The invention relates to obtaining nanofibers that contain biocompatible polymers and using the product obtained by making them bioactive through linking covalent proteins to said nanofibers in tissue engineering.

Bioactive nanofibers are a new and fast-growing study field that has a high application potential in biomedical fields such as tissue engineering, drug and gene release and biosensor applications. The studies in the biomaterials field have been considerably advanced by using biocompatible and biodegradable materials with materials having bioactivity. Bioactivity becomes useful especially in tissue engineering studies [Wisse, E. Spiering, A. J. H., Dankers, P. Y. W., Mezari, B., Magusin, P. C. M. M., Meijer, E. M., J. Of Pol. Sci. Part A:Pol. Chem. 1764-1771, (2011)].
Tissue or organ loss is a significant health problem and there are lots of problems experienced in traditional treatment methods. The object of the tissue engineering studies; is to enable fixing, replacing or improving the function of certain tissues and organs by overcoming the limitations experienced in the traditional methods. The tissue engineering studies that comprise implementation of a functional, natural, synthetic or semi-synthetic tissue or organ imitation create an alternative or complementary solution potential for traditional methods [Tian, F., Tao, N. H., Tong, T., Gai, W. X., Applications of electro spun nanofibers, Chinese Science Bulletin, 53, 15, 2265-2286, (2008)].
In tissue engineering studies the cells are in vitro seeded on a scaffold. The cells proliferate on the scaffold, migrate and differentiate to specific tissues by secreting extracellular matrix (ECM) components required for formation of the tissue [Sachlos, E., Czernuszka, J. T., Making Tissue Engineering Scaffolds Work. Review On The Application Of Solid Freeform Fabrication Technology To The Production Of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds, European Cell And Materials, 5, 29-40, (2003)]. For tissue engineering to be successful, the scaffold that will provide structural support to the cells and cell-matrix (scaffold) interactions that will govern the tissue growth shall be emphasized. The scaffold structure plays a key role in tissue engineering since it mimics the natural ECM structure. The scaffold that serves as the temporary support during the time until the cells from natural ECM provides chemical, morphologic and structural signals for formation of the targeted tissue [Zhang, X., Reagan, M. R., Kaplan, D. L., Electro spun silk biomaterial scaffolds for regenerative medicine, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 61, 988-1006, (2009)].
In tissue engineering, the material that will be used in scaffold design must be biocompatible, biodegradable and in a porous structure having a high surface area [Spagnuolo, M., Karpuz, O., Liu, L., Fabrication and Degradation of Electro spun Scaffolds from L-tyrosine Based Polyurethane Blends for Tissue Engineering Applications, Journal of Nanotechnology, (2011)]. Nanofibers have a high specific area and excellent pore connections due to their small fiber diameters. The scaffolds formed by nanofibers are ideal structures for being used in tissue engineering applications since they mimic ECM fibril structure and since they provide signals that stimulate cellular organization, vitality and function [Nisbet, D. R., Forsythe, J. S., Review Paper: A Review Of The Cellular Response On Electro spun Nanofibers For Tissue Engineering, Journal Of Biomaterials Applications, 24, 7-29, (2009)].
A bioactive molecular cell migration such as a specific peptide or growth factor may stimulate processes such as growth or differentiation. Therefore, it is possible to obtain bioactive nanofibers by binding bioactive molecules to nanofiber mats obtained through electrospinning method. Electrospinning method is particularly suitable for obtaining bioactive polymer nanofibers. This method is simple and inexpensive for large scale production. In addition, nanofibers provide a larger surface area and thus more protein loading capacity when compared to protein immobilized polymer film surfaces. Bringing bioactivity to polymers is performed by mixing the bioactive molecules and polymer solutions or by covalently binding the biomolecule to the polymer via functional groups. However, mixing the bioactive molecule with the polymer solution is not an efficient method since it does not allow controlling the activity of the molecule and it does not allow the molecule to bind to the desired region. In this situation, a covalent bond is advantageous [Wisse, E. Spiering, A. J. H., Dankers, P. Y. W., Mezari, B., Magusin, P. C. M. M., Meijer, E. M., J. Of Pol. Sci. Part A:Pol. Chem. 1764-1771, (2011)].
In making the polymer nanofibers functional by using covalent binding with proteins, usually the existence of carboxylic acid groups in the polymer structure is utilized. For this purpose, water soluble agents 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide (sulfo-NHS) are commonly used. EDC that has low toxicity enables the formation of amide bonds between the carboxylic acid groups and amino groups. They are used in the covalent binding of biomolecules on polymers by being used together with NHS [Zheng, W., Zhang W., Jiang, X., Biometic Collagen Nanofibrous Materials for Bone Tissue Engineering, ADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIALS, 12, 9, B451-B466, (2010)].
Nanofibers are obtained from various different polymers as synthetic or natural. In tissue engineering studies, the nanofiber structures that are obtained by electrospinning method from poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(α-hydroxyl acid) group polymers that are copolymers thereof are frequently used in making scaffolds [Yow, S. Z., Lim, T. H., Yim, E. K. F., Lim, C. T., Leong, K. W., A 3D Electroactive Polypyrrole-Collagen Fibrous Scaffold for Tissue Engineering, Polymers, 3, 527-544, (2011)].
Using conductive polymers in tissue engineering studies stands as a new approach [Li, M., Guo, Y., Wei, Y., MacDiarmid, A. G., Lelkes, P. I., Electrospinning polyaniline-contained gelatin nanofibers for tissue engineering applications, Biomaterials, 27, 2705-2715, (2006)]. Conductive polymers have the potential of governing the adhesion, migration, protein secretion and DNA synthesis functions of cells that respond to electrical stimulation such as nerve, bone, muscle and cardiac cells. The conductivity of the conductive polymers that are a special class of materials having electronic and ionic conductivity is originating from the conjugated double bonds in the polymer backbone [Ravichandran, R., Sundarrajan, S., Venugopal, J. R., Mukherjee, S., Ramakrishna, S., Applications of conducting polymers and their issues in biomedical engineering, J. R. Soc. Interface, 7, S559-S579, (2010)]. Using pyrrol, thiophene and aniline derived from the heteroaromatic monomers and conductive polymers which are derivatives thereof gains a substantial interest in tissue engineering. However, since said biocompatible and conductive polymers do not have regions on their surfaces that help cell recognition, it limits the use of nanofiber mats obtained from said polymers in various biomedical fields such as tissue engineering applications.
Therefore, in order to increase biocompatibility and make nanofibers gain biofunctionality, bioactive molecules can be included into the nanofiber scaffold. It is known that including RGD peptide and various growth factors into the nanofiber mats increases the cell behavior and adhesion in tissue engineering scaffolds [Plessis, D. M, Fabrication and characterization of anti-microbial and biofouling resistant nanofibers with silver nanoparticles and immobilized enzymes for application in water filtration, (Master's Thesis), University of Stellenbosch, Faculty of Science Department of Biochemistry, (2011)]. Ravichandran et al. (2010) covalently bound the RGD peptide (Arg-Gly-Asp) to the polypyrol layer obtained by electropolymerization and enabled use of the polymer in orthopedic applications as a bioactive material (Ravichandran, R., Sundarrajan, S., Venugopal, J. R., Mukherjee, S., Ramakrishna, S., Applications of conducting polymers and their issues in biomedical engineering, J. R. Soc. Interface, 7, S559-S579, (2010)]. The carboxyl groups (—COOH) in the aspartic acid (Asp) amino acid that is present in the RGD peptide structure have the ability to make a covalent bond with a polymer having chemically active parts.
In the invention, production and detailed characterization of conductive and bioactive nanofiber mats that have a high potential of use in tissue engineering field is realized. Accordingly, in situ polymerization of the poly(m-anthranilic acid) (P3ANA) conductive polymer in polycaprolactone (PCL) solution which is a biocompatible polymer is realized. Nanofiber mats are produced by electrospinning method from the obtained polymer solution. P3ANA contains carboxyl group in the aniline backbone and has a great potential of use due to its processability in aqueous, non-aqueous and polar solvents [Avci, Z. M., Sarac, A. S., Transparent Poly(methyl methacrylate-co-butyl acrylate) Nanofibers, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. (2013) DOI: 10.1002/APP.39705]. By utilizing the presence of —COOH group in the P3ANA structure, the RGD peptide (Arg-Gly-Asp) that is a cell adhesion protein will covalently bind to the nanofiber mat by using the 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide (sulfo-NHS) agents and the mat is made bioactive.


The present invention provides an intraorally rapidly disintegrating tablet that can be formed using an ordinary apparatus, that has hardness with no practical problem and that disintegrates rapidly with good feeling in the oral cavity.

