is directed into the inner chamber of a hollow, conical container through an inlet channel in the region of the base surface. The contaminated air flows along the conical periphery on a spiral track as far as the cone tip. The particles are carried by virtue of centrifugal force outwards to the inner side of the cone peripheral surface, decelerated by friction and collected in a catchment vessel at the cone tip. The air flow on the other hand is deflected at the cone tip and flows away along the cone axis from the cone tip in the direction of the base surface, in which there is provided an outlet orifice for purified air. The particles are thus separated by virtue of the centrifugal force. In order to achieve a high rate of separation it is necessary for the opening angle of the cone, the entry angle of the air-particle mixture and the rate of flow to correspond with each other in an optimum manner. This therefore necessitates an expensive arrangement. Moreover, the contaminated air flows along the spiral track a long way, on which the friction at the cone periphery causes pressure losses.
In the case of a gravity-fly separator the inlet air to be purified is directed into an inlet channel which is defined by two converging air guide plates. The inlet channel issues into an outlet channel for the particles. The air guide plates are provided with air channels for the purified air which lead substantially in the opposite direction to that of the flow of the incoming air-particle mixture out of the inlet channel. In this case the particles are separated by virtue of the fact that the particles are conveyed by gravitational force into the outlet channel, wherein the inlet channel which narrows in a funnel-like manner acts as a trap for the particles which are retained in this manner in the outlet channel. The gravity-fly separator can be produced and operated without great technical expenditure but the rate of separation in comparison to the cyclone is small.
The invention relates to a particle separator, in particular for an air inlet unit, comprising at least one inlet channel for a fluid flow contaminated with particles, in particular a contaminated air flow, which is defined by two opposing fluid guide surfaces, narrows in the fluid flow direction and issues into an outlet channel for particles and which is connected to at least one fluid channel for the purified fluid which leads away from the inlet channel into a region outside the inlet channel.
Moreover, the invention relates to a method for purifying a fluid flow which is contaminated with particles, in particular a contaminated air flow where the fluid flow is directed to at least one inlet channel which narrows in the original fluid flow direction and which issues into an outlet channel for particles and where the purified fluid is directed through at least one fluid channel away from the inlet channel to a discharge channel.


A clip comprises two pieces of load plates. Each load plate has a pressing portion extending downwardly in a middle position thereof and two retention portions at two ends thereof, the two pieces of load plates across dispose when the load plates are secured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to an electrical connector assembly with a clip for securing an electronic package mounted within the socket assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrical connectors typically used for electrically connecting an electronic package and a printed circuit board generally comprise an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts received in the insulative housing and a fasten device. The fasten device comprises a stiffener, a load plate pivotally mounted to one end of the stiffener and a lever pivotally mounted to the other end of the stiffener. The load plate is adapted to press the electronic package toward the insulative housing and the lever is used to lock the load plate to the stiffener. However, the lever and the load plate operation need big room, so this type electrical connector can be applied to a desktop and impossible to apply to a notebook.
Notebook usually uses the other load plate to fasten the electronic package to the insulative housing as referring to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shown a load plate 2 is substantially rectangular configuration and has two parallel plate-form springs 21 to fasten and press the electronic package mounted to the insulative housing. Because an elasticity coefficient of the parallel plate-form springs 21 is great, so they will easy deformation. Accordingly, if the load plate 2 bears bigger force, they will deformation bigger, hence, we must limit the force that exert to the load plate 2 to avoid the load plate 2 deformation.
Therefore, there is need to supply an improved electrical connector assembly with a clip mechanism.

Electrical connector assembly and clip mechanism thereof


A connector for coaxial cable, including a substantially tubular body; a gripping barrel, arranged inside the body, having a hoop near one end and a plurality of staves extending from the hoops; and an adapter sleeve arranged at least partly inside the body for supporting the cable inside the body.

1. Technical Field
The technology disclosed here generally relates to electrical connectors including, or for use with, coaxial cable.
2. Description of Related Art
Coaxial cable typically consists of a conducting wire surrounded by an insulating dielectric material, an outer conductor, and another insulating layer referred to as the jacket. It is often used as a high-frequency transmission line to carry so-called "broadband" signals having a relatively wide range of frequencies. In this regard, coaxial cables must be tested for various electrical properties that can vary depending upon the intended transmission frequency.
In the "CATV" cable television industry, where coaxial cable is designed around a nominal 75-ohm impedance requirement, there are two basic types of connectors. The first type is the field connector which is used primarily in residential and commercial dwellings as a means to carry CATV signals from the distribution line to these dwellings.
There are basically two types of field connectors. The first type of field connector is the crimp-type. The crimp-type field connector slides onto a prepared cable end and the outer body is deformed by a crimping tool that secures the connector to the cable. The second type of field connector is the compression-type. This type of field connector is prepared in much the same manner as the crimp-type, with the exception that a plastic sleeve with O-ring is slid over the jacket prior to insertion of the cable into the connector body. After the connector is installed, a compression tool slides the plastic sleeve and O-ring into the connector body and snaps into place securing the connector and cable.
In addition to field connectors, the CATV industry also uses test connectors. Test connectors are generally slip-on type connectors that are not mechanically secured to the cable during testing. These connectors are intended for quick and easy installation, while providing fairly accurate results while undergoing various electrical testing.
For example, during manufacture, and/or at other times during the installation process, lengths of cable may be connected to various test analyzers. These cable testing devices must be quickly and easily connected to cables of varying sizes. Consequently, conventional cable test systems often require a separate adapter for connecting each size of cable to the test apparatus. Use of such multiple connectors can significantly slow the testing process. Furthermore, each of these adapters may have its own electrical characteristics which must be accounted for during the testing process. For example, so-called "stray" or parasitic capacitance which is introduced by the connector can significantly affect the test results and is therefore preferably minimized in the connector.


