A fibrous structure testable in a series of run-off tests, wherein each run-off test includes exposing the fibrous structure to a volume of a test solution and the fibrous structure initially is hydrophobic and has been treated to be hydrophilic, wherein the fibrous structure exhibits a run-off level that is less than 5 percent by weight throughout a series of run-off tests, and wherein the series starts with a first run-off test and ends with a fifth run-off test.

In order to obtain fluid absorbent articles which exhibit good wicking ability, a high total and local fluid uptake capacity, good fluid retaining capacity and a high degree of surface dryness, such articles are usually built up of a plurality of different fibrous structures having different functions. The fibrous structures are often produced of inherently hydrophobic materials, e.g. nonwoven materials, and thus such inherently hydrophobic fibrous structures need to be modified to allow fluid uptake. One major problem when constructing fluid absorbent articles of this kind is, however, that it is difficult to obtain optimal wettability, i.e. an optimal degree of hydrophilicity, which is both immediate and durable, i.e. remains unchanged after the article has been exposed to wetting. Furthermore, it is difficult to maintain stable wetting characteristics in absorbent articles, which are stored for an extended period of time.
Regarding fluid permeable cover sheets, which are suitable made of said fibrous structures, for use in absorbent articles such as diapers, incontinence guards and sanitary napkins, wherein the cover sheet is intended to be in contact with the body of a user during use, it is important that the cover sheet immediately exhibits a desired wettability and could stand repeated wettings. In other words, the cover sheet should immediately exhibit an optimal degree of hydrophilicity and remain fluid permeable even after the absorbent article has been exposed to fluid impact several times. Furthermore, it is important that the cover sheet can accept a large amount of fluid during a short interval of time. Another important property of the fluid permeable cover sheet is the ability to exhibit high surface dryness even after having been exposed to several wettings. In order to obtain a cover sheet having the desired properties, it is important that the cover sheet immediately exhibits an optimal, i.e. a desired, degree of hydrophilicity and that the degree of hydrophilicity varies only within a very limited range when the fibrous structure is wetted or when it is subjected to ageing.
As well known to the man skilled in the art, the literature of these fields talk about the properties of "hydrophilicity" or "wettability" of a substrate and often report measurements of "run-off" and "surface tension" to evaluate such properties.
Commonly used methods for increasing the wettability of fluid permeable fibrous structure or of fluid permeable cover sheets both for use as cover sheets in absorbent articles (the same applies to any fibrous structure to be used in absorbent articles) are:
Treatment of the fibrous structure or of the material of said cover sheets with surface active agents, wherein an increased amount of surface active agents has been used to further increase said wettability. Further, treatment with surface active agents here includes use of mixtures of surfactants, e.g. a mixture of a co-wetting agent (reducing surface tension of the fluid which leads to a rapid inlet) and a surfactant having a more durable character, or addition of surface active agents as internal additives.
Exposure of the material of said fibrous structure, or of the material of said cover sheets, to a corona treatment in combination with any addition of hydrophilic substances, methods for corona treatment are for example described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,076, U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,629 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,124.
The treatment of the fibrous structures or the cover sheets with surface active agents is for example carried out by coating the hydrophobic material with a surface active agent. In order for a material to be fluid permeable the contact angle between the surface of the material and the fluid must be less than 90°. However, a problem in connection with using fibrous structure or cover sheets which have been coated with a surface active agent is that such fibrous structures or cover sheets exhibit decreasing fluid permeability with repeated wetting. The reason for this is that the applied surface active agents are not firmly attached to the surface of the cover material and will be detached from the cover material and solved in body fluid during the first wetting. At subsequent wetting the amount of surface active agent which remains on the surface of the cover sheet is considerably reduced, resulting in impaired fluid permeability. The same applies to absorbent articles when said surface active agents are added as internal additives, because surface active agents added as internal additives do not migrate fast enough to the surface of the absorbent article after wettings of said surface.
Further problems with the treatment of the fibrous structure, or the cover sheets, with surface active agents, besides the lacking durability, are problems which also increases with increased amount of added surface active agent, for example skin irritation which is caused by migration of surface active agents from the cover sheet to the skin of the user, and influence of the absorbent core comprised in said absorbent articles also because of said migration of surface active agents.
Further, commonly used air corona treatment (optionally in combination with addition of hydrophilic substances) does not render any absorbent articles exhibiting an optimal, i.e. a desired, degree of hydrophilicity which is durable. Said degree of hydrophilicity is not durable since said commonly used corona treatment may create a low molecular weight material which is not properly bonded to the surface. Hence subsequent wetting of the surface of the cover sheet may partly remove the created low molecular weight material and added hydrophilic substances and thus resulting in impaired fluid permeability.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,567 a durable hydrophilic coating for a porous hydrophobic substrate is desribed, which may include exposing the substrate to a field of reactive species.
Moreover at a first wetting by a fluid, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,567 said hydrophilic coating does not decrease the surface tension of said fluid.
European patent application 98402010.7 (not published) describes fibrous structures which exhibits a well defined rate of wetting and may be useful in absorbent articles. The fibrous structures of the European patent application 98402010.7 have one or more types of polar, silicon-containing compounds bonded to their surfaces but said fibrous structures are not treated with any surface active agent, i.e. no surface active agent at all is added. Thus absorbent articles comprising the fibrous structures described in European patent application 98402010.7 do not show any of the above described problems related to conventional surface active agent treatment or to commonly used corona treatment (optionally in combination with addition of hydrophilic substances).
Nevertheless there is still a need for further modifications of fibrous structures comprised in absorbent articles not showing any of or at least significantly reducing the problems related to conventional surface active agent treatment or to commonly used corona treatment (optionally in combination with addition of hydrophilic substances), especially there is a need for such absorbent articles exhibiting excellent properties of "hydrophilicity" or "wettability" which are both immediate and durable.

Fibrous structure and absorbent article comprising said fibrous structure


The present invention relates generally to compression devices and, more particularly to a method using air flow to close the exhaust valve in each sleeve, allows air to fill the sleeve to a pretuned pressure, and finally deflating the sleeve by letting the air flow through the outlet valve. This creates a pressure gradient and a pneumatic cycle means that facilitates the massaging movement on the limb towards direction of the heart. The magnetic force in valves is uniquely adapted for controlling low-pressure compression. A magnetically adjustable valve is adapted for use in a compression device to control and regulate low to very low pressures and comprising of a movable magnetic part and a metal part, defining an air gap there between. A self-powered device causes the magnetic part and the metal part to move away from each other and control the air access and pressure in the valve body, while creating a gradient of decreasing pressure, the highest pressure being in the first air chamber to the lowest pressure in the last air chamber.

There are many patented devices that apply cyclic pressure to a mammal's limb, arm or foot. In conventional compression devices, the pulsating pads or plunges for improving circulation may be mechanically, hydraulically, or electrically actuated. Elastic and non-elastic stockings, hydraulic and pneumatic bladders or inflatable sleeves may be used to apply controlled levels of compression to an animal's limbs or other body parts. Most suffer varying degrees of shortcomings, including ineffectiveness, difficulties in application and removal, lack of controlled adjustability, loss of compression, excessive sweating, foul odor and discomfort.
These earlier contributions in the art are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,812 to McWhorter; U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,122 to Shaw; U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,473 to McWhorter; U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,518 to Shaw; U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,204 to Lina; U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,008 to Nakao; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,467 to Barak. U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,300 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,122 relate to therapeutic devices capable of applying therapeutic compression to the body, particularly the limbs, arms and/or feet, in which the user applies non-elastic therapeutic compression band by band, and the user can tighten the compression bands to control the non-elastic pressure. The cyclical and sequential compression of limbs improves blood fluid returns for reducing edema and improving healing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,518 describes a foot and ankle therapeutic compression device in which a pair of foot and ankle compression bands are tightened and anchored in tightened condition by Velcro hook and loop surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,430 describes a gravity powered shoe air conditioner including a compression-expander type cooling or heating system incorporated into a heel of the shoe, and is powered by reciprocal gravity pressure upon the shoe which occurs naturally during walking.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,760 describes a self-inflating venous boot comprising a first air chamber having a flexible wall portion adapted to be situated adjacent to the outer surface of the leg, a second air chamber underneath the person's heel, this second chamber forces air out of it when the person's heel bears downward, a conduit means for permitting air flow between the first and second air chambers, whereby air flows between the first and second air chambers. Air flows from the second chamber into the first chamber and pressure cyclically increases in the first chamber urging the wall portion against the leg when the person's heel presses downward on the second chamber. Similarly, air flows from the first to second chamber and pressure on the leg is reduced when the person's heel stops pressing on the second chamber. Some of the disadvantage of this system are: 1) it is not adapted to regulate low-pressure changes 2) it is not automatic 3) it is not tunable and 4) it is not sequential.
In a co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/602,224, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,194, is described a self-powered compression device that permits a wearer of a plurality of inflatable sleeves around the limb to apply a controlled level of circular compression to the limb. The self-powered compression device improves the circulation and healing in a variety of vascular circulation problems. However, the device described in the above patent is not adapted to control and regulate low-pressure changes, and therefore optimal performance is not achieved.
The present invention is directed at overcoming one or more of the problems described above.