Intraorally rapidly disintegrating tablets disintegrate rapidly in the oral cavity and attract attention as a dosage form to improve easiness of taking drugs and increase patients' compliance. Various types of intraorally rapidly disintegrating tablets have been invented. Intraorally rapidly disintegrating tablets frequently contain sugar alcohol such as mannitol as an excipient, taking rapid dissolution in the oral cavity into consideration. However, sugar alcohol is a major cause of troubles in tableting (such as sticking) during tablet formation and thus deteriorates compression moldability, and therefore sometimes makes it difficult to secure hardness that is of no practical problem. Accordingly, a technique of tableting in which an appropriate amount of water is contained during manufacturing has been disclosed (See, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H5-271054). This technique generally requires a particular apparatus, however, and furthermore tableting is conducted under a low level of compression, resulting in a limited hardness. Also, a technique in which fine sugar alcohol with an average particle size of 30 μm or less is used to perform tableting to form tablets under a dry condition (See US Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0215500) has been disclosed. This technique also uses sugar alcohol as a major ingredient. Therefore, in order to prevent the above-described troubles in tableting, an increase in the amount of a lubricant and limitation of pressure at tableting are inevitably required. As a result, intraorally rapidly disintegrating property and hardness were restricted. Further, although a technique in which a binder such as cellulose is added (See, for example, US Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0049315) has been proposed, addition of a binder poses problems such as deterioration of feeling in the mouth during disintegration of a tablet in the oral cavity. Furthermore, although a technique in which a granule containing sugar alcohol that is coated with a disintegrant are subjected to tableting to form tablets (See International Publication No. WO 2004/064810) has been proposed, the technique has such a problem that an intraoral disintegration time is long. In addition, US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0112196 discloses a tablet comprising a granule containing a disintegrant both inside and outside thereof. Since a granule is not coated with the disintegrant, however, distribution of the disintegrant differs from that of the tablet of the present invention and the advantage of the present invention is not exerted.

Abstract: The present invention is intraorally rapidly disintegrating tablet produced by compression molding of a granule coated with a disintegrant, in which the granule contains a disintegrant also inside thereof and a drug except ambroxol hydrochloride inside and/or outside thereof.


A method for the production of sintered powder metal preform employing a novel reduction step. As-water-atomized ferrous metal particles are coated by phenol resins by adding said phenol resins to said ferrous metal particles after heating the metal particles to about 130.degree. C. to 150.degree. C. Resin coated ferrous metal particles are then filled in a mold and compacted under high pressure to produce a compacted green preform sufficient to ensure adequate strength for handling after pressing. The green preform is then heated to a reduction temperature within the range of about 1100.degree. C. to 1250.degree. C. for a time sufficient to achieve reduction of said green preform.

This invention relates to a production of powder metal preforms and in particular to a reduction sintering method of as-atomized ferrous metal powders.
There are a number of different methods by which metal powders useful in the production of powder metal compacts, have been produced. These methods include, for example, electrolytic processes, ore reduction processes and water atomization processes. The latter process has recently come to the forefront, especially in the production of ferrous metal powders, since the process is generally more economical and produces particles of a shape and density which provide a powder compact with enhanced physical properties. When producing finely divided ferrous metal particles by water atomization, oxide films are formed on the surface thereof due to the reaction with oxygen. In order to produce powders useful for further compacting, the atomized powders must first be annealed in a reducing atmosphere such as hydrogen to soften the powders and reduce the oxide surface thereof.
The reduction process is generally conducted in a hydrogen gas current atmosphere at a reduction temperature of 1000.degree. C. to 1200.degree. C. for a time sufficient to reduce the surface oxide.
This reduction process requires a lot of hydrogen gas to be continuously supplied since dew point in the furnace rises as H.sub.2 O is formed by the reaction with hydrogen gas. In the reduction furnace using hydrogen, there also involves a possibility of explosion. Therefore a great care must be taken in operation to avoid a possible explosion.
As a result of this reduction procedure, the finely divided particles tend to agglomerate and form a cake-like structure, thereby necessitating an additional grinding stage to brake up the cake and finally achieve the desired particle shape and size distibutions required for further compacting.
Oxides containing Ni and/or Mo can easily be reduced, however, oxides containing Mn and/or Cr can hardly be reduced by conventional reduction or annealing procedures since the oxides containing Mn and/or Cr have relatively low free energies.

Method for the production of sintered powder ferrous metal preform


A roofing board, such as a polyiso insulation board, includes first and second surfaces, where the first surface is lighter in color than the second surface. This allows the roofing installer to choose which of the surfaces to expose to the atmosphere, the lighter surface being cooler than the darker surface. The lighter surface may have a solar reflectance greater than the darker surface. A roofing membrane is then adhered or otherwise attached to the exposed surface.

Roofing boards can include particle boards, gypsum boards, or foam insulation boards. Some include facers. Others do not. Polyiso insulation boards include facers for manufacturing (foam laydown) and to provide many of the product's performance properties. The majority of facers fall into two categories: Glass Reinforced Felt (GRF) or Coated Glass Faced (CGF). GRF facers are also known as "paper" facers given their craft paper appearance. GRF facers generally range in color from light brown to darker brown and are made from fiberglass reinforced pulp paper. CGF facers, on the other hand, tend towards white to off-white in color and are made by coating a non-woven fiberglass scrim. Insulation facers, whether GRF or CGF, are the same color on both sides of the board.
Adhering single-ply membranes to roofing boards, such as insulation boards is common practice and is becoming a more preferred method of roof installation. Each adhesive has its own requirements in terms of "setup time". In other words, the adhesive has to flash-off, get to string time, etc. before the membrane can be adhered to the insulation. The setup time can vary dramatically based on the ambient environmental conditions (e.g., air temperature, insulation/membrane temperature, humidity, sunlight/solar energy, etc.) on the rooftop.


A heat radiation amount from the cooling water in the radiator is adjusted so that the temperature of the cooling water is less than a prescribed temperature that is a temperature higher than the threshold value if a load exerted on the internal combustion engine is not less than a predetermined load, while the heat radiation amount from the cooling water in the radiator is adjusted so that the heat radiation amount from the cooling water in the radiator is increased if the load exerted on the internal combustion engine is less than the predetermined load as compared with if the load exerted on the internal combustion engine is not less than the predetermined load.

A system is known, which comprises a radiator for releasing or radiating the heat from the cooling water for an internal combustion engine and a grill shutter for shutting off the flow of the air directed to the radiator, wherein the air is allowed to flow to the radiator by opening the grill shutter when the temperature of the cooling water exceeds a preset temperature (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).

Cooling system for internal combustion engine


Described embodiments include a method for use with a catheter that includes at least one flexible arm to which are coupled a plurality of electrodes. The method includes calculating, by a processor, respective estimated locations of the electrodes while the catheter is within a portion of a body of a subject, fitting a model of the catheter, which models the flexible arm as a piecewise-linear element that includes a plurality of linear segments, to the estimated locations, ascertaining for each of the electrodes, based on respective orientations of one or more of the linear segments per the fitting, whether the electrode is in contact with tissue of the subject, and updating a map of the portion of the body of the subject, in response to ascertaining that at least one of the electrodes is in contact with the tissue. Other embodiments are also described.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,226,580 describes a method for operating a medical probe. The method includes pressing a distal end of the medical probe, which includes one or more arms that extend diagonally outward from a central shaft and have respective position transducers coupled thereto, against an intra-body surface, so as to cause the arms to exert pressure on the surface and bend with respect to the central shaft in response to the pressure. Positions of the respective position transducers coupled to the arms are measured, and the pressure exerted by the arms is estimated responsively to the measured positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,478,379 describes a method for visualization. The method includes receiving an input indicative of respective apparent coordinates of a plurality of points disposed along a length of a probe inside a body of a subject, and applying a model of known mechanical properties of the probe to the apparent coordinates so as to compute a cost function with respect to shapes that can be assumed by the probe in the body.
A shape is chosen responsively to the cost function, and corrected coordinates of the points along the length of the probe are generated based on the shape. The representation of the probe using the corrected coordinates is then displayed.

Using a piecewise-linear model of a catheter arm to identify contact with tissue


A filter element having a perforated tubular core and a plurality of layers of strand material wound about the tubular core. The outermost layer has the ability to retain particles smaller than those retained by the innermost layer. The size range of particles retained by the outermost layer is from one to twenty-five microns and the size range of particles retained by the innermost layer is from twenty-five to one hundred microns.. According to the method of invention, the filter element is used to purify liquids through the steps of precoating, delivering liquid through the filter, periodically backwashing the filter, and precoating the filter again.

The invention relates to a filter element for use in a unit used to filter or purify liquid. In particular, the invention is directed to a filter element having two types of layers of windings over a central support core, and to a method of purifying liquids with such an element.
In the prior art one type of apparatus for filtering liquids typically includes a perforated cylindrical support core and windings of strands of material around the support core, such as disclosed in Goldman U.S. Pat. No. 1,751,000. These filters are adapted to remove undissolved particles from liquid as the liquid is passed through the filters in a direction from the outside, through the wound material, and into the support core. The undissolved particulate matter is trapped by the wound material.
Other filter elements in the prior art disclose a number of layers of material wound around a central support core, wherein the layers vary in density. As disclosed in Snow U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,709, the density decreases in a radial direction away from the support core because the windings are tighter close to the support core and are gradually reduced toward the outside.
It has been found that such prior art filter elements having a plurality of layers, wherein outermost layers are less dense than the innermost layers, present difficulties resulting from fouling tendencies, backwashing limitations, and inadequate flow distribution. These disadvantages are particularly noted when the wound filter elements of the prior art are used to support a precoat of particles in the size range of about 60 to 400 mesh. The precoat particles typically are particles of cation and anion exchange resins. These precoated filter elements are used to purify water by reducing dissolved and undissolved impurity concenrations from levels of approximately 50 parts per billion to less than 10 parts per billion.
Filter elements of the prior art having a graduated density of windings decreasing in a direction away from the central support core are easily blinded by particulate matter which infiltrates towards the center of the wound layer or layers, as liquid is passed through the filter element in a service cycle direction. Because of close spacing of windings near the support core, it is difficult to achieve velocity flows of liquid in a backwash direction through the filter element sufficient to dislodge and remove particulate matter which is trapped within the filter element windings.


