A medical robotic system has a robot arm holding an instrument for performing a medical procedure, and a control system for controlling movement of the arm and its instrument according to user manipulation of a master manipulator. The control system includes at least one joint controller that includes a controller having programmable parameters for setting a steady-state velocity error and a maximum acceleration error for the joint's movement relative to a set point in response to an externally applied and released force.

Medical robotic systems such as those used in performing minimally invasive surgical procedures offer many benefits over traditional open surgery techniques, including less pain, shorter hospital stays, quicker return to normal activities, minimal scarring, reduced recovery time, and less injury to tissue. Consequently, demand for minimally invasive surgery using such medical robotic systems is strong and growing.
Examples of medical robotic systems include the daVinci® Surgical System and the daVinci® S™ Surgical System from Intuitive Surgical, Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif. Each of these systems includes a surgeon's console, a patient-side cart, a high performance three-dimensional ("3-D") vision system, and Intuitive Surgical's proprietary EndoWrist™ articulating instruments, which are modeled after the human wrist so that when added to the motions of manipulators holding the surgical instruments, they allow at least six degrees of freedom of motion, which is comparable to or even greater than the natural motions of open surgery.
The daVinci® surgeon's console has a high-resolution stereoscopic video display with two progressive scan cathode ray tubes ("CRTs"). The system offers higher fidelity than polarization, shutter eyeglass, or other techniques. Each eye views a separate CRT presenting the left or right eye perspective, through an objective lens and a series of mirrors. The surgeon sits comfortably and looks into this display throughout surgery, making it an ideal place for the surgeon to display and manipulate 3-D intraoperative imagery.
The patient-side cart typically includes three or more robotic arm assemblies with corresponding slave manipulators for holding and manipulating medical devices such as surgical instruments and image capturing devices for performing and/or viewing a medical procedure at a surgical site within a patient. To manipulate these medical devices, the surgeon's console also includes master input devices which may be selectively associated with the medical devices and their respective slave manipulators. Since the movements of the master input devices and their associated medical devices are scaled, this allows the surgeon to perform intricate medical procedures with greater ease than conventional open surgery. Further, it may even allow the surgeon to perform medical procedures that are not even feasible using conventional open surgery techniques.
To perform a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a patient, one or more incisions are first made in the patient and cannulae inserted therein to gain access to a surgical site within the patient. Setup arms supporting the slave manipulators are then positioned so as to allow the slave manipulators to attach to respective of the cannulae. Surgical instruments engaged on the slave manipulators are then inserted into the cannulae and properly positioned and oriented in order to perform the procedure. A surgeon may then manipulate master manipulators (or master input devices) which are coupled to the slave manipulators and their respective surgical instruments through one or more controllers to perform the surgical procedure.
The initial positioning and orientating of the surgical instruments at the surgical site is generally performed by an assistant who is positioned next to the patient and manually moves their respective slave manipulators so as to move the surgical instruments into their proper positions and orientations at the surgical site. Typically such positioning and orientating involves a two-step procedure in which, in a first part, each slave manipulator is attached to its assigned cannula and its surgical instrument engaged on it, and in a second part, the slave manipulator is manipulated so that its surgical instrument is properly positioned and oriented at the surgical site to perform its role in the minimally invasive surgical procedure. Although described as a two-part procedure for each slave manipulator, it is to be appreciated that the assistant may perform both parts concurrently or otherwise in an overlapping fashion, as well as sequentially so as to be performed one after the other.
To perform the first part of the initial positioning of a surgical instrument, the assistant depresses a first release button on a slave manipulator, which releases brakes holding setup joints of its corresponding setup arm in place so as to allow movement of the slave manipulator. The positioning of the slave manipulator is conventionally facilitated by the use of gravity-balanced or non-gravity loaded setup joints. After the slave manipulator is positioned so that it can be attached to its assigned cannula and is attached to it, the assistant may then stop depressing the first release button, which causes the brakes to hold their corresponding setup joints in place, thus locking the translational position of the cannula attached to the slave manipulator at this point. Additional details in performing this part of the procedure and the general construction of slave manipulators and their setup arms as pertaining to such procedure are provided in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,200 entitled "Manipulator Positioning Linkage for Robotic Surgery," which is incorporated herein by this reference.
To perform the second part of the initial positioning of the surgical instrument, the assistant engages the surgical instrument onto the slave manipulator so that it is capable of inserting it into the cannula, pivoting the instrument around a pivot point located at the surgical port of the cannula, and driving an end effector at the distal end of the surgical instrument with degrees of freedom resembling wrist motion. It may be noted at this point that the surgical instrument tip is inside the cannula and thus, is no longer visible to the assistant since it is now shielded by the anatomy.
To proceed, the assistant depresses a second button on or proximate to its slave manipulator, which disengages active joints of the slave manipulator from being controlled by their associated master manipulator. This allows the assistant to freely move the slave manipulator to insert the surgical instrument into its cannula and pivot about it about the incision so as to point in the proper direction and at the proper distance into the incision. If an endoscope has been previously positioned in the patient to view the surgical site, typically this step is performed while the assistant views the image of the surgical site provided by the endoscope. After the surgical instrument is thus positioned at the surgical site, the assistant may then stop depressing the second button, which allows the surgeon to re-engage control of the active joints of the slave manipulator through the master manipulator so that the surgeon may perform the surgical procedure by manipulating the master manipulator. To facilitate the positioning tasks described above, the first and second buttons may be effective only while they are depressed (and thus work as momentary buttons) or they can remain effective after they are released until they are depressed again (and thus work as toggle buttons).
To facilitate easy movement of the slave manipulator during the second part of the positioning procedure, the slave manipulator may be mechanically gravity balanced using, for example, counter balance weights, so as to significantly reduce gravity effects and consequently, the force necessary for a person to physically move the slave manipulator. Additionally, the slave manipulator may be designed so as to have very high mechanical efficiency so that the friction does not change much with the force applied to the manipulator, have low friction forces or torque to overcome when moving the manipulator, and have low mass or inertia so that the manipulator may be accelerated with low force or torque.
Although a slave manipulator that does not have all of these mechanical characteristics may not be easy to manually position quickly and accurately, it may be advantageous to give away some of these mechanical characteristics in exchange for other benefits such as larger workspace, smaller footprint, or a lighter slave manipulator. In such a design, a control system that is capable of recovering the lighter feeling of the mechanically gravity balanced design is desirable.
One way of recovering the lighter feeling provided by counterweights while manually moving the slave manipulator is to use joint motor torques to exert assisting forces to effectively balance the gravitational weight of the slave manipulator. Using this approach, the joint motors of the slave manipulator are generally capable of applying torques greater than those necessary for normal control activities. Consequently, when the control of the slave manipulator is optimized for tracking purposes (i.e., to follow its corresponding master input device), for instance by the adoption of large control gains, the slave manipulator may be difficult to backdrive (i.e., cause its associated master input device to follow externally applied movement of the slave manipulator). Also, when the control of the slave manipulator is optimized for tracking purposes, it may tend to spring back quickly and overshoot its commanded position after it has been temporarily displaced by a large amount away from its commanded position by an externally applied force. Each of these characteristics tends to make the slave manipulator human unfriendly to the assistant during setup and to the patient during the performance of a medical procedure.

Medical robotic system with programmably controlled constraints on error dynamics


An EUV mask includes, on top of a multi-layer mirror, a spectral purity enhancement layer, for application in an EUV lithographic apparatus. On top of the spectral purity enhancement layer, a patterned absorber layer is provided. The spectral purity enhancement layer includes a first spectral purity enhancement layer, but between the multi-layer mirror and first spectral purity enhancement layer there may be an intermediate layer or a second spectral purity enhancement layer and intermediate layer. The patterned absorber layer may also itself function as an anti-reflection (AR) coating. The AR effect of this absorber layer is a function of the aperture sizes in the pattern. The spectral purity of a mask may be enhanced, such that DUV radiation is diminished relatively stronger than EUV radiation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an EUV mask including a spectral purity filter, a lithographic apparatus including such a mask, a method for enlarging a ratio of desired radiation and undesired radiation and a device manufacturing method wherein such a mask is used.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Known lithographic apparatus include steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at one time, and scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning" direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
In a lithographic apparatus the size of features that can be imaged onto the substrate is limited by the wavelength of the projection radiation. To produce integrated circuits with a higher density of devices, and hence higher operating speeds, it is desirable to be able to image smaller features. While most current lithographic projection apparatus employ ultraviolet light generated by mercury lamps or excimer lasers, it has been proposed to use shorter wavelength radiation, e.g. of around 13 nm. Such radiation is termed Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) or soft x-ray, and possible sources include, for instance, laser-produced plasma sources, discharge plasma sources, or synchrotron radiation from electron storage rings.
The source of EUV radiation is typically a plasma source, for example a laser-produced plasma or a discharge source. In addition to EUV radiation, an EUV source emits many different wavelengths of light, which is undesired radiation, like deep ultra-violet radiation (DUV). This non-EUV radiation is harmful for the EUV lithography system, so it has to be removed by a spectral purity filter (SPF).
Present spectral purity filters are based on blazed gratings. These gratings are difficult to produce, since the surface quality of the triangular shaped pattern should be very high. The roughness of the surface should be lower than 1 nm RMS. In addition to that, the drawback of the current spectral purity filter is that it folds the path of the light, which means that it cannot be removed from the system unless another mirror is used to replace the spectral purity filter (causing losses). In order to keep flexibility it is desirable to be able to remove the spectral purity filter from the system at will, in order to evade the losses caused by the spectral purity filter.
The main problem of additional radiation to desired EUV radiation from the EUV source arises for DUV wavelengths for which the photo-resist is sensitive, because this causes a loss in contrast.