A discharge lamp includes a lamp tube containing a noble gas, two internal electrodes, and a secondary electrode disposed outside and close to the surface of the lamp tube. In one embodiment, studs are disposed on the lamp tube so as to affix the secondary electrode. In an alternate embodiment, a reflector includes an indentation pointing toward the lamp tube and configured as the secondary ignition wire.

The invention relates to a discharge lamp arrangement with a lamp tube in which a noble gas is contained, having two internal electrodes arranged in the tube, and having a secondary ignition electrode which is outside of the tube and is disposed outstretched lengthwise close to its surface.
Such arrangements are disclosed, for example, in EP 0 049 466 A2. In the latter the secondary ignition electrodes required for the operation of the discharge lamps are in the form of a conductor disposed along the discharge lamp, which is mounted either by means of clips at opposite ends of the lamp, or the secondary ignition electrode is mounted on the lamp socket and carried as a wire along the lamp tube. Furthermore, secondary ignition electrodes are explained which are wound spirally or mesh-like around the tubes. These arrangements are relatively complicated to manufacture, for example due to the necessary complicated socket configuration, or due to the complicated arrangement of the ignition electrode directly on the tube. The arrangements described tend, on account of the electromagnetic forces developing during the operation of the discharge lamp, to migrate around the tube, so that the deposits forming during operation of the lamp are not restricted to a small area of the lamp, and instead gradually cause more or less severe darkening over the entire circumference, so that the useful life of the discharge lamps is very limited. This makes the operation of these discharge lamps expensive, not to mention the complication created by the arrangement of the secondary ignition electrodes in manufacturing them.
Similar arrangements are disclosed in DE 37 18216 A1. Such arrangements are used with a noble gas charge (e.g., xenon) also as stroboscope lamps. The secondary ignition electrode is applied in the form of a conductor strip directly on the external surface of the tube. Such an arrangement is subjected to severe thermomechanical stresses. Differences in expansion coefficients between the conductor strip and the light tube can result in damage to the ignition electrode.

Discharge lamp with secondary ignition electrode


An abrasive, which makes it possible to polish a surface to be processed of a workpiece with a blast processing, and together therewith, can bear using for a long period of time or a plurality of times, and a method for blast processing with the abrasive are provided. The abrasive is composed of a base material as an elastic body and abrasive grains, wherein the abrasive grains of 10 to 90% by weight are compounded and dispersed into the base material of 90 to 10% by weight such that a content rate (compounding ratio) of the abrasive grains in the abrasive is 10 to 90% by weight when an amount of the abrasive is 100% by weight. The method for blast processing includes a step of injecting or projecting the abrasive at a predetermined angle of incidence with respect to the surface to be processed of the workpiece.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an abrasive, a method for manufacturing the abrasive, and a method for blast processing with the use of the abrasive. More specifically, the present invention relates to an abrasive used for various sorts of processing such as gloss finishing, glazing, mirror finishing, smoothing or processing of hairline pattern of a surface to be processed of a workpiece, or cutting, cleaning, deburring of the surface to be processed of the workpiece, and a method for manufacturing of the abrasive, and further a method for blast processing to perform a desired process as described above for the workpiece by injecting or projecting the abrasive onto the surface to be processed of the workpiece.
The "a method for blast processing" according to the present invention widely includes not only pneumatic blast processing methods such as a dry blast one and a wet blast one in which the abrasive is injected with the use of compressed fluid such as compressed air, but also blast processing methods capable of projecting the abrasive at a predetermined injection speed or at an injection angle onto the surface to be processed of the workpiece, such as a centrifugal type (impeller type) one in which an impeller is rotated to impart a centrifugal force to the abrasive for projection, and a flat casting type one in which the abrasive is struck with use of a hammering rotor for projection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a polishing for improving a surface roughness of the surface to be processed of the workpiece, and for mirror-finishing or gloss-finishing the surface, the polishing with a polishing paper or polishing cloth, the polishing with a buff, lapping, the polishing by contacting with rotating abrasive grains, the polishing by contacting with abrasive grains to which ultrasonic vibration is given, and the like are generally used, but the blast processing is not used. The reason is that satin-finished uneven portions are formed on the surface because the blast processing is one for injecting or projecting the abrasive onto to the workpiece, thereby to cause the abrasive to collide with the surface to be processed of the workpiece.
As described above, generally, the blast processing does not permit the surface of the workpiece to be processed into a glossy surface such as a mirror surface. However, the method for blast processing has been proposed in which the satin surface is prevented from being formed on the surface of the workpiece and the surface of the workpiece can be polished.
For instance, there are grinding and polishing methods as follows. In a grinding method, the abrasives, which are composed by attaching grinding powder to a carrier made of an elastic porous plant fiber with a fat content or a sugar content included in the plant fiber as an adhesive, are mixed with a grinding liquid and then injected numerously onto the surface of the workpiece obliquely for collision. With the carrier plastically deformed, the abrasives are caused to slide on the surface to be processed of the workpiece, and the surface of the workpiece is finished with the grinding powder (refer to Japanese Patent No. 2957492). In a polishing method, the abrasive including a nucleus having desired elasticity and adhesion obtained by containing water and a plurality of abrasive grains adhering to a surface of the nucleus owing to the adhesion is used. And the abrasive is injected onto the workpiece for collision in a state where water is held in the nucleus of the abrasive, and thus, the surface of the workpiece is polished (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-207160).
Additionally, as an abrasive to make the grinding process as described above possible, a granular abrasive provided with one or a plurality of abrasive grains and an elastic material which is integrally bonded with the abrasive grains and has larger coefficient of restitution than the abrasive grains has been proposed (refer to Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. S55(1980)-98565)

