A reagent is suitable for measuring the concentration of an analyte in a hemoglobin-containing biological fluid, such as whole blood. The reagent comprises dehydrogenase enzyme that has specificity for the analyte, NAD or an NAD derivative, a tetrazolium dye precursor, a diaphorase enzyme or an analog thereof, and a nitrite salt. The reagent causes dye formation that is a measure of the analyte concentration. The nitrite salt suppresses interfering dye formation caused non-enzymatically by the hemoglobin. Preferably, the reagent is used in a dry strip for measuring ketone bodies, such as beta-hydroxybutyrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to diagnostic compositions that permit the measurement of analyte concentrations in hemoglobin-containing biological fluids. The compositions are based on tetrazolium dye precursors and involve suppressing the hemoglobin-induced reduction of them.
2. Description of the Related Art
Adipose tissue is one of the most abundant forms of energy storage in the body. It releases stored fatty acids into the circulatory system to be metabolized primarily by the liver. In the process, fat is consumed and energy is released and made available to the body. Normally, little fat is consumed, the fatty acids are completely metabolized to carbon dioxide and water, and the conversion does not upset the delicate pH balance of the body. However, if insufficient amounts of carbohydrates are present in the body, due, for example, to dieting, then fat consumption and fatty acid production can increase to potentially harmful levels. In addition to dieters, insulin-dependent patients are vulnerable, because of their impaired carbohydrate metabolism. When excessive fatty acid is used to supply a body's energy demand, then large quantities of acetoacetate, acetone, and beta-hydroxybutyrate are produced. These intermediates are referred to as ketone bodies, and the condition is known as ketoacidosis.
The ketone bodies can normally be recycled into other forms by the body, provided it is not overwhelmed. Therefore, a healthy individual accumulates a negligible amount of these analytes. When a large quantity of fats is being metabolized in a relatively short period or when most of the energy is derived from fats, massive amounts of ketone bodies are produced. Excessive production of these fat metabolites can cause certain neurologic disorders, if the problem is not corrected promptly.
Ketone bodies are present in blood and, if a threshold is exceeded, are excreted via the urine. They are easily detected by a modern clinical analyzer. On average, the percentages of beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, and acetone are 78%, 20% and 2%, respectively. Because of its relatively low concentration and high volatility, acetone is seldom measured. Instead, acetoacetate is quantitatively determined by a nitroprusside reaction and the beta-hydroxybutyrate is quantified with an enzymatic method. Acetoacetate test strips have been available for decades. They are based on a nitroprusside ion coupling reaction with aldehydes and ketones. An alkaline urine sample or a serum specimen is allowed to react with the nitroprusside for some minutes, and a purple color is developed. The intensity of the color indicates the acetoacetate concentration. However, acetone interferes with the test, resulting in higher readings. Further, as the patient recovers from a ketoacidosis episode, the acetoacetate level in urine and in blood increases, thus making the diagnosis difficult.
The beta-hydroxybutyrate test is more useful for monitoring ketone body concentrations. It is based on the oxidation of beta-hydroxybutyrate with the corresponding dehydrogenase in the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) cofactor. (Strictly speaking, only D-beta-hydroxybutyrate is naturally present and oxidized, but we omit the "D" for brevity throughout this specification and the appended claims.) Upon the oxidation, NADH is produced, and its concentration is measured directly with a UV spectrophotometer. Hence, the corresponding signal change in the spectrum is proportional to the analyte's concentration. Unfortunately, the excitation of NADH occurs in the UV region; thus, this mode of detection is suitable only for laboratory instruments. Another method for monitoring beta-hydroxybutyrate is by oxidizing the NADH with a tetrazolium compound.
Tetrazolium compounds have played an important role in studies of tissue metabolism. For example, this class of compounds has been used in probing anaerobic oxidation and reduction reactions in cells. Further, they are commonly used in clinical diagnostics. The compounds are typically light-colored or colorless compounds that undergo a reduction reaction, in the presence of a reducing agent, to yield a highly colored formazan. Reducing agents such as ascorbates, sulfhydryls, or variants of NADH and NADPH are capable of forming the dye.
In clinical diagnostics, these dyes have been found to be invaluable for monitoring the formation of NAD(P)H from their parent compounds, NAD(P)+, in anaerobic reactions. The redox reaction is rapid and is not sensitive to oxygen. The resulting dye color is very intense and has low solubility in water.
In principle, tetrazolium dye precursors can be used to measure ketone bodies and glucose in whole blood. However, the tetrazolium can be reduced non-enzymatically by hemoglobin (Fe(II)) to form a colored formazan, if the hemoglobin is not contained within the red cells of the blood. Thus, free hemoglobin causes serious interference with the measurements. In fact, due to hemolysis and the resultant abundance of free hemoglobin relative to the analyte of interest, in a typical clinical sample, the interfering signal from hemoglobin could exceed the intended signal. This is particularly true in high hematocrit samples or when the reaction is carried out at a higher temperature, where the hemoglobin oxidation reaction is faster. Since the hemolysis of red blood cells, which causes free hemoglobin to be present, cannot easily be avoided, red blood cells must be removed from samples prior to testing, if tetrazolium is to be used for the analysis.
Red blood cells can be removed from samples by filtering with membranes and filters, by trapping with chemical reagents, or by a combination of both methods. Filtration methods for separating red cells from whole blood are costly and require rather large sample volumes. An example of a blood ketone (beta-hydroxybutyrate) test that uses filtration to eliminate red cells from a whole blood sample is the KetoSite.RTM. test available from GDS Diagnostics, Elkhart, Ind. (See Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry, 2.sup.nd Ed., ed. by C. Burtis et al., W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, Pa., 1994, p. 974.) The "Test Card" used in that test has two filter layers, which makes the card rather costly and necessitates a large (25 .mu.L) blood sample. Further, the blood must not be hemolyzed.
A combination of filtration and chemical trapping is used in the Ames.RTM. Glucometer Encore.TM. blood glucose strip, available from Miles. That strip uses a layer of filter material and an agglutination aid (potato lectin) to eliminate interference from red cells. (See Chu et al., European Pat. Appl. 0 638 805 A2, publ. Feb. 15, 1995.)
Introducing an oxidizing agent into a system, to oxidize the hemoglobin to methemoglobin, is another way to reduce the hemoglobin interference. Although ferricyanides are known to transform hemoglobin to methemoglobin, they also destroy the desired product, NADH.

Diagnostics based on tetrazolium compounds


This invention relates to a method of screening agents for cardiotoxicity based on the observations of the alteration of heart rate and heart rhythm, using teleost embryos and larvae. This invention also relates to a method for identification of gene(s) related to cardiac functions in teleost.