Device and method for low pressure compression and valve for use in the system


In one aspect, a microfluidic device for multiple reactions is provided, which comprises a reaction channel comprising multiple reaction chambers connected to a closed chamber or an elastic balloon outside of the microfluidic device, wherein a wall of the closed chamber is an elastic membrane; and a control channel comprising an elastic side wall, wherein the intersections between the side wall of the control channel with the reaction channel form multiple pneumatic microvalves. In another aspect, a method for conducting multiple reactions using the microfluidic device is provided, which comprises: a) filling the reaction chambers with a sample; and b) applying pressure to the control channel to expand the elastic side wall of the control channel, wherein the expanded elastic side wall forms a pneumatic microvalve that separates the reaction chambers.

Biochemical analysis technologies provide important information for disease diagnosis, and many kinds of automatic biochemistry analyzers have been produced to satisfy the growing needs for bioassays in medical testing organizations. Large-scale biochemistry analyzers enable high-throughput and fully-automated analysis, but only can be used in specialized clinical laboratories and operated by highly trained staff, due to their large volume and complicated operation and maintenance. Portable biochemistry analyzers combined with a single-use microchip can meet the need for rapid, on-site and real-time detection, which is very important for emergency medical, primary care, home healthcare, field diagnosis, and has been carried out widely in developed economies.
Microfluidic chip (lab-on-chip) is a multi-disciplinary technology, which adopted microfabrication technology to miniaturize the traditional laboratory into chips and provided platforms for conducting chemical and biological experiments. Due to the advantages such as miniaturization, integration, automation, high-throughput, fast-analysis and low sample consumption, microfluidic chips have become a powerful tool for drugs screening, clinical diagnostics and environmental monitoring. Recently, microfluidic chips have been used for enzyme reactions, immunological reactions, PCR and ELISA assays, which means that on-site, rapid, multi-index, high-throughput, low-cost biochemical assays could be achieved easily.

Microfluidic devices for multi-index biochemical detection


The method of the present invention involves a numerical game of chance, which includes a parlay and a bonus playing option. A player selects a series of five (5) numbers from a set of eighty (80) numbers and makes a wager. The player then selects a second series of five numbers from a set of eighty numbers and makes another wager. The player then is given the option to make a combination wager whereby the first series of five numbers and second series of five numbers are combined. The gaming establishment then draws five winning numbers randomly from the set of eighty numbers. A player wins if his first series of five numbers matches the winning numbers, if his second series of five numbers matches the winning numbers or if any combination of the two series of numbers (i.e., ten numbers selected) matches the winning numbers. Additionally, bonus and parlay options are available.

This invention relates to the field of playing games of chance such as Keno or Lottery, which allows a player to potentially win a large sum of money by pre-selecting a series of numbers that may match a series of numbers randomly drawn by the gaming establishment for that game.
One of the most popular and well-recognized numerical games of chance is Keno. Traditionally, these games have been played by having a players select a series of numbers (e.g., five (5)) from a pool of numbers (e.g., one (1) through sixty (60)) along with placing a wager (e.g., $1(one dollar)) on the outcome of the game. The player is betting that the series of numbers he selected matches the series of winning numbers drawn by the gaming establishment (e.g., casino or restaurant). The player wins if his series of numbers matches the series of winning numbers drawn by the gaming establishment. Typically, the player who has an exact match (e.g., five out of five) wins the entire jackpot while he would win a portion of the jackpot or pre-determined amount of money if he selected four out of five, three out of five, two out of five or one out of five. The amount of money won by the player is usually pre-determined by the gaming establishment and are based upon a number of different factors including the mathematical probability of selecting the correct numbers which vary depending upon the pool of numbers selected from (e.g., 1 through 80) and the amount of money wagered on the game and number of people having winning matches.
Although traditional numerical games of chance such as Keno have been fairly popular and somewhat successful in generating large jackpots, the prior art has failed to recognize that a more exciting method of playing Keno can be created that would increase the number of players who would participate in the game which would result in higher revenue for the gaming establishments and higher payouts to the players. Typically months will go by before anyone hits the jackpot in traditional Keno, while one of the novelties of this invention is that the chances of someone winning the jackpot will increases substantially since the player can purchase two separate tickets and make a third wager to combine the selected numbers on each ticket. Also, by interconnecting different Keno game sites, a larger number of people can play the same games and, therefore, larger jackpots can be created much faster than traditional Keno by taking a percentage of all wagers from each individual Keno gaming sites and pooling them together. By creating larger jackpots this will encourage more players to participate in Keno games. Additionally, a player can increase his chances of winning by purchasing bonus numbers, which can be used in combination to the numbers chosen or selected initially. Also, another added feature allows the player to make a parlay wager whereby the player can bet that he will select one or more winning numbers on each of the two previous purchased ticket.
It is an object of the present invention to link a number of individual Keno gaming establishment sites together so that a percentage of wagers from each site can be pooled together to create a separate jackpot associated with a linked game in order to create larger jackpots.
It is also an object of the present invention to establish a combination wagering game wherein a player can place an additional wager that the combination of numbers contained on two tickets purchased separately will match the winning numbers.
It is also an object of the present invention to establish bonus numbers, which can be purchased separately by the player and used in addition to and in substitution for any of the numbers chosen initially by the player.
It is also an object of the present invention to establish a parlay wagering option whereby the player is betting that he will have one or more winning numbers on each purchased ticket.

Method of playing a linked numerical game of chance with a bonus and parlay wagering option


A characteristic forecasting system is disclosed. The characteristic forecasting system may have a memory module and a processor. The memory module may store instructions, that, when executed, enable the processor to generate a forecast function that represents forecasted characteristics of a target item and includes one or more continuous functions and one or more attenuating functions. Each of the attenuating functions may attenuate forecast values generated by the continuous functions at periodic time intervals. The processor may also be enabled to forecast the characteristics of the target item using the forecast function.

Organizations, such as those that produce, buy, sell, and/or lease products, may desire to forecast information concerning a product. For example, an organization that manufactures one or more products may desire to accurately forecast the demand for the product, the organization's production schedule for the product, and/or a supplier's delivery schedule for subcomponents of the product. Some organizations may use mathematical analyses to develop forecast information based on historical data.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,213,007 (the '007 patent) to Grichnik is directed to forecasting characteristics of a product using a genetic algorithm. In particular, the '007 patent discloses implementing a genetic algorithm to produce equations that model forecast information for a product. The genetic algorithm may determine data values for the equations so as to minimize a statistical error between historical data and data calculated by the equations. The '007 patent may generate accurate forecasts based on some historical data. However, if the historical data includes interrupted series, e.g., if the historical data includes time periods where a particular percentage of the data values are zero or near-zero, the forecasts generated by the system of the '007 patent may be less accurate.
The disclosed methods and systems are directed to solving one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.

Systems and methods for forecasting using an attenuated forecast function


A method for producing a capacitor includes: a dielectric body composed of basic alumina powder mixed with tungsten powder, interposed between a pair of electrodes disposed opposite to each other. The method includes the steps of: after a conductive alumina ceramic body has been formed by mixing the tungsten powder with the alumina powder, providing a pair of electrodes while interposing the conductive alumina ceramic body therebetween, and intermittently applying an electric current or voltage to the electrodes, high enough to break conductive paths formed in the conductive alumina ceramic body by the tungsten powder, so that the conductive ceramic body is converted to the dielectric body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitor, a method for producing the same and method for producing a dielectric body. Particularly, this invention relates to a capacitor wherein a dielectric body formed of a basic dielectric substance mixed with conductive substance is interposed between a pair of electrodes, a method for producing the same and a method for producing a dielectric body obtained by mixing conductive substance in a basic dielectric substance.
2. Description of the Related Art
A capacitance of a capacitor is given by the following formula: EQU C=(.epsilon..sub.0) (.epsilon..sub.1) (S/d)
wherein C: capacitance of capacitor
.epsilon..sub.0 : relative dielectric constant in vacuum PA1 .epsilon..sub.1 : relative dielectric constant of dielectric body PA1 S: area of dielectric body PA1 d: thickness of dielectric body PA1 after a conductive body has been formed by mixing the conductive substance with the dielectric substance, providing a pair of electrodes while interposing the conductive body therebetween, and PA1 intermittently applying an electric current or voltage to the electrodes, high enough to electrically break conductive paths formed in the conductive body by the conductive substance, so that the conductive body is converted to the dielectric body. PA1 after a conductive body has been formed by, interposing the conductive body between a pair of electrodes after a conductive body has been formed by mixing the conductive substance with the dielectric substance, and PA1 intermittently applying an electric current or voltage to the electrodes, high enough to electrically break conductive paths formed in the conductive body by the conductive substance, so that the conductive body is converted to the dielectric body.
To increase the capacitance (C) of the capacitor, it is necessary to enlarge the area (S) of the dielectric body or reduce the thickness (d) of the dielectric body.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 3-87091, a method for producing an alumina ceramic circuit board is proposed wherein a green sheet formed of aluminum powder as a ceramic material added with molybdenum powder and/or tungsten powder in a range between 5 and 50% by weight is fired at a predetermined temperature.
According to the method disclosed in this Patent Publication, it is possible to easily form a capacitor within the alumina ceramic circuit board.
In this production method, as an amount of molybdenum powder and/or tungsten powder gradually increases, the relative dielectric constant of the resultant ceramic dielectric body also increases.
However, if the added amount of conductive substance exceeds 50% by weight, a resistance of the obtained ceramic body suddenly decreases to exhibit electrical conductivity.
Accordingly, in the method disclosed in the Patent Publication, it is possible to increase the mixed amount of a conductive substance by more than 50% by weight, whereby the relative dielectric constant of the resultant dielectric body is at most 17 or so.
On the other hand, there has been a great demand for a dielectric body having a higher dielectric constant in a circuit board of alumina ceramic or the like.
If the dielectric body having a higher dielectric constant could be formed by mixing the conductive substance in the dielectric substance, an effective means would be obtained for forming a capacitor having a high capacitance in the circuit board.