Abrasive, a method for manufacturing the abrasive, and a method for blast processing with the use of the abrasive


A tissue irrigation solution containing at least one electrolyte compatible with tissue and a nutrient source including at least one member of the citric acid cycle, deprotinated derivatives and salts thereof which may include a free radical scavenger and/or a wetting agent, said solution being a one-part solution and having a stable shelf-life.

Surgical procedures cause damage to tissues and cells from the invasion of surgical instruments, tissue/tissue contact and the intraocular irrigation media. This invasion can result in the destruction of cells and tissues which can lead to various medical complications. Accordingly, the protection of tissues and cells during surgery is of paramount importance, particularly in ophthalmic surgery owing to the sensitivity of the tissue and cells comprising the eye. During intraocular surgery it is often necessary to flush the anterior chamber and/or maintain the fluid volume in the anterior chamber.
In order to prevent damage to the tissues and cells of the eye, it is known to continuously bathe the eye with liquids which approximate the composition of the body fluids. Early tissue irrigation solutions contained sodium, potassium, calcium and chloride ions having an isotonic electrolyte content. These solutions, however, were of limited success because they did not sufficiently prevent swelling and consequential damage to ocular tissues.
There was also developed a number of irrigation solutions which sought to mimic the composition of the aqueous humor of the eye. The first of these solutions was known as Ringer's solution which included sodium lactate in addition to the electrolytes used in the isotonic electrolyte solution.
A further type of tissue irrigation solution is known as a balanced salt solution (BSS) which contains sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium ions and an acetate-citrate buffer system.
An additional tissue irrigation solution was developed which combined the Ringer's solution with glutathione and sodium bicarbonate. This solution, known as Glutathione Bicarbonate Ringer Solution (GBR), has been employed as a tissue irrigation solution (B. E. McCarey et al., "Functional and Structural Changes In The Corneal Endothelium During In Vitro Perfusion", Invest. Ophthalmol., 12:410-417 [1973]).
More recently, dextrose and sodium hydrogen phosphate have been added to GBR to obtain an enhanced balanced salt solution (commonly called "BSS Plus").
The irrigation solutions described above suffer from a number of disadvantages. Most importantly, such solutions must be prepared at the site of use from two separate mixtures. This is because the bicarbonate and phosphate ions precipitate in the presence of magnesium and calcium ions. In addition, the bicarbonate and the glutathione tend to decompose within the pH range typically associated with irrigation solutions.
It would therefore be desirable to have a tissue irrigation solution that closely approximates the composition of the tissues to which it is applied (e.g. the aqueous humor) and is sufficiently stable so that it can be packaged and used as a one-part solution without mixing as required by two-part GBR solutions.


In an internal combustion engine having cylinders connected by means of controllable brake valves to a common gas pressure container which is in communication, by way of an outflow line with an outflow valve, with the exhaust strand of the internal combustion engine, an inlet gas pressure container is connected to the intake tract of the internal combustion engine and is in communication with the common pressure container by means of a recirculation line having a controllable check valve arranged therein permitting the establishment of various engine operating and control features.