Cellular electrophysiological basis for cardiac arrhythmia is due to blockage of ion channels, resulting in delay of repolarization and prolongation of QT interval, characteristics of ECG with longer interval between Q and T points (Keating and Sanguinetti. 2001; Roden et al. 2002). Because it is the target of most non-cardiac drugs that cause cardiac arrhythmia (Abriel et al. 2004; Joshi et al. 2004), special attention is paid to hERG (human ether-à-go-go-related gene) which encodes for the pore-forming α subunit of the rapidly activating delayed rectifier potassium channel. The channel is responsible for the repolarizing potassium current which is distinguished from other current by strong inward rectification. Inhibition of this channel, either by exogenous compounds or due to genetic mutation, increases the duration of repolarization of action potential in cardiac myocytes, resulting in cardiac arrhythmias. Nevertheless, cardiac arrhythmia is not only due to the malfunction of hERG but also other ion channels, such as sodium channels and calcium channels. Thus, emphasis is put on the preclinical screening for new therapeutic compounds with any unexpected cardiac toxic effects by highly sensitive and specific experimental models (Joshi et al. 2004).
Traditionally, patch clamp electrophysiology is regarded as the "gold standard" for measuring of ion channel activity (Fermini and Fossa. 2003). Patch clamp allows for the direct and real-time monitoring of ion channel activity in the administration of testing compounds in whole-cell mode. However, it is a low-throughput methodology and requires highly skillful operators. Although other advanced screening technologies have been developed recently to improve the degree of throughput, all these technologies are based on in vitro cell culture models. The disadvantage of using in vitro model is that complex physiological environment that occurs in vivo cannot be modeled in an in vitro system. Some biological questions of cardiac electrophysiology cannot simply be addressed by in vitro assays. In this case, in vivo models have been applied, including Guinea pig, dog, and primate. ECG is continuously recorded over a range of increasing doses in anaesthetized animal to detect the occurrence of any cardiac arrhythmia. Moreover, they are not widely used due to the ethical issues and cost efficiency. Therefore, there is a need to develop a new technology with lower cost and higher efficiency.
Zebrafish has emerged as a model in developmental biology studies, toxicology studies as well as pharmaceutical studies. Zebrafish in vivo bioassay combines the advantages of high throughput, as compared to mammalian in vivo assays, and high relevance, as compared to in vitro assays. Recently, two articles have been published demonstrating similar physiological responses of zebrafish to well-know compounds that induce cardiac arrhythmia in humans (Langheinrich et al. 2003; Milan et al. 2003). Furthermore, the ortholog of hERG was cloned and showed high similarity in protein sequence in the pore region and the cyclic-nucleotide binding region to which some cardiac toxic compounds bind (Langheinrich et al. 2003). In addition, mutation in zERG exhibits similar phenotype of cardiac arrhythmia as in human. These results suggest zebrafish may be used as a model for screening compounds with cardiac toxicity.
Methods have been developed to measure cardiac function in zebrafish. However, they are usually low throughput, time consuming and labor intensive. The simplest method is to use a stopwatch to count number of heart beat per minute under conventional light microscope or stereomicroscope (Langheinrich et al. 2003). An image analysis method of digital movie of heart has been developed (Milan et al. 2003). Average pixel intensity of a particular region of heart was measured. Fast Fourier transform of these data was performed to determine the heart rate. Beside heart rate, other cardiac parameters, e.g. cardiac output, hemodynamics and electrical properties, have been developed (reviewed by (Schwerte and Fritsche. 2003)). Cardiac output, an important parameter of cardiac physiology, can be determined non-invasively in transparent zebrafish embryos by calculation of the ventricular volume during cardiac cycle by filming the beating ventricle. The formula of volume calculation requires the length of axes of ventricle which can be obtained by outlining the ventricle manually or automatically with the assistance of a computer program. Hemodynamics as determined by blood pressure can be measured using servo-null micropressure system. In the system, a glass capillary filled with a NaCl solution of high concentration is inserted into the blood vessels of interest using a micromanipulator. Pressure change in the blood vessel will move the interface between the plasma and NaCl solution, resulting in the change of electrical resistance of the electrode inside the glass capillary. Recently, methodology for measuring electrical properties in zebrafish embryos has been developed (Forouhar et al. 2004). In the methodology, five day old embryos are mounted on their dorso-ventral orientation and two electrodes are positioned using a micromanipulator, one on the body surface outside the heart and another reference electrode in the surrounding solution. However, these methods are also time-consuming and labor intensive, particularly in sample preparation steps, making them not suitable for high throughput study.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of in vivo screening for cardiac toxic agents using teleost


A water deviation unit for external wall features comprises a frame shaped plate adaptable to be attached to a sheathing of a composite external wall and a box like subassembly projecting outwardly from and connecting to the frame shaped plate and provided centrally with a relatively large aperture. The box like subassembly includes: 1) a pair of spaced apart walls extending outwardly and perpendicularly in vertical planes from adjacent sides of said relatively large aperture and continuing above the latter; 2) upper and lower means for inclining used to deflect outwardly the water and connected laterally respectively at a top and a bottom of the pair of spaced apart walls; and 3) means for controlling an entrance and a withdrawal from an interior of the composite external, disposed between and joining the spaced apart walls.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rain shielded mounting boxes used to pass through cladding of building walls and provide access from the outside to such features as gable, wall and soffit vents, electrical receptacles, light fixtures, dryer outlets, etc. The foregoing can be summarized by the above title.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of features, adapted to be attached to external composite walls, creates, due to water infiltration from rain into the aforementioned walls, a serious danger. Attempts have been made to eliminate or at least to alleviate this danger. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 6,951,081, granted on Oct. 4, 2005 to Bonshor for a "WATER DEFLECTING APPARATUS" and U.S. Pat. No. 7,358,440, granted on Apr. 15, 2008 to Funk et al. for a "RAIN SHIELDED BOX FOR EXITING THROUGH SIDING" have addressed the problem.
Bonshor's patent discloses an apparatus mounted on a wall which includes a sheathing covered by a siding. The apparatus includes an inner, or rear, member including a mounting plate and a protrusion. The protrusion is rectangular having a top, a bottom, a right side and a left side. The top includes two portions which slop downwardly from a center of the top towards the sides. The slopping portions of the top deflect water towards the sides, where via passageways which extend from the top to the bottom of the protrusion the water is diverted. The passageways are formed by spaced-apart flanges and a connecting web. There is a skirt extending along the bottom of the rear member for diverting the water from the mounting plate toward the exterior of the siding.
The main disadvantage of Bonshor's apparatus resides in the use of two portions which slop downwardly from a center of the top of the protrusion towards the sides. These portions not being inclined downwardly towards the front of the protrusion, one can wonder whether the water intended to reach the passageways and be conveyed along the latter, before and by and large flows over external margins of the two portions. Another important disadvantage consists in dimensioning the transversal opening of the passageways in order to be suitable for different types of rain (from normal to torrential). Yet another disadvantage of Bonshor's apparatus resides in its complicated structure: the passageways are formed by spaced-apart flanges and a connecting web.
Funk's et al. patent refers to a rain shielded box comprising a large, nailing, rectangular flange, mounted vertically against an outside sheathing and a box-shaped structure. The large, nailing, rectangular flange is attached to a wall contacting end of the box-shaped structure. Funk's et al. rain shielded box incorporates as well a shoulder downwardly and outwardly inclined relative to the large, nailing, rectangular flange. A flange runs along the top surface of the box-shaped structure. The flange has a gap in the center and spaced away from this gap there is a slightly arcuate barrier used for deflecting water that hits the large, nailing, rectangular flange along the top and splashes back towards the flange. Then, water moves generally towards the two sides. Shoulders having a plurality of spaced apart notches or grooves spaced along a length thereof near an outer edge of each surface of a shoulder. Upon contacting the notches, the water is immediately bound to the surfaces of the shoulder by surface tension and flows down to a rain drip flange. The rain drip flange extends across the bottom surface of the box-shaped structure. A cover plate that fits over and locks to the box-shaped structure is used.
Funk's et al. rain shielded box has several structural and functional shortcomings. First, the large, nailing, rectangular flange is attached only at its sides with nails which are predisposed to rust. Second, the structure is complicated, a relatively large number of component being used. Third, diverting the water to the sides does not seem practical and efficient.

Water deviation unit for external wall fixtures


A monitoring device disposed for thwarting denial of service attacks on the data center is described. The monitoring device includes a plurality of probe devices that are disposed to collect statistical information on packets that are sent between the network and the data center and a cluster head coupled to each of the plurality of probe devices, the cluster head receiving collected statistical information from the probe devices and determining from the collected information whether the data center is under a denial of service attack.

This invention relates to techniques to thwart network-related denial of service attacks.
In denial of service attacks, an attacker sends a large volume of malicious traffic to a victim. In one approach an attacker, via a computer system connected to the Internet infiltrates one or a plurality of computers at various data centers. Often the attacker will access the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The attacker by use of a malicious software program places the plurality of computers at the data centers under its control. When the attacker issues a command to the computers at the data centers, the machines send data out of the data centers at arbitrary times. These computers can simultaneously send large volumes of data over various times to the victim preventing the victim from responding to legitimate traffic.

Architecture to thwart denial of service attacks


A method for computer emulation of human decision making defines a plurality of concepts related to a domain and a plurality of situations related to the domain, where each situation is a combination of at least two of the concepts. Each concept and situation is represented in the computer as an oscillator output, and each situation and concept oscillator output is distinguishable from all other oscillator outputs. Information is input to the computer representative of detected concepts, and the computer compares the detected concepts with the stored situations to determine if a situation has occurred.