Error correction for polynomial block codes is achieved without prior evaluation of power sum symmetric functions. The received word R (z) is reduced mod G (z), the generator of the code and a function F (z) of error locator polynomial W(z), errata values Y and code dependent functions f(x.sub.i) of the error positions x.sub.i given by ##EQU1## is decomposed into a rational polynomial function N (z)/W (z) for which deg (N (z) )<deg ( W (z) )<number of correctable errors. W (z) is the error locator polynomial, the roots of which are the errata locations X and Y, the correction to the received character is obtained from ##EQU2## evaluated at X.sub.i using non-erased check symbols of R (z). Correction is carried out in a crossbar switch structure which recalls a stored copy of R (z) and corrects bits as specified by (X.sub.i, Y.sub.i). Another embodiment interposes a matrix transform to transform the symbols of the received word so as to treat a selected set of symbols as erased checks and to present error location corrections directly to the crossbar. Only when changes occur in the pattern of errata is this error corrector apparatus required to operate and to redetermine the transform executed on incoming data R (z).

It is conventional in error correction systems for block codes to compute the power sum symmetric functions of the error location weighted error values. These quantities S.sub.k disclose the number of errata (errors and erasures). Error location polynomials are then computed for the block using the S.sub.k. Finally, a correction procedure is applied to the now known error locations to recover the correct value for the erroneous symbol(s).
Alternate procedures are known which avoid the initial determination of the S.sub.k. One example of such error correction apparatus is Meggit, IRE Trans. Inf. Theory, IT-7, pp. 234-244, October 1961. This and similar examples of prior art are nonalgebraic systems which exploit some specific aspect of a particular code structure. Such techniques are not generally applicable and in particular are inapplicable to algebraic codes which are favored in many applications. The distinction between algebraic and nonalgebraic codes is adequately discussed in Clark and Cain, Error Correction Coding for Digital Communication, chpt 3, Plenum Press, 1981.
It is an object of the invention to implement an algebraic error correction system for block codes which does not require the prior computation of power sum symmetric functions, S.sub.k for correction of errata.
It is another object of the invention to dynamically re-allocate the code symbols between message and redundancy symbols whereby the errata correction rate is optimized.

Error correction for algebraic block codes


A method for collating independent figure elements in an object image with a reference image both including independent elements which are not interlinked with each other. The method comprises steps of defining a relative coordinate system in an image plane for the reference image and the object image on the basis of centers of gravity of two distinctive independent elements which are identified with values indicative of features of the elements; and collating pairs of independent elements between the reference image and the object image on the basis of the relative coordinate system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for correlating images and, more particularly, is preferable to such applications as differences or changes of an object image are detected with referring to a reference image to recognize or control the object.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An art to perform pattern matching is important in applications which need to identify an object, or to find out, to inspect, to position-control the object and so on. It is one of essential problems in the art of the pattern matching to accurately correct a positional shift and rotational shift of the object image to the reference image.
In the prior art, the center of gravity of an input image and the first-order moment are calculated to detect the positional and rotational shifts for correcting these shifts with referring to the reference image.
According to the prior art, accuracy of correcting the position and rotation is insufficient and is affected by noises mixed in an image signal.

Method for collating independent figure elements between images


Each block of a set of toy building blocks is in the shape of a cube with two in-formed recesses, one at one corner of the cube and the other in the diagonally opposed corner. The dimensions of both recesses are equal and cubic, and equivalent to half the length of one of the sides of the cube.

Several types of building blocks for use by children have already been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,237 shows a block having light sides including a half cube section and dowels to secure the blocks together. This block, although interesting, is probably not suitable for very young children who are just beginning to develop motor coordination: they would most likely be frustrated in trying to put the dowels into their respective holes. Also, the block does not have a balanced shape.


Some embodiments of the present disclosure include a traction device for relieving lower back pain and stiffness and reducing lumbar spine intervertebral disc displacement. The device may include a sliding spine assembly attached to a head rest pad, a torso pad, and a hip pad, an adjustable length vector bar extending outwardly from the spine assembly, wherein the vector bar is rotatably attached to the sliding spine assembly such that the vector bar is configured to move in a plurality of vectors, a cross bar foot brace tube attached to the vector bar; a foot rest positioned on the foot brace tube, a belt positioned proximate to the torso pad, and a strap assembly attached to the foot brace tube or the distal end of the vector bar, the strap assembly configured to attach to the belt and apply traction to a user's back.

The embodiments herein relate generally to back pain relief, and more particularly, to a device providing for the application of multi-vector, auto-powered traction by a user to his or her lumbar spine.
Lower back pain is a leading cause of work disability and lost productivity. Treatments are complex and costly. Most lumbar spine conditions require repetitive, ongoing physical training and decompression. Conventional devices designed to provide such physical training and decompression only provide pure longitudinal fraction along a flat plane and anchor under the arms and ankles, which limits the direction of force to only a single plane of traction. However, lumbar spine disc and facet join lesions are typically asymmetrical and varied in their presentation. A single plane of traction can only provide traction in one direction and cannot be tailored to the many variables presented by the user. Moreover, these devices also are not comfortable for the user. Motorized systems are set to apply force at a pre-determined setting, which is not based on the comfort of the user.
Therefore, what is needed is a multi-vector, auto-powered device configured to provide traction, stretching, and decompression forces to the lumbar spine.

Multi-vector traction device for the lumbar spine


A ring has secured on an upper portion thereof an elongated tubular member. A pin is slidably mounted within the tubular member so as to be selectively shifted between a retracted position wherein the pin is located entirely within the tubular member and an extended position wherein the pin projects from the tubular member and can be used for defensive purposes. A latching arrangement is provided to retain the pin member in at least its extended position. In the preferred embodiment, the pin member is also rotatable within the tubular member and the latching arrangement includes a longitudinal slot formed in the tubular member, along with a pillar which is carried by the pin member and projects through the slot. At least one end of the slot is formed with a notch into which the pillar can be positioned to prevent undesired relative movement between the pin and tubular members.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a personal protection device and, more particularly to a ring that is adapted to be worn on a finger and incorporates a pin which can be selectively shifted between a retracted position wherein the pin in located within a housing and an extended position wherein the pin can be used for defensive purposes.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Personal safety and protection is increasingly becoming a main concern for many people. For this reason, many different types of portable protection devices are now readily available in today's marketplace and it is not uncommon to find many people, particularly women, carrying such personal protection devices. Often, these known types of personal protection devices are kept in a pocket, purse or bag and removed when needed. Unfortunately, under various circumstances, time does not always permit these devices to be accessed.
This problem has been recognized in the art and therefore various personal protection devices have been proposed which are more readily accessible. For example, it has heretobefore been proposed to construct jewelry, such as rings and bracelets, with some type of personal protection feature. However, mainly due to their particular constructions, these known arrangements have not been favorably viewed.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a personal protection device that can be carried or worn in a readily accessible manner and which is not only constructed so as to be generally cosmetically appealing, but constitutes an effective weapon.


A well tool can include a cutter with at least one cutting layer and a substrate, the cutting layer having a leading face, and the substrate partially overlying the leading face. A method of constructing a well tool can include forming a cutter by at least partially embedding at least one cutting layer in a substrate, and securing the cutter to the well tool. A drill bit can include a drill bit blade, and a cutter secured on the drill bit blade, the cutter including a substrate and at least one cutting layer embedded in the substrate, the substrate overlying leading and trailing faces of the cutting layer.

Well tools (such as, drill bits and reamers) can include cutters for cutting into formation rock. However, in some situations, cutters can become damaged. Damaged cutters can reduce a rate of penetration through formation rock and can require time-consuming (and, thus, expensive) replacement. Therefore, it will be appreciated that improvements are continually needed in the art of constructing cutters for use in well tools.