A method and apparatus for imaging a subject animal. The method comprises the steps of treating the animal with an x-ray contrast agent and an imaging agent; supporting the animal in an immobilized state on a support member; acquiring an x-ray anatomical image of the animal; acquiring an optical, dark-field image of the animal; and registering the x-ray anatomical image and the optical image, whereby features of the optical image can be observed in relation to features of the anatomical image.

Electronic imaging systems are well known for enabling molecular imaging. An exemplary electronic imaging system 10 (shown in FIG. 1 and diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 2) is the Image Station 2000 MM Multimodal Imaging System formerly available from the Eastman Kodak Company. System 10 includes a light source 12, an optical compartment 14 which can include a mirror 16, a lens and camera system 18, and a communication and computer control system 20 which can include a display device, for example, a computer monitor 22. Camera and lens system 18 can include an emission filter wheel for fluorescent imaging. Light source 12 can include an excitation filter selector for fluorescent excitation or bright field color imaging. In operation, an image of an object is captured using lens and camera system 18. System 18 converts the light image into an electronic image, which can be digitized. The digitized image can be displayed on display device 22, stored in memory, transmitted to a remote location, processed to enhance the image, used to print a permanent copy of the image, or all of these.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for multi-modal imaging


A semiconductor device having a plurality of cascaded IC's (14, 15, 16), wherein the matching impedance between a signal transmission path (12) connected to an external signal transmission path and an input-side or output-side IC (14, 16) is set at 50 ohms which is equal to the characteristics impedance of the external signal transmission path. The matching impedance between a internal signal transmission path (13) and an input-side or output-side IC or intermediate IC is set at 200 ohms which is higher than the 50 ohms. The semiconductor device reduces the current dissipation and can operate at a higher speed.

Together with a recent tendency of higher degree of integration density of semiconductor devices, there has been an increasing demand for a higher-speed operation. In an optical communication system, for example, data transfer rate has been significantly increased and data transfer rates of 2.4 Gbps and 10 Gbps have already been realized in practical use. In the future, the data transfer rate is expected to be increased more and more.
As the operational speed of the semiconductor device becomes higher, it is impossible to ignore the presence of a reflected signal generated in a transmission path that connects together interconnections within a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) or connects the semiconductor IC with another semiconductor IC. Therefore, a technique of impedance matching is used in a portion having a long interconnection or long transmission path.
FIG. 9 shows the configuration of a module in a conventional semiconductor device. A semiconductor device 21 has input/output connectors 27 connected to an external circuit. Each terminal of the connector 27 is connected to a corresponding input/output transmission path 22. Disposed on a mounting substrate/board 28 are a plurality of cascaded IC chips. More specifically, an input-side IC chip 24 and an output-side IC chip 26, which are connected to the input/output transmission paths 22, and the intermediate IC chips 25 are disposed on the mounting substrate/board 28. Each adjacent two of the IC chips disposed are connected together by one or more internal transmission paths 23 formed on the mounting substrate/board 28. Each of the connectors 27 is connected to a coaxial cable (not shown), through which a signal is exchanged between the semiconductor device 21 and the external circuit. Here, a propagation in the coaxial transmission path will be described. Attenuation constant α is represented by the following equation:
                    α        =                                            1                              4                                                                                π                                                                Rs                                                                                μ                      0                                        ɛ                                                      ln                                                        D                    d                                                                                =                      (                                          1                d                            +                              1                D                                      )                                              (        1        )            where d is the outer diameter of a central conductor, D is the inner diameter of an outside conductor, ε is the dielectric constant of insulator, Rs is the surface resistance, and μ0 is the magnetic permeability of vacuum.
A smaller value of the α reduces the attenuation in the coaxial transmission path. In the above equation (1), from the view point of the relation between the ratio of D to d and α, if D/d=3.59, then α assumes a minimum value. The characteristic impedance of the coaxial cable is represented by the following equation:
                              Z          0                =                              60                                          ɛ                r                                                        ln                                D            d                                              (        2        )            where εr is the relative dielectric constant of insulator.
The coaxial cable uses polyethylene resin (εr=2.3) as an insulator to support the central conductor. When this relative dielectric constant is assigned to the coaxial cable using the support for the central conductor, the characteristic impedance is about 50 Ω (ohms) at the point of D/d=3.59, where the attenuation constant assumes the minimum value. Therefore, the external impedance is generally set at 50 ohms. The characteristic impedance of the input/output transmission path 22 is accordingly set at 50 ohms in order to achieve the impedance matching to the external impedance. At the same time, the characteristic impedance of the internal transmission path 23 is also set at 50 ohms. The input/output impedance of the ICs (24 to 26) that perform a high-speed operation is also set at 50 ohms.
In the conventional technique, in order to set the input/output impedance of IC at 50 ohms, the input circuit of the IC is connected to a matching resistor of 50 ohms and, at the same time, the output circuit of the IC is also connected to another matching resistor of 50 ohms. Therefore, the output transistor of the IC is driven by a low load resistance. In the IC to which an output signal from the output transistor is input, the amplitude of the input signal is defined in order to guarantee a normal operation of the IC on the signal input side. The output transistor on the preceding-stage IC operates to meet the defined amplitude. However, being connected to a low load resistance as described above, the output transistor needs to be driven with a large current in order to meet the requirement. As a result, the following problems have arisen:    (1) The current dissipation of the ICs (24 to 26) and semiconductor device (21) is increased because the output transistor is driven with a large current.    (2) The size of the IC should be increased because the size of the output transistor needs to be increased.    (3) The current dissipation and the area of the IC are increased more and more because the number of stages or the size of the buffer circuit for driving the output transistor is increased.


An implantable device for sensing in vivo the level of at least one blood constituent in mammalian vascular tissue has at least one source of radiation from infrared through visible light, arranged to direct the radiation at the tissue where it is affected by interaction with the tissue, and a plurality of detectors. Each detector has associated with it a filter transparent to a discrete narrow band of radiation, and each detector provides an output signal representative of detected radiation in that narrow band. The detectors are located with respect to the tissue to receive radiation affected by the tissue. The invention also encompasses a device for measuring and controlling the level of a blood constituent, such as glucose, in a mammal, and includes an implantable infrared source and sensor module for directing infrared radiation through vascular tissue and for sensing the infrared radiation after it has passed through the tissue and generating an output signal representative of the sensed infrared radiation. The device includes a processor module responsive to the output signal from the infrared source and sensor module which performs spectral analysis of the output signal and derives from that analysis a control signal representative of the level of the blood constituent. The device further includes an insulin pump for dispensing doses of insulin in response to the control signal for blood glucose regulation.