Applications for cognitive systems roughly fall into three classes: (1) synthetic humans for simulation and training; (2) various augmented cognition solutions such as those employing representations of expert or user cognitive models; and (3) intelligent control processes including adaptive interfaces. In each case, a computational model(s) of human cognitive processes and or knowledge representation(s) is a basic ingredient to the cognitive system. Tools enabling development of cognitive systems, including the constituent models of cognitive processes, are a central feature of the proposed development environment.
To date, there has been limited application for human modeling and simulation technologies. In general, attention to visual graphics and computational algorithms has dominated concern for behavioral realism. Nonetheless, various camps have made good progress in the computational representation of basic cognitive processes. However, there has been marginal progress toward representations that incorporate the influence of organic factors on behavior (i.e., arousal, fatigue, etc.). It has been a goal to develop a comprehensive framework that encompasses the requisite cognitive processes, but also incorporates organic factors that range from the microscopic (e.g., metabolic, pharmacological, etc.) to the macroscopic (i.e., culture) in a parsimonious fashion.
Two earlier projects contributed to the initial conceptualizations for the human emulator. First, in developing the behavior model for a small unit combat simulator, we sought an instantiation of human naturalistic decision making theory within the context of an agent-based computer simulation. This instantiation utilized Klein's Recognition Primed Decision Making (RPD) model with emphasis on Level 1 decision making. (See G. Klein, "An overview of naturalistic decision making applications, in Naturalistic Decision Making, Lawrence Earlbaum, Mowah, NJ (1997), pp. 49-59.) According to RPD, an expert decision maker commits their resources to evaluating the situation and through this evaluation, patterns are detected that lead to recognition that the current situation is analogous to situations that are known from past experience. The appropriate course of action is implicit in recognition of the situation. The instantiation of this concept involved the representation of environmental cues and relevant knowledge in a manner that accommodates pattern recognition. Patterns are associated with known situations (i.e., tactics) and once there is a match between the ongoing situation and a known situation, generic scripts are employed to direct agent behavior.
Secondly, within a systems engineering/safety context, Forsythe and Wenner (2000) have advanced an organic model to account for human influences on engineered systems. (See C. Forsythe et al., "Surety of human elements of high consequence systems: An organic model", Proceedings of the IEA 2000/HFES 2000 Congress, 3-839-3-842.) This model challenges physical and computational science-based approaches through its emphasis on an organic systems perspective. Specifically, it is asserted that due to human influences, engineered systems are inherently organic and will exhibit properties of organic systems. These properties have been described and provide a basis for predicting aberrant behavior of engineered systems.
Early in development, it was realized that a purely psychological model would be inadequate for representing the influence of organic factors on cognitive behavior. There is enormous ambiguity in basic terminology (e.g., stress, arousal) and without a representation of underlying mechanisms, the scope and predictive capabilities would be severely limited. However, many facets of cognitive behavior (e.g., knowledge representation) are well described by psychological models (See T. E. Goldsmith et.al., "Assessing structural knowledge", Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(1), (1991), pp, 88-96.)
Consequently, this invention utilizes a two-tiered approach in which knowledge is represented using a psychological model, and a separate physiology-based model serves as the engine that drives a psychological model. The fact that knowledge is not directly represented in the neural (i.e., physiological) model distinguishes this design from neural net and connectionist approaches, yet facilitates representation of the vast quantities of knowledge essential to a realistic emulation.
The mapping of the psychological to the physiological model is critical. We retain the concepts embodied by Recognition Primed Decision Making. This includes a separate representation of individual situational elements, pattern recognition and activation of schema-like representation of known situations. Frame/Content theory provided an initial bridge. This theory asserts that the representation of individual elements of content within a structural or contextual frame is a basic organizing principle of the neural system (See P. MacNeilage, "The frame/content theory of evolution of speech production", Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, (1998) pp. 499-546.) Examples include figure/ground relationships in perception, syntax and semantics in linguistics, and differential motor specialization for stabilization and manipulation. Applying frame/content theory, individual elements of a situation represent content, whereas situation schema provide an interpretive frame.
Further extension involves mapping these ideas to the model of memory processes proposed by Wolfgang Klimesch and colleagues. (See W. Klimesch, "Memory processes, brain oscillations and EEG synchronization", International Journal of Psychophysiology, 24, (1996), pp. 61-100.) Two phenomena have been described. First, in the absence of intrinsic or extrinsic stimulation, regions associated with semantic memory exhibit synchronous activation in the high alpha (10-13 Hz) bandwidth. It is suggested that semantic memory processes involve the activation of numerous localized neural assemblies. These assemblies oscillate in phase with pulses from a pacemaker until stimulated, at which time activation increases and assemblies begin to oscillate independent of the pacemaker. At this point, there is desynchronization. In contrast, episodic processes exhibit a completely different profile. Specifically, processing demands lead to increased synchronization in the theta (4-7 Hz) bandwidth. This pattern of activation is consistent with oscillation of a single distributed neural assembly.
The cognition studies presented above relate to humans. This invention uses these teachings and other features in a computer model.
This approach to Cognitive Systems may be distinguished from common AI-based and expert systems due to an emphasis on human-like, non-deterministic situation recognition processes, as opposed to reasoning through logical and/or rule-based operations. A primary objective has been to attain a machine emulation of human naturalistic decision making, including the influence of individualized factual and experiential knowledge. These developments are believed essential to attaining more realistically human-like synthetic entities for simulation-based analysis and training. However, these capabilities also enable development of systems in which machines are endowed with human-like cognitive representations, allowing human-machine interactions to move a step closer to human-human interactions.


A steam generator for use with a steam bath has a storage tank for holding a quantity of water from which steam is to be made, means for permitting the ingress of water and the egress of steam from the tank, first heating means for controllably maintaining the water at a temperature that is elevated from the ambient temperature but below its boiling point, and second heating means for selectively heating the water from its elevated temperature to produce steam upon demand.

Steam baths have long been a popular method for relaxing and renewing one's energy level. Many people also believe that steam baths have a number of health benefits. Typical steam baths require a mist to be permanently present, requiring energy-intensive components and methods for generating steam.
In practice, those who take steam baths typically do so for 15–20 minutes, sometimes followed by a shower to cool down the body and a second steam bath. Moreover, this can be repeated as many as two to three times for a single session. Steam baths accordingly require a sufficient quantity of water to be heated to its boiling point of 100° C. to produce the requisite amount of steam. This can be quite energy intensive.
In addition, it can take considerable time to heat the required quantity of water to its boiling point; typically, as long as four to six minutes. This is inconvenient, particularly given the fact that the steam bath is taken for 15–20 minutes, as described above. The proportion of total time thereby devoted to waiting for steam is significant. Although one can theoretically utilize the heated water from a home's hot water heater to reduce the waiting time by reducing the temperature gradient that must be transversed to produce steam, the water from a hot water heater typically contains impurities that can harm the steam bath system, shorten its life, and detract from the beneficial health effects attributable to steam baths. Thus, one has typically had to wait a considerably lengthy time before one could engage in a desired steam bath

System and method for generating steam for a steam bath


An item holder mountable by suction on a mounting surface including a deformable and transparent body. The body includes an outer surface, an inner surface, and a periphery extending around the body and surrounding the outer surface and the inner surface. The body further includes a compartment having an opening adjacent the periphery and extending between the inner and outer surfaces for removably holding an item. The body is deformable from an undeformed shape to an actuated shape to mount the holder on the mounting surface by positioning the inner surface of the body adjacent the mounting surface when the body is undeformed thereby forming a cavity between the body and the mounting surface and deforming the body to its actuated shape thereby sealing the body against the mounting surface and forcing fluid out of the cavity to create a suction between the body and the mounting surface.

The present invention relates to item holders and display devices and, more specifically, to portable item holders, display devices, and aromatic devices that are vacuum mounted on smooth surfaces.
People often wish to display items, such as photos, collector cards (e.g., baseball cards), and pieces of art. They also often wish to have aromatic items in their environment. These people sometimes prefer to locate the item being displayed and/or providing aroma as conveniently as possible. Locating conventional display devices, such as picture frames, and conventional aromatic items, such as scented candle holders, on non-horizontal surfaces (e.g., walls) is often convenient because the devices can be appreciated while not taking up counter or shelf space.
People also sometimes desire to change a location of the item being displayed and/or providing aroma. For example, a person displaying a picture on their kitchen wall may want to instead display the picture on a wall at their workplace. As another example, a person having a scented candle hanging from a candle holder secured to their bathroom wall may want to have the scented candle in another location. However, it is not easy to change the location of conventional devices that are secured to surfaces. For example, to change the display location of an item displayed in one of many conventional picture frames, the frame must be removed from a hook on which it was hanging from and a hook must be mounted on a wall at another location for holding the frame. Further, the old hook must be used for other purposes or removed, which could leave a scar in the wall and require repair and painting. Changing the location of a scented-candle holder secured to a wall, such as by a nail, presents similar challenges.
Display devices with greater portability exist, but they have limited convenience. For example, magnetic picture frames are easily portable from one ferrous surface to another. However, such picture frames will not work where the surface is not ferrous. Further, most magnetic display devices are not aromatic. Conventional suction cups are very portable, being mountable on most smooth and non-porous surfaces. However, conventional suction cups do not have integral compartments for holding an item for displaying the item or providing a desired aroma of the item.