The present invention provides a method for interlocking a connector for a communication card including a first connection portion for connection to signals in the communication card relating to a first device such as a cellular telephone. A second connection portion in the interlocking connector provides for connection to signals in the communication card relating to a second device such as the PSTN. A blocking portion of the interlocking connector prevents electrical connection with the second connection portion and allows electrical connection with the first connection portion when the interlocking connector is connected to the communication card. A communication card is also provided which comprises modem circuitry, and an interface for connection between the modem circuitry and a computing device. A PSTN interface is provided for connection between the modem circuitry and a telephone line, and a cellular telephone interface is provided for connection between the modem circuitry and a cellular telephone. An interlocking connector prevents electrical connection of the PSTN interface to the telephone line when connected to the cellular telephone interface.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to plug-in communication cards. More particularly, it relates to an interlock for a line-powered communication card which prevents the communication card from interfacing directly to the PSTN or other network when connected to a cellular device.
2. Background of Related Art
A modem is a device that generally transmits data between two processors. Modems are most frequently associated with a connection through a Plain Old Telephone Switch (POTS), otherwise known as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
Communication card modems are available for many portable type devices such as laptop personal computers (PCs), and personal digital assistants (PDAs). One popular standard form-factor for a communication card modem is a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) Type I, II or III card, or PC Card, that plugs into virtually all portable computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Of course, multiple other standards exist, to which the present invention applies equally.
A PCMCIA card is a small, credit card size device which can generally contain anything from additional random access memory (RAM) to fax/modems to network interfaces. PCMCIA slots which accept a PCMCIA card are present on most new portable computers and many PDAs. Many different communication protocols may be present in PCMCIA communication card modems, either separately or in combination.
Initially, most PCMCIA or similar form communication card modems were designed to be connected only through a landline connection to the PSTN using an RJ-11 or RJ-45 telephone jack. U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,404 describes various configurations of what is commonly referred to as an `XJACK`. The term XJACK is believed to have been derived from the extendibility of the RJ-11 telephone jack generally only in the x-direction. One embodiment of that patent is shown herein in FIG. 5.
In FIG. 5, an RJ-11 telephone jack 86 or similar type connector is formed within an XJACK extension arm 72. A guide track 96 is formed within the communication card modem 70 to allow the XJACK extension arm 72 to be either in a retracted position enclosing the RJ-11 telephone jack 86 within the case of the communication card modem 70, or in an extended position as shown in FIG. 5 with the RJ-11 telephone jack 86 being accessible outside of the main perimeter 71 of the communication card modem 70. To interconnect a cable between the PSTN and the XJACK extension arm 72 of the communication card modem 70, the XJACK extension arm 72 must be in an extended position as shown in FIG. 5. A cable cannot be inserted into the RJ-11 telephone jack 86 when the XJACK extension arm is in the retracted position.
An alternative to the XJACK is a ZJACK as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,923. The term `ZJACK` refers to the rotatability of the RJ-11 connector in an extended position. FIG. 6 herein depicts one embodiment of the ZJACK as disclosed in that patent, wherein the RJ-11 or similar telephone jack 42, 46 is located at the end of a shank 22. The ZJACK is not only extendible in the x-direction, but is also rotatable out of the plane of the communication card 12 while in the extended position.
With the rise in popularity of both cellular telephones and portable computing devices such as PCs and PDAs came the need to allow interconnectivity between the communication card modem of a portable computing device and a cellular telephone for the purpose of transmitting data over the cellular network. Initially, cellular telephones were not capable of being plugged directly into the communication card modem of a PC or PDA designed for interconnection only to the PSTN. For instance, most cellular phones don't provide a dial tone required by many modems, or a ring voltage when the phone rings. Thus, cellular telephones did not include an RJ-11 or similar type telephone jack for direct connection to the PSTN.
To solve this need, a cellular data interface was developed to allow interconnection between a communication card modem of a PC or PDA, and a cellular telephone. To allow such interconnection, the cellular data interface generally includes circuitry for providing a dial tone and a ring voltage to the communication card modem. Because of this added circuitry, a separate connection in a communication card modem has been established for direct connection to a cellular telephone. This separate connection purposely is not an RJ-11 type jack, to prevent inadvertent connection of the PSTN to the cellular data interface. Instead, the connection of the cellular data interface in a communication card modem is generally a recessed socket on an edge of the communication card modem, in addition to the XJACK. In this way, the communication card modem has the capability to connect either directly to the PSTN or directly to a cellular telephone, depending upon which socket on the communication card modem is used.
Many portable computer devices such as PCs and PDAs utilize modems for communications purposes. However, battery size and weight is an important consideration in the design and convenience of such devices. A balance must be reached between the size and weight of the overall device, dictated largely by the choice of battery, and an acceptable length of operation between charges.
Unfortunately, although operating an acceptable length of time when running typical application programs, portable computer devices utilize a large amount of power when communicating over a telephone line via a modem. The battery source which powers both the portable computer device and its modem is typically sized for general computer applications, and runs out of power quickly when actively communicating over a telephone line through a modem. Portable computer devices such as PCs, PDAs, and hand held PCs (HPC) are designed to operate up to several hours on a single battery charge, but operate only fractions of an hour on a single battery charge when communicating via modem. Thus, although portable computer devices operate a sufficient length of time for quick data transfers over a modem powered completely by a battery, they require that external ac power be applied to allow for longer uses of the modem. It is therefore desirable for battery powered computer devices including a modem to draw power, in addition to the inherent battery, from a second power source.
The DC power inherent in a telephone line provides a convenient source of power, but there are often limitations and restrictions which limit the ability of a modem to derive power from the telephone line. For instance, present regulation in the United States is such that significant current may only be drawn from the telephone line when the telephone or modem is off hook or active. In order to hold the telephone line in an off hook condition, current in the approximate range of 20 mA to 150 mA must be drawn. The maximum amount of current available from the telephone line is also limited.
Communication card modems which are powered at least in part by power drawn from the telephone line have been developed to conserve the battery power of portable computing devices such as a PC or PDA. These line-powered communication card modems extended significantly the service time of the portable device before the battery of the PC or PDA required recharging. However, line power is available only when the communication card modem is connected to the PSTN. Cellular telephones do not always provide power to a telephone line for use by the communication card modem. Therefore, when connected to a cellular telephone, even the line-powered communication card modem must be powered externally.
There is a need for a reliable mechanism to allow a communication card modem to utilize power from the PSTN when connected to the PSTN, and to allow the communication card modem to be powered from an external source such as the PC or PDA as necessary, e.g., when connected to many types of cellular telephones. There is also a need to prevent the erroneous condition of having an interconnection from the communication card modem both to the PSTN and to a cellular telephone at the same time.

Method for telephone line interlock and cellular interconnect


In a method for displaying an image, the image is divided into a first image area which includes characters, the border of which is overlapping a part of a color background, and a second image area which includes the other part of the background. The method includes the steps of setting data of pixels of the image using n bits in a multi-purpose area of an image memory, in a manner that, in setting data of pixels in the first image area, some of the n bits are used for color information of the background present at the border of the characters and the others are used for data of the characters. Further, in setting data for pixels in the second image area, all of the n bits are used for color information of the background, except that of the part underlying the border of the characters. The method further includes the steps of setting a flag in another area of the image memory, the flag indicating to which of the first and second image area each of the pixels of the image belongs; synthesizing color information of the background and that of the characters based on the image data and the flag stored in the image memory so that colors of the characters at the border thereof are mixed with colors of the background so as to have neutral tints; and displaying the image, obtained through the synthesis, on a display unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for displaying images, including characters and color backgrounds based on image data stored in an image memory of an image processing device
2. Description of the Prior Art
A display method called a bit map method is often applied to an image processing device which is designed to make an arbitrary layout of characters on a display unit possible. This method stores character patterns in a memory, regards character patterns as images, and displays the character patterns based on the data stored in the memory. Therefore, by this method, sizes and display positions of the characters can be changed as required during the procedure of storing the data of the character patterns.
Character patterns obtained by the bit map method can be synthesized with a color background, like a picture, and displayed as an image using one of the following two methods.
(i) Store the character data and color background data separately, and synthesize both types of data. PA1 (ii) Develop the character data and the background data in one memory and output the data as a piece of an image. PA1 (a) Information on color backgrounds; PA1 (b) Information on characters; and PA1 (c) Flag for discriminating characters from a background.
Because the method (i) requires a memory for storing the character data, besides a memory for storing the color background data, the method (i) requires larger memory capacity than the method (ii) does. However, because the character data can be processed irrespective of the background data, processings including that of changing only the color of the characters are readily done even after synthesis of the character patterns has been completed. A conventional image processing device adopting this method (i) is shown in FIG. 3.
The device shown in FIG. 3 is comprised of an image memory 1 which includes a first memory area for storing n-bit data of color backgrounds and a second memory area for storing one-bit data of characters; a synthesizer 2 for synthesizing the data of the color background and the data of the characters supplied by the image memory 1; a display unit 3 and a micro processing unit 4 for controlling the above units, setting the image memory 1, etc.
Further, in the case where a number of complicated characters, such as Chinese characters, are required to be displayed on a display unit which has poor image to pixel decomposition few pixels are allocated to each character. Therefore, characters displayed on such a display unit only using black and white, as in the case of FIG. 3, are illegible.
A method expressing characters as images having different levels of gray has been proposed to solve the above mentioned problem. This method will now be described by taking a line pattern as an example as shown by FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b). In FIG. 4(a), each pixel of a line pattern is expressed using either black or white, and in FIG. 4(b), colors having different gray levels are allotted to pixels of the line pattern. When compared with the image of FIG. 4(a) which has remarkable indentations, the image of FIG. 4(b) has a much better quality, having no indentations.
This method, however, needs much a larger data quantity. For example, when the gray scale includes eight levels, three bits are needed to represent each dot of a character, which is three times as large as that required in the case of a binary image. Furthermore, if such character information having several gray levels, is stored separately from the color background information in accordance with the aforementioned method (i), memory capacity must be large. For example, assuming that k bits are used to represent each pixel of the characters, memory capacity is increased as shown in FIG. 5.