Glucose is an important nutrient. During periods of moderate to heavy exercise, the muscles utilize large amounts of glucose to release energy. In addition, large amounts of glucose are taken up by muscle cells in the few hours after a meal. This glucose is stored in the form of muscle glycogen, and can later be used by the muscles for short periods of extreme use and to provide spurts or anaerobic energy for a few minutes at a time. Moreover, glucose is an essential nutrient for brain and spinal cord function. Glucose is the only nutrient that can normally be utilized by the brain, retina, and germinal epithelium of the gonads in sufficient quantity to supply those organs with their required energy. Brain tissue has an obligate requirement for a steady supply of blood glucose. When blood glucose levels fall below 50 mg/dl, memory loss, agitation, confusion, irritability, sweating, tachycardia, and hypertension commonly occur. Brain failure occurs when blood glucose levels fall below 30 mg/dl, and is associated with coma, hypoventilation, and vascular instability. Death may occur. Therefore, it is important to maintain the blood glucose concentration at a high enough level to provide this necessary nutrition.
At the same time, however, it is also important that the blood glucose concentration not rise too high. Glucose exerts a large osmotic pressure in the extracellular fluid. If glucose concentration rises to excessive levels, this can draw water out of the cells and cause considerable cellular dehydration. Excessively high blood glucose levels causes loss of glucose in the urine. This produces an osmotic diuresis by the kidneys, which can deplete the body of fluids and electrolytes.
The steady supply of blood glucose is tightly controlled by the pancreas and the liver. Following a meal, gastric digestion and intestinal absorption provide an increasing amount of carbohydrates, free fatty acids, and amino acids into the portal venous blood. Sixty percent of the glucose absorbed after a meal is immediately stored in the liver in the form of glycogen. Between meals, when the glucose concentration begins to fall, liver glycogen is dephosphorolated, allowing large quantities of glucose to diffuse out of the liver cells and into the blood stream. The liver, a large organ, can store six percent of its mass as glycogen. In contrast, muscle tissue can store only two percent of its mass as glycogen, barely enough to be used by the muscle as its own energy reserve.
Normally, blood glucose concentration is regulated by two hormones, insulin and glucagon, secreted by the pancreas. Insulin is released in a bimodal fashion from the pancreas in direct response to a rise in blood glucose level and, to a lesser extent, to a rise in the blood level of free fatty acids and amino acids. Insulin promotes transport of these nutrients into the cells to be utilized for energy, to be stored as glycogen or triglycerides, or to be synthesized into more complex compounds such as proteins.
Some individuals develop diabetes mellitus, and do not secrete insulin in sufficient quantities to properly regulate blood glucose. Lack of insulin inhibits the cell membrane transport of nutrients such as glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids into the cells, forcing the cells to use other compounds for energy and cell growth. Diabetics exhibit a decreased utilization of those nutrients by the cells, resulting in a marked increase in blood glucose concentration, an increase in triglyceride mobilization from the adipose tissue resulting in a marked increase in blood fatty acid and cholesterol concentrations, and a marked loss of protein on a cellular level. Most of the severe end-organ complications which result from diabetes are due to the cellular wasting which occurs secondary to abnormal amino acid uptake and protein wasting. Abnormal fatty acid metabolism results in elevated levels of blood concentrations of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), cholesterol, and free fatty acids, all leading to accelerated atherosclerosis and obstructive vascular disease. Those with diabetes are also prone to ketosis, and develop dehydration, acidosis, and electrolyte imbalance under stress. In some forms of the disease, insulin injections may be required, and other long-term complications such as retinopathy, blindness and kidney disease commonly occur.
The pancreas also secretes glucagon, a hormone which has cellular functions that are diametrically opposed to those of insulin. Glucagon stimulates the liver to release large amounts of glucose from glycogen when the blood glucose concentration falls below 90 mg/dl. This system of insulin inhibition and glycogen release prevents glucose concentrations from falling dangerously low.
In short, glucose is regulated within a narrow range between 80 and 90 mg/dl during fasting, with a rise toward 140 mg/dl following a high carbohydrate meal. The liver functions as a reservoir and buffer, so that glucose is available to the brain during meals and during periods of prolonged fast.
Type I diabetics have an absolute deficiency in insulin synthesis by the beta cells of the pancreas, and have the most severe clinical course if not aggressively managed with nutrition and insulin therapy. These individuals are ketosis prone and may develop a severe metabolic acidosis. Wide swings in blood glucose commonly occur with a high incidence of symptomatic hypoglycemia following insulin therapy. End organ dysfunction is common due to accelerated atherosclerosis, cellular protein wasting, and small vessel disease.
Type II diabetics release insulin from the pancreas in a blunted fashion following the intake of food. Blood insulin levels do not rise sufficiently to prevent hyperglycemia. In addition, peripheral tissues of type II diabetics may possess a smaller number of membrane tissue receptors and possibly a down regulation of those receptors. Ketoacidosis is uncommon. However, hyperglycemia and hyperosmolar conditions may occur, leading to coma and death. Insulin therapy may or may not be required to maintain normal glycemia levels. Other therapies include weight loss, diet, and oral hypoglycemic agents which stimulate the pancreas to release larger quantities of insulin.
There is no doubt that long term tight glucose control is able to significantly reduce the incidence of end organ complications. Control of blood glucose concentration in diabetic individuals by QID insulin injections has, of course, been done for many years. This type of treatment does have a number of serious drawbacks, however. One or more needle sticks of the finger must be performed on a daily basis to obtain blood for glucose assay. Many patients suffer anxiety and discomfort when subjected to finger pricking. After the blood sample is obtained, the sample must be exposed to a surface coated with chemical agents and enzymes that produce a color change corresponding to glucose concentration. The patient or medical practitioner performing the assay must interpret the color change accurately, and inject a dose of insulin based on the glucose level. Many individuals experience anxiety and discomfort when facing injections, and resist them. Some individuals may have no one to administer the required injections, but have difficulty injecting themselves. Dosage can also be problematic. Color change can be misinterpreted, and it is not unusual for patients to miss an injection, or to be off schedule. Syringes, which these days tend to be disposable, contribute to the growing problem of hazardous medical waste.
Some of these problems have been partially dealt with in the past, but none of the past attempts at dealing with these problems has been entirely satisfactory. Non-invasive optical techniques for measuring blood glucose have been developed, but these techniques do not solve the problems associated with administering insulin injections where required. Non-invasive optical techniques for measuring blood glucose are prone to error because the interface between the sensor and the tissue changes constantly with manipulation and contact pressure. Skin and extremity blood flow also varies considerably with cardiac output, body temperature and level of activity. These non-invasive optical techniques typically use a source of infrared (IR) radiation and a detector to measure absorption, reflection, or some other parameter to derive information about blood glucose levels. The effective optical distance from the IR source and the detector changes with subcutaneous body fat and the variability in placing the sensor from day to day. In addition, non-invasive IR sensors measure blood glucose in a non-continuous manner, and are thereby limited to functioning as a glucose measuring device and not as a therapeutic device for the treatment of diabetes.
Implantable pumps for administering insulin are known, and it has even been proposed to automatically measure blood glucose and administer insulin as may be required using an implantable sensor and insulin pump. However, the latter system uses a sensor which performs chemical analysis of blood samples, and thus requires the introduction of chemical reagents into the patient's body. In addition, the reagents periodically need to be replenished, which imposes the requirement of including a port below the surface of the skin through which fresh reagents must be injected from time to time. Thus, this system does not completely eliminate the need for periodic injections. The refilling process presents the danger of leaking a highly concentrated insulin solution into the body, which can result in severe hypoglycemia. Moreover, commercially available implantable pumps have FDA approval only for the infusion of chemotherapy and Baclofen for the treatment of spastic leg disorders. Pumps implanted for the infusion of insulin are still considered experimental.
An implantable sensor using a semipermeable membrane and an enzyme coated surface and oxygen electrode has been studied for the continuous measurement of blood glucose. This sensor has significant drift and quickly fails due to host reaction and contamination of the membrane and enzyme surface. Needle-type amperometric glucose sensors implanted within the subcutaneous tissues and having an enzyme coated surface and an electrical output to an external processor are known, but loss of sensitivity and sensor drift occur upon implantation. This type of sensor, which is in the form of a thin wire, must be inserted through a hollow needle into the subcutaneous tissue and must be changed every three to four days due to enzyme depletion and membrane contamination.
There is therefore a need to control levels of blood constituents, such as glucose concentration, fatty acid concentration, and amino acid concentration, in patients with diabetes which does not require blood sampling, chemical test reagents or reagent injections, and which provides continuous monitoring of levels of blood constituents. The present invention meets that need by providing a sensor which is fully implantable and can be used in vivo, can be used continuously and over the long term, and which is reliable and safe.
The present invention provides the ability to achieve close, continuous monitoring and control of insulin, which provides a clinical and therapeutic breakthrough.

Implantable sensor and system for measurement and control of blood constituent levels


Methods of controlling memory buffers having tri-port cache arrays therein include the steps of reading data from a current read register in the cache memory array to an external peripheral device, and writing data from an external peripheral device to a current write register in the cache memory array. Tri-port controller logic and steering circuitry are also preferably provided for performing efficient read and write arbitration operations to make next-to-read and next-to-write registers always available in the cache memory array. The use of four separate registers in the cache memory array, efficient steering circuitry and the tri-port controller logic essentially eliminates the possibility that gaps or stoppages will occur in the flow of data into and out of the buffer memory device during read and write operations. To always maintain a source of available data for reading or available space for writing, even under worst case operating conditions including burst mode operation, the step of performing write arbitration comprises determining a next-to-write register as a first free register in the cache memory array if the current read and write registers are different registers and the step of performing read arbitration comprises determining a next-to-read register as the current write register if the current write register contains next-to-read data relative to data in the current read register. The step of performing read arbitration may also comprise determining the next-to-read register as a second free register in the cache memory array if the current read and write registers are different registers and the next-to-read register is not the current write register, or as the next-to-write register if the current read and write registers are the same register.