Portable item holder, display device, and aromatic device


An apparatus for dispensing and mixing flowable materials that includes at least one hopper connected to a mixing chamber. The apparatus further includes at least one valve associated with the hopper. The valve operates to regulate the flow of material from the hopper to the mixing chamber. The apparatus also includes a controller that communicates with the at least one valve wherein the controller selectively controls the operation of the valve.

Known fertilization techniques exhibit many disadvantages. One such technique, the dry-spreader method, used primarily for lawns, uses a mechanical-cyclone or drop-spreader apparatus to spread a dry granular fertilizer. At least five kinds of waste are inherent in this method. First, while the amount of active nutrients available to plants from granular fertilizer can vary widely from brand to brand, typically a bag of pre-blended granular fertilizer might contain as much as 98% inert matter such as fillers, carriers, and coatings that merely transport a relatively small amount of active ingredients to the plants. The inert matter has no other benefit for the plants. Second, significant amounts of the active ingredients (typically nutrients) are often lost as a result of atmospheric conditions such as heavy rain or high winds and clipping removal. Third, the dry-spreader method is frequently subject to a considerable amount of un-dissolved or un-converted nutrients that have been locked up in the soil, unable to be absorbed by root system, because of an imbalance in excess of another nutrient. Fourth, since the mechanical broadcast type spreaders equipment typically cannot be better controlled, it frequently wastes a considerable amount of the granular fertilizer being applied, on to surfaces such as walkways, driveways, parking lots and patios, etc., instead of within the sub-surface of the turf and around the base of shrubs and trees beds where it belongs Fifth, attempts to achieve a "quick greening" with a dry-spreader method require excessive watering in order to begin a dissolving process of the fertilizer, so that nutrients can be absorbed into the root system more rapidly, but this over-watering can actually result in the loss of the necessary nutrients desired to produce a quick greening effect, by causing the nutrients to leach well beyond the root system. Additionally, depending upon the soil composition, such as dense clay-based soils, excessive watering may also increase the potential of nitrate (nutrient) run-off, which then also contaminates ground-water supplies, pollutes ponds, streams, and natural waterways. The loss of nitrogen through leaching, run off, and volatilization (evaporation into the atmosphere) is also a growing ecological concern.
Another critical disadvantage to using this dry-spreader applied method is early morning applications, when dew is present on the lawn, is potentially injurious to the plant, because unless the particles are immediately "watered in," the granular inorganic particles that stick to the damp grass blades significantly increase the probability for "fertilizer burn." On a lawn, fertilizer burn typically results in brown spots or leaf shoots turning brown (dehydrated) from the tip down. Another significant problem with the dry-spreader method is that, because the fertilizer is typically put down in rows over a lawn, frequent row-skipping or overlapping results in under or over-fertilizing, causing a blotchy or stripped appearance. When fertilizers are being applied to shrub and tree beds, the application is commonly done by broadcasting hand fulls of the product from a pail over the area. This antiquated and applicator health risk method falls short in being able to apply the products evenly throughout the shrub and tree beds. This method wastes a considerable amount of the product, since the uptake (absorption) of the essential nutrients for the plants overall benefit are locked up on the surface of bed and unable to be homogeneously absorbed by the root system of the plants.
Maintaining a balance of nutrients in the soil is an important management objective. By judicious use of fertilizers, nutrients which are deficient in soil can be supplied to growing plants. The objective of fertilizer programs is to supplement the capacity of soils as precise as possible to supply nutrients that would otherwise be deficient for normal and healthy growth.
Furthermore, to be effective, it is recommended that fertilizers that are applied by the dry-spreader method be "watered in." That is, the particles should be in a dissolving process for the active nutrients to be eventually absorbed by the plants' root system.
It is well known that nitrogen sources that readily dissolve in water pass into solution at a faster rate than the plant, or often the soil itself can absorb them. This is a common occurrence with most powders, liquids, and some granular products that have a sulfur coating on the particles, such as sulfur-coated urea. Heavy rains or daily sprinklings will dissolve the coating of the particle too quickly, releasing too great a quantity at one time of the active nitrogen source, thus increasing a high probability of burn and stress damage to the plant, including the waste or significant reduction of the product's life span.
Another commonly known fertilization technique, the aqueous-dispersion method, uses a spray nozzle to disperse fine powders in an aqueous medium. The aqueous medium containing these fine powders is typically obtained by blending, along with other liquid fertilizers, in a tank of water, which acts as a carrier for the nutrients. The aqueous-dispersion method is typically carried out with conventional spraying equipment or by pressure injection through an irrigation system.
This aqueous-dispersion method allow formulations that provide nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium nutrients in a liquid flowable form with an analysis usually pre-blended from the manufacturer. In order to keep these materials well blended on the spraying rig, the agitation depends upon a small propeller type fan mounted on the inside of the spraying tank.
These soluble fertilizer forms usually provide nutrients, which are immediately available to the plant, and therefore, enable quick response or "quick greening" of the lawn. But such a liquid or blended-powder solution is often too rich in immediately available nutrients and is particularly high in salt-rated nitrogen. They are mixed sparingly because of their potential for burning, and require careful monitoring of the amount of product being applied, and the number of applications required to maintain a desired appearance. They may improve some (short-lived) plant characteristics, such as shoot growth and color, but do not promote or stimulate the desired balanced root development for the overall health of the plant. Applying these rich nutrients would be an occasional "nice treat" for the plants, but not a good diet to maintain the overall health and root development, which is the foundation and life support of the plant.
Furthermore, all fertilizers contain salt. These salts are not unlike table salt except that they contain various nutrients. When a salt is added to water, the osmotic pressure of the solution is increased. Osmotic pressure, in a sense, is a measure of the force that a dissolved substance exerts on a semi-permeable membrane, such as turf grass. When a fertilizer, either as a liquid or a powder, is applied to the surface of the soil, the fertilizer salts must sooner or later enter and become a part of the soil solution before the nutrients can enter the roots and be used by the plant.
The increase in the osmotic pressure may determine whether the plant will survive or die from a fertilizer burn. Water can pass through the root cell membranes of the plant only when the osmotic pressure of the soil solution is lower than that of the solution inside the cell. If the osmotic pressure of the soil solution becomes greater than that of the solution inside the plant cell, water cannot enter the cell and may even be drawn or pulled out of it. A higher pressure pulls a lower pressure. When water and the nutrients of the soil solution cannot enter the root cell membranes of the plant, eventually this will results in the death of the cells. When the root cells die, the whole plant may die. Normally water moves from soil into a plant root, but water can move out of a root if too much fertilizer makes the concentration of salts in the soil too high. In fertilizer burn, water is drawn out of the plant as a result of osmotic pressure from the root to the soil, thereby dehydrating and killing the plant.
Liquid or powdered fertilizer solutions are characterized as being too rich in immediate available nutrients and are particularly high in salt rated nitrogen. A solution, which is too high in salt, will cause the death of the cells, which is typical of the "burning" appearance of the lawn or plant leaf caused by this high salt solution.
Some of the disadvantages associated with known fertilization methods are addressed by the slurry spray technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,072. This process consists of mixing into a large tank of water separate, raw, required plant nutrients as one large batch of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and other micronutrients in a dry granular form. Through agitation the granular particles are maintained in suspension within the tank, attaining a uniform distribution of the combination of soluble nutrients and insoluble nutrients. The mixture is then applied to the plants as a slurry spray. When the mixture soaks into the ground it carries with it a combination of soluble and insoluble nutrients for immediate nourishment to the plant as compared to the other methods. The majority of the insoluble granular nutrients that stay intact penetrate the sub-surface, remain there, releasing their nutrients slowly over a longer period of time.
But there are still disadvantages with this slurry spray method. Typically a lawn-care service, using the slurry spray technique as described above, will mix one large batch of fertilizer at the beginning of the day. Because of the apparatus design, as the fertilizer mixture continuously flows through its recycling pump and is returned back to the mixing tank, in addition with the mixture being exposed to continuous rising heat of the ambient temperature, the granular insoluble based products break down. This gradually accelerates the granules' soluble potency, which increases the probability of fertilizer burn, and also decreases the particle size, rapidly decreasing the granules' insoluble residual life. One can try to address this problem by adding more granule-based insoluble product at mid-day, but this will cause an imbalance in the percentage of basic essential nutrients of nitrate, potassium and phosphorous of the original batch, and further contribute to the reduced uptake of other essential nutrients. Nutrient balance is extremely important in plant nutrition. An excess of one nutrient can cause reduced uptake of another. An excess of potassium, for example may compete with magnesium uptake by plants. A heavy application of phosphorous may induce a zinc deficiency in soil that is marginal or low in zinc. Excess iron may induce a manganese deficiency.
In addition, different lawns and their conditions may require different amounts of care, and thus different fertilizer formulations. But with known methods and devices, including the slurry spray method, it is difficult to customize formulations for each job site that a lawn-care service may address on a given day. Again, the typical practice is to mix one large batch of a single fertilizer formulation at the beginning of the day and apply the same formulation regardless of the different nutrients that are required for each lawn or plant.
It would be advantageous to have methods and devices that address the disadvantages inherent in the slurry spray method along with the disadvantages associated with other methods of dry-applied mechanical spreader and liquid/powder, aqueous spray applied techniques as outlined above.