Method for displaying an image including characters and a background


A differential drive having a drive housing (1) with a longitudinal drive axis (AG); having a drivable differential carrier (11) which is rotatably supported in the drive housing (1) by means of two rolling contact bearings (22, 23), which comprises a longitudinal carrier axis (AK), wherein, at the differential carrier (11), there are formed projections (20, 21) which extend co-axially relative to the longitudinal carrier axis and into which there are inserted outer bearing races (26, 27) of the rolling contact bearings (22, 23); and wherein, in the drive housing (1), there is provided a side opening (3) through which the differential carrier (11) with inserted outer bearing races (26, 27) of the rolling contact bearings (22, 23) can be inserted; and wherein, in the drive housing (1), there are provided bores (4, 5) into which there are inserted bearing holding rings (6, 7) which carry inner bearing races (28, 29) of the rolling contact bearings (22, 23) and which, together with said inner bearing races, can be inserted into the bores (4, 5) co-axially relative to the longitudinal drive axis (AG).

The invention relates to a differential drive having a drive housing with a longitudinal drive axis AG; having a drivable differential carrier which is rotatably supported in the drive housing by means of two rolling contact bearings, which comprises a longitudinal carrier axis AK and in which there are arranged and rotatably supported two axle shaft gears whose axes extend co-axially relative to the longitudinal carrier axis and in which differential carrier there is arranged a plurality of differential gears whose axes are arranged radially relative to the longitudinal carrier axis, said differential gears being held so as to rotate with said differential carrier, wherein said axle shaft gears engage the differential gears; and having constant velocity joints which are positioned inside the differential carrier and whose outer joint parts are connected in a rotationally fast way to the axle shaft gears.
Differential drives of said type are known from DE 198 54 215 A1 wherein the inner bearing races of the rolling contact bearings are mounted on the outside of sleeve projections on covers of the differential carrier, and the outer bearing races of the rolling contact bearings are mounted in bores of bearing holding rings which, in consequence, are very large and require large openings in the drive housing for being inserted into same. The bearing holding rings have been widened to form out-of-round covers.

Differential drive with integrated constant velocity joints


A method is proposed for optimizing the bit rate of multimedia contents accessible by a plurality of user terminals connected to a radiocommunications network cell. The multimedia contents are stored in the form of a plurality of independent chunks on at least one multimedia contents server associated with at least one contents provider. The method includes the following steps, implemented in a device for optimizing the bit rate: receiving one request to obtain a multimedia description file, sent by a user terminal; obtaining a multimedia description file; modifying the multimedia description file on the basis of a piece of information representing a quality of delivery, delivering a modified multimedia description file; and transmitting the modified multimedia description file to the user terminal.

The technique of broadcasting using DASH (dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol)) technology is one of the existing technologies that enable that broadcasting of multimedia contents on a communications network.
By way of an illustration of these technologies, FIGS. 1a and 1b present a known configuration where a DASH client is embedded in a user terminal 100, for example a mobile terminal connected to an access node 140 of a mobile network, for example a base station of a 2G, 3G, 4G or other type of cell network.
At a step E101, the user terminal 100 identifies itself with an identification server 110 of a multimedia content provider. If the terminal 100 is not known, it can also be a step of registration with this content provider.
At a step E102, the identification server 110 gives the user terminal 100 confirmation of its successful identification or, as the case may be, confirmation of its registration.
To this end, the exchanges between entities can transit through different servers included in the network core 150, for example an SGW (Serving Gateway) or PGW (Packet Data Network Gateway).
At a step E103, the user terminal 100 sends a DASH request to a managing server 120 of the multimedia contents provider. More specifically, this request relates to a multimedia description file or manifest file called an MPD (media presentation description), corresponding to a particular multimedia content that the user of the user terminal 100 is seeking (whether it is to download it and subsequently use it or else to immediately use in streaming mode).
Indeed, the DASH technology stipulates that a given multimedia content, for example a video or sound content, is available in the form of segments, called chunks, each corresponding to a certain duration of the multimedia content in question. Different chunks can correspond to a same fraction of the multimedia content, i.e. to a same passage of the video or sound content in question, but each with a different quality, each corresponding to a different encoding bit rate, for example because of a different resolution or a different encoding system.
At a step E104, the MPD manifest file corresponding to the multimedia content sought is returned to the user terminal 100.
The DASH client installed in the user terminal 100 then interprets the MPD file received and selects chunks of the desired multimedia content that present a quality and hence ultimately a bit rate that matches its need (for example the size and resolution of the screen of the terminal if it is a video content).
At a step E105, the user terminal 100 sends another request for obtaining the pre-selected chunks to a multimedia contents server 130 belonging to a content delivery network (CDN) of the multimedia content provider. This provider then returns the requested chunk or chunks at a step E106, this chunk or chunks corresponding to the quality and therefore to the bit rate selected by the DASH client installed in the user terminal 100.
Thus, in the existing approach, the DASH clients interpret MPD files representing the content of provider files of servers of multimedia contents providers and dynamically select the quality and therefore the bit rate most favorable to their own needs, i.e. without taking account of the needs of other users. This behavior which raises no particular problem in wired applications where each user has a distinct transmission channel, becomes a source of problems in a cell radiocommunications system in which several users connected to a same network cell share only one radio resource, this radio resource being finite. This behavior can effectively lead to an unfair distribution of the bandwidth available for the different users connected to a same network cell, especially when there is congestion in this network cell.
In addition, DASH clients often make an inaccurate assessment of network bandwidth. The decision made by DASH clients in selecting the quality and associated bit rate is therefore often sub-optimal, leading to a deterioration of the overall quality experienced by the users on the whole.
This set of problems and issues is aggravated in modern cell technology such as 4G technology, for which the user applications are increasingly multimedia-oriented and for which the quantity of data transferred is increasingly large.
Besides, there are major fluctuations in network bandwidth in a radiocommunications network cell related to changing conditions of propagation. This also contributes to the difficult of estimating the network bandwidth for such applications.
However, the cell network MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) technology which is being standardized with the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) offers the advantage of making use of a location on the edge of a cell network to optimize applications dedicated to the users of such a cell network. To this end, MEC technology proposes to introduce dedicated MEC servers. Such MEC servers are implanted in contact with base stations managing the radio part of the cell networks, for example the eNodeB in 4G technology, so as to host dedicated applications and give them both the flexibility of being able to manage traffic to and from mobile users and the possibility of accessing information in real time on the working of the radio part of the network. These applications can be managed either directly by the operator of the network or by third parties, for example contents providers.
It can thus be seen that MEC technology could be adapted to problems of managing bit rates of broadcasting multimedia contents in a cell network and in a multi-user environment.
Certain research work has recently been made on the subject. In particular, the method described in the article by J. Fajardo, I. Taboada, and F. Liberal, «Improving content delivery efficiency through multi-layer mobile edge adaptation,» Network, IEEE, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 40-46, November 2015, proposes an assisted mobile network approach based on a continuously adaptive HTTP protocol with a multilayer encoding and MEC tools. In particular, a Mobile Edge-DASH adapting function situated within the cloud radio access network or centralized radio access network (C-RAN) is being introduced to combine the network context, the user context and the state of the cell. However, this approach does not resolve the issues and problems described here above related to the behavior of DASH clients which select the quality of the proposed chunks in the MPD files solely on the basis of their own needs and capacities.
More generally, there is as yet no mechanism to maximize the quality of the overall experience of DASH clients situated in a same radiocommunications network cell.
There is thus a need to improve the user experience during simultaneous access to multimedia contents available on remote servers by terminals sharing a same limited radiofrequency network of a cell radiofrequency network type, especially in avoiding network congestion.
There is also a need that the sharing of radiofrequency resources among the different users should adapt in real time to the operational conditions of the network cell.

Method for optimizing the throughput of multimedia contents accessible by at least one user terminal, corresponding computer program product and management device


A mounting surface of an agricultural work vehicle power takeoff system. In one example, an agricultural vehicle includes a power takeoff (PTO) device. The PTO device includes a drive shaft and a mounting surface. Furthermore, the mounting surface includes a plurality of threaded apertures for coupling an auxiliary system to the PTO device, and a pilot configured to engage with a complimentary pilot of the auxiliary system to facilitate alignment of the PTO device with the auxiliary system. The mounting surface and the auxiliary system have the same mounting configuration.