The invention relates to an internal combustion engine including a gas pressure container assigned in communication with the cylinders for supplying compressed combustion air to the container and to a method for operating such an internal combustion engine.
Document DE 101 44 471 A1 discloses a multi-cylinder reciprocating-piston internal combustion engine which has a tubular pressure container (brake rail) which is connected by way of, in each case, one brake valve to each cylinder of the internal combustion engine. In the braking mode of the internal combustion engine, the brake valves are opened and closed multiple times per working cycle, so that highly-compressed air passes from the cylinder into the pressure container, and braking power is generated. After the closure of the intake valve at the cylinder, the respective brake valve is briefly opened again, so that the compressed combustion air flows back out of the pressure container into the combustion chamber of the cylinder, and, as a result, the piston in the cylinder must exert compression work against the compressed air. This further increases the braking power of the engine.
The gas pressure container is also connected to the exhaust strand of the internal combustion engine by means of an outflow line having an adjustable outflow valve arranged therein, so that, when the outflow valve is opened, the gas content can flow out of the gas pressure container into the exhaust strand. Impermissibly high pressures are avoided in this way.
It is the object of the present invention to create, using simple measures, additional possibilities for use of an internal combustion engine whose cylinders are connected by means of, in each case, one adjustable brake valve to a common gas pressure container.

Internal combustion engine including a gas pressure container assigned to the cylinders, and method for operating the engine


Disclosed is an optical pickup device which is small, light, and thin and which is equipped with a tilt adjusting mechanism. A lens holding body holding an objective lens and a support body supporting the lens holding body so as to allow the lens holding body to move in the focusing direction and/or the tracking direction of the objective lens, are supported at two support points on a support body mounting surface of an optical base so as to be rotatable around an axis extending in a tangential direction of an optical disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pickup device for optically recording information on an optical disk and/or reproducing information from the optical disk.
2. Related Background Art
In an optical pickup device, the objective lens is driven in two axial directions: a direction perpendicular to the optical disk (hereinafter referred to as "focusing direction") and a disk radial direction (hereinafter referred to as "tracking direction"). This driving of the objective lens is effected in order to correct focusing deviation due to vertical movement of the recording surface attributable to warpage of the optical disk, side-runout of the spindle motor for rotating the optical disk, etc., and tracking deviation due to eccentricity of the optical disk, eccentricity of the chucking portion for connecting the optical disk to the spindle motor, etc. In an optical disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "optical disk recording-reproducing apparatus") including the above optical pickup device, the optical disk can warp since it is formed of a resin such as polycarbonate. When the disk has any warpage, it generates inclination of the optical axis of the objective lens with respect to the disk surface (hereinafter referred to as "tilt"). Due to the inclination of the optical axis with respect to the optical disk, upon light incidence, an optical aberration is generated, which leads to deterioration in the signal at the time of recording and reproduction. In view of this, tilt control is generally conducted, in which the inclination of the optical disk with respect to the optical axis of the objective lens is detected by an optical sensor or the like and the objective lens is inclined by that inclination amount for angular correction.
As a tilt driving method for a conventional tilt control device, there has been proposed a method in which, as disclosed, for example, by Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-22537, a lens holder is supported by four bar-shaped support members and in which there are provided four focusing coils and four tracking coils, the objective lens being driven by superimposing a tilt drive signal on a focusing drive signal. However, in the above-described conventional arrangement, not only is the magnetic circuit configuration rather complicated, but also the control is rather complicated and difficult due to the superimposition of the tilt drive signal on the focusing drive signal.
As a second conventional example to overcome this problem, there has been proposed a method, in which, as disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-249695, the entire optical pickup device is rotatably mounted on a carriage and in which the guide shaft of the carriage is rotated by a motor to tilt drive the optical pickup device, which is connected to the guide shaft by a gear.
However, the construction of the above second conventional example has a problem in that the carriage including the optical pickup device has to be rather large, making it impossible to meet the recent requirement for a reduction in the size and thickness of optical disk recording-reproducing apparatuses.

Optical pickup device equipped with tilt adjusting mechanism


A processor unit removes, responsive to obtaining a new address, an entry from a memory of a type of memory based on a comparison of a performance of the type of memory to different performances, each of the different performances associated with a number of other types of memory.

1. Field
The disclosure relates generally to a computer implemented method, a computer program product, and a data processing system for cache management, and more specifically, to freeing space from caches based on characteristics of memory devices associated with data stored in the caches.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cache management involves removing data associated with selected physical addresses and selected virtual addresses from their respective caches by one or more algorithms. Such algorithms may be called removal algorithms because they remove data to make room for a new data to be stored in the cache. Removal algorithms may also be referred to as eviction algorithms.
A processor needing to access data corresponding to a physical address, checks a cache table for the physical address. If the cache table does not contain the physical address, then the physical address is obtained, another physical address in the cache table is selected for removal, the selected physical address is removed from the table, and the physical address is placed in the cache table.
When a processor needs to access data corresponding to a virtual address, the processor looks into a translation lookaside buffer (TLB) for the virtual address. If the TLB has an entry for the virtual address, the physical address is read from TLB and the corresponding cache line is read. A processor may have multi-level TLBs and multi-level caches.
If an entry for the virtual address is not found in the TLB, then the physical address is obtained from memory, another virtual address associated with another physical address is selected for removal from the TLB, the virtual address is removed from the TLB, and the virtual address associated with the physical address is placed in the TLB.
Caches may reside in many different types of memory devices. Each type of memory device may have different characteristics. Furthermore, each physical or virtual addresses stored in a cache table may be associated with data stored in one or more types of memory devices. Each type of memory device may have a set of characteristics that are different from other types of memory devices. One or more characteristics of a type of memory device may affect system speed. Therefore, selection of addresses for eviction from a cache table may affect system speed.
Currently, removal algorithms do not take into account the type of memory devices in which the cached physical or virtual address is stored when selecting a virtual address or a physical address to be removed from a cache table to make room for the requested physical address or virtual address. Nor do current eviction algorithms take into account the type of memory device containing the data associated with the physical or virtual address when selecting a virtual address or a physical address to be removed to make room for the requested physical address or virtual address.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to have a method, apparatus, and computer program product that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cache management based on physical memory device characteristics