Capacitor, method for producing same and method for producing dielectric body


A method for processing a multichannel audio signal. The method includes mounting electroacoustical transducers in a low frequency augmenting device. The electroacoustical transducers radiate different high frequency acoustic energy and common low frequency acoustic energy. The transducers may be part of directional arrays. The method is applied to multimedia entertainment devices.

The invention relates to electroacoustical transducing with low frequency augmenting devices, and more particularly to the use of directional arrays with low frequency devices, and still more particularly to the use of directional arrays with low frequency as applied to multimedia entertainment devices.
It is an important object of the invention to provide an improved method for using directional arrays with low frequency augmenting devices and integrating the directional arrays in multimedia entertainment devices, such as gambling machines and video games.

Electroacoustical transducing with low frequency augmenting devices


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for systems for removing contaminants from a leachate, methods of removing contaminants from a leachate, and the like.

Researchers estimate that between 900 million to 9 billion gallons of landfill leachate are produced annually in the United States, with an estimated 250 million gallons annually being managed in Florida. This volume of wastewater raises environmental and economic concerns, and represents an opportunity to reclaim both water and nutrients from a wastewater stream that is currently being "thrown away."
Leachate is water is partly inherent in solid waste and partly the result of rainfall that falls on the wastes after placement in a landfill, which subsequently becomes contaminated with a variety of chemicals contained in the solid waste. Landfill leachate is characterized by heavy metals, high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) compounds, total organic carbon (TOC), volatile organic carbons (VOC), ammonia-nitrogen, suspended solids and can contain other compounds that resist biological decomposition. Chemical constituents of leachate can be toxic or carcinogenic, and certain compounds can emit objectionable odors. Landfill leachate can also transport viruses and bacteria harmful to human health.
Leachate management methodologies became necessary in the 1980's when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state regulatory agencies began adopting the "dry tomb" approach to landfill construction which requires new landfill cells to have bottom and top liners, as part of leachate management systems. Soon after implementing these regulations researchers began to investigate the effects of adding water or recirculating leachate to the lined cells. This research confirmed that recirculation of leachate accelerates gas production and the degradation of organic waste. This so called "wet cell" research led to the development of "bioreactor landfills" in which significant quantities of leachate are recirculated while organic waste is being degraded. Once biological activity in the cells ceases, however, bioreactor landfill operators need methods to dewater the cells and dispose of or treat the leachate.
Leachate is managed in a variety of ways including trucking or piping leachate to a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), deep well injection with minimal treatment, evaporation, biological uptake of constituents in engineered wetlands, and various chemical treatment processes. Some facilities use more than one method. All methods of processing leachate use energy and can have negative environmental impacts. Few WWTPs are designed to treat leachate, which disrupts biological treatment in all but the smallest amounts.
An on-site treatment method that minimizes energy consumption and adverse impacts such as odors, captures the inherent macro and micro nutrients in the leachate, segregates heavy metals and VOCs, dewaters the cell, and provides reuse of the decontaminated water is therefore desirable.
Thus there is a need to address and/or overcome these deficiencies.

Membrane system to treat leachate and methods of treating leachate

University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


There is provided a magnetic disk drive in which the adaptability of read signal processing of the magnetic disk drive is enhanced so that the frequency of retry or miscorrection in use is reduced. This magnetic disk drive has a read circuit, and a channel condition measuring circuit. An output of an A/D converter contained in the read circuit is supplied to a digital equalizing circuit so as to be equalized accurately. Upon input of a signal for instructing a coefficient learning circuit to learn the coefficient of the digital equalizing circuit, the initial coefficient registered in a register is set as a coefficient value in another register and the coefficient learning circuit is operated to start consecutive learning of coefficient values. In the channel condition measuring circuit, errors in a row of output values of the digital equalizing circuit are calculated and an integrated value of squares of the errors is compared with an error threshold value. If the integrated value is larger than the error threshold value, coefficient learning is regarded as being abnormal and a control signal for discarding the coefficient registered in the register is issued so that the register is reset to the initial coefficient value. The signal for instructing the coefficient learning circuit to learn the coefficient may be outputted in a sector previous to the read target sector or may be outputted in the read target sector.