Semiconductor memory devices can typically be classified on the basis of memory functionality, data access patterns and the nature of the data storage mechanism. For example, distinctions are typically made between read-only memory (ROM) devices and read-write memory (RWM) devices. The RWM devices typically have the advantage of offering both read and write functionality with comparable data access times. Typically, in RWM devices, data is stored either in flip-flops for "static" memory devices or as preset levels of charge on a capacitor in "dynamic" memory devices. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, static memory devices retain their data as long as a supply of power is maintained, however, dynamic memory devices require periodic data refreshing to compensate for potential charge leakage. Because RWM devices use active circuitry to store data, they belong to a class of memory devices known as "volatile" memory devices because data stored therein will be lost upon termination of the power supply. ROM devices, on the other hand, may encode data into circuit topology (e.g., by blowing fuses, removing diodes, etc.). Since this latter type of data storage may be hardwired, the data cannot be modified, but can only be read. ROM devices also typically belong to a class of memory devices known as "nonvolatile" memory devices because data stored therein will typically not be lost upon termination of the power supply. Other types of memory devices that have been more recently developed are typically referred to as nonvolatile read-write (NVRWM) memory devices. These types of memory devices include EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory), E.sup.2 PROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), and flash memories, for example.
An additional memory classification is typically based on the order in which data can be accessed. Here, most memory devices belong to the random-access class, which means that memory locations can be read from or written to in random order. Notwithstanding the fact that most memory devices provide random-access, typically only random-access RWM memories use the acronym RAM. Alternatively, memory devices may restrict the order of data access to achieve shorter data access times, reduce layout area and/or provide specialized functionality. Examples of such specialized memory devices include buffer memory devices such as first-in first-out (FIFO) memory devices, last-in first-out (LIFO or "stack") memory devices, shift registers and content-addressable memory (CAM) devices.
A final classification of semiconductor memories is based on the number of data input and data output ports associated with the memory cells therein. For example, although most memory devices have unit cells therein that provide only a single port which is shared to provide an input and output path for transfer of data, memory devices with higher bandwidth requirements often have cells therein with multiple input and output ports. However, the addition of ports to unit memory cells typically increases the complexity and layout area requirements for these higher bandwidth memory devices.
Single-port memory devices are typically made using static RAM cells if fast data access times are a requirement, and dynamic RAM cells if low cost is a primary requirement. Many FIFO memory devices use dual-port RAM based designs with self-incrementing internal read and write pointers to achieve fast fall-through capability. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, fall-through capability is typically measured as the time elapsing between the end of a write cycle into a previously empty FIFO and the time an operation to read that data may begin. Exemplary FIFO memory devices are more fully described and illustrated at section 2.2.7 of a textbook by A. K. Sharma entitled "Semiconductor Memories: Technology, Testing and Reliability", IEEE Press (1997).
In particular, dual-port SRAM-based FIFOs typically utilize separate read and write pointers to advantageously allow read and write operations to occur independently of each other and achieve fast fall-through capability since data written into a dual-port SRAM FIFO can be immediately accessed for reading. Since these read and write operations may occur independently, independent read and write clocks having different frequencies may be provided to enable the FIFO to act as a buffer between peripheral devices operating at different rates. Unfortunately, a major disadvantage of typical dual-port SRAM-based FIFOs is the relatively large unit cell size for each dual-port SRAM cell therein. Thus, for a given semiconductor chip size, dual-port buffer memory devices typically provide less memory capacity relative to single-port buffer memory devices. For example, using a standard DRAM cell as a reference unit cell consuming one (1) unit of area, a single-port SRAM unit cell typically may consume four (4) units of area and a dual-port SRAM unit cell typically may consume sixteen (16) units of area. Moreover, the relatively large unit cells of a dual-port SRAM FIFO limit the degree to which the number of write operations can exceed the number of read operations, that is, limit the capacity of the FIFO.
To address these limitations of dual-port buffer memory devices, single-port buffer memory devices have been developed to, among other things, achieve higher data capacities for a given semiconductor chip size. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,347 to Ko et al. entitled "Interleaving Architecture And Method For A High Density FIFO", assigned to the present assignee, discloses a preferred memory device which has high capacity and uses relatively small single-port memory cells. However, the use of only single port memory cells typically precludes simultaneous read and write access to data in the same memory cell which means that single-port buffer memory devices typically have slower fall-through time than comparable dual-port memory devices. Moreover, single-port buffer memory devices may use complicated arbitration hardware to control sequencing and queuing of reading and writing operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,708 to Kobayashi also discloses a FIFO memory device containing a single-port memory array, a read data register for holding read data from the memory array and a write data register for holding write data to the memory array. A bypass switch is also provided for transferring data from the write data register to the read data register so that the memory array can be bypassed during testing of the FIFO to detect the presence of defects therein. However, like the above-described single-port buffer memory devices, simultaneous read and write access to data is not feasible.
Thus, notwithstanding the above described buffer memory devices, there still exists a need to develop high speed buffer memory devices having expanded functionality, increased data capacity and reduced unit cell size.


A mobile basket for consolidation work on walls is provided with a main frame, configured in the front part for hoisting and for translating the new basket up and down a wall and having legs fitted on the sides of said main frame. A secondary frame or cage is structured for supporting a magazine of drill rods, as well as a mast or drill and a mechanical hand applied to the secondary frame or cage positions parallel to its longer side and essentially perpendicular to the main frame. The mechanical hand, positioned between the mast or drill and the magazine, is configured to take a rod from the magazine and transfer it to the mast or drill.

Stretches of roads or railways or other installations below rocky walls can be endangered by the instability of the wall above. To prevent fragments and portions of a rocky wall from falling onto stretches of road or railway or on the installations below, the rocky wall is consolidated with netting and cables laid on the wall in order to contain it. Said netting and cables are fixed at intervals over the surface of the wall by means of active and/or passive tie rods driven into the wall.
To correctly lay the netting and cables and to position the tie rods in the rocky wall, two methods are currently used. One method consists in the laying of ground supporting structures, such as tubular scaffolding, for the personnel and machinery. The other method makes use of mobile suspended baskets, which move vertically up and down the wall to be consolidated.
Said baskets consist mainly of a parallelepiped metal structure, suspended at the top of the wall to be consolidated by means of supporting cables; the basket is vertically translated up and down the rocky wall by means of cables operated by one or more hoisting elements. The metal structure of the basket is designed to accommodate the personnel assigned to consolidation of the wall, in addition to the machinery and tools, including the material necessary for laying and affixing the netting and cables to the rocky wall and for the performance of the drilling operations.
The known suspended baskets are provided, on the side facing the rocky wall, with sliding blocks or guides designed both to facilitate translation of the basket up and down the rocky wall and to improve the stability of the basket on the rocky wall during the various consolidation operations. These baskets are also provided with a series of extendible pistons used both to facilitate movement and to stabilize the basket. The above baskets have a number of drawbacks that complicate operations for perfect execution of consolidation work and force the operators to perform several vertical translations up and down the wall and to adopt intricate and complicated stratagems, which at times put their own safety at risk.
In addition to these drawbacks, the current baskets expose the operators to harmful effects deriving from the work carried out, dust and noise, and to the risks inherent in the wall itself, collapse and landslides of portions at risk.
The main problem that the known baskets have to overcome is the continuous variation in configuration due to the irregularity of the rocky wall to be consolidated at the various points along the path of the basket.
Another drawback of the known baskets is the difficulty of reaching, even only occasionally and/or temporarily, areas immediately adjacent to the vertical path of the basket without translating the lifting unit installed at the top of the rocky wall. During consolidation of the wall, situations may occur that cannot be predicted in advance and consequently it is not possible to program with absolute certainty the vertical bands covered by the path of the basket unless each path is amply overlapped with the adjacent ones.
A further drawback of the known baskets consists in the difficulty of the basket, during its vertical translation, of overcoming sudden changes in gradient such as parts jutting out, recesses or projections, ledges or niches.