International Business Machines Corporation


An audio fingerprint extraction method and device are provided. The method includes: converting an audio signal to a spectrogram; determining one or more characteristic points in the spectrogram; in the spectrogram, determining one or more masks for the characteristic points; determining mean energy of each of the spectrum regions; determining one or more audio fingerprint bits according to mean energy of the plurality of spectrum regions in the one or more masks; judging credibility of the audio fingerprint bits to determine one or more weight bits; and combining the audio fingerprint bits and the weight bits to obtain an audio fingerprint. Each of the one or more masks includes a plurality of spectrum regions.

An audio fingerprint (or called an audio feature) and audio fingerprint retrieval are widely applied in the current "multimedia information society". The audio fingerprint retrieval is firstly applied to music listening for song searching, i.e., a piece of audio is input, and the fingerprint feature of the audio is extracted and compared to recognize a corresponding song. In addition, the audio fingerprint retrieval can also be applied to content monitoring, such as audio repetition removal, voice advertisement monitoring based on retrieval, audio copyright and the like.
A conventional audio fingerprint search method has the problem of poor accuracy to some extent due to poor accuracy of the extracted audio fingerprint. The conventional audio fingerprint extraction method suffers problems such as the poor robustness with respect to noises and complex processes.

Audio fingerprint extraction method and device

Beijing Bytedance Network Technology Co., Ltd.


This invention relates to the use of promoters for ribonucleic acid amplification and other genetic manipulations. Processes are provided wherein complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) is synthesized from a ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequence using a complementary primer linked to an RNA polymerase promoter region complement and then anti-sense RNA (aRNA) is transcribed from the cDNA by introducing an RNA polymerase capable of binding to the promoter region. Additional processes using the resulting aRNA are also described.

Selective amplification of cDNA's represents a major research goal of molecular biologists, with particular importance in diagnostic and forensic applications, as well as for general manipulations of genetic materials.
In many important areas of research, such as in studying gene regulation in complex biological systems (e.g., the brain) having multiple phenotypes, obtaining sufficient mRNA for the isolation, cloning, and characterization of specific regulated transcripts is problematic. Research has been hindered by, e.g., the high complexity of the mRNA, the relatively low abundance of many important expressed messages, and the spatially limited expression of these messages. In particular, the identification and cloning of novel regulated messages from discrete cell populations has proven to be a formidable task.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is an extremely powerful technique for amplifying specific nucleic acid sequences, including mRNA in certain circumstances. As described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,202 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,195 (both of which are incorporated herein by reference), PCR typically comprises treating separate complementary strands of a target nucleic acid with two oligonucleotide primers to form complementary primer extension products on both strands that act as templates for synthesizing copies of the desired nucleic acid sequences. By repeating the separation and synthesis steps in an automated system, essentially exponential duplication of the target sequences can be achieved.
PCR, however, has several well-known limitations. For example, PCR typically requires that 5' terminus and 3' terminus sequence information be known for the synthesis of the primers. Recently, homopolymeric tailing of the 3' terminus (see Frohman, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85: 8998-9002 (1988) and Eberwine et al., Neuroscience Short Course I (Society for Neuroscience) 69-81 (1988)) and the synthesis of highly degenerate nucleotide primers (Gould et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86: 1934-1938 (1989)) have been implemented to improve the range of cDNAs that can be cloned with PCR. An additional problem is the low fidelity of the most widely used enzyme in PCR, Thermus aquaticus (Taq) polymerase. This characteristic of Taq results in misincorporations that are propagated through the subsequent cycles of PCR amplification--ultimately producing faulty cDNA libraries. Also, sequences longer than 3 kilobases create difficulties in Taq transcription, which can skew cDNAs to smaller sizes during amplification. Of course, unless modified, PCR provides amplification by DNA replication and not by transcription.
In this regard, Sarkar et al., Science 244: 331-34 (1989), recently described a method, called RAWTS (RNA amplification with transcript sequencing), for detecting extremely low abundance messages in heterologous cell types. This method is a modification of GAWTS (genomic amplification with transcript sequencing; see, Stofler, et al., Science 239: 491 (1988)), which incorporates a phage promoter into at least one of the two primers used in PCR. In RAWTS, mRNA is amplified by PCR. A phage promoter incorporated into the PCR oligonucleotide primer allows abundant transcription, from which RNA can be sequenced directly.
Four steps are used in RAWTS: (1) first strand cDNA synthesis from total RNA or mRNA using oligo(dT) or an mRNA-specific oligo primer, dNTPs, and reverse transcriptase; (2) PCR, wherein one or both primers contain a T7 phage promoter attached to a sequence complementary to the region to be amplified; (3) transcription of the cDNA strand with T7 RNA polymerase; and (4) reverse transcriptase-mediated dideoxy sequencing of the resultant mRNA transcript.
In spite of such recent advances, including PCR and its various modifications noted above, there exists a need for improved methods of identifying and cloning mRNAs and of accurate in vitro amplification of selected cDNA's. The methods should produce about 100-fold or more amplification of heterogeneous populations of RNA from limited quantities of cDNA. Preferably, the overall methodologies will be capable of replicating a broad range of messages without prior cloning into vectors and without knowledge of sequence in some instances. The present invention fulfills these and other needs.