The present invention relates to a magnetic disk drive (HDD) and particularly to a reproduction control method for avoiding deterioration of drive performance caused by application of coefficient learning in a state in which the positional divergence of a read head is large.
The configuration and reproducing operation of a background-art magnetic disk drive will be described below.
FIG. 12 shows an example of the configuration of a magnetic disk drive (HDD) 10.
The HDD 10 comprises a head disk assembly (HDA) 20, and a packaged circuit board (PCB) 30.
The HDA 20 includes magnetic disks 2-1 to 2-5, suspension 108 provided with magnetic heads 1-1 to 1-10 attached thereto, a carriage 103, a read/write IC (R/WIC) 104 attached on the carriage 103, a spindle motor 105, and a flexible printed cable (FPC) 106.
The PCB 30 is constituted by a signal processing LSI (SPC) 21, a hard disk controller chip (HDC) 22, a servo controller (SRVC) 23, a micro-processor (MP) 24, a host bus interface chip (HBI) 25, an ROM 26, a buffer RAM 27, etc.
The read operation of the HDD 10 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 12 through 15.
A read signal corresponding to a magnetic field and detected from the magnetic disk 2-1 by an MR (Magneto-Resistive) head of the magnetic head 1-1 in FIG. 12 is supplied to the R/WIC 104 through wiring on the suspension 108.
In the R/WIC 104, selection of one of the magnetic heads 1-1 to 1-10 and the sense current value of the selected MR head are set in advance through the MP 24.
A resistance change of the MR head due to the magnetic field in the magnetic disk 2-1 is converted into a voltage change. Further, the R/WIC 104 amplifies the read signal to a value of from the order of tens of mVp-p to the order of hundreds of mvp-p and outputs the amplified read signal 33 to the SPC 21.
This signal 33 is supplied to a read signal processing circuit (RSPC) 201 of the SPC 21 in FIG. 13.
FIG. 14 shows the configuration of the RSPC 201.
The signal 33 is amplified to have a suitable amplitude by a variable gain amplifier (VGA) 210 in the first stage of the RSPC 201. Unnecessary high-frequency noise is removed from the amplified signal and the read waveform of the amplified signal is roughly equalized by an active equalizer (AF) 211.
Then, the analog signal of the AF 211 is converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter (ADC) 212. The digital signal is equalized accurately by a digital equalizer (FIR) 213 in the latter stage.
Further, the signal of the FIR 213 is detected to a row of serial data by a maximum likelihood detector (ML) 214. A sync byte (SB) indicating the start of user data is detected in this serial data row by a sync byte detector (SBDET) 215.
On the basis of a result of the detection, the serial data row is converted into parallel data and decoded by a decoder (DEC) 216. Further, the parallel data is restored to data 34 through a descrambler (DSC) 217. Further, read data 35 is supplied to the HDC 22 through an interface (INT) 202 in FIG. 13.
Further, the data 35 supplied to the HDC 22 is subjected to error detection and error correction by an error correction circuit (ECC) 22-1 in the HDC 22, and supplied as data 48 to a user (host PC, or the like) through the HBI 25.
A control operation will be described below in the case where a cylinder is sought from Cn to Cm to read a plurality of data sectors DS1, DS2, DS3 . . . as shown in FIG. 15.
TRK_WDTH shows an arrangement of servo and data regions.
The servo controller (SRVC) 23 successively reproduces servo signals SRVi recorded on a disk surface to thereby obtain a positioning signal 42 through a servo signal processing circuit (SSPC) 204 to thereby perform positioning control.
The MP 24 gives a seek command (SEEK) 40 to the SRVC 23. The SRVC 23 analyzes the positioning signal 42 obtained in a signal SRV1 (FIG. 13) in servo region. If a judgment is made from the analysis that data is enabled to read, the SRVC 23 outputs a xe2x80x9cread seek completexe2x80x9d signal (RD_SK_COMP) 47 to the HDC 22. As a result, the HDC 22 outputs a xe2x80x9cread gatexe2x80x9d signal (RG) 36 from the data region DS1.
The threshold value of completion of positioning for issuing the RD_SK_COMP 47 in the read operation is generally set to be larger than the threshold value in the write operation to attain reduction of the seek completion time.
At read time, as shown in FIG. 14, the RG 37 supplied to the RSPC 201 through the INT 202 operates most of portions in the RSPC 201 and also operates a coefficient learning circuit (ADAPT) 218 which adaptively learns the coefficient of the FIR 213.
As a result, the coefficient value registered in an equalizing characteristic setting register (COEF) 219 is consecutively changed to a coefficient value for giving good reproducing characteristic even in the case where the resolving power of the reproductive signal 33 varies in accordance with the change of head/disk characteristic, head spacing, or the like, caused by the change of the operating environment, such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, or the like, of the HDD 10.
In such a background art, however, there were two problems as follows.
The first problem is increase of error caused by divergence occurs in the equalizing coefficient of the FIR 213.
As shown in FIG. 15, the effective track width (TRK_WDTH) varies in accordance with the positional divergence of the MR head and the positioning state at write time. Particularly just after seeking, there is the possibility that the positional divergence is widened because of the influence of settling of head, or the like.
When, for example, a data sector DS1 to be read is present just after the RD_SK_COMP 47, the read gate (RG) 37 is opened in the position of DS1 in the condition in which the sufficiently effective track width cannot be obtained because of the aforementioned deterioration, or the like.
In this condition, the ADAPT 218 cannot operate normally. As a result, the initial value Km(init) of the coefficient value of the FIR 213 registered in the equalizing characteristic setting register (COEF) 219 may diverge to a coefficient value Km(adapt) in which data reproduction cannot be performed normally on the basis of a learning operation.
In this case, the data row produced from the NRZ data 34 contains a lot of channel byte errors as shown in FIG. 15. Accordingly, there is a high possibility that the errors cannot be perfectly corrected by the error correction circuit (ECC) 22-1 in the HDC 22.
Further, if the performance for checking the miscorrection of the ECC is insufficient, the possibility that the erroneously corrected data may be sent to the host becomes high (mischecking).
Because the data sector DS2 following the data sector DS1 also uses the aforementioned abnormal coefficient value as an initial value, there is a high possibility that the same problem as described above occurs consecutively.
The data sectors DS3 . . . following the data sector DS2 form a (substantially on-track) sector region having a large effective track width. Also in the sectors DS3 . . . , there is a very high possibility that channel byte error occur frequently.
To correct this error, it is necessary to restart a read operation with the effective track width kept sufficient while rotating the disk to wait for the same sectors (DS1 . . . ) to come in the condition in which the COEF is reset to the initial value Km(init) in a data restoration sequence (retry).
If the aforementioned condition occurs frequently, the performance of the device is lowered greatly.
The second problem is that reproducing characteristic at ordinary time deteriorates.
In the background art shown in FIG. 14, the xe2x80x9cread gatexe2x80x9d signal (RG) is used as a signal for starting the ADAPT 218. Accordingly, in the read state, the coefficient of the FIR 213 registered in the COEF 219 always varies, so that adaptive noise is generated.
In this case, the generation of adaptive noise can be suppressed to thereby avoid the increase of output noise of the FIR 213 if not only the number of bits in the COEF 219 is set to be sufficiently larger than the number of bits in the output of the ADC 212 but also a coefficient-correction step parameter of the ADAPT 218 is set to be sufficiently small.
When the initial coefficient value is out of the optimum coefficient value because of an environmental change, or the like, there is, however, a tendency that error occurs in a sector of a read leading portion.
That is, the frequency of retries increases if a large environmental change occurs.
To cover the deterioration of the drive performance, specifications of the drive concerning environmental changes, such as head/disk characteristic, spacing between heads/disks, or the like, cannot but be set severely. Accordingly, this brings about both reduction of the yield of heads/disks and increase of the cost of the drive.
An object of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned problems, and to provide a high-performance low-cost magnetic disk drive in which the adaptability of the magnetic disk drive to read signal processing is enhanced so that the frequency of retries or miscorrections is reduced.
In order to achieve the foregoing object, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic disk drive having a waveform equalization means for equalizing waveforms reproduced, and an adaptive learning means for adaptively learning the equalizing characteristic of the waveform equalization means, wherein the magnetic disk drive further has an abnormal learning detection means for detecting an abnormal operation in the adaptive learning of the equalizing characteristic just after learning of a sector, and an equalizing characteristic resetting means for resetting the equalizing characteristic before the adaptive learning to an initial value before learning of a next sector when abnormality occurs in the adaptive learning, and wherein the adaptive learning of the equalizing characteristic is performed simultaneously with an operation of reproducing designated data.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic disk drive having a waveform equalization means for equalizing waveforms reproduced, and an adaptive learning means for adaptively learning the equalizing characteristic of the waveform equalization means, wherein the magnetic disk drive further has an abnormal learning detection means for detecting an abnormal operation in the adaptive learning of the equalizing characteristic just after learning of a sector, and an equalizing characteristic resetting means for resetting the equalizing characteristic before the adaptive learning to an initial value before learning of a next sector when abnormality occurs in the adaptive learning, and wherein the adaptive learning of the equalizing characteristic is performed before an operation of reproducing designated data.
Preferably, the equalizing characteristic of the waveform equalizing means is fixed during the operation of reproducing the designated data.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic disk drive having an active filter supplied with a read waveform of a magnetic disk, an A/D conversion means supplied with an output of the active filter, and a waveform equalizing means supplied with an output of the A/D conversion means, wherein the magnetic disk drive further has: an adaptive learning means for adaptively learning the boost characteristic of the active filter on the basis of the input and output of the waveform equalizing means so that error in the waveform equalizing means is minimized; an abnormal learning detection means for detecting an abnormal operation in adaptive learning of the boost characteristic just after learning of a sector; and a boost characteristic resetting means for resetting the boost characteristic before the adaptive learning to an initial value before adaptive learning of the next sector when abnormality occurs in adaptive learning; and wherein the adaptive learning of the boost characteristic is carried out simultaneously with the operation of reproducing the designated data.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic disk drive having an active filter supplied with a read waveform of a magnetic disk, an A/D conversion means supplied with an output of the active filter, and a waveform equalizing means supplied with an output of the A/D conversion means, wherein the magnetic disk drive further has: an adaptive learning means for adaptively learning the boost characteristic of the active filter on the basis of the input and output of the waveform equalizing means so that error in the waveform equalizing means is minimized; an abnormal learning detection means for detecting an abnormal operation in adaptive learning of the boost characteristic just after learning of a sector; and a boost characteristic resetting means for resetting the boost characteristic before the adaptive learning to an initial value before adaptive learning of the next sector when abnormality occurs in adaptive learning; and wherein the adaptive learning of the boost characteristic is carried out before the operation of reproducing the designated data.
Preferably, the abnormal learning detection means for detecting an abnormal operation in the adaptive learning of the equalizing characteristic just after learning of a sector compares an integrated value of squares of equalization errors of the waveform equalization means with an error threshold value to thereby detect an abnormal operation.
Preferably, the magnetic disk drive further has a maximum likelihood detecting means for most likely detecting a read waveform, wherein the abnormal learning detection means for detecting an abnormal operation in adaptive learning of the equalizing characteristic just after learning of a sector uses a difference metric value between path metric values of the maximum likelihood detecting means as data to be used for detecting the abnormal operation.
Preferably, the read waveform decoding means has an error detection means, wherein the abnormal learning detection means for detecting abnormality in adaptive learning of the equalizing characteristic just after learning of a sector judges an abnormal operation on the basis of a result of detection obtained by the error detection means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a signal processing chip used in a magnetic disk drive for controlling read/write data of a magnetic disk, having: a waveform equalizing means for equalizing a reproductive waveform; an adaptive learning means for adaptively learning the equalizing characteristic of the waveform equalizing means; a quality judgment means for judging the quality of an output signal of the waveform equalizing means; and a function of discarding a result of learning obtained by the adaptive learning means in accordance with a result of judgment obtained by the quality judgment means.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic disk drive having a digital waveform processing means capable of continuously reproducing a plurality of sectors, wherein the magnetic disk drive further has: a sampled data holding means for holding a row of digital sampled data corresponding to at least one sector in a front stage of a waveform equalizing means contained in the digital waveform processing means; and an abnormal sector detection means for detecting abnormality in an output signal of the digital waveform processing means whenever a sector is read; and wherein, when the abnormal sector detection means detects abnormality in an output signal of the digital waveform processing means, the sampled data holding means holds a row of digital sampled data having the detected abnormality so that an abnormal sector is enabled to be decoded again by use of the data row held by the sampled data holding means.
Preferably, the adaptation speed of adaptive learning of the equalizing characteristic during an operation of read data is set to be lower than the adaptation speed of adaptive learning of the equalizing characteristic carried out before the data reproducing operation.


A method for on-board real-time diagnostics of a mobile technical system using an adaptive technique to approximate stationary characteristic curves resulting from a workshop test. This adaptive technique uses observed non-stationary normal driving data to eliminate confounding variables.