Mobile basket for consolidation work on walls


A method and/or computer for a tuned spin count in a multithreaded system determines a re-calculation time interval at which to re-calculate a current spin lock value. Then, a spin-lock-re-calculation is repeatedly executed at the re-calculation time interval to perform:

There may be many cases where one thread in an application has to wait for another thread to reach a certain point before the thread can make further progress. This may be a thread which is, for example, waiting on a mutual exclusion lock (mutex), or which is consuming events from a queue, and needs work to be placed on the queue before progress can be made. A typical simplistic approach to the need to wait for another thread is to make use of operating system primitives, exposed through interfaces such as pthread's condition variables, to allow a thread to wait (using a wait call) until another thread has signaled it to wake up (using a signal call). This is perfectly reasonable in cases with low performance requirements. Nevertheless, at higher throughputs, the following problems are exhibited:                Both wait and signal require invocations into the operating system (OS) scheduler, paying the cost of a system call, the cost of any scheduler operations, and because the OS scheduler is typically a single entity in a system, scalability problems as many threads calling into the scheduler will be serialized.        When one thread signals another thread, both threads will typically contend on mutexes or atomic compare and swap operations, leading to cache misses and CPU stalls.
Much higher throughput can be achieved if, instead of immediately executing the wait/signal synchronization primitives, threads which need to wait for a resource simply put off checking the resource that they are waiting on, so as to examine the resource after a short delay. If a thread is not blocked on a wait, then the thread making the resource available does not have to signal the consuming thread, provided that it is known that the thread waiting on the resource will examine the resource in a short time. Again, the simplistic approach is to use operating system primitives such as a sleep call, but these suffer from the same scheduler interaction problems as wait does, namely, there is a relatively large cost in interacting with the OS scheduler. Furthermore, sleeps are typically of a much coarser resolution than is desired (on the order of milliseconds to tens or hundreds of milliseconds), which causes very large latencies and much larger than desired batches (which further can cause cache misses or even can cause a process to swap out to disk, adversely affecting performance).
Instead of using a "wait" call or a "sleep" call to the OS scheduler, a common technique is for a thread to execute a loop a certain number of times, for the purpose of delaying further useful execution of the thread before examining the resource. This is referred to as a "spin loop." The spin loop takes a number of CPU clock cycles to complete but does not otherwise do anything useful. By delaying to examine the resource under contention, contention is reduced. Furthermore, by not calling the OS scheduler, the disadvantages of interacting with the scheduler are avoided.
The optimal spin time for a spin loop is such that it is short enough to be comparable to the time it would have taken to use wait and signal (taking into account the cost of both the overhead of the wait and the signal), but large enough to reduce contention on the resource being waited on. Otherwise, CPU cache misses are provoked on both the consumer thread and, more critically, the producing thread. After a spin loop has completed, if there is still no way for that thread to make progress (for example, the mutex it is waiting to lock is still held, or no work has been added to a queue), then it may be desirable to fall back to the OS scheduler-driven wait and signal technique. Although the overhead using the OS scheduler is greater than the spin loop, it is undesirable to have threads simply spinning in spin loops for long durations which do not achieve useful work, because this can prevent other threads from getting useful work done, and it wastes energy, thereby increasing running costs. Thus, a spin loop which is too short can degrade to the simplistic wait and signal approach, with the attendant performance problems.
These and other known solutions are examples of standard techniques for mutually coordinating between threads which can be synchronized with each other and/or can share resources, for example.
Nevertheless, the conventional spin loop technique, and the wait/signal operations, do not overcome drawbacks and can exhibit problems in operation in real world scenarios.

Abstract: observing a current environment of the multithreaded system, determining, using a second-order tuning and values of the current environment, a dynamically calculated heuristic to provide the newly-recalculated spin lock value, and memorizing the newly re-calculated spin lock value, in a memory, as the current spin lock value. Meanwhile, thread(s) in the multithreaded system which want to execute a spinlock will obtain the current spin lock value which is memorized in the memory, and execute the spin lock using the current spin lock value to set a length of the spin lock.


An object of the present invention is to provide a drug which prevents progress of Alzheimer's disease and a method of preventing progress of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease can be effectively prevented or treated by initiating administration of a pharmaceutical composition comprising 1-(3-(2-(1-benzothiophen-5-yl)ethoxy)propyl)azetidin-3-ol or a salt thereof as an active ingredient to a patient within a certain period from clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

Dementia is a neurodegenerative disease with significantly reduced cognitive function caused by, for example, brain atrophy and/or cerebrovascular disorder. Dementia is classified into some types by its cause, and 60% to 80% of the patients with dementia suffers from Alzheimer's disease (AD) (Non Patent Literature 1). The pathogenesis of AD is complicated, and the cause is considered to be the formation of senile plaques due to coagulation of amyloid-β protein (AP) or neurofibrillary changes caused by coagulation of phosphorylated Tau protein (p-Tau) (Non Patent Literature 2). The number of patients with AD in Japan is estimated to be about more than 1,160,000. The incidence is higher in advanced age, and thus with the aging of society, the number of patients is expected to increase rapidly, causing a greater burden on patients' family and a sharp rise in medical and nursing care expenses in the future (Non Patent Literatures 3, 4). Thus, treatment of AD is important for not only preventing patients' quality of life from decreasing and reducing burden on their family thereafter, but also reducing medical expenses in the future aging society.
Symptoms of dementia include core symptoms of cognitive impairment and peripheral symptoms such as problem behaviors seen when patients with cognitive impairment interact with people around them (Non Patent Literature 5). At present four agents are used as an agent for treating AD in Japan: donepezil hydrochloride, galantamine hydrobromide, and rivastigmine, which are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, and memantine hydrochloride which is a N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist. These are all capable of reducing core symptoms or peripheral symptoms. However, these drugs are symptomatic drugs which improve core symptoms or peripheral symptoms for a certain period of time, and do not suppress neurodegeneration in AD. Although these drugs are temporally effective in improving cognitive function at the beginning of use, the cognitive function usually becomes worse than cognitive function before the treatment, after about 48 weeks or more (Non Patent Literature 6).
1-(3-(2-(l-benzothiophen-5-yl)ethoxy)propyl)azetidin-3-ol (hereinafter referred to as "Compound A") or a salt thereof is known to have neuroprotective, nerve regeneration-promoting and neurite outgrowth actions, and be useful as a therapeutic agent for central and peripheral neurological diseases (Patent Literature 1). Furthermore, a publication discloses that usually the drug may be administered to an adult in a dose or divided doses of 0.01 to 500 mg per day (Patent Literature 2).

Agent for preventing or treating Alzheimer's disease


A Raman spectroscopy system is disclosed which includes a sub-wavelength resonant grating filter and a photodiode with integrated sub-wavelength resonant grating filter are disclosed. The resonant grating filter comprises an array of diffraction elements having a periodic spacing that is less than the wavelength of radiation to be filtered and which are formed over a waveguide layer. The filter, which can reject a specific wavelength of radiation, can be placed between a Raman sample and a Raman detector in order to filter radiation that is elastically scattered from the sample while transmitting other wavelengths. The wavelength rejected by the filter can be selected by tilting the filter with respect to the radiation incident upon the filter.

In Raman spectroscopy, a sample comprised of one or more molecules can scatter or absorb a photon incident upon the sample. The molecule-photon interaction can temporarily change the energy state of a molecule within the sample, i.e., the energy state of a molecule can be changed from an initial state to an excited state through a dipole-allowed transition. After a short period of time, typically less than about 10−14 seconds, the molecule can relax from its excited state with the concomitant emission of a new photon. The energy of emitted photons as well as photons scattered by the sample can be classified into one of three categories.
First, an emitted photon having less energy (i.e., lower frequency) than the incident photon is referred to as a "Stokes" emission. Stokes emissions occur when a molecule absorbs incident photon energy and relaxes into an excited rotational and/or vibrational state. Each molecular species in a sample can generate a characteristic set of Stokes emissions, the intensity of which is proportional to the density in the sample of the molecular species.
Second, an emitted photon having more energy (i.e., higher frequency) than the incident photon is called an "Anti-Stokes" emission. Anti-Stokes emissions can occur when an incident photon interacts with a molecule already in an excited state. During the molecule-photon interaction, the molecule can decay from the excited state to a lower energy state. The anti-Stokes photon will be emitted with the energy of the incident photon plus the difference in energy between the molecule's excited state and its lower energy state. As with Stokes emissions, each molecular species in a sample can generate a characteristic set of anti-Stokes emissions, the intensity of which is proportional to the density in the sample of the molecular species. Stokes and Anti-Stokes emissions (collectively Raman emissions) can provide quantitative information about the molecular species contributing to the scattering process.
Third, an elastically scattered photon has the same energy as the incident photon. Sample molecules that contribute to elastic scattering return to their initial energy state. Typically, the intensity of elastic (or Rayleigh) scattered photons dominates the scattering/emission spectra. different filter arrangements have been used to remove or reduce the intensity of the Rayleigh scattered photons. For example, triple monochromators, edge filters, and notch filters have been used. These filters arrangements are expensive and/or result in the attenuation of at least a portion of the Raman spectrum.

Raman spectroscopy system and method using a subwavelength resonant grating filter

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Disclosed are systems and methods for creating data objects, which includes querying a database to locate a first table associated with a first data type to be created, loading a plurality of rows from the first table during the query associated with the first table, creating a first set of data objects associated with the first data type, wherein each data object of the first set is created from data stored in each of the rows loaded from the first table. The systems and methods also include querying the database to locate a second data type to be created, wherein the second data type depends from the first data type, wherein the data objects of the second set depend from the data objects of the first set, and associating each data object of the second set to an associated parent object of the first set.

Typical object-relational mapping is very resource intensive and requires many database queries to perform object-relational mapping. The time and resources required to perform object-relational mapping increases even more when objects stored in a database have a class dependency from other objects. Typically, the database will need to be queried once for all objects of the parent class object, and once for each object of the dependent class, and once for each object that may further depend from one of these classes. If a high number of objects have dependent relationships with a high number of other objects, it may take an unreasonable amount of time and resources to separately query each object and dependent objects from the one or more databases. The need has arisen to provide a mechanism for using type based object loading for object-relational mapping to greatly reduce the queries made on a database, especially when several objects have dependent relationships with other objects to be loaded.