Processes for genetic manipulations using promoters

Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford University


A first race component includes a flat, circular raceway portion, defined about an axis, and an axially extending lip portion. A plurality of needle rollers is arranged radially with respect to the axis for rolling contact with the flat raceway. A bearing cage retains the needle rollers and is engageable with the lip portion of the first component for piloting of the bearing cage. A second race component, made of different material, includes a flat portion in contact with the raceway portion of the first race component and a lip portion extending axially and radially from the flat portion and beyond the lip portion of the first race component such that the second race component is engageable by the bearing cage to hold the first race component, the second race component and the bearing cage together as an assembly.

This invention relates generally to thrust bearings and, more particularly, to thrust races used in thrust bearings with needle rollers.
Thrust bearings with needle rollers are in general use in transmissions and similar devices to support axial loads between components. For example, such thrust bearings are used in automotive torque converters to position and support a stator. Examples of such thrust bearings with needle rollers are illustrated in FIGS. 1–4. FIG. 1 illustrates a thrust bearing 10 with needle rollers 12 retained within a bearing cage 14 and in rolling contact with raceways of an inner thrust race 16 and an outer thrust race 18 that include inner and outer lips 20 and 22, respectively, that may be used for piloting of the bearing cage 14.
FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a similar thrust bearing 24 with needle rollers 26 retained within a bearing cage 28 and in rolling contact with raceways of an inner thrust race 30 and an outer thrust race 32 that include inner and outer lips 34 and 36 that may be used for piloting of the bearing cage 28. To retain the inner and outer thrust races 30 and 32 and the bearing cage 28 together as an assembly, the inner and outer lips 34 and 36 have staked portions 38 and 40 extending radially outwardly and radially inwardly, respectively, over the bearing cage 28. In other thrust bearings, not illustrated, in place of the staked portions 38 and 40, the inner and outer lips may be curled along a full 360 degree circumference to retain the thrust races and the bearing cage together.
With such thrust bearings, the inner and outer thrust races must be made of bearing quality material, typically high carbon steel, to provide high quality raceways, and must be finished with a good wear surface for the needle rollers and must be thick enough to carry the high loads under the needle rollers. Because of the limited ductility of the material, the forming of staked portions 40, or similarly curled portions, is difficult and at a risk of fracturing the thrust races. In addition, the bearing quality material makes the thrust bearing expensive. FIG. 4 illustrates that an angled band 42 may be mounted over an outer thrust race 44, that is similar in function to outer thrust race 18 of FIG. 1, to overcome some of these difficulties.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present devices and methods. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.

Thrust bearing and method of making same


A modular floor access panel having at least one fully enclosed access channel and a vertically extending service well intersecting with the access channel, with an interlocking structure on the periphery allowing secure attachment to adjacent panels. Preferably the interlocking structure is integrally formed with the panel. Optionally, the panel may be provided with a leveling mechanism and the service well is configured to receive decentralized facilities.