The present invention relates to on-board real-time diagnostics of mobile technical systems.
In order to detect faults or monitor ageing processes in vehicle systems, the normal procedure involves bringing the system into a mechanical workshop where the behavior can be tested using predefined and controlled conditions. Design tolerances and references can then be compared with measured variables to provide an accurate estimate concerning not only individual items but also the overall functioning and degradation of the system.
An internal combustion engine can be characterized by an engine speed/torque curve. A corresponding analysis tool for a fuel cell powertrain is a polarization curve as shown in FIG. 2. This polarization curve shows the effect of discharging current from a fuel cell system on the cell voltage and power. The curve is usually derived from a specifically designed dynamometer test cycle where the current and voltage are recorded at predefined static load points. The polarization curve, such as shown FIG. 2, results from an interpolation of those static load points.
The present invention results from a recognition that accomplishing of this diagnostics on an on-board component in real-time during normal driving would be a valuable tool not only for customers and field technicians, but also for development engineers. The ability to have a real-time diagnostics would lead to lower maintenance cost, faster problem resolution and shorter design cycles. It has also been recognized that the task of such on-line diagnostics is very complex with a principle obstacle being the range of varying dynamic influences. For example, with fuel cell stacks, the operational temperature, air/hydrogen gas temperatures and pressures inside the stack and the recordings of the fuel cell voltage and current lead to a range of uncertainty of the measurement points instead of more defined points recorded at predefined static loads. This comparison can be seen in FIG. 3 which compares work bench test data with data during normal driving.
This range of uncertainty in the factors can be attributed to both the external environment as well as control strategies of different system components. The system is rarely in equilibrium. As an example, the polarization of a fuel cell depends not only on the current load request, but also on the pressure on the air and hydrogen side. Furthermore the system behaves quite differently at the same point in the load diagram during positive and negative load changes.
As a result, the task of on-board diagnostics is significantly more complex than the stationary diagnostics because of a series of confounding variables.
It is an object of the present invention to provide on-board diagnostics of such a system in real-time during normal driving which leads to lower maintenance costs, quicker response time for problem resolution and shorter design cycles.
According to the present invention, known adaptive techniques are applied to estimate static characteristic curves such as those observed in a workshop test facility based on observed, non-stationary everyday driving data. As a result, the aforementioned confounding variables are eliminated with a resulting estimated characteristic curve which can be compared to a reference curve.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method for simplified real-time diagnoses using adaptive modeling


A new Pelargonium plant named ‘PEQZ0006’ particularly distinguished by the large brilliant semi-double red-purple flowers with a faint large-size splash pattern, fairly large inflorescences, medium green foliage without zonation, superior branching, good vigor and is tolerant of heat and drought.

The present invention comprises a new Pelargonium, botanically known as Pelargonium interspecific, and hereinafter referred to by the variety name 'PEQZ0006'.
'PEQZ0006' is a product of a planned breeding program. The new cultivar 'PEQZ0006' has large brilliant red-purple flowers with a faint large-size bicolor pattern, fairly large inflorescences, medium green foliage without zonation, superior branching, good vigor and is tolerant of heat and drought.
'PEQZ0006' originates from a hybrid cross made in September 2009 in a greenhouse in Gilroy, Calif. USA. The female parent was an unpatented, proprietary seedling of Pelargonium interspecific background, identified as '10630-1' with rose-pink bicolored flowers; that has smaller flower size with a lighter rose colored blotch, and the rose blotch is smaller , all when compared to 'PEQZ0006'.
The male parent of 'PEQZ0006' was an unpatented, proprietary seedling of Pelargonium hortorum background, identified as '10816-4' with rose bicolored flowers; smaller blotch size, and is less free-flowering than that of 'PEQZ0006'. The resultant seed was sown in a greenhouse in August 2010 in Gilroy, Calif.
'PEQZ0006' was selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in November 2010 in Gilroy, Calif.
The first act of asexual reproduction of 'PEQZ0006' was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were propagated from the initial selection in November 2010 in Gilroy, Calif.


An actuator for activating a plurality of operating functions in a technical system may include one or more of the following: a rotary knob, the rotary knob being rotatable about a rotational axis to an actuation position corresponding to a first operating function of a plurality of operating functions; a first sensor unit, where the actuation position is detectable by the first sensor unit such that a corresponding actuation position signal is sent to a control unit of the technical system causing activation of the first operating function; a second sensor unit for sending a shut-off signal to the control unit, where the technical system is set to a basic function of the plurality of operating functions upon receipt of the shut-off signal; and at least one sliding track partially encircling the rotary knob radially over an angle of less than 360.

Certain prior art rotary actuators are used for the manual actuation of the shifting positions forming the operating functions, "P" for parking, "R" for reverse, "N" for neutral, and "D" for drive, in an automatic transmission for motor vehicles. The shut-off signal is triggered through an actuation of the brakes in the motor vehicle, or by a door contact when exiting the motor vehicle, or by an ignition switch when shutting off the ignition for the motor vehicle. The automatic transmission is then shifted from an engaged shifting stage "R" or "D" to the shifting stage "P," although the display indicates the previous shifting stage.
The control electronics then switches the display to the shifting stage "P", wherein a tappet moved into the sliding tracks by electromagnets, which can then bear on the stops, prevents a turning of the locking disk and the rotary knob. When continuing to drive the motor vehicle, the desired shifting stage can be selected by a normal turning of the now unlocked rotary knob, at which point the display then shows the correct shifting stage.
The actuation of the tappet by electromagnets requires a number of electromagnets corresponding to the number of shifting stages, resulting in a high level of complexity. Furthermore, two electromagnets are normally supplied with electricity during operation, resulting in high power consumption and a not insignificant thermal output.
In view of this background, the present disclosure provides an improved rotary actuator of the type described above, that has a simple construction and requires less energy, and only has a low thermal output.

Rotary actuator having a plurality of stop elements moveable by a cam plate


A polymer electrolyte fuel cell comprises a fuel cell stack and a humidifier. The fuel cell stack includes plural cells in which each cell has a pair of electrodes and a proton-conductive electrolyte membrane arranged between the pair of electrodes, wherein an oxidant gas or a fuel gas passes through the humidifier before being fed to the fuel cell stack, and wherein a wet gas containing water or water vapor also passes through the humidifier. In the fuel cell, the humidifier includes a porous separating layer and a hydrophilic water-releasing layer, wherein the separating layer is configured to separate the wet gas from the oxidant gas or the fuel gas in the humidifier, and wherein the hydrophilic water-releasing layer is disposed in a side of the oxidant gas or the fuel gas to the separating layer in the humidifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polymer electrolyte fuel cells including humidifiers with humidifying filters.
2. Description of the Related Art
A polymer electrolyte fuel cell (hereinafter also referred to as "PEFC") includes a stack of cells and separators. The cells each include a pair of electrodes (anode and cathode) and a proton-conductive solid polymer electrolyte membrane arranged between the pair of electrodes. The separators are configured to separate a fuel gas (anode gas) (reductant), such as the hydrogen, from an oxidant gas (cathode gas), such as the oxygen. The separators are also called as bipolar plates and play a role to guide the fuel gas and the oxidant gas into the anode and the cathode, respectively.
When a separator is made of a metal or carbon having electric conductivity, a fuel cell stack may be configured by stacking plural cells so that the separator is disposed between an anode of one cell and a cathode of an adjacent cell. The resulting stacked body (fuel cell stack) can work by collecting current from both ends of the stack.
Such a fuel cell stack may further include a cooling separator configured to allow a coolant to pass through between cells, so as to eliminate heat generated along with power generation.
Electrolyte membranes for use in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) are configured to allow protons (hydrogen ions) to move therein generally with an assistance of water (moisture) present in the membranes. If electrolyte membranes contain insufficient amounts of water, the movement of proton is prevented and the cell voltage decreases. Accordingly, electrolyte membranes should be protected from excessive drying, in order to generate electric power satisfactorily in the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC).
As a possible solution to avoid excessive drying of electrolyte membranes, there has been proposed a technique of adding an appropriate amount of water vapor (moisture) to a fuel gas or an oxidant gas, and feeding the humidified gas to polymerelectrolyte fuel cells (e.g., JP-A No. 2005-40675, JP-A No. 2004-206951, and JP Patent No. 3029416).
However, the humidifying technique in related art has following disadvantages. In the humidifier, when a dry gas is humidified by contacting a water-permeable layer which separates a wet gas containing a large amount of water vapor from the dry gas, and the water-permeable layer comprises only one layer, it may be difficult to humidify the dry gas appropriately in the case that the operating conditions of fuel cells vary, such as gas flow rates. For example, if the flow rate of the wet gas is relatively smaller than that of the dry gas, the dry gas may not be sufficiently humidified. If it is relatively large, the dry gas is excessively humidified.


A method for retrieving selected, predetermined data values using a logic analyzer and data visibility macros. The predetermined data values result from data operations that occur internally to the target processor. The data visibility macros send the data values via the external bus so that the logic analyzer may retrieve them for display. The data visibility macro is essentially a code marker, the difference being that a data visibility macro is used by the logic analyzer to retrieve data value information.. The present method comprises the steps of inserting a data visibility macro into software code that is resident in the processor, compiling the code, writing the selected data values to an external bus, and using the logic analyzer to retrieve and display the data values.