The invention relates generally to agricultural work vehicles, such as tractors, and more particularly to a mounting surface of a power takeoff system of an agricultural work vehicle.
A power takeoff system (e.g., drive system) generally uses energy from an engine to power devices attached to the power takeoff system. Agricultural work vehicles, such as tractors, may include one or more power takeoff systems. For example, an agricultural work vehicle may include a power takeoff system having a drive shaft at a rear end of the vehicle that provides a rotational output for operating an agricultural implement or an auxiliary system (e.g., a hydraulic pump, a generator, an air compressor, a water pump, etc.).
Coupling an auxiliary system to a power takeoff system of an agricultural work vehicle may provide various challenges. For example, the weight of an auxiliary system may use a number of mounting structures (e.g., brackets, clamps, pins, bolts, etc.) to attach the auxiliary system to the agricultural work vehicle to stabilize and support the auxiliary system. Furthermore, the auxiliary system may be aligned with the power takeoff system using additional mounting structures (e.g., brackets, clamps, pins, bolts, etc.). Multiple mounting structures increase the time and cost for coupling the auxiliary system to the power takeoff system.

Mounting surface of an agricultural work vehicle power takeoff system


The technology disclosed relates to implementing a novel architecture of a finite state machine (abbreviated FSM) that can be used for testing. In particular, it can be used for testing communications devices and communication protocol behaviors.

The technology disclosed relates to implementing a novel architecture of a finite state machine (abbreviated FSM) that can be used for testing. In particular, it can be used for testing communications devices and communication protocol behaviors.
Several approaches have been proposed to implement finite state machines. Some focus on minimizing memory consumption, combining or embedding finite state machine classes written in different programming languages, and exchanging inputs, triggers, or state values between finite state machines. Others implement look-up tables for actions to be performed in each state. Some of these architectures are optimized for hardware rather than software implementation.
Existing FSM architectures are cumbersome for test case modeling and generation, especially architectures that require a user to provide a large number of tables to represent states, inputs, triggers, actions, conditions, and events and that require the user to manage these tables. These architectures do not provide intrinsic support for test related operations.
An opportunity arises to provide users with a novel FSM architecture to create test cases or protocol behavior models. Fast and rapid deployment, configurability, maintenance, scalability, and ability to support multiple communicating finite state machines may result.

Finite state machine method for test case generation and execution of communication protocols


A capacitive touch device includes a capacitive touch panel, a driving control unit, k ADCs, a multiplex network and a processing unit. The capacitive touch panel has an m×n sensing point matrix formed by m driving line and n sensing lines. The driving control unit is coupled to the m driving lines. The multiplex network connects the n sensing lines and the k ADCs by time-domain multiplexing. The processing unit is coupled to the k ADCs. At least a part of the driving lines and at least a part of the sensing lines are assigned to be electrically connected. The processing unit senses according to multiple frequencies to obtain multiple signal strength values, and selects the frequency corresponding to a smallest signal value to be a sensing frequency of the capacitive touch device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates a capacitive touch device and sensing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a current capacitive touch device, after sensing a capacitive touch panel, it is determined whether the touch panel is touched according to a sensing result to accordingly determine a touch position or a control gesture. To increase operating sensitivity, a sensing result is thoroughly inspected for distinguishing minute differences. However, it is possible that an actual operation environment of a capacitive touch device is filled with noises such that a satisfactory signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can only be obtained to maintain the operation sensitivity by reinforcing signal strength or reducing noises.
For example, the signal strength is reinforced by boosting a driving voltage. Common noises form new electric fields with the capacitive touch device to produce undesirable effects. Source of electric fields include human static electricity, an LCD module, a power supply, a charger or household appliances. For example, approaches for reducing noises for maintaining a preferred SNR include synchronization, shielding, filter and grounding.
However, all of the above approaches for reinforcing signal strength or reducing noises need extra costs, and may also lead to a change in an overall structure and thus fail to meet a light and compact design.

Capacitive touch device and sensing method thereof


A workpiece support, such as an end effector, is coated on at least one of its surfaces with an anti-reflective material. The anti-reflective material improves the transmission of light through the workpiece support. The workpiece support may be disposed in a chamber, with heating elements disposed beneath the workpiece support, such that the workpiece support is disposed between the heating elements and the workpiece. In certain embodiments, the heating elements may be LEDs or tungsten halogen lamps. The anti-reflective material allows more efficient energy transfer from the heating elements to the workpiece. This may result in improved temperature uniformity across the workpiece. The anti-reflective material may be magnesium fluoride or a multi-layer optical coating. Alternatively, the heating elements may be disposed above the workpiece. In this case, the reduced reflection from the workpiece support may minimize the temperature increase on the portion of the workpiece disposed above the workpiece support.

The fabrication of a semiconductor device involves a plurality of discrete and complex processes. In certain processes, it may be advantageous to heat the workpiece so that the process achieves the desired result. One method of heating the workpiece is through the use of heat lamps. For example, tungsten halogen light bulbs may be used to emit energy toward the workpiece. In other embodiments, LED lights may provide the thermal energy.
Power from tungsten halogen bulbs is emitted at wavelengths ranging from about 400 nm to 2600 nm, with the peak being at approximately 1000 nm. At wavelengths between 600 nm and 1800 nm, the emitted power is at least half the maximum emitted power. The distribution of energy may vary for other heating elements.
In certain embodiments, the workpiece is disposed on a workpiece support, and is heated by heating elements disposed below the workpiece. In other words, the workpiece support is disposed between the heating elements and the workpiece. Thus, the workpiece support may block some of the light from reaching the workpiece. To mitigate this problem, the end effector may be constructed from a transparent material, such as clear quartz. Tests have shown that about 88% of the light energy passes through a workpiece support constructed from clear quartz.
However, at elevated temperatures, such as 500° C., the workpiece support may affect the local temperature of the workpiece. For example, the portion of the workpiece directly above the workpiece support may be 50° C. cooler than the other portions of the workpiece.
Therefore, it would be advantageous if there were an apparatus that could support the workpiece without adversely affecting the passage of light energy to the workpiece. It would be beneficial if such an apparatus could be used on existing systems.

Anti-reflective coating for transparent end effectors

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.


A method for recording and summarizing a conference is provided. The method enables a conference leader to record and produce a detailed summary of the conference. The detailed summary contains hot links to various portions and/or segments of what was discussed in the conference. This summary also enables team members who are not able to attend the conference, or those who need a quick review of the topics covered at the conference, to survey key topics covered, and have the option to replay selected portions of the conference.

The present invention relates generally to the field of audio recordings of conferences, and more particularly to generating summary information for audio recordings.
Generally a conference involves an oral presentation or discussion of one or more topics with live and/or remote attendance of conference participants. Oftentimes, each conference participant may provide oral input during the conference. As a specific example that will be addressed throughout this disclosure, a conference call is one form of a conference. The term conference call refers to a telephone call by which a leader can speak with several callers, or participants, at the same time. A conference call may also allow callers to provide oral input during the call. Alternatively, some conference calls are set up such that they restrict callers to merely listen the spoken word of the leader.
One of the conference call features is to record a conference. A conference call may be recorded in any suitable audio format, which can be replayed later. It is known in the art for a conference call to be summarized to provide a brief overview of what is discussed in the conference call.