In the United States and abroad it is current practice to install wiring, piping, ventilation and other utilities in a plenum or space above a false ceiling. This is time consuming and tedious work. As a result, workers are required to spend many hours standing on ladders or putting up staging in order to install said utilities and the hangers and wire ways needed to support such utilities. In order to overcome these expensive and laborious installations, various access floor systems have been developed.
Access floor systems generally include panels, blocks, or tray type assemblies that cover, hold, and direct the wires, ducts, and pipes that are used to deliver utilities. In addition, many such systems are constructed by the assembly of various types of individual posts, beams, brackets, and leveling systems that are used to support a top floor and to provide a space between a sub-floor and said top floor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,649 to Bessert is an example of one such style of construction using adjustable pedestals to support a top floor and also to support conduits and piping. U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,169 to Takeda et al. is typical of many other such systems currently in use in which plinths or pillars are used to create a space where conduits may be run between said pillars upon a sub-floor or on a tray above said sub floor. These systems can be very labor intensive to build and furthermore the space created between the floors is substantially wide open, creating the need to install additional duct work or piping and devising or providing a means of support for said duct work or piping to allow for the separation of the various utilities residing within said systems.
As a result of such difficulties, other systems have been developed in an attempt to reduce the number of different pieces that must be assembled on site in order to speed installation and ease manufacture. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,074,085 to Ueda (1990) and 4,996,810 to Forde (1991) are two examples of this type of simplified modular access floor system. Such systems generally are constructed of arrays of interchangeable like units that limit the passage of wiring and utilities along a single plane between a top floor and a sub floor. Such panels tend to create an undesirable situation where various different types of wiring and utilities are required to overly each other and to be in close proximity or touching each other as they travel along the various passages included in such simplified modular access floor systems.
In addition, there are many access floor systems formed of metal raceways and metal access boxes designed to be used in conjunction with cement which is poured over said system after installation. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4140,791 to Kimbrough (1992) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,826 to Gray (1986) are typical examples of such methods. The difficulty of making changes to the layout of said access boxes after the aforementioned cement is poured and the weight of such metal raceways and said cement precludes the use of this type of system for many applications.
Finally, in the United States and abroad it is also current practice to build floor heating systems by utilizing modular, prefabricated, interconnecting, support panels. Such panels, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,366 to Werner (1979) are used to support a floor or panels upon which a floor is laid and to allow the passage of tubing within which is carried warm or hot water. Such panels are generally formed to allow the passage of tubing only along the top or bottom surface of the panel. In addition, such panels are formed so as to prevent the passage of other objects such as wires and cables and to preclude the installation of objects such as valves, sensors, and controls.
Thus, while there are many different ways to provide utilities between a floor and sub floor, most systems do not meet all of the necessary requirements of simple design, easy installation, separation of utilities, easy access, and a means of leveling.


A fingernail conditioning system and a method for conditioning fingernails are disclosed. The conditioning system includes a power comprising minerals, vitamins and amino acids, an oil comprising minerals, vitamins and an aromatic scent, and an adhesive. The fingernail is first cleaned. Adhesive and powder are applied and the nail is buffed. Adhesive is then applied to the buffed nail and permitted to dry. Oil is the applied to the nail and the nail is buffed until it is smooth.

Fingernails frequently break, split, crack and are otherwise damaged. Fingernail deterioration is accelerated by the harsh chemicals typically contained in most fingernail polishes. Damaged nails can be painful, unsightly and unhealthy. In order to cosmetically remedy this problem many women have artificial fingernails applied to their natural nails. This is not a totally satisfactory solution, however. Artificial nails typically must be applied using harsh and malodorous chemicals. The underlying nail may have to be etched with an acid primer, which damages the natural nail even further. Moreover, artificial nail applications may be painful and many persons are allergic to the chemicals that are used. This procedure is usually fairly costly and, in many cases, the artificial nail does not present a perfectly natural appearance. When such nails are eventually removed, the underlying natural nails usually exhibits considerable damage and remain unattractive for a significant period of time.


A marker for the wingtip or other extremity of an aircraft. The marker includes a fabric pouch having a flap containing hook and loop fasteners, to hold the pouch on the aircraft extremity. A fabric tube extends outwardly and substantially horizontally from the pouch and supports a marker flag at its tip. The fabric tube contains a breakable support rod, so that if the aircraft wingtip collides with an object, the support rod will break and the flag will droop, providing a visible indication that a collision has occurred. The broken rod can then be replaced.

Aircraft, while parked, or when taxiing or being towed from one ground location to another, are subject to having their extremities, such as wingtips, collide with another object. Even in small private aircraft, the wings are long and the person moving the aircraft is not normally close to the wingtips, nor to the elevators or rudder, so it is difficult to judge their locations. It is therefore all too common to have collisions between the extremities of one aircraft and those of another on the ground. It is also common to have collisions for example between aircraft wingtips and the edges of hanger door openings or other objects in the hanger. The damage caused by these collisions is not always evident, but it is usually costly to repair and can render the aircraft non-airworthy.
Various attempts have been made to develop systems to avoid these collisions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,963,293 to Rodger Rast shows an illumination system to reduce the number of collisions. Unfortunately, the system is complex and expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,118,401 to Bruce Tognazzini shows another system in which detecting devices such as a radar or a video camera are mounted in the wingtips. Again, this is complex and expensive.