System and method for loading objects for object-relational mapping


A barbeque accessory assembly for use with a barbeque grill having an enclosure within which is contained a fire ring positioned over a fire box, with a grill grate positioned in vertically spaced relation above the fire ring. The accessory assembly includes a component bar receiving bracket positioned above the fire box and a pair of arms for supporting a bracket body on the fire box. The bracket body also includes a notch for receiving and supporting one end of a component bar thereon. The bracket body including a slot for receiving an accessory therein.

This application relates to accessories for use with barbeque grills. In particular, the disclosure of this application relates specifically to accessories designed for use with a kamado-type grill product. The most well-known and popular such grill is marketed under the trademark Big Green Egg. Such grills include a generally egg-shaped outer shell within which are contained various components intended to permit various types of food to be cooked in various ways. This invention provides several interior components that are designed to provide maximum utility of the grill for differing cooking methods while maintaining and maximizing the interior capacity of the grill in a manner not presently available.


A display panel includes a first substrate in which a display region and a circuit component mounting region are defined and a second substrate, an end of which is cut to expose the circuit component mounting region. The first substrate includes a plurality of first source wirings formed from the display region to the circuit component mounting region and a wiring protection pattern formed in a region corresponding to the cut end of the second substrate between any adjacent first source wirings. In a cross sectional view, an upper end of the wiring protection pattern is located above an upper end of the first source wirings.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display panel and a display device including the same and in particular, relates to suppression of a wire breakage and the like in a display panel.
Description of the Background Art
Display devices are widely adopted as user interfaces in various fields, and liquid crystal display devices using liquid crystals are mainstream of current display devices. A liquid crystal display device is provided with a thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate, a counter substrate disposed to face the TFT array substrate, and a liquid crystal layer provided therebetween.
In the TFT array substrate, a display region for displaying video and a circuit component mounting region on which circuit components are mounted are defined. The counter substrate of the liquid crystal display device is cut to expose the circuit component mounting region.
In a cutting process for exposing the circuit component mounting region, a sharp foreign matter is generated. Particularly, in a case of using a glass plate as the substrate, a foreign matter that is sharp and firm is generated. If such the foreign matter comes into contact with (adheres to) a surface of the TFT array substrate and an external force is applied to the foreign matter, a protective film (insulating film) and a wiring of the TFT array substrate may be damaged in some cases. Moreover, if an offcut formed in the cutting process comes into contact with the surface of the TFT array substrate, the protective film and consequently the wiring of the TFT array substrate may also be damaged in some cases.
As a result, a wiring is broken and a malfunction such as a line defect of the display occurs. In addition, a product separated in an inspection during a manufacturing process due to a line defect such as a wire breakage is eliminated, so that the wire breakage is one of the factors that reduce yields of products. Moreover, in the case where a product with damage which does not cause a wire breakage during the manufacturing process passes the inspection, there is a possibility that a line defect may occur after shipment.
About this, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-230885 discloses a technique for suppressing an impact on the TFT array substrate at the time of cutting the counter substrate. Specifically, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-230885 discloses the technique capable of reducing an impact on the wiring disposed as a lower layer and preventing a wire breakage by forming a pattern in a floating potential state on the wiring connecting the display region and the circuit component mounting region.
In the configuration of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-230885, the pattern serving as a shock absorbing layer is further formed on a plurality of wirings, respectively, so that the shock absorbing layer reduces the impact on the wirings as the lower layer. Unfortunately, the entire film thickness of a laminated film (such as the shock absorbing layer and insulating layer) on the wirings is significantly thick, and thus there is a higher probability to come into contact with a foreign matter, whereby there is a possibility that the laminated film is destroyed and the wirings are exposed. When the wirings are exposed, they become susceptible to moisture and the like from the outside, and there is a higher possibility that a malfunction such as a wire breakage occurs because electric corrosion is induced as the wirings are energized.

Display panel including wiring protection pattern and display device


Systems and methods for providing AC power from multiple turbine engine spools are disclosed. A system in a particular embodiment includes a turbofan engine having a compressor, a first turbine and a first shaft connected between the compressor and the first turbine, and a fan, a second turbine and a second shaft connected between the fan and the second turbine. The system can further include a state power bus and a first energy converter coupled between the first shaft and the power bus, with the first energy converter including a starter/generator, and being positioned to convert a first variable frequency energy transmitted by the first shaft to a first generally constant frequency energy. A second energy converter can be coupled between the second shaft and the power bus, with the second energy converter including a generator and being positioned to convert a second variable frequency energy transmitted by the second shaft to a second generally constant frequency energy, with the second generally constant frequency energy in phase with and at generally the same frequency as the first generally constant frequency energy. A controller can be operatively coupled to the starter/generator and the generator, e.g., to control the functions of these devices.

Modern commercial transport aircraft are typically driven by two or more high bypass ratio turbofan engines. These engines include a fan that provides a significant fraction of the overall propulsion system thrust. An engine core drives the fan as well as one or more compressors, and produces additional thrust by directing exhaust products in an aft direction.
In addition to providing thrust to propel the aircraft, and powering the aircraft hydraulic and pneumatic systems, the turbofan engines provide electrical power to many aircraft components, including the environmental control system, aircraft computers, hydraulic motor pumps, and/or other motors and electrical devices. One approach to obtaining electrical power from the aircraft engines is to convert the rotational motion of the turbomachinery components to electrical power. While this approach has been generally effective, the manner in which the power is extracted from the engines is not always efficient. This in turn can create additional inefficiencies as automated aircraft systems and/or crew compensate or overcompensate for an initially inefficient power extraction. Accordingly, there remains a need for more efficient techniques for extracting electrical power from aircraft turbofan engines.


A hybrid data distribution system includes a modulator coupled to an analog device, one or more processors coupled to the modulator, and a database coupled to the one or more processors. The database is configured to store encoded data. The system also includes an Ethernet switch for transmitting the encoded data to a digital device. The Ethernet switch is coupled to each of the database and the digital device. Moreover, the one or more processors are configured to directly or indirectly obtain the encoded data from the database, decode the encoded data, and directly or indirectly transmit the decoded data to the modulator. The modulator is configured to transmit the decoded data to the analog device, and the Ethernet switch is configured to directly or indirectly obtain the encoded data from the database, and to transmit the encoded data to the digital device.

The present invention relates generally to hybrid data distribution systems. In particular, the present invention is directed towards hybrid data distribution systems including a database for storing encoded data, in which the system is configured to transmit the encoded data to a digital device, and to decode the encoded data and transmit the decoded data to an analog device.
Known cable systems used by cable providers include a data distribution system. Specifically, the cable provider has a first plurality of customers which receive digital cable, and a second plurality of customers which receive analog cable. The customers receiving digital cable have a digital device, such as a digital set top box, electrically connected to their television, and the customers receiving analog cable have an analog device, such as a television commander, electrically connected to their television.
The analog device is configured to receive decoded (non-encoded) data from the cable provider's data distribution system. Specifically, the cable provider's data distribution system stores encoded data, and is configured to decode the data and to transmit the decoded data to the analog device. Such decoded data may be associated with television programs which the analog cable customer may view. Nevertheless, such decoded data does not include an interactive item selection system. After the analog device receives the decoded data, the analog device displays the decoded data on a viewing surface of the television.
The digital device includes a processor and is configured to receive encoded data from the cable provider's data distribution system. Such encoded data may be associated with an interactive item selection system, movies viewable after the digital cable customer selects a movie from the interactive item selection system, television programs, or the like. After the digital device receives the encoded data, the digital device decodes the encoded data, and displays the decoded data on the viewing surface of the television. Receiving encoded data from the cable provider's data distribution system allows the digital device to receive more data without increasing the amount of bandwidth relative to the amount of data received by the analog device. Consequently, the quality of the picture and/or the sound of the data received by the digital device is superior in comparison to the quality of the picture and/or the sound of the data received by the analog device.
Nevertheless, in such known cable systems, the analog cable customer is not able to receive an interactive item selection system and to select items from the item selection system for viewing, such as movies. Using the known cable systems, to allow both the digital cable customers and the analog cable customers to receive and use the interactive item selection system, the cable provider would have to purchase both digital hardware and analog hardware and set them up side-by-side. This would result in duplicate storage of the data, i.e., the analog and the digital data distribution systems would both store the data, which would reduce cost efficiency. Moreover, separate billing software would have to be used by the analog and digital data distribution systems for analog cable customers and digital cable customers, respectively.
Known hotel video on-demand systems are used to provide a hotel guest with an user-friendly interface for selecting movies and other audio-visual products. Such video on-demand systems include a data distribution system electrically connected to an analog device, and the analog device is electrically connected to a television in the hotel guest's room. The analog device is configured to receive decoded (non-encoded) data from the data distribution system. Specifically, the data distribution system stores encoded data, and is configured to decode the data and to transmit the decoded data to the analog device. Such decoded data may be associated with movies, television programs, item selection systems, or the like. After the analog device receives the decoded data, the analog device displays the decoded data on a viewing surface of the television.
Nevertheless, in order to offer the hotel guest encoded (digital) data using such known hotel video on-demand systems, a significant number of analog channels would have to be sacrificed, thereby reducing the number of channels available to the hotel guest.