Method and devices for dispensing fluids


Systems and methods for guided wave antennas are described. Apparatus is disclosed comprising: a dielectric nonphotoconductive waveguide defining a principle axis; a grating carrier connected to the dielectric nonphotoconductive waveguide, the grating carrier i) including a photoconductive material and ii) defining a photoconductive axis that is substantially parallel to the principle axis; a spatial light modulator optically connected to the layer of photoconductive material; and a source of illumination optically connected to the spatial light modulator and the layer of photoconductive material. Light from the source of illumination passes through the spatial light modulator and induces a plasma grating in the grating carrier substantially along a direction defined by the photoconductive axis so as to evanescently couple and direct electromagnetic signals traveling in the dielectric nonphotoconductive waveguide, the electromagnetic signals traveling along a direction substantially parallel to the principle axis. The systems and methods provide advantages in that high performance is achieved with a compact package.

1. Field of Use
The present invention relates generally to the field of antennas. More particularly, the present invention concerns scanning antennas. Specifically, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is directed to a photoinduced coupling antenna. The present invention thus relates to antennas of the type that can be termed photoinduced coupling scanning antennas.
2. Description of Related Art
Within this application several publications are referenced by arabic numerals within parentheses. Full citations for these, and other, publications may be found at the end of the specification immediately preceding the claims. The disclosures of all these publications in their entireties are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application for the purposes of indicating the background of the invention and illustrating the state of the art.
Vehicle crashes represent a significant public health hazard as well as a cause of significant economic loss each year. Therefore, there has been a long felt need for an inexpensive crash avoidance system for use in automobiles, aircraft and other vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has identified Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control (AICC) and similar autonomous crash avoidance systems as precursors to fully automated driving in the proposed future Automated Highway System. Highway crashes are the sixth leading cause of death in the USA, and the major cause of death for people below the age of 25. A recent NHTSA report gives the costs associated with the 44,531 deaths, 5.4 million injuries, and 28 million damaged vehicles in 1990; the losses are estimated to be $137.5 billion in lost wages and other direct costs. The economic loss from traffic crashes represents greater than 2% of the U.S. GNP, and results in nearly 2 billion hours of lost time and 7.5 million liters of wasted fuel each year. Aircraft, and other vehicle, crashes also represent a significant economic loss each year.
Crash avoidance systems (CAS) for highway vehicles are conventionally designed to be a countermeasure to one or more classes of recognized crash types. Crash avoidance systems generally fall into three categories: near obstacle detection systems (NODs), forward looking radar (FLR) systems, and wide angle imaging systems for all weather and night vision (AWNV).
The clear choice of wavelength for FLR and AWNV sensors is the millimeter wavelength (MMW) range. The European frequency allocation for such sensors is 76 to 77 GHz. The Japanese frequency allocation for such sensors is currently 59 to 60 GHz. The U.S. frequency allocation for such sensors, while still under discussion, has tended to be around 76 to 77 GHz, although 94 GHz has also been discussed. The electronic and signal processing parts of FLR and AWNV systems are considered to be essentially developed and ready for mass production.
For example, millimeter wavelength transceiver electronic packages for use in conjunction with the crash avoidance systems for vehicles such as, for example, automobiles are already commercially available. A specific example of such a commercially available transceiver electronic package is Litton's millimeter wavelength transceiver..sup.(2)
However, an inexpensive scannable millimeter wavelength antenna is not yet commercially available for use with such crash avoidance systems. As a practical economic matter, the phase shifting element solution used for prior art seeker applications cannot be adopted for use in a commercial vehicle crash avoidance system because of the extremely high cost of the individual phase shifting elements that are a part of such seeker applications, (i.e., from approximately $2,000 to approximately $10,000). Further, the phase shifting element solution used for prior art seeker applications cannot be adopted for use in a commercial vehicle crash avoidance system because of the very high cost of the skilled hand labor required for the assembly of such a phased array antenna.
An IEEE workshop in May 1994.sup.(1) on millimeter wavelength technology for automobiles identified the millimeter wavelength scanning antenna as a key element needed to complete an economically viable automobile crash avoidance system. However, of more than 30 existing antenna technologies previously studied, none satisfies the full range of required parameters, especially the possibility of being mass produced at very low cost.
A millimeter wavelength scanning antenna that is economically feasible for use in automobiles would probably be feasible for use in more expensive vehicles such as, for example, aircraft. A commonly accepted cost for an economically feasible forward looking millimeter wavelength antenna for an automobile is presently approximately $50. Clearly, the existing antennas that are used for prior art seeker applications cannot be manufactured at such a low cost. Therefore, there has been a long felt need for a low cost millimeter wavelength scanning antenna.
The availability of a low cost millimeter wavelength scanning antenna would make an inexpensive automobile crash avoidance system a commercial reality. Such a low cost millimeter wavelength scanning antenna could also be used to provide an inexpensive aircraft, or other vehicle, crash avoidance system.
The below-referenced U.S. patent discloses embodiments that are satisfactory for the purposes for which they were intended but which have certain disadvantages. The disclosure of the below-referenced prior United States patent in its entirety is hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,123 discloses a light controlled spatial and angular electromagnetic wave modulator. In embodiments disclosed in the above-referenced prior patent, periodic perturbations of the complex dielectric field in the surface of a semiconductor material induced by an optical control pattern cause electromagnetic waves to be coupled out of the semiconductive material in a particular direction depending upon the period of the perturbations. Rapid variations in the period of the perturbations can be induced by controlling the optical control pattern. By rapidly changing the period of the perturbations, (i.e., the grating period induced by the optical control pattern), can be used to control the direction of beam steering and forming can be achieved.
Light can change the complex refractive index n of a semiconductor material. Specifically, n=n (I) where n=n'+in" (where n' and in" are the real and imaginary parts respectively and and I is the intensity of the optical wave. The mechanics of this phenomenon is based on fundamental Drude theory. See T. S. Moss, "Optical Properties of Semiconductors," Butterworths, London (1959).
The intensity I of an optical wave can change the complex refractive index of Si, GaAs, InGaAsP and other semiconductors in the microwave range (1 mm-1 cm) and infrared (IR) range (1.0.mu.-100.mu.). See I. Shih, "Photo-Induced Complex Permittivity Measurements of Semiconductors" 477 SPIE 94 (1984) (microwave range) and B. Bennett, "Carrier-Induced Change in Refractive Index of InP, GaAs, and InGaAsP" 26 IEEE J. Quan. Elec. 113 (1990) (IR range) incorporated herein by reference.
The prior art shows light induced modulation of both the real and imaginary parts of the refractive index. The real part controls phase and the imaginary part controls amplitude of the modulated electromagnetic field. The real part is primarily responsible for changes in IR waves and the imaginary part for changes in millimeter waves (MMW). This effect is described by Drude theory and involves carrier induced changes in the complex permittivity of metals and semiconductors when illuminated by light. Light increases the density of free carriers in the material.
Based on this effect, devices which change the phase of lightwaves by illumination of semiconductors with other light have been developed. Specifically, optical phase modulators have been employed. In the state of the art, however, it is shown possible to modulate the material at only one point. This type of limited modulation is discussed in a recent article by Z. Y. Cheng and C. S. Tsai "Optically Activated Integrated Optic Mach-Zender Interferometer on GaAs," 59 Appl. Phys. Lett. 1991. It would be beneficial to employ a device that can modulate an EM field at more than one point, particularly to modulate the material in two dimensions (2D) and potentially three dimensions (3D).
At the same time, optically controlled spatial light modulators (SLM) based on semiconductor materials have been used. In optically addressed SLMs, the semiconductor plays a transport role, such that changes in the semiconductor material affect an adjacent layer of electro-optic (EO) material which in turn affects an EM wave propagating through the EO material. The effectiveness of this type of modulator is low. It should be mentioned that these devices are limited to controlling the visible range only.
These SLM devices transmit or project some 2D pattern which can be transmitted through an optical wave. Other types of devices that are of interest, however, transmit EM waves in a particular direction in the microwave region without moving parts. Such devices are called phased array antennas.
A phased array is a network of radiating elements, each of which is usually non-directive but whose cooperative radiation pattern is a highly directed beam because constructive interference occurs between radiating elements. Whereas previous radar antennas had to be mechanically steered for beampointing, the phased array antenna achieves the same effect electronically by individually changing the phases of the signals radiating from each element. Narrow angular band beams can be formed by simply driving each element of the array with an appropriately phased signal. Moreover, electronic steering is much faster and more agile than mechanical beam steering and can form several beam lobes and nulls to facilitate multiple target tracking or other functions such as anti-jamming.
The flexibility of electronic steering afforded by phased array radars, however, comes at the cost of individual control of each element. The N elements of the antenna are driven with the same signal but each with a different phase. In practice, a single signal is equally split into N signals to feed the elements, and a phase shifting network, such as those using ferrites or diodes, is provided for individual phase control of each element. For large arrays (i.e., N>100), the complexity of the power splitting network and the cost of providing N phase shifters can become quite high, not to mention the bulkiness of the necessary waveguide plumbing. Moreover, for very large arrays, the computation required to calculate the array phase distribution for a desired radiation pattern is a serious burden. These constitute the most serious drawbacks of conventional phased array radar systems.
Phased array antenna theory is based on Fourier optics in general and the theory of diffraction gratings in particular. It is well known from Fourier optics that the optical beam is diffracted in a particular direction if the phase difference between the particular optical rays is a multiple of the wavelength of the optical beam.
The phase synchronized condition has the form m.lambda.=.LAMBDA.sin.theta., where .LAMBDA. is the grating constant, .theta. is the angle of diffraction, and m is the integers 0, .+-.1, .+-.2 . . . From this equation we obtain the following equation ##EQU1## which is the well known grating equation. If electrically controlled, a phase shift of m.lambda. can be introduced between different antennas thereby causing constructive interference in one direction, which results in antenna directionality. This effect can be used in both a transmitter and a receiver.
Exactly the same principle is used in conventional phased array antennas where illuminated points of the gratings are replaced by elementary antennas. See M. I. Skolnik, "Introduction to Radar Systems", McGraw Hill N.Y. (1980) incorporated herein by reference.
Using Equation A two basic disadvantages of phased array antenna systems are made apparent: (1) the periodic structure has a discrete point-type profile. This means that many diffraction orders are generated; only one order is desired, and the remaining orders reduce efficiency of the system; (2) the number of elementary antennas is limited by size and complexity. As the frequency of the microwaves increase (beyond 60 GHZ), the density of packaging of individual elements and phase shifters limits the feasibility of such an antenna. Also, having individual emitters fixed in space precludes the antenna from being used for different frequencies. At the receiver end, such an antenna has limited bandwidth capability (due to the fixed elements).
For IR beam steering the packaging of individual phase shifters is virtually impossible and an electronically controlled spatial light detector is limited to very narrow angular bandwidth. See F. Vasey et al., "Electro-optic AlGaAs Spatial Light Deflector/Modulator Based on a Grating Phased Array" 58 Appl. Phys. Lett. 2874 (1991) incorporated herein by reference.