This invention is a selective Aβ oligomer kit and immunoassay method capable of reliably and sensitively detecting Aβ oligomers in a biological sample of a patient. In one embodiment the inventive assay uses a pair of anti-Aβ oligomer antibodies, as capture and detection antibodies, to detect and quantify Aβ oligomers. The method can be used to differentiate Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients from non-AD patients and/or to stratify AD patients according to the severity of their disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease characterized by amyloid β (Aβ) plaque accumulation in brain regions involved in learning and memory. While these large insoluble plaques were once thought to cause AD, evidence now indicates that small diffusible oligomers of Aβ may be responsible. Amyloid-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs) are a species of Aβ oligomers that can be generated in vitro with properties similar to endogenous Aβ oligomers (U.S. Pat. No. 6,218,506; Klein, et al. (2004) Neurobiol. Aging 25:569-580; Lambert, et al. (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:6448-6453). Aβ oligomers are present in the brain of AD patients, they bind neurons, and they induce deficits in neuronal morphology and memory. Studies with antibodies that bind Aβ oligomers have shown improvement in both neuronal morphology and memory.
Assays to measure Aβ monomers are known. For example, a sandwich ELISA composed of N-terminus (Aβ1) end-specific antibody (clone 82E1) and C-termini end-specific antibodies for Aβ1-40 (clone 1A10) and Aβ1-42 (clone 1C3) was developed to detect full-length Aβ1-40 and Aβ1-42 with a sensitivity in the sub-single digit fmol/ml (equivalent to single digit pg/ml) range with no cross-reactivity to APP (Horiskoshi, et al. (2004) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 319:733-737 and US Patent Publication No. 2011/0008339). Additional assays have used the activity of β- and γ-secretase enzymes on the amyloid precursor protein (APP) to detect monomers; however, few assays have been reported that specifically and reliably detect Aβ oligomers in a human fluid sample, such as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), in both normal control and in AD (Georganopoulou, et al. (2005) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102:2273-2276; Fukumoto, et al. (2010) FASEB J. 24:2716-2726; Gao, et al. (2010) PLoS One 5(12):e15725). Reported Aβ oligomer assays have employed a number of approaches, including ADDL-specific antibodies coupled with a bio-barcode PCR amplification platform (Georganopoulou, et al. (2005) supra), overlapping epitope ELISAs (Gandy, et al. (2010) Ann. Neurol. 68:220-230; Xia, et al. (2009) Arch. Neurol. 66:190-199), also paired first with size exclusion chromatography (Fukomoto, et al. (2010) supra), and amyloid-affinity matrices methods (Gao, et al. (2010) supra; Tanghe, et al. (2010) Int. J. Alz. Dis. 2010:417314), followed by oligomer dissociation and measurement with antibodies to Aβ monomers.
Aβ oligomers have also been detected from either CSF or brain using gel electrophoresis followed by western blot analysis (Klyubin, et al. (2008) J. Neurosci. 28:4231-4237; Hillen, et al. (2010) J. Neurosci. 30:10369-10379), or subsequent to size exclusion chromatography (Shankar, et al. (2011) Methods Mol. Biol. 670:33-44), relying on the molecular weight of oligomers that are maintained after the electrophoretic procedure. However, electrophoretic and blotting techniques do not provide the sensitivity required to see these species in normal control CSF (Klyubin, et al. (2008) supra), which exhibit a 1000-fold range of Aβ oligomer concentrations (Georganopoulou, et al. (2005) supra). Aβ oligomer species represent a wide range of molecular weights and, as such, assignment of a precise molarity is problematic. While a lower limit of detection at 100 aM has been shown (Georganopoulou, et al. (2005) supra), most reported methods (Georganopoulou, et al. (2005) supra; Gao, et al. (2010) supra; Fukumoto, et al. (2010) supra; Gandy, et al. (2010) supra) do not assess selectivity between signals from Aβ oligomers as compared to Aβ monomers, so the concentrations noted should be viewed with caution. One assay (Xia, et al. (2009) Arch. Neural. 66:190-199), marketed by Immunobiological Laboratories, Inc. (Minneapolis, Minn.) claims 320-fold selectivity for Aβ1-16 dimers as compared to Aβ40 monomer, but lacks the selectivity needed to avoid cross-reactivity with Aβ monomer in the CSF. As Aβ oligomers in the CSF are hypothesized to be present at fM levels and CSF Aβ monomers are present between 1.5-2 nM, an assay that selectively measures Aβ oligomers in a CSF sample must have exceptional selectivity for Aβ oligomers over monomers.
Aβ oligomers have also been used as a target for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies to treat AD (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,811,563, 7,780,963, and 7,731,962). It is believed that these antibodies access the central nervous system (CNS) and clear the toxic ADDL species from the brain, through 1) catalytic turnover by Fc-mediated activation of microglia, 2) clearance of antibody/ADDL complexes into the cerebro-vasculature, or 3) enzymatic digestion of the ADDLs following antibody binding and improved access of degradative enzymes, such as neprilysin, insulin-degrading enzyme, plasmin, endothelin-converting enzymes (ECE-1 and -2), matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, -3 and -9), and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). Thus, a goal of a selective Aβ oligomer assay is to measure the pharmacodynamic (PD) change in CNS Aβ oligomers following treatment with an anti-oligomer antibody or other treatment that alters Aβ monomer/oligomer formation or clearance. Additionally, an assay that would specifically enable the detection of Aβ oligomers bound to an anti-Aβ oligomer antibody, i.e., a target engagement (TE) assay, would be invaluable for the assessment of the therapeutic antibody following treatment.

Antibodies, kit and method for detecting amyloid beta oligomers