As processors have become more and more complex, the data carried by the bus has become further removed from the actual executed code inside the processor. Thus, a logic analyzer that is used to collect bus activity must differentiate between instructions that were actually executed and those instructions that were not. This task is difficult, at best. With the introduction of instruction and data caches in today's processors, tracking code execution at the bus seems illogical.
However, using a software trace technique facilitates the debugging of complex, target processors. Software trace provides the systems developer high-level source code that is correlated to a real-time trace acquired by a logic analyzer. Typically, the logic analyzer will use a disassembler to interpret which bus cycles contain code information. A symbol database is used to correlate the actual source code to the code addresses seen on the target bus. One limitation of this technique is that data operations that occur internally to the processor are not captured by the logic analyzer. Providing the developer with the relevant data operations would enhance the developer's knowledge of the processor during the debug stage of development.
Logic analyzers and related techniques for software debugging are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,193 for LOGIC STATE ANALYZER of George A. Haag, O. Douglas Fogg, Gordon A. Greenley, Steve A. Shepard and F. Duncan Terry; U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,778 for SOFTWARE DEBUGGING ANALYZER of Kevin M. Hall and Daniel A. Schmelzer; U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,586 for SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING AND DEBUGGING EMBEDDED SOFTWARE THROUGH DYNAMIC AND INTERACTIVE USE OF CODE MARKERS of Eric J. Kuzara, Andrew J. Blasciak and Greg S. Parets; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,520 for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CORRELATING LOGIC ANALYZER STATE CAPTURE DATA WITH ASSOCIATED APPLICATION DATA STRUCTURES of Robert D. Gronlund, Brian A. Willette and William M. Zevin. The foregoing patents are commonly assigned to Hewlett-Packard Company and are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all that they disclose and teach.

Method for retrieving selected data values in a processor using data visibility macros


Systems and methods for monitoring and controlling the operation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sources used in semiconductor fabrication are disclosed. A method comprises providing a semiconductor fabrication apparatus having a light source that emits in-band and out-of-band radiation, taking a first out-of-band radiation measurement, taking a second out-of-band radiation measurement, and controlling the in-band radiation of the light source, at least in part, based upon a comparison of the first and second out-of-band measurements. An apparatus comprises a detector operable to detect out-of-band EUV radiation emitted by an EUV plasma source, a spectrometer coupled to the electromagnetic detector and operable to measure at least one out-of-band radiation parameter based upon the detected out-of-band EUV radiation, and a controller coupled to the spectrometer and operable to monitor and control the operation of the EUV plasma source based upon the out-of-band measurements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor fabrication, and more particularly to systems and methods for monitoring and controlling the operation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light sources used in semiconductor fabrication.
2. Description of Related Art
Semiconductor fabrication typically involves dozens, or even hundreds of individual operations. In general terms, these operations can be classified as: layering, patterning, doping, and heat treatments. Among these, patterning (also referred to as "lithography") is considered to be the most critical operation because it sets the physical dimensions of the resulting devices on the semiconductor wafer.
Patterning comprises a series of steps by which selected portions of material deposited on the wafer surface are removed, thus leaving a "pattern" thereon. The sequence of steps may be described as follows. First, a pattern is formed on a photomask or reticle—e.g., a glass or quartz plate having a thin layer of chrome thereon. Then, the photomask is imaged or printed onto a layer of photoresist deposited on the wafer. Etching agents remove portions of the wafer not covered by the photoresist, and the photoresist itself is removed in subsequent steps. The transfer of the pattern from the photomask onto the photoresist is performed using some form of light source or electromagnetic radiation.
The wavelength of the light source used during the lithography process is directly proportional to the size of the features that can ultimately be fabricated on the semiconductor wafer. Hence, the continuous desire to create increasingly small semiconductor devices has created a need for light sources capable of emitting very short wavelength radiation. One such light source is the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) plasma source. EUV radiation may be generated in the 13.5 nm wavelength range by a plasma-based process whereby a fuel material such as xenon, lithium, indium, tin, etc. is heated to high temperatures. This intense heat may be achieved through the use of a focused laser beam, plasma pinch electrodes applying high-energy, short-duration pulses, or the like.
Light produced by EUV sources provides a printing resolution in the order of nanometers. Extremely small features down to 25 nm have been satisfactorily imaged. It is, however, very difficult to monitor the performance of these sources. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0058429 discloses an apparatus that attempts to measure the energy of an EUV photon system. The apparatus is designed to detect the in-band power of a pulsed or continuous source—i. e., at a wavelength between 11 and 15 nm—and filtering out the out-of-band radiation by several orders of magnitude.
The inventors hereof have recognized several significant drawbacks with existing EUV monitoring systems such as the one referred to above. First, multi-layer mirrors used in these systems quickly lose their reflectivity over time and frequently need to undergo expensive and time consuming calibration procedures, thus decreasing the overall productivity. Moreover, existing EUV systems must perform measurements in a high vacuum, which further adds to the cost and complexity of the system.
The shortcomings mentioned above are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are among many that tend to impair the effectiveness of previously known techniques for monitoring energy from EUV sources. The problems listed above are sufficient to demonstrate that the methodologies appearing in the art have not been satisfactory, and that a significant need exists for the systems and methods described and claimed herein.

Systems and methods for monitoring and controlling the operation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light sources used in semiconductor fabrication


One embodiment of the invention includes a PV array and an electrolyzer operatively connected together and each operatively connected to a utility power grid so that electricity produced by the PV array is selectively delivered to the utility power grid and the electrolyzer. The resulting process increases the efficiency of the solar-hydrogen production process, and results in lower-cost renewable hydrogen.

Hydrogen generation devices use electricity to produce hydrogen (and oxygen) by electrolysis of water in an electrolyzer. The hydrogen generated is stored for use as a fuel, useable in fuel cells and internal combustion engines. The oxygen is vented to the atmosphere. Electrolyzers may be powered by solar energy. Solar hydrogen generation by a photovoltaic-electrolyzer (PV-electrolyzer) is a renewable and environmentally beneficial energy source. Converting U.S. fuel supplies to renewable energy sources is essential for sustainable transportation, sustainable economic growth, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and for national energy security by replacing polluting fossil fuels imported from unstable regions overseas.
It is not economical to directly connect solar electricity from photovoltaic arrays (PV arrays) alone to power an electrolyzer and produce exclusively renewable hydrogen fuel, although a direct connection method, with the maximum power point voltage of the PV array matching the electrolyzer operating voltage, would give the highest efficiency conversion of solar energy to hydrogen. This lack of economy arises because solar power from a fixed angle PV system is produced effectively for only about six hours per day on average, leaving 18 hours per day when solar electricity production is too little for hydrogen generation and the electrolyzer can not be used. Thus, the electrolyzer is idle most of the time, which increases the size and cost of electrolyzer required for a desired daily fuel production rate. In addition, the electrolyzer is currently the most expensive part of a hydrogen generator system. Therefore, other solutions are needed to make solar powered electrolytic hydrogen production economically viable.

Apparatus to reduce the cost of renewable hydrogen fuel generation by electrolysis using combined solar and grid power


A semiconductor device fabrication method comprises; a first step S1 of fabricating a plurality of semiconductor chips on a plurality of semiconductor wafers, respectively; a second step S4 of making a probe test on the plural semiconductor chips respectively, which are present in a sampling region of one semiconductor wafer of the plural semiconductor wafers; and the third step S5 of computing a yield of the plural semiconductor chips present in the sampling region, when the yields of the plural semiconductor chips computed in the third step are a reference value or above, the probe test is not made on the plural semiconductor chips, which are present outside the sampling region of said one semiconductor wafer and on the rest semiconductor wafers of the plural semiconductor wafers fabricated in the same lot as said one semiconductor wafer. The probe test is made on the plural semiconductor chips respectively, which are present in the sampling region of said one semiconductor wafer of the plural semiconductor wafers, and when the yield of the semiconductor chips present in the sampling region is the reference value or above, the probe test is not made on the rest semiconductor chips present in the rest region of said one semiconductor wafer other than the sampling region and on the rest semiconductor wafers fabricated in the same lot as said one semiconductor wafer, whereby the inspection period of time can be drastically shortened.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device fabrication method, more specifically a semiconductor device fabrication method which can improve the inspection efficiency.
When semiconductor chips are completed on a semiconductor wafer, the inspection is made for confirming whether or not the semiconductor chips normally operate. Such inspection is called a probe test. The probe test is made by connecting to the bonding pads of the semiconductor chips with the probe needle which is connected to a semiconductor inspection equipment.
The probe test has been made on all the semiconductor chips so as to prevent the yield decrease in the final test made after semiconductor devices have been fabricated.
Recently, large-diameter semiconductor wafers of 8–12 inch-diameters are becoming dominant. When relatively small semiconductor chips of, e.g., about 2.5 mm×2,5 mm are fabricated on such large-diameter semiconductor wafer, 5000 or more semiconductor chips are fabricated on one sheet of semiconductor wafer.
When a period of time for the probe test per one chip is 3 seconds, about 4.1 hours are required to inspect one sheet of semiconductor wafer. For 1 lot of 25 sheets of semiconductor wafers, 4.3 days are required to inspect the semiconductor wafers of 1 lot.
To realize the cost reduction of semiconductor devices, it is very important to shorten the time required for the probe test.
Patent References 1 and 2 propose methods for shortening the time required for the probe test.
[Patent Reference 1]
Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. Hei 10-242224/1998
[Patent Reference 2]
Specification of Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. Sho 61-237443/1986
However, the methods described in Patent References 1 and 2 have not been able to drastically shorten the time required for the probe test.