Antenna and method for utilization thereof


A combination motorcycle hammock and jack which, when used as a hammock, includes a cargo carrier rack support structure preferably attached to the cargo carrier rack of a motorcycle, an outwardly extending motorcycle hammock extension arm, a vertical support member and a lightweight flexible fabric material stretched from the outwardly extending motorcycle hammock extension arm to, for example, opposing handlebars of the motorcycle. Alternatively, the cargo carrier rack support structure could be placed underneath the motorcycle frame and the motorcycle hammock extension arm could be pivoted downwardly about a fulcrum to act as a lever and cause the motorcycle cargo carrier rack support structure to lift and support at least a portion of the motorcycle to permit, for example, repair and/or replacement of a flat tire. When not in use, the motorcycle cargo carrier rack support structure, the motorcycle hammock extension arm, the vertical support member and the flexible hammock support material is capable of being transported and/or stored in a compact lightweight configuration.

The present invention relates generally to new and novel improvements in a combination motorcycle hammock and jack. More particularly, the present invention relates to a combination motorcycle hammock and jack which, when disassembled, is compact and lightweight and which attaches to a motorcycle to provide a comfortable hammock for relaxing and resting and which can also be used as a jack to lift and support at least a portion of a motorcycle to, for example, repair and/or replace a flat tire.
When taking long motorcycle trips, a motorcyclist will often become uncomfortable sitting in the same position in a motorcycle seat for extended periods of time and, for reasons of health and safety, it is beneficial to occasionally take breaks and rest. When taking a break and resting, it is beneficial to relax in a position other than the sitting position in the motorcycle seat. While when in an automobile, it is generally possible to pivot the automobile seat to a more horizontal position or lay across the seat in order to lie down and relax, such adjustments are generally not possible in a motorcycle seat. Accordingly, park benches, picnic tables and the such have been used by motorcyclists as horizontal surfaces on which to lie down and rest. However, these are not always available, and even if they are, they provide, in most cases, a hard horizontal surface which does not provide as comfortable of a resting position as is desirable.
In addition, occasionally on motorcycle trips, it becomes necessary to lift and support at least a portion of the motorcycle to, for example, repair or replace a flat tire. Since motorcycles, by their nature, have limited storage capacity, most motorcyclists do not carry a jack which can be used to lift and support at least a portion of their motorcycles, if it would become necessary or desirable to do so.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is the provision of a combination motorcycle hammock and jack which, when disassembled, is lightweight and compact and can be readily transported on a motorcycle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a combination motorcycle hammock and jack which can be readily converted from a disassembled configuration to a hammock configuration attached to a motorcycle to create a comfortable hammock or alternatively to a motorcycle jack configuration to lift and support at least a portion of the motorcycle thereon.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a combination hammock and jack which is easy to use and transport and provides the combined function of providing a hammock which can be readily assembled and attached to a motorcycle and a jack which can be used to lift and support at least a portion of the motorcycle to permit, for example, repair and/or replacement of a flat tire.
These and other objects of the present invention are attained by the provision of a combination motorcycle hammock and jack which, when used as a hammock, includes a motorcycle cargo carrier rack support structure preferably attached to the cargo carrier rack of a motorcycle, a motorcycle hammock extension arm extending therefrom, a vertical support member and a lightweight flexible hammock support material stretched between, for example, the motorcycle hammock extension arm and opposing handlebars of the motorcycle. Alternatively, the cargo carrier rack support structure can be placed underneath the motorcycle frame and the motorcycle hammock extension arm can be pivoted downwardly about a fulcrum to act as a lever and cause a portion of the motorcycle cargo carrier rack support structure to lift and support at least a portion of the motorcycle to permit, for example, repair and/or replacement of a flat tire. When not in use, the motorcycle cargo carrier rack support structure, the motorcycle hammock extension arm, the vertical support member and the flexible hammock support material are capable of being stored and/or transported in a compact lightweight configuration.
Other advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A method of diffusing an impurity-diffusing component including forming a first diffusing agent layer containing a first conductivity type impurity-diffusing component on the surface of a semiconductor substrate; calcining the first diffusing agent layer; forming a second diffusing agent layer containing a second conductivity type impurity-diffusing component on the surface of the semiconductor substrate excluding the region where the first diffusing agent layer is formed; and heating the semiconductor substrate at a temperature higher than the calcination temperature to diffuse the first and second conductivity type impurity-diffusing components to the semiconductor substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of diffusing an impurity-diffusing component and a method of manufacturing a solar cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
In semiconductor manufacturing fields, particularly in solar cell manufacturing fields, aiming at an improvement in manufacturing throughput, there has been recently a need for a technique of simultaneously diffusing a P-type impurity-diffusing component containing boron and an N-type impurity-diffusing component containing phosphorus in a semiconductor substrate to selectively form a P-type impurity diffusion layer and an N-type impurity diffusion layer on the semiconductor substrate. In the conventional method of manufacturing a semiconductor substrate having P-type and N-type impurity diffusion layers, an impurity diffusion layer has been formed by using phosphoryl chloride (POCl3) and boron tribromide (BBr3) as impurity-diffusing components and separately subjecting the components to gaseous diffusion. It has been impossible to selectively and simultaneously diffuse boron and phosphorus in a semiconductor substrate by such gaseous diffusion.
On the other hand, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2012-114452 discloses a technique of selectively printing a coating liquid of a p-type dopant source and a coating liquid of an N-type dopant source on a substrate by an ink jet printing method or a screen printing method to form each conductivity type of dispersing agent pattern, and diffusing impurity-diffusing components from each of the dispersing agent patterns to selectively form each conductivity type of impurity diffusion layer.