A portable workstation that is collapsible into a carrying case. The portable workstation comprises an articulating support structure and an enclosure structure that cooperate between an open usable position and a closed carrying case position. In the closed carrying case position, the articulating support structure is substantially enclosed within the enclosure structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to workstations and more particularly to portable workstations for portable computing devices and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
For those who often spend hours at a time working on computers or playing video games or "surfing" the Internet, the ability to adjust the position of the keyboard, monitor and other user interface devices to comfortable and ergonomic positions is particularly desirable. Various types of computer stands or workstations, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,630,566; 5,779,305; 6,056,363; 6,098,936; 6,102,476 and 6,145,926, have been developed in an attempt to address this need. While the above-identified workstations may serve their intended purpose, it appears that they are intended strictly for home or office use only, in that they are incorporated into a reclinable chair or they are intended to replace a conventional desk or other office furniture.
With the advances in computer technology in the portable computer industry with respect to processor speed, memory, data storage capacity and improvement of the displays, most portable computers now have the functionality that, even within the last few years, was only available in desktop computers. Along with these advances in technology, the price of portable computers have continually decreased enabling more and more users to afford the convenience of portable computers. In addition, due to the ever increasing popularity of the Internet and reliance on e-mail for both business and personal use, more and more people are traveling with their portable computers on business trips, vacations or carrying their portable computers between home and work so they can stay "connected" with their office, friends or family.
Most commercially available portable computer carrying cases or bags provide the necessary ability to easily transport portable computers and the various accessories needed to provide the functionality for using the computer and gaining access to the Internet. Unfortunately, while a user is able to carry virtually everything he or she may need to use the computer in a computer bag or briefcase, when using the portable computer, the user typically places the portable computer on a desk, table, stand or on the user's lap which is often uncomfortable and ergonomically improper.
Accordingly, there is a need in the industry for a portable workstation that provides the ergonomic features and functionalities of a sturdy, stationary workstation, but which is easily collapsible and lightweight so it can be carried with the portable computer so it can be used virtually anywhere the user desires.
Others have attempted to devise carrying cases which allow the user some adjustability of the portable computer by allowing the user to tilt the computer within the carrying case by a tilt-up hinge mechanism. Examples of such devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,349,825; 6,352,155 and in U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2002/0063072. While each of these devices may serve their intended purpose, these devices lack an articulating support structure which enables both horizontal and vertical movement of the computer in any direction such that the user can position the portable computer in virtually any ergonomically desirable or comfortable position.


A data storage apparatus includes: a memory configured to store data; an input delay circuit configured to input a set of data of a plurality of bits into the memory at different timings between the plurality of bits by adding different delays to the plurality of bits in the set of data or by adding different delays to bits in bit groups obtained by grouping the plurality of bits in units of a consecutive bits; and an output delay circuit configured to obtain an original set of data, which is the set of data before the input delay circuit adds the different delays, by adding, to the plurality of bits in the set of data output from the memory, delays having a pattern opposite that of the delays added by the input delay circuit.

When radiation such as high-energy neutrons, thermal neutrons, or alpha particles is radiated onto a semiconductor integrated circuit, a soft error, in which data is inverted, might occur (for example, refer to C. Horikiri "Urgent Need for Countermeasures against Soft Errors: SRAMs and Logical Circuits", Nikkei Electronics, Nikkei Business Publications, Inc., Japan, Jul. 4, 2005, Issue 903, pp. 63-70 and Y. Tosaka "The Facts of Soft Errors You Should Know: History, Evaluation Method, and Countermeasures", Nikkei Electronics, Nikkei Business Publications, Inc., Japan, Jul. 4, 2005, Issue 903, pp. 145-156). Currently, a semiconductor integrated circuit apparatus has been disclosed in which memory cells that store data read in the same cycle are arranged away from one another in order to keep a plurality of pieces of bit data read in the same cycle from being inverted even if an soft error occurs (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-268560). In addition, in a semiconductor storage device such as a flash memory, a technique for increasing the reliability of stored data by rearranging data of a plurality of bits and separately storing the data in a plurality of physical storage regions has been disclosed (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-234883).

Data storage apparatus and method for storing data


A semiconductor storage apparatus is disclosed, which comprises a sense amplifier area having many sense amplifiers for amplifying information which is read from a memory cell to a digit line, each of the sense amplifiers being composed of an N-MOS transistor and a P-MOS transistor, the sense amplifier area being divided into a plurality of portions, an N-MOS transistor activation signal generating circuit for generating a signal for activating the N-MOS transistor, and a P-MOS transistor activation signal generating circuit for generating a signal for activating the P-MOS transistor, wherein one of the N-MOS transistor activation signal generating circuit and the P-MOS transistor activation signal generating circuit is disposed in a opening between the divided portions of the sense amplifier area, and wherein the other of the N-MOS transistor activation signal generating circuit and the P-MOS transistor activation signal generating circuit is disposed in the sense amplifier area adjacent to a MOS transistor which constitutes a sense amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor storage apparatus and in particular, to a layout of MOS transistors which constitute a sense amplifier activation signal generating circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, low-resistance metal lines disposed on multiple layers are used in semiconductor storage apparatuses. For example, in highly integrated DRAMs such as 16-M DRAMs or DRAMs of the following generations, low resistance metal lines such as aluminum lines and high-melting-point metal lines are disposed on two layers. Thus, the layout of an array area consisting of memory cells, sense amplifiers, a row decoder, a column decoder, and so forth has been improved. A first conventional layout is shown in FIG. 4.
In FIG. 4, memory cell areas 55 and sense amplifier areas 56 are alternately disposed as a major portion of array area 57. In each memory cell area 55, memory cells are disposed. In each sense amplifier area 57, sense amplifiers SA are disposed. Column decoder 51 is disposed at an edge portion of the array area 57. Column selection signals 52 that are outputted from column decoder 51 are disposed in array area 57 with metal lines disposed on a second layer (upper layer). Each of column selection signals 52 is connected to switching transistors I/O SWs of each sense amplifiers SA.
Sense amplifier activation signal generating circuits 53 are disposed in peripheral circuit area 58 that is disposed outside array area 57. Sense amplifier activation signals SAP and SAN that are output signals of each of sense amplifier activation signal generating circuits 53 are disposed in sense amplifier area 56 with metal lines disposed on a first layer (lower layer).
In the case that a semiconductor storage apparatus is laid out with two layers of low resistance metal lines, the thickness of the lower metal wring layer for the sense amplifier activation signals SAP and SAN should be decreased in order to flatten a base insulation film of metal lines for column selection signals 52 disposed on the upper layer. For example, when the film thickness of the upper metal lines is 1 .mu.m, the film thickness of the lower metal lines should be around 0.5 .mu.m. Thus, the stray resistance of the lower metal lines increases.
The sense amplifier activation signals SAP and SAN are connected to many sense amplifiers SA (around 1024 sense amplifiers SA for a 16-M DRAM). When a sense amplifier is operated, a large current flows. Thus, when the stray resistance increases, the charging/discharging capacity of the sense amplifiers SA degrades, whereby the high speed operation and stable operation of the sense amplifiers SA are adversely affected.
In order to solve such a problem, the width of lines for sense amplifier activation signals SAP and SAN is increased. In this case, the size of the sense amplifier becomes large and thus the size of the semiconductor chip becomes large. In the latest DRAM (for example, a 64-M DRAM), around 34 sense amplifier areas 56 are disposed in a row. Thus, the increased size of one sense amplifier is multiplied by 34 times for the size of a semiconductor chip.
In another conventional layout, a sense amplifier activation signal generating circuit is divided into a plurality of portions and disposed in the vicinity of sense amplifiers. Thus, the number of sense amplifiers connected to each sense amplifier activation signal is decreased so that the amount of charging/discharging current is decreased. In addition, the length of lines is decreased so as to decrease the stray resistance of the lines.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a second conventional layout in which a sense amplifier activation signal generating circuit is disposed in a sense amplifier area (for example, ESSCC PROCEEDINGS, PP. 41-44, 1993).
In FIG. 5, MOS transistors 31 and 32 which constitute a sense amplifier activation signal generating circuit are provided for four sense amplifiers SA and disposed adjacent to four sense amplifiers SA. The sources of MOS transistors 31 and 32 are connected to metal lines 39a and 39b that are a ground line and a power line disposed on the upper layer, respectively. Metal lines 39a and 39b are alternately disposed among column selection signals 39c to 39f in parallel.
In such a layout, since MOS transistors 31 and 32 of the sense amplifier activation signal generating circuit activate only four sense amplifiers SA, the width of lines connected to the sense amplifiers SA can be decreased. In addition, since the sources of MOS transistors 31 and 32 are connected to metal lines on the thick upper layer in a short distance, the charging/discharging capacity can be increased.
However, when such a layout is used, since MOS transistors 31 and 32 that generate sense amplifier activation signals should be added, the area of sense amplifier area 33 is increased.
Estimating the increase for a 64-M DRAM, the size of each sense amplifier is increased by 7 .mu.m. Thus, the size of the longer side of the semiconductor chip is increased by a total of 238 .mu.m.
In order to prevent the increase of the size of each sense amplifier, a third conventional layout has been proposed. In the third layout, a sense amplifier activation signal generating circuit is disposed in a position different from the position in the first solution.
In recent years, in order to decrease the resistance of word lines, DRAMS have low resistance metal lines disposed in parallel with the word lines and connected at predetermined intervals, for example every 32 sense amplifiers, with the word lines in a memory cell area. Thus, since the connection area has a certain opening, the sense amplifier area also has a certain opening.
In a highly integrated storage apparatus such as 64-M DRAMs or DRAMs of the following generations, a word line is hierarchically selected. A word line selecting circuit is disposed at a connected portion of a word line with a metal line. In this case, there is an opening between adjacent sense amplifier areas. In addition, the opening is larger than the mere connected portion which was explained above.
In the third conventional layout, a sense amplifier activation signal generating circuit is disposed in the opening in the sense amplifier areas.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of such a DRAM.
In FIG. 6, in order to decrease the resistance of lead lines, MOS transistors 41 and 42 that constitute a sense amplifier activation signal generating circuit are disposed in a connected area of a word line with a low resistance metal line or an opening area 48 which is between sense amplifiers SA and is adjacent to areas 46 of a word line selecting circuit. The sources of MOS transistors 41 and 42 are connected to ground line 49b and power line 49a, respectively. Ground line 49a and power line 49b are disposed in parallel with column selection signals 49c to 49f and in opening 48 between sense amplifier area 43.
However, in this case, power line 49b and ground line 49a cannot be disposed with a sufficient width. In other words, when opening area 48 is disposed adjacent to the connected portion of the word line and the low resistance metal line, the width of opening area 48 is as small as several .mu.m. On the other hand, when opening area 48 is disposed adjacent to word line selecting circuits 46, the width of opening area 48 is around 20 to 30 .mu.m. However, since a signal line for selecting a word line is also disposed, the area remained for power line 49b and ground line 49a becomes small.
A fourth conventional layout in which a power line and a ground line are alternately disposed between column selection signal lines, which is similar to the first solution shown in FIG. 5, has been proposed (for example, ISSCC, pp. 108-109, Feb. 1991).
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of such DRAM. In FIG. 7, ground line 49a and power line 49b disposed among column selection signal lines 49c to 49f are connected to MOS transistors 41 and 42 via a ground line 44c and a power line 45c disposed in sense amplifier area 43, respectively.
However, in this solution, since power line 45c and ground line 44c are disposed in sense amplifier area 43, the size of the sense amplifier is increased. In addition, since metal lines of sense amplifier area 43 are disposed on the lower layer, the thickness of the lower layer should be decreased. If the thickness is decreased, the stray resistance increases. On the other hand, when the width of the lines is increased in order to decrease the stray resistance, the size of the sense amplifier is further increased.