This invention relates to carbon--carbon (C--C) composite comprising carbon fibers or carbon fabric, carbon char on the carbon fiber or fabric and pyrolytic carbon on the carbon char, wherein the density of the carbon composite is at least 1.3 g/cc. The invention also relates to wet friction elements and power transmission devises containing the same. The invention also relates to methods of preparing the carbon--carbon (C--C) composites. These C--C composites and wet friction elements and power transmission devises made therefrom have improved friction properties desired by wet brakes and clutches. These C--C composites provide improvements in cost, and when run against metals, such as steel or iron, improvements in wear and frictional behavior compared to known C--C composites for wet friction applications. In one aspect, the carbon--carbon does not require bonding to a metal backing or core material.

The use of carbon--carbon (C--C) composites as a dry friction material is well known in the aerospace industry. The majority of military and commercial aircraft which have been designed over the past 20 years have used C--C brake friction materials. U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,582, issued to Olcott, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,248, issued to Bauer, provide examples of the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) processes used to fabricate C--C materials.
The maintenance of frictional properties while under extreme thermal loading and other advantages of the C--C composites have been recognized by the automobile racing community. U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,326, issued to Tilton et al, describes the use of C--C materials as high performance clutches.
Pyrolytic carbon material, e.g., pyrolytic carbon/fiber composites formed using pyrolytic carbon deposited on carbon fibers work well for wet friction applications. U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,794, issued to Bauer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,823, issued to Winckler, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,844,218 and 5,033,596, issued to Genise, describe these openly porous carbonaceous materials and their use in wet friction devices. These materials are described as low density C--C composites, (e.g., 0.9-1.2 g/cc), made by the deposition of pyrolytic carbon on carbon fibers.

Wet friction materials, methods of making them, and apparatus containing the same


A method of coordinating communications between a plurality of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) operating in connection with differing communication languages. A common language is provided which includes common language commands and common language data objects. Common language commands are communicated from a user to a plurality of UAVs through a UAV Interoperability Agent (UIA), which converts the common language commands to UAV-specific commands which can be understood by the specific UAV. Additionally, UAVs send data in a native platform format to the UIA, which converts the native platform data to common language format for collection and interpretation by the user.

A variety of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) have been developed by the United States and international partner militaries, with more currently under development. These diverse systems range from reconnaissance planes to combat-ready sensor and weapons platforms, and are being developed by various defense contractors and manufacturers. These UAVs have the potential to revolutionize defense measures by providing low cost means for carrying out military action without risking troops or aircrews.
These various and diverse UAVs must be integrated with each other in order to provide synchronized responses to the commands of military personnel. This is problematic due to the many different types of UAVs, and the number of manufacturers involved with producing these UAVs. The multitude of UAV configurations requires a method for communicating swiftly in a coordinated manner with the military personnel in control of the UAVs, and with each other.
As such, there is a need in the relevant art to provide a method of communicating with and coordinating the actions of military fleets comprised of UAVs having multiple and diverse configurations.

Unmanned air vehicle interoperability agent


After the resist stripping liquid is supplied to the surface of the substrate which is being rotated at a first rotational speed, the rotational speed of the substrate is reduced from the first rotational speed to a second rotational speed with the supply of the resist stripping liquid to the surface of the substrate continued, thereby forming a liquid film by a mount of the resist stripping liquid on the surface of the substrate and then, maintaining a state where the liquid film is formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resist stripping method and a resist stripping apparatus for stripping away an unnecessary resist from surfaces of various types of substrates such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a plasma display, a substrate for an optical disk, a substrate for a magnetic disk, a substrate for a magneto-optical disk, and a substrate for a photomask.
2. Description of Related Art
In the steps of fabricating semiconductor devices and liquid crystal display devices, processing (resist stripping processing) for stripping an unnecessary resist from surfaces of substrates such as semiconductor wafers and glass substrates for liquid crystal display panels, for example, is performed. As types of the resist stripping processing, batch processing for collectively processing a plurality of substrates has conventionally prevailed. However, in recent years, as the substrate to be processed increases in size, single substrate processing for processing substrates one at a time by supplying a resist stripping liquid to a surface of the substrate has been paid attention to.
A conventional single substrate processing apparatus for performing resist stripping processing comprises a spin chuck for holding and rotating a substrate almost horizontally and a nozzle for supplying a resist stripping liquid to a surface (an upper surface) of the substrate held by the spin chuck. In the resist stripping processing, while the substrate is being rotated at a rotational speed of approximately 10 rpm by the spin chuck, the resist stripping liquid is supplied from the nozzle to the vicinity of the rotation center on a surface of the substrate which is being rotated. The resist stripping liquid supplied to the surface of the substrate receives a centrifugal force produced by the rotation of the substrate, to flow while being enlarged toward a peripheral edge of the substrate from the vicinity of the rotation center which is the position where the resist stripping liquid is supplied. Thus, the resist stripping liquid spreads over the entire area on the surface of the substrate, so that the resist stripping processing for the surface of the substrate is achieved.
Since the rotational speed of the substrate at the time of supplying the resist stripping liquid is low, however, it takes time for the resist stripping liquid to spread over the entire area on the surface of the substrate and it takes long to require the resist stripping processing (processing throughput is low).
Since the resist stripping liquid supplied to the center on the surface of the substrate flows while reacting with a resist on the surface of the substrate, the processing capability is gradually degraded until it reaches a peripheral portion of the substrate. The resist at the peripheral portion on the surface of the substrate is not patterned and is formed in a thick film state. In the resist stripping liquid whose processing capability is degraded, therefore, the resist at the peripheral portion of the substrate cannot be completely stripped.

Resist stripping method and resist stripping apparatus


This invention pertains to methods for promoting stable and site-specific integration of rep deleted recombinant adeno-associated virus vectors which result in less variable transgene expression and increased safety. These vectors are useful for delivery of a functional gene product to the desired intracellular location.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to the field of molecular biology. In particular, the invention relates to methods and compositions of matter for promoting stable, site-specific integration of Rep-deleted recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors via delivery of a functional AAV Rep gene product to the necessary location by fusing a nucleic acid encoding it to a nucleic acid encoding an intercellular trafficking "cargo" protein such as herpes simplex virus (HSV) tegument protein, VP22 or fragment thereof.
2. Description of the Background Art
Recombinant adeno-associated virus vectors have recently emerged as promising vehicles for gene transfer for a variety of reasons, including their lack of pathogenicity, wide host range, ability to transduce nonproliferating target cells, stable genomic integration, and comparatively low intrinsic immunogenicity. Genetic and sequence analyses of wild type AAV2 have demonstrated two primary open reading frames (ORFs). The left ORF is necessary for virus DNA replication, and contains two promoters at map positions 5 (p5) and 19 (p19). These promoters control expression from colinear, overlapping reading frames that arise from unspliced and spliced transcripts which produce Rep proteins of 78, 68, 52, and 40 kDa respectively. The right ORF, which is necessary for virion encapsulation, contains a single promoter at map position 40 (p40), and encodes three overlapping proteins (VP1, VP2, and VP3) with alternative translational initiation sites. The AAV coding regions are flanked by inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) which possess weak intrinsic promoter activity and are critical for DNA replication, encapsulation and host cell integration. See Berns, in "The Parvoviridae: The Viruses and Their Replication," Fields Virology, Fields, Knipe and Howley, Eds., 3rd edition, Lippincott-Raven, 1996, pp. 2173–2197; Chatterjee and Wong, "Adeno-associated virus vectors for transduction of genes encoding ribozymes," in Intracellular Ribozyme Applications: Principles and Protocols, Rossi and Couture (Eds.), Horizon Scientific Press, 1999; Wong and Chatterjee, "Parvovirus Vectors for Cancer Gene Therapy," in Cancer Gene Therapy, Lattine and Gershon, Eds., Academic Press, 2000.
One of the most interesting features of wild type AAV is its ability to integrate into a specific region in human chromosome 19 termed AAVS1. Kotin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 87:2211–2215, 1990; Samulski et al., EMBO J. 10:3941–3950, 1991. Mutational and deletion analyses have demonstrated that this property is mediated by Rep68/78, the product of the p5 promoter. Surosky et al., J. Virol. 71(10):7951–7959, 1997. Theoretically, the capacity to integrate site-specifically would be highly advantageous for rAAV vectors for several reasons. From a safety standpoint, nonrandom integration would lessen the likelihood of insertional mutagenesis. Kung et al., Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 171:1–25, 1991. In addition, cellular sequence flanking inserts are known to affect trans gene expression, resulting in varying levels of expression depending upon the location of insertion. Lacy et al., Cell 34(2):343–358, 1983. Targeted vector integration could minimize this variability of expression.
The rep gene has been removed from essentially all currently used rAAV vectors, both to provide a larger space for insertion of recombinant transgenes and to minimize the risks of recombinational events generating wild type AAV during the encapsulation process. Thus, although some studies indicate that integration is not totally random, rep-minus, wild type free rAAV stocks no longer integrate site specifically into AAVS1. Fisher-Adams et al., Blood 88:492–504, 1996; Rivadeneira et al., Int. J. Oncol. 12(4):805–810, 1998.
There is a need in the art for methods to improve the potential safety of rAAV vectors and to modify gene expression from rAAV vectors, in particular, methods which would allow site specific integration of rep-deleted rAAV vectors. Delivery of a functional AAV rep gene product to the necessary location would be of great value in achieving safer gene transfer with less unpredictable expression levels. Restoration of site-specific integration of rAAV vectors could significantly impact upon the safety and utility of rAAV vectors for gene transfer and potential gene therapy.