Method of diffusing impurity-diffusing component and method of manufacturing solar cell


A setting apparatus for a remote monitoring and control system, which is capable of setting relational data and addresses simultaneously, and is not easily lost. Included is a fixed part that is fixed to an installation surface, and a portable part detachably attached to the fixed part. When the portable part is retained at the fixed part, the portable part can be electrically connected to a signal line, and sets relational data for a transmission controller. When the portable part is separated from the fixed part, the portable part can set addresses corresponding to a switch and a load, with respect to an operation terminal and a control terminal, according to a signal, such as an infrared light transmitted from a light emitting element installed at the portable part. When the addresses are not being set, since the portable part can be retained at the fixed part, the portable part will not be easily lost although a dedicated storage receptacle is not provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a setting apparatus for remote monitoring and control system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a remote monitoring and control system including an operation terminal having switches to which unique addresses are respectively set, a control terminal connected to loads to which unique addresses are respectively set, and a transmission controller which causes transmission signals to be communicated between the operation terminal and the control terminal, in a time division multiplex transmission mode, through a signal line to which the operation terminal and the control terminal are branch-connected, generates control data for controlling the loads based on monitoring data received from the operation terminal when the switches are operated, and transmits the control data to the control terminal to which the related loads are connected by relational data preset for the operated switches, an address setter for setting addresses for the operation terminal or the control terminal, or a pattern setter which is connected to the signal line, and generates, transmits and sets the relational data to the transmission controller so as for a plurality of loads to be controlled simultaneously by one switch are provided.
Here, since an address corresponding to a switch or a load cannot be set through the signal line, and needs to be set directly to the operation terminal or the control terminal, the address setter is generally provided in a portable type and wireless signals are used for communication between the address setter and the operation terminal and the control terminal. (For example, see patent document 1.)
Meanwhile, since relational data can be set directly to the transmission controller through the signal line, the pattern setter is configured to be fixed to an installation surface and to be connected to the signal line. (For example, see patent document 2.)    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H11-150770    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H11-298978
As described above, since the address setter and the pattern setter have different settings, conventionally, it is necessary that the address setter and the pattern setter should be separately set up.
Furthermore, in case that a holder or a private storage receptacle for retaining the address setter is not additionally installed, it often happens that the address setter is missing.

Setting apparatus for remote monitoring and control system


In at least some implementations, a disconnect assembly for a driveline component, such as a power transfer unit, may include an input shaft, a disconnect shaft selectively rotated by the input shaft and an output shaft coupled to the disconnect shaft. A first gear is coupled to the disconnect shaft and a second gear is coupled to the output shaft and to the first gear so that the output shaft rotates when the disconnect shaft rotates. A connection feature is movable between an engaged position in which the input shaft and disconnect shaft are coupled and a disengaged position in which the input shaft rotates relative to the disconnect shaft. The connection feature includes a first part carried by the gear for rotation therewith and a second part movable relative to the first part and carried by the input shaft for rotation with the input shaft.

Power transfer units are commonly utilized in front-wheel drive based all-wheel drive systems. Power transfer units may include a disconnect device so that power is transferred to only the front wheels during certain vehicle operating conditions. The disconnect device uncouples the linkage and shafts between the power transfer unit and the rear wheels of the vehicle when the rear wheels need not be actively driven. The disconnect device includes a shift collar that couples aligned portions of co-linear shafts and a cam device coupled to the shift collar to move the shift collar between engaged and disengaged positions. In the engaged position, the shift collar couples the shafts for co-rotation and in the disengaged position, the shafts are not coupled and may rotate independently of one another. Coupling and decoupling rotating shafts presents many challenges including, but not limited to, noise, vibration and harsh tactile feedback generated in the system.


A method and system for workload-aware request in cluster-based network servers. The present invention provides a web server cluster having a plurality of nodes wherein each node comprises a distributor component, a dispatcher component and a server component. In another embodiment, the present provides a method for managing request distribution to a set of files stored on a web server cluster. A request for a file is received at a first node of a plurality of nodes, each node comprising a distributor component, a dispatcher component and a server component. If the request is for a core file, the request is processed at the first node (e.g., processed locally). If the request is for a partitioned file, it is determined whether the request is assigned to be processed locally at the first node or at another node (e.g., processed remotely). If the request is for neither a core file nor a partitioned file, the request is processed at the first node. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for identifying a set of frequently accessed files on a server cluster comprising a number of nodes. Embodiments of the present invention operate to maximize the number of requests served from the total cluster memory of a web server cluster and to minimize the forwarding overhead and disk access overhead by identifying the subset of core files to be processed at any node and by identifying the subset of partitioned files to be processed by different nodes in the cluster.