Semiconductor storage apparatus having an activation signal generating circuitry disposed both on the inside and in between the sense amplifier areas


An optical scanning device includes a light source, a light-beam splitting unit, a deflector, and a scanning optical system. The light-beam splitting unit splits a light beam from the light source into a plurality of light beams, so that the light beams are each incident to any one of reflecting surfaces of the deflector while having a phase difference of approximately π/2. The scanning optical system receives the light beams from the deflector and projects each of the light beams onto a corresponding target surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical scanning device and an image forming apparatus including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
With improvement in colorization and high-speed processing of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a laser plotter, a digital copier, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction product, there has been widely used a tandem-type image forming apparatus including a plurality of (typically four) photosensitive elements as image carriers. For example, in the tandem-type image forming apparatus, four photosensitive elements are arranged along a transfer belt (or intermediate transfer belt) that conveys a recording material. A charging unit charges the photosensitive elements, and then a writing unit forms latent images on the photosensitive elements, one on each of them. A developing unit then develops the latent images using developers of different colors (for example, toner of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black) into visible images. The visible images of different colors are superimposed and transferred onto the recording material conveyed by the transfer belt (or the intermediate transfer belt), so that a color image is formed.
Some electrophotographic color image forming apparatuses that employ a single-drum intermediate transfer system includes only one photosensitive element. In the single-drum intermediate transfer system, a photosensitive element is rotated the number of colors, e.g., four times, per color image, so that images of the colors are sequentially transferred onto an intermediate transfer member as superimposed images. Afterward, the superimposed images are collectively transferred onto a recording material. In such an image forming apparatus, however, it is necessary to rotate the photosensitive element four times for forming a full-color image, which causes lower productivity than the tandem-type image forming apparatus.
Thus, the tandem-type image forming apparatus can achieve a higher processing speed and a higher productivity than the single-drum image forming apparatus. However, in the tandem-type image forming apparatus, a writing unit performs optical writing on a plurality of photosensitive elements by using an optical scanning unit including a light source corresponding to each photosensitive element. For example, four light sources are usually necessary for writing to four photosensitive elements. An increase of the light sources causes an increase of the number of components to be used, color shift due to a wavelength difference between the light sources, and an increase in costs.
Furthermore, deterioration of a laser diode is one of the reasons for malfunction of the writing unit. Therefore, the increase of the light sources causes a higher probability of malfunction of the light source, resulting in a decrease of recyclability.
A conventional technology for decreasing the number of light sources used in the optical scanning device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-23085. A pyramidal mirror or a flat-plate mirror is used to scan a plurality of surfaces to be scanned with light beams emitted from a common light source. Although the conventional technology can reduce the number of light sources, a light beam needs to be deflected by two surfaces of deflecting mirrors, which makes it difficult to perform high-speed processing.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-284822 discloses a conventional technology for solving the above-describe problem. In an optical scanning device according to the conventional technology, light beams emitted from a light source is split into two light fluxes by a splitting unit such that the two light fluxes is displaced to each other in a sub-scanning direction. The two light fluxes enter a deflecting unit including two polygon mirrors that are aligned at different angles and concentrically rotate. After deflected by the deflecting unit, the two light fluxes are projected onto two different surfaces to be scanned, respectively.
The conventional technology uses the two stages of polygon mirrors for generating phase shift, so that it is possible to scan different surfaces with light beams from a common light source. However, such a polygon mirror is not used for general purpose, thereby causing an increase of costs. Furthermore, high proccessability of the polygon mirror is required. Because surface deviation or surface accuracy of each polygon mirror is different, image quality can be decreased.

Optical scanning device and image forming apparatus


A computer-implemented method for adjusting suspiciousness scores in event-correlation graphs may include (1) detecting a suspicious event involving a first actor and a second actor within a computing system, (2) constructing an event-correlation graph that includes (i) a representation of the first actor, (ii) a representation of the suspicious event, and (iii) a representation of the second actor, and (3) adjusting a suspiciousness score associated with at least one representation in the event-correlation graph based at least in part on a suspiciousness score associated with at least one other representation in the event-correlation graph such that the adjusted suspiciousness score associated with the at least one representation is influenced by the suspicious event. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

In recent years, malicious programmers have created a variety of sophisticated targeted attacks aimed at high-profile or high-level entities, such as governments, corporations, political organizations, defense contractors, or the like. In many cases, the goal of such targeted attacks is to gain access to highly sensitive or confidential information, such as financial information, defense-related information, and/or intellectual property (e.g., source code), and/or to simply disrupt an entity's operations.
Many security software companies attempt to combat targeted attacks by creating and deploying malware signatures (e.g., hash functions that uniquely identify known malware) to their customers on a regular basis. However, a significant number of the above-mentioned attacks involve malware that has been carefully crafted to take advantage of an as-yet-undiscovered vulnerability of a particular application (commonly known as a "zero-day" exploit). As such, these attacks are often difficult for traditional security software to detect and/or neutralize since the exploits in question have yet to be publicly discovered.
In addition to or as an alternative to a signature-based approach, some security software companies may apply a variety of behavior-based heuristics to detect targeted attacks. Unfortunately, a significant number of targeted attacks (e.g., advanced persistent threats) may move at a slow pace such that traditional security software may be unable to distinguish individual malicious behaviors of the targeted attacks from legitimate behaviors. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods for adjusting suspiciousness scores in event-correlation graphs.

Systems and methods for adjusting suspiciousness scores in event-correlation graphs