A laser diode device is affixed to a mounting face of a slider, opposite the air bearing surface. The laser includes a submount having an electrically conductive surface layer that is normal to the mounting face. The electrically conductive surface layer is a patterned metal layer that includes a lateral probing region and a laser mounting region to which a laser is soldered. The laser mounting region is connected to the lateral probing region by a bridge portion of the patterned metal layer. The laser mounting region is otherwise separated from the lateral probing region by a solder blocking gap in which the submount lacks the patterned metal layer, and which is adjacent to the laser. The solder blocking gap defines a solder blocking gap height normal to the mounting face that is in the range of ⅔rds to ⅚ths of a total height of the laser mounting region.

Magnetic hard disk drives retrieve and/or store data in computers and other consumer electronics devices. A magnetic hard disk drive includes one or more heads that can read and write information on a corresponding magnetic surface of a spinning disk. For convenience, all heads that can read are referred to as "read heads" or "heads" herein, regardless of other devices and functions the read head may also perform (e.g. writing, micro-actuation, flying height control, touch down detection, lapping control, localized disk media heating, etc). Each read head is a sub-component of a head gimbal assembly (HGA). The HGA also includes a suspension assembly for holding the head and providing a plurality of electrical connections thereto. The suspension assembly typically includes a fragile laminated flexure to carry the electrical signals to and from the head.
The head typically comprises a slider that includes an air bearing surface (ABS) that faces the magnetic disk surface, a trailing face, and a mounting face that is opposite the ABS and that faces away from the ABS. A magnetic sensor and a plurality of head bond pads are typically disposed on the trailing face of the slider. The mounting face of the slider is typically permanently bonded to a tongue portion of the fragile laminated flexure by an adhesive, in a position such that the plurality of head bond pads are aligned with corresponding bond pads on the laminated flexure.
Conventionally, the head writes tiny magnetic transitions on the magnetic disk surface by applying sufficient magnetic field to the desired microscopic disk surface location to overcome the coercivity of the disk surface material there, and thereby changes the remnant field there. However, market demand for disk drives having ever higher data storage capacity has motivated investigation into the possible use of "energy assisted" magnetic recording (EAMR), in which writing is accomplished not only by local application of a magnetic field, but also by local application of laser light for localized heating of the disk surface. EAMR may enable the writing of smaller transitions, and thereby increase the areal density of data stored on the disk surface.
Most proposed EAMR technologies require the addition of a laser light source on the read head. For example, a laser diode may be attached to a laser submount, and the laser submount attached to the mounting face of the slider, for example by soldering with a gold-tin solder alloy. During the assembly process, one or more electrically conductive probing pins may temporarily be brought into contact with an electrically conductive probing region of the laser submount, to energize the laser diode so that emitted laser light may be used for the alignment of parts. However, in a high volume manufacturing environment, it may difficult to control the amount and location of the solder that affixes the laser diode to the laser submount. Consequently, solder may undesirably migrate to the probing region of the laser submount during assembly, which may interfere with the alignment of parts.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved laser submount design that can better facilitate reliable and practical assembly with a laser light source for EAMR heads, in a high volume manufacturing environment.

Patterned metal layer to control solder connection between laser and submount in a magnetic head


Systems, devices, and methods of the present invention relate to detecting a request for explanation in text. In an example, a method creates a discourse tree from a subset of text. The discourse tree includes nodes, each nonterminal node representing a rhetorical relationship between two of the fragments and each terminal node of the nodes of the discourse tree is associated with one of the fragments. The method forms a communicative discourse tree from the discourse tree by matching each fragment that has a verb to a verb signature. The method further identifies that the subset of text comprises a request for an explanation by applying a classification model trained to detect a request for an explanation to the communicative discourse tree.

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. One aspect of linguistics is the application of computer science to human natural languages such as English. Due to the greatly increased speed of processors and capacity of memory, computer applications of linguistics are on the rise. For example, computer-enabled analysis of language discourse facilitates numerous applications such as automated agents that can answer questions from users. The use of autonomous agents ("chatbots") to answer questions, facilitate discussion, manage dialogues, and provide social promotion is increasingly popular. To address this need, a broad range of technologies including compositional semantics has been developed. Such technologies can support automated agents in the case of simple, short queries and replies.
But current solutions for autonomus agents are unable to determine when an utterance received from a user device includes a request for an explanation. A request for an explanation can be helpful, for example, if an autonomus agent generates a response or takes a decision based on machine learning, which is often not transparent about how a particular decision was reached. When a response by an autonomous agent is unsatisfactory, an explanation may be necessary to help understand the reasoning behind a response or a decision, such as why the user was denied a loan.
Hence, new solutions are needed.

Using communicative discourse trees to detect a request for an explanation


There are proposed an air/fuel ratio sensor which can detect a wide range of an air/fuel ratio and provides a simple structure, a superior mechanical strength or durability and a reduced manufacture cost, and a method of detecting the air/fuel ratio using the air/fuel ratio sensor. An air/fuel ratio sensor 1 is formed of a detecting portion 2 and a heater portion 3 laminated via a porous body 16. In the detecting portion 2, on an inner face of a plate-like solid electrolytic body 5, a reference electrode 7 is provided for controlling an oxygen gas diffusion rate, and on an outer face of the solid electrolytic body 5, a measurement electrode 6 is provided. A surface of the measurement electrode 6, on which the diffusion rate is not controlled, is covered with a protective layer 14 having an ventilation property to a degree to which the diffusion rate is not substantially controlled. A lead portion 7b of the reference electrode 7 is a porous layer which substantially controls the diffusion rate. The lead portion 7b is exposed to an exhaust gas via a connecting hole 13 which connects the lead potion 7b and the protective layer 14.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an air/fuel ratio sensor having one electrochemical cell, which can detect an air/fuel ratio in an exhaust gas exhausted from e.g. an automobile engine. More specifically this invention relates to an air/fuel ratio sensor using one oxygen-ion conductive cell, which can detect not only a stoichiometric air/fuel ratio (.lambda.=1), but also an air/fuel ratio in a fuel-lean region (.lambda.>1).
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, most of automobile engines have been equipped with an air/fuel feedback control system to run the engines in a best condition reducing harmful exhaust gas components such as CO, NOx and HC. Either of two types of air/fuel ratio sensors is placed in the exhaust gas stream in such a feed back control system; one type is a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio sensor having one oxygen-ion conductive solid electrolyte cell and the other type is a universal or rather wide range air/fuel ratio sensor having two oxygen-ion conductive solid electrolyte cells.
The stoichiometric air/fuel sensor has one cell electrolyte cell that outputs an abrupt voltage variation-across two electrodes that sandwich the cell electrolyte, when the stoichiometric air/fuel mixture(.lambda.=1) is carbureted and combusted in an internal combustion engine. The stoichometric air/fuel sensor is often called a .lambda. sensor or a .lambda. air fuel sensor. This type sensor is described, e.g. in a U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,603.
On the other hand, the universal air/fuel sensor has two electrochemical cells, featuring in that the sensor can detect not only the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio(.lambda.=1) but also a universal or rather wide range air fuel ratio other than .lambda.=1 (i.e. .lambda.>1 and .lambda.<1). The reason why such a wide range air fuel control can be done by this two-cell type sensor is that one of the cells is used as an oxygen pumping cell that pumps the oxygen out or into an oxygen reference chamber formed between the two cell of the sensor. If the pumping cell pumps out the oxygen from the reference chamber, it means that an air/fuel mixture in the engine is shifted to a fuel-lean region, i.e .lambda.>1. If the pumping cell pumps oxygen into the reference chamber, it means that the air/fuel mixture shifted to a fuel-rich region (i.e. .lambda.<1) is combusted in the engine.
A merit of using the universal sensor comprised of the two cell in such an air/fuel feedback control system is that an amount of fuel to be carbureted with the air into the engine can be linearly detected by a current flowing through the pumping cell across which a constant voltage is applied. This two-cell type sensor is disclosed, e.g. in a U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,135.

Wide range air/fuel ratio sensor having one electrochemical cell