Audio summarization of meetings driven by user participation

International Business Machines Corporation


There is provided a drilling method capable of improving machining accuracy of a printed board drilling apparatus as a whole by decreasing dispersion of the machining accuracy even if it is a multi-spindle printed board drilling apparatus. A misalignment of an axial center of a drill with respect to a designed axial center in X and Y directions is detected in advance per a certain number of revolutions of each spindle that rotates the drill. Holes of two or more types of diameter are made on a printed board by making holes of at least one diameter, e.g., an exposure master hole, per each spindle and by making holes of all other diameters almost simultaneously by all of the spindles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drilling method for making holes through a workpiece while replacing a plurality of drills.
2. Related Art
FIG. 4 is a front view showing a vicinity of a spindle of a printed board drilling apparatus partially in section and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a part of a table of the printed board drilling apparatus. As shown in FIG. 4, a spindle 10 rotatably holds a drill 15 at an edge thereof. A pressure foot 20 that fits with the edge part of the spindle 10 is supported so as to be movable in a Z-axis direction and is urged downward in the figure by air cylinders not shown. A plurality of printed boards 2a to be machined is laid upon an under plate 2b and is mounted on a surface 1a of the table 1 while being fixed together by two reference pins 3a and 3b (normally, the diameter of the reference pins 3a and 3b is equal). The printed board 2a to be machined and the under plate 2b will be referred to as the printed board 2 altogether hereinafter.
As shown in FIG. 5, holes (here, in a shape of cutout) 4 and 5 are formed on the surface side of the table 1. A square first clamp plate 7 is disposed by the hole 4 where a V-shaped groove 6 is formed at one side thereof. A rectangular second clamp plate 8 is disposed by the square hole 5. As shown in FIG. 4, the clamp plates 7 and 8 are supported by a linear guide unit 9 comprising a bearing 9a and a track 9b disposed at the bottom of the holes 4 and 5 so that their upper faces are leveled with the surface 1a of the table 1 and are movable in a Y-axis direction by driving means not shown.
A number of types of diameter of the holes made through the printed board vary, from several, to ten-odd types, and a number of the holes to be made is also large. Then, several tens to several hundreds of drills are disposed in the printed board drilling apparatus.
Next, machining steps of the conventional printed board drilling apparatus constructed, as described above, will be explained. First, the printed board 2 is mounted on the table 1 in a state in which the clamp plates 7 and 8 stay on the right side of the figure, as shown by solid lines in FIG. 5. Then, the clamp plates 7 and 8 are moved to the left side in the figure, so that the first reference pin 3a abuts against the groove 6, and the second reference pin 3b abuts against a right side face 8a. Then, the printed board 2 is positioned in the Y-axis direction as a line O, connecting centers of the two reference pins 3a and 3b, becomes parallel with an X-axis of the printed board 2 and is also positioned in the X-axis direction by the groove 6 as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-1594, for example.
The table 1 is then moved in the X-axis direction and the spindle 10 is moved in the Y-axis direction to align the drill 15 to part of the printed board 2 to be machined. Then, the spindle 10 is moved in the Z-axis direction so that the drill 15 cuts into the printed board 2 while pressing the printed board 2 by the pressure foot 20 to drill the printed board 2. When the printed board drilling apparatus receives, from a machining program, a command or instruction that instructs the apparatus to replace the tool due to the life of the tool, the printed board drilling apparatus replaces the drill 15 and continues the machining.
It is noted that while the printed boards are separated one by one after being drilled and patterns and others are formed thereon in post-processing, such as exposure and etching processes, the holes into which the reference pins have been inserted deform in separating the printed boards one by one. Then, in addition to the holes necessary as a product, reference holes for post-processing (referred to exposure master holes hereinafter) are drilled to that end.
By the way, an air spindle is adopted as the spindle in case of the printed board drilling apparatus and a number of revolutions is set at around 200,000 rpm in making a small hole of 0.3 mm or less, at around 60,000 rpm in making a hole of around 1.0 mm and at around 40,000 rpm in making a hole of 2.0 mm or more. In case of the air spindle, an axial line of the spindle, i.e., an axial line of the drill, is misaligned from designed position corresponding to the number of revolutions because exothermic value of the spindle changes and pressure of air to be supplied to the spindle is changed corresponding to the number of revolutions. However, the degree of misalignment of the axial line of the drill (hereinafter referred simply as "misalignment") from the designed position corresponding to the number of revolutions of the spindle is intrinsic to the spindle. Accordingly, when a number of axes of the printed board drilling apparatus is one, i.e., when a number of spindles is one, it is possible to machine the printed board with excellent machining accuracy by detecting the misalignment of the spindle per number of revolutions in advance and by correcting that misalignment.
However, in order to increase machining efficiency, a multi-spindle printed board drilling apparatus capable of mounting a plurality of printed boards on one table and having a number of spindles equal with that of the printed boards is often adopted as the printed board drilling apparatus.
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a surface of a printed board machined by a predetermined one spindle of a multi-spindle printed board drilling apparatus and FIG. 7 is a graph showing dispersion of machining positions of the exposure master hole and a hole of 0.2 mm in diameter machined by a bi-spindle printed board drilling apparatus. In FIG. 6, a range K surrounded by a broken line is a range in which the printed board, i.e., a product, is disposed and in which several ten thousands to several hundred thousands of holes of 0.1 mm in diameter and several thousands to several ten thousands of holes of 0.2 to 0.4 mm in diameter for example are made. Two holes C disposed on the outside of the range K are the exposure master holes which are made in a direction of a diagonal line in the figure.
In FIG. 7, Acx and Acy represent an average value of misalignment of the center of the exposure master hole, machined by a first spindle among the multiple spindles, with respect to the designed center and Amx and Amy represent a center value of distribution of misalignment of a hole of 0.2 mm, machined by the first spindle, with respect to the designed center. Bcx and Bcy represent an average value of misalignment of the center of the exposure master hole, machined by a second spindle different from the first spindle described above, with respect to the designed center and Bmx and Bmy represent a center value of distribution of misalignment of a hole of 0.2 mm, machined by the second spindle, with respect to the designed center. Radii ar and br of the distributions of misalignment are almost equal in cases of any spindle as long as the diameter is the same. However, the misalignment of center of the respective distributions with respect to the center of the exposure master hole is different, and the misalignment of the second spindle is larger than that of the first spindle. Accordingly, when a line width a pattern exposed based on the exposure master hole is narrow, there arises a case when the hole of 0.2 mm machined by the second spindle deviates out of the pattern.


A method of forming a semiconductor device, including forming a substrate with a memory array region and a logic device region, growing a thick gate dielectric over the substrate, forming a gate stack, including a first polysilicon layer, over the thick gate dielectric for the memory array region, forming a thin gate dielectric on the substrate over the logic device region, wherein layers of the gate stack in the memory array region protect the thick gate oxide during the forming of the thin gate dielectric, forming a second polysilicon layer for the gate stack in the logic device region, to produce a resulting structure, wherein a thickness of the second polysilicon layer is at least as thick as the gate stack in the memory array region, planarizing the structure using chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), and patterning the gate stacks in said memory array region and the logic device region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method for producing a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a method of reducing topography variation from a polysilicon mask using chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) operation in producing the semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Merged dynamic random access memory (DRAM)-logic circuits (e.g., so-called "hybrid circuits") offer possible advantages in terms of performance. However, thin gate dielectrics are required in the logic circuits to achieve high performance (e.g., higher speeds), whereas thick gate oxides are required in the DRAM arrays to achieve high yields.
In a conventional process, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,035, incorporated herein by reference, and as shown in FIGS. 6A-6C, a polysilicon mask is used to protect the thick gate dielectric in a DRAM Array while growing the thin gate dielectric in the logic circuits.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6A, using conventional photolithographic techniques a photoresist layer 18 is spin-coated on a first polysilicon layer 16 and patterned leaving portions of the photoresist over a memory device area 5 while exposing the polysilicon layer 16 over a logic device area 3.
Then, the first polysilicon layer 16 is etched to the gate oxide layer 14 over the logic device area 3, as shown in FIG. 6A. The etching is performed using anisotropic plasma etching, for example, in a reactive ion etching (RIE), and using an etchant gas such as chlorine (Cl.sub.2) and a carrier gas, such as argon (Ar). This results in selective etching of the polysilicon layer 16 to the gate oxide 14.
The first gate oxide layer 14 is selectively removed in the logic device area 3 using wet etching, for example, by dip etch in a dilute solution of hydrofluoric (HF) acid and water.
Referring now to FIG. 6B, the photoresist layer 18 is removed, a second gate oxide layer 15, which is thinner than the first gate oxide 14, is formed by thermal oxidation over the logic device area 3. This thermal oxidation also forms a silicon oxide layer 17 on the polysilicon layer 16, as shown in FIG. 6B.
Referring now to FIG. 6C, a conformal second polysilicon layer 20 is deposited over the second gate oxide layer 15 in the logic device area 3, and over the oxide layer 17 that was formed on the first polysilicon layer 16 during the thermal oxidation. Preferably, the second and first polysilicon layers, 16 and 20, are deposited to essentially the same thickness. This provides for the concurrent etching of polysilicon layers 16 and 20 over the first and second gate oxide layers 14 and 15, respectively, without resulting in over-etching one of the other device area into the silicon substrate 10. The second polysilicon layer 20 is also doped with an N-type dopant by ion implantation. The independent doping of polysilicon layers 16 and 20, from which the FET gate electrodes are formed, provides a means for independently controlling doping in both gate electrodes.
However, the above process results in a very non-planar structure. This nonplanarity will greatly reduce the process window for lithography at dimensions of 0.25 .mu.m and below.
An additional problem is associated with forming self-aligned contacts in the array. This requires an SiN cap on top of the gates in the array. However, the SiN cap must be removed from the logic regions (e.g., SiN caps enhance diffusion through gate oxides, resulting in threshold voltage shifts for FETs) using an extra mask, thereby increasing the cost of the integrated circuit.

Process for fabricating two different gate dielectric thicknesses using a polysilicon mask and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) planarization

International Business Machines Corporation


A gardening spray nozzle includes a handle and a barrel. The handle is provided with a hollow neck which is provided in the inner wall with one retaining projection and an annular furrow. The barrel is provided in the wall of a fastening end with a retaining slot, and in the outer surface of the wall with an annular groove. The barrel is fastened to the handle in conjunction with a retaining ring and a ferrule which is fastened to the neck. The retaining projection of the neck is fitted into the retaining slot of the barrel to prevent the radial displacement of the barrel. The retaining ring is jointly located in the annular furrow of the neck and the annular groove of the barrel to prevent the axial displacement of the barrel.

Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates generally to a gardening spray nozzle, and more particularly to a structure for fastening a barrel and a handle of the gardening spray nozzle.
The conventional gardening spray nozzle comprises a barrel which is fastened at one end to a nozzle head, and at the other end to a handle. The barrel is fastened to the handle by a ferrule in conjunction with a washer. Such a fastening structure as described above is grossly insufficient in terms of structural strength and locating effect. As a result, the barrel becomes loosened easily. In light of the nozzle head being tilted, the barrel cannot be securely held by the handle.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a gardening spray nozzle with a fastening structure capable of holding securely a barrel and a handle of the gardening spray nozzle.
The fastening structure of the present invention comprises a retaining slot which is located in the wall of a fastening end of the barrel; a retaining projection which is located in the inner wall of a threaded neck of the handle and is shaped to fit into the retaining slot of the fastening end of the barrel; a ferrule fastened with the threaded neck of the handle; and a retaining ring located jointly by a retaining groove of the fastening end of the barrel and a furrow of the threaded neck of the handle. The fastening structure of the present invention may comprise a plurality of retaining slots and retaining projections.

Fastening structure of a barrel and handle of a gardening spray nozzle

Shin Tai Spurt Water of the Garden Tools Co., Ltd.


In some embodiments, the present invention generally relates to the separation of blood within a device to form plasma or serum. In some embodiments, the present invention generally relates to the removal of fluids, such as blood, contained within a device. In one aspect, the present invention is generally directed to systems and methods for receiving blood from a subject and processing the blood to form plasma or serum. For example, a device may be applied to the skin of a subject to receive blood from the subject and pass the blood through a separation membrane, which separates the blood into plasma and a portion concentrated in blood cells. As another example, blood or plasma may be allowed to clot within the device and serum (the unclotted portion of the blood) may be withdrawn from the device. The device may contain, in some cases, a vacuum source such as a pre-packaged vacuum to facilitate receiving of blood and/or passage of the blood through the separation membrane to produce plasma or serum. In certain embodiments, plasma, serum, or other fluids may be removed from the device by inserting a needle into a portion of the device that has reduced pressure, expelling gas into the device through the needle, then receiving plasma, serum, or other fluids through the needle.

Plasma is the liquid component of blood in which blood cells are normally suspended. Serum is that portion of plasma in which clotting factors such as fibrinogens have been removed. Plasma (including serum) forms about 55% of the total volume of blood. It is mostly water (about 92-93% by volume) and contains dissolved proteins, glucose, clotting factors, mineral ions, hormones and carbon dioxide. While plasma may be prepared by spinning a tube of fresh blood containing an anti-coagulant in a centrifuge until the blood cells fall to the bottom of the tube, other techniques for producing plasma are still needed. Plasma or serum may be important, for instance, for testing or diagnostics, e.g., for infections, diabetes (e.g., sugar), AIDS (e.g., HIV), cancer (e.g., prostate-specific antigen), or other indications. In many cases, only a relatively small amount of plasma or serum is needed for testing purposes; however, a much large volume of blood is often required for centrifugation and/or processing.

Plasma or serum production and removal of fluids under reduced pressure


A method generates an abrasive wear-resistant layer on a substrate. The layer is formed of particles of a ductile material, in particular Zn, wherein the parameters of the cold spraying process are set such that a comparatively loose laminate having pores is formed by the spray particles. The laminate advantageously and surprisingly exhibits high resistance to abrasive wear (for example by a particle) because the layer can avoid the attack by the particle by plastic deformation and closure of the pores, whereby abrasive removal of the layer is advantageously low. The cold gas-sprayed layer is used as a protective layer against abrasive wear.

The invention relates to a method for generating a layer that is resistant to abrasive wear, on a workpiece by cold gas spraying.
The production of a layer that is resistant to abrasive wear is described, for example, by R. S. Lima et al., "Microstructural Characteristics of Cold-Sprayed Nanostructured WC-Co Coatings", Thin Solid Films 416 (2002), pages 129-135. The layer described there has a fine microstructure, which is referred to as a nanostructured WC-Co coating.
This can be deposited on a substrate by cold gas spraying, a high degree of hardness, and consequently a high resistance to abrasive wear, being obtained because of the WC component of the microstructure.
However, the wearing of a hard layer such as this is primarily dependent on how hard the particles in the abrasive medium are. If the abrasive medium itself has a hardness similar to WC, comparatively high abrasive wear can likewise be found when wear-resistant layers containing WC are used.

Method for producing a layer by means of cold spraying and use of such a layer


A process of preparing acetic acid by reacting a mixture of a methyl ester, an alcohol, and water preferably as a solution in aqueous acetic acid, with carbon monoxide, with or without hydrogen, at a selected partial pressure, in the presence of a catalyst, preferably composed of a nickel or nickel/molybdenum compound with phosphorus compounds as ligands, and a promoter composed of iodine compounds, at a predetermined temperature is disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to production of acetic acid, by reaction of a feedstock of a methyl ester, methanol and water, with carbon monoxide, at a predetermined pressure and temperature, in the presence of a suitable catalyst.
2 Description of the Prior Art
Acetic acid may be prepared from a feedstock containing methyl esters by a process which involves three steps. This process requires acid hydrolysis of a methyl ester such as methyl acetate into acetic acid and methanol, followed by separation of methanol and water by distillation, and subsequent carbonylation of the separated methanol with carbon monoxide to form additional acetic acid. However, the process is uneconomical because the high latent heats of vaporization of both water and methanol requires large quantities of steam and cooling water during the separation step.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,329 issued to Frank E. Paulik, et al disclosed a process for preparation of acetic acid by the carbonylation reaction of an alcohol, ester, or ether with carbon monoxide in the presence of a rhodium catalyst. In that process the reaction mixture is flash boiled to recover the crude product from the catalyst.
However, such a rhodium catalyst will form inactive precipitates of rhodium compounds under a low carbon monoxide partial pressure and high temperature and the reaction rate decreases. As such, the flash boiling step may only be carried out at lower temperatures. This in turn results in a lower concentration of acetic acid in the crude product and then large quantities of steam and cooling water are required in the purification operations. Meanwhile, since rhodium is an expensive precious metal, the overall production cost of the acid is high.
Furthermore, in the above prior art if the concentration of the methyl compound e.g., methyl iodide, methanol, or methyl acetate, is too high, the catalyst loses its activity; and if the water concentration is too low or the carbon monoxide partial pressure is too low the rhodium catalyst precipitates. Thus the window of operation conditions in that invention is narrow and the control is difficult.
Naglieri, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,320, disclosed an improved carbonylation process for the production of acetic acid using less expensive nickel, or a nickel compound, in place of rhodium. However, the new process still required methanol feedstock as the source of the methanol reactant in the carbonylation process.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new process for the industrial production of acetic acid.
Another object of the invention is to provide a process for making acetic acid which uses a feedstock of a methyl ester, water and an alcohol.
Among the other objects of the invention is to provide a carbonylation process for the production of acetic acid using a catalyst of nickel or a nickel compound, with or without molybdenum, containing phosphorus compounds as ligands, and an iodine promoter.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a process for the production of acetic acid in which the catalyst remains in a dissolved state and active while carrying out the step of recovery of the acetic acid from the reaction product, at high temperatures and low carbon monoxide partial pressures.
These and other objects of the invention will be made apparent from the following description hereinafter.


An SO.sub.2 flue gas scrubbing system wherein a calcium compound is dissolved in water and recirculated in contact with the flue gases. Calcium sulfite and sulfate formed in this process are also recirculated. A stream of the slurry passing to waste is separated based on the rate of settling of the constituents so that calcium sulfate and undissolved calcium compound is returned to the recirculating system with the calcium sulfite being sent to waste.

This invention relates to SO.sub.2 flue gas scrubbing systems using calcium compounds as an additive and in particular to a method of improving additive utilization and reducing the required solid content of the circulating slurry.
Calcium compounds such as calcium carbonate and calcium hydroxide are frequently used in SO.sub.2 flue gas scrubbing systems. In such systems, the calcium compound is dissolved in water and recirculated in contact with the flue gas. The SO.sub.2 combines with the calcium compound to form calcium sulfite, and a portion of this is oxidized to calcium sulfate. While the calcium compound is preferably completely dissolved in the water prior to adding the solution to the recirculating scrubber system, this is not practically possible since the calcium compounds are difficult to dissolve. Accordingly, some undissolved compound remains in the slurry, and it will dissolve in time if it is left in the system. Only after it is dissolved is it effective in performing the scrubbing operation. Any of the calcium compound which is sent to waste before dissolving is wasted.
Calcium sulfate forming in the system has a tendency to deposit and build up on the internal scrubber surfaces. It has been found that this incrustration can be avoided by maintaining sufficient calcium sulfate crystals in the slurry as a seed. The additional calcium sulfate forming will preferentially deposit on the circulating crystals rather than on the scrubber surfaces.
In order to remove the sulfur compounds from the system, minimize wear on the components, and maintain the slurry in a reasonably fluid condition, a slip stream of the recirculated slurry is withdrawn and passed to waste. The liquid portion is normally returned to the slurry system.
Normal operation of the system requires the circulation of high total solids concentrations in order to provide ample calcium sulfate seed crystals to prevent scaling. One method used to minimize the total solids concentrations is forced oxidation where air is pumped through the slurry mixture. This oxidizes a portion of the sulfite crystals to sulfate, thereby providing a sufficient amount of seed crystals. Such operation, however, is expensive since it requires additional investment and operating power to pump air through the system.