Web server clusters are a popular hardware platform in a web hosting infrastructure. Servers based on clusters of workstations are used to meet the growing traffic demands imposed by the World Wide Web. A cluster of servers, arranged to act as a single unit, provides an incremental scalability as it has the ability to grow gradually with demand. However, for clusters to be able to achieve the scalable performance with the cluster size increase, mechanisms and policies are employed for "balanced" request distribution.
Traditional load balancing solutions are represented by two major groups: 1) Domain Name System (DNS) based approaches; and 2) Internet Protocol (IP)/Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) redirection based approaches.
In a DNS based approach, the DNS server returns the IP address list (e.g., a list of nodes in a cluster which can serve this content, placing a different address first in the list for each successive request) to distribute the requests among the nodes in the cluster. Thus, different clients are mapped to different server nodes in the cluster. DNS based approaches are widely used, as they require minimal setup time and provide reasonable load balancing. Further, it uses the existing DNS infrastructure (e.g., there is no additional cost). However, DNS based approaches do not recognize either the load of the nodes in a cluster or the content of the request.
The second group, IP/TCP/HTTP redirection based approaches, employ a specialized front-end node, the load-balancer, which acts as a single point of contact for the clients and distributes the requests among back-end server nodes in the cluster. These solutions can be classified in the following groups:                layer four switching with layer two packet forwarding (L4/2);        layer four switching with layer three packet forwarding (L4/3);        layer seven switching (L7) or content aware switching.
These terms refer to the techniques by which the systems in the cluster are configured together. In a L4/2 and L4/3 cluster, the load-balancer determines the least loaded server (this decision is the job of the proprietary algorithms implemented in different products) to which server in a cluster the packet has to be sent.
Traditional load balancing solutions for a web server cluster (L4/2 and L4/3) try to distribute the requests among all the back-end machines based on some load information.
The load-balancer can be either a switch or a load-balancing server (e.g., hardware solution) or a software load balancer (e.g., software solution). In both solutions, the load-balancer determines the least loaded server in a cluster to which the packet should be sent.
Load-balancing servers operate by intelligently distributing the incoming requests across multiple web servers. They determine where to send an incoming request, taking into account the processing capacity of attached servers, monitoring the responses in real time and shifting the load onto servers that can best handle the traffic. Load-balancing servers are typically positioned between a router (connected to the Internet) and a local area network (LAN) switch which fans traffic to the Web servers.
FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of a typical configuration of a network with a load-balancing server in accordance with the prior art. Client 110 issues a request which is received at load-balancing server 120, located at the front end. Load-balancing server 120 determines which back-end web server (e.g., web servers 130a and 130b) gets the request. The decision is based on a number of factors including: the number of servers available, the resources (CPU speed and memory) of each, and how many active TCP sessions are being serviced. All traffic is routed through load-balancing server 120.
FIG. 1B illustrates a block diagram of a typical configuration of a network with a software load-balancer in accordance with the prior art. Client 160 issues a request which is received at server 170 located at the front end, wherein server 170 has stored upon it load-balancing software. The load-balancing software determines which back-end web server (e.g., web servers 180a and 180b) gets the request. The decision is based on a number of factors including the number of servers available, the resources (CPU speed and memory) of each, and how many active TCP sessions are being serviced. Once a connection has been established with a particular web server, the web server (e.g., web servers 180a and 180b) responds directly to client 160.
Traditional load balancing solutions for a web server try to distribute the requests evenly among all the back-end machines based on some load information. This adversely affects efficient memory usage because the content is redundantly replicated across the caches of all the web servers, thus resulting in a significant decrease in overall system performance.
Content-aware request distribution (e.g., L7 switching) takes into account the content (can be a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) name, URL type, or cookies) when making a decision to which back-end server the request has to be routed. Content-aware request distribution mechanisms enable intelligent routing inside the cluster to support additional quality of service requirements for different types of content and to improve overall cluster performance. Policies distributing the requests based on cache affinity lead to significant performance improvements compared to the strategies taking into account only load information.
There are three main components comprising a cluster configuration with content aware request distribution strategy: the dispatcher which implements the request distribution strategy, it decides which web server will be processing a given request; the distributor which interfaces the client and implements the mechanism that distributes the client requests to a specific web server; and the web server which processes HTTP requests.
In the content-aware request distribution approach, the cluster nodes are partitioned in two sets: front end and back ends. The front end acts as a smart router or a switch, its functionality is similar to the aforementioned load-balancing software servers. The front end node implements the policy which routes the incoming requests to an appropriate node (e.g., web server) in the cluster. Content-aware request distribution can take into account both document locality and current load. In this configuration, the typical bottleneck is due to front-end node that combines the functions of distributor and dispatcher.
To be able to distribute the requests on a base of requested content, the distributor component should implement either a form of TCP handoff or the splicing mechanism. Splicing is an optimization of the front-end relaying approach, with the traffic flow represented in FIG. 1A. The TCP handoff mechanism was introduced to enable the forwarding of back-end responses directly to the clients without passing through the front-end, with traffic flow represented in FIG. 1B. This difference in the response flow route allows substantially higher scalability of the TCP handoff mechanism than TCP splicing. In considering different cluster designs for content aware balancing strategies, it is assumed that a distributor component implements some form of TCP handoff mechanism.
FIG. 2A shows a typical cluster configuration 200 with content-aware request distribution strategy and a single front-end 210. In this configuration, the typical bottleneck is due to the front-end node 210 that combines the functions of a distributor 220 and a dispatcher 230. Back-end 240 comprises servers 245a, 245b, and 245c.
Thus, another recent solution is shown in FIG. 2B. It is based on alternative distributed cluster design 250 where the distributor components 260a, 260b, and 260c are co-located with the server components 270a, 270b, and 270c, while the dispatcher component 280 is centralized.
In this architecture the distributor is decoupled from the request distribution strategy defined by the centralized dispatcher module. The switch in front of the cluster can be a simple LAN switch or L4 level load-balancer. For simplicity, we assume that the clients directly contact distributor, for instance via RR-DNS. In this case, the typical client request is processed in the following way. 1) Client web browser uses TCP/IP protocol to connect to the chosen distributor; 2) the distributor component accepts the connection and parses the request; 3) the distributor contacts the dispatcher for the assignment of the request to a server; 4) the distributor hands off the connection using TCP handoff protocol to the server chosen by the dispatcher (since in this design the centralized dispatcher is the most likely bottleneck, the dispatcher module resides on a separate node in a typical configuration, as shown in FIG. 2b); 5) the server takes over the connection using the TCP hand-off protocol; 6) the server application at the server node accepts the created connection; and 7) the server sends the response directly to the client.
This design shows good scalability properties when distributing requests with the earlier proposed LARD policy. The main idea behind LARD is to logically partition the documents among the cluster nodes, aiming to optimize the usage of the overall cluster RAM. Thus, the requests to the same document will be served by the same cluster node that will most likely have the file in RAM. Clearly, the proposed distributed architecture eliminates the front-end distributor bottleneck, and improves cluster scalability and performance.
However, under the described policy in a sixteen-node cluster, each node statistically will serve only 1/16 of the incoming requests locally and will forward 15/16 of the requests to the other nodes using the TCP handoff mechanism. TCP handoff is an expensive operation. Besides, the cost of the TCP handoff mechanism can vary depending on the implementation and specifics of the underlying hardware. It could lead to significant forwarding overhead, decreasing the potential performance benefits of the proposed solution.
Web server performance greatly depends on efficient RAM usage. A web server operates much faster when it accesses files from a cache in the RAM. Additionally, the web servers throughput is much higher too.
Accordingly, a need exists for a request distribution strategy that maximizes the number of requests served from the total cluster memory by partitioning files to be served by different servers. A need also exists for a request distribution strategy that minimizes the forwarding and the disk access overhead. Furthermore, a need also exists for a request distribution strategy that accomplishes the above needs and that improves web server cluster throughput.

System and method for workload-aware request distribution in cluster-based network servers

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A modified cross-section material having a thin part and a thick part in its widthwise direction is manufactured through a plurality of roll stages. Each rolling stage comprises of a set of a convex roll and a flat roll, wherein the convex roll has a convex part. The thin part is formed in accordance with the lengthwise expansion by the convex part of the convex roll, and the thick part is formed in accordance with the lengthwise expansion by a part other than the convex part of the convex roll.

A material having a widthwise modified cross-section along its length is used for a transistor lead frame and a connector. As for a method of manufacturing the modified cross-section material, a cutting method, a machining method using a V-type dice and a roll, and a rolling method are known.
In a conventional method of manufacturing a modified cross-section material such as the rolling method, a material is inserted between a grooved roll having a groove in the center thereof and a flat roll. Then, the material is inserted between two flat rolls. Thus, modified cross-section material having two thin parts on the both sides thereof and a thick part in the center thereof is formed.
Next, the modified cross-section material is inserted between a grooved roll having a smaller groove than that of the prior grooved roll and a flat roll. Then, the material is inserted between two flat rolls. Thus, the modified cross-section material having wider thin parts than the prior thin parts is formed.
As the above, the modified cross-section material with a predetermined form is manufactured by the repetition of rolling with a grooved roll having a smaller groove than the prior and a flat roll.
In general, when the modified cross-section material is manufactured from a flat board material, there is a difference between an elongation of the center part and that of the side parts. A waveform and/or a torsion occur in the manufactured material by the difference between the elongations. As a solution of these, in the Japanese Patent Kokai No.59-78701, it is disclosed that the both side parts of the material are rolled, without rolling the center part of the material, by using the grooved roll and the flat roll, then, the modification of the both side parts occurs both in the groove of the grooved roll and between both sides of the grooved roll and the flat roll in the widthwise direction, thus, the elongations of the both side parts are balanced with the elongation of the center part.
Another method of manufacturing a modified cross-section material is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Kokai No.61-50064.In this conventional method of manufacturing a modified cross-section material, a material is inserted between a first convex roll having two convex parts and a flat roll. Then, the material is inserted between a second convex roll and a flat roll. One side face of the convex part is a slant face. The convex part of the first convex roll is smaller than that of the second convex roll. Namely, the convex part of a next convex roll is bigger than that of a prior convex roll.
As the above, the modified cross-section material with a predetermined form is manufactured by the repetition of rolling with a convex roll having two bigger convex parts than the prior convex parts and a flat roll.
A further conventional method of manufacturing a modified cross-section material is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Kokai No.1-133603. In this conventional method, the modified cross-section material is manufactured by the repetition of rolling with rolls based on a predetermined modification factor and annealing. Thus, the size accuracy of the modified cross-section material is improved.
Among the conventional methods of manufacturing a modified cross-section material, however, the cutting method has disadvantages in that the manufacturing cost is high, because a great loss of material is caused by cutting scraps. On the other hand, the machining method using a V-type dice and a roll has disadvantages in that the machining speed can not be high and it is difficult to improve in the productivity, because the machining process is to be interrupted due to the pressure caused by reciprocating motion of the rolls.
Further, the rolling method has disadvantages in that the rough surface is occurred in the thick part, because the thick part is not rolled in the groove of the grooved roll, and the quality of the manufactured material is to be poor due to the inequality of the thick part because the sides of the thick part are thicker than the center of that due to the inflow of material into the groove of the grooved roll.
Even further, the method in the Japanese Patent Kokai No.61-50064 has disadvantages in that the rough surface and the inequality of the thick part are occurred by the same reason as the above, and the width of the thin part which is formed by one rolling phase is smaller than that of the rolling method, because the modification of the material is occurred generally in only the both side parts (i.e. the thin parts).
Further, the methods in the Japanese Patent Kokai No.59-78701 and No.61-50064 have disadvantages in that the difference between the modification quantity of the rolled thin parts and the unrolled thick part is occurred along its length on the material, because it is difficult that the modification of the rolled part is perfectly occurred on the material in the widthwise direction, and though the difference between the modification quantities of the rolled thin parts and the unrolled thick part is different, according to the form of the roll and the modification extent, a waveform-deformation and/or a torsion occur in the manufactured material, when the difference is large.
Even further, the Japanese Patent Kokai No.1-133603 has disadvantages in that the operability and the productivity in manufacturing the modified cross-section material are poor, because the manufacturing process is not completed at one process (rolling phase).

Method of manufacturing modified cross-section material


Systems and methods for providing one or more services to a device are disclosed. The device may be remote from a first network. The one or more services may be associated with the first network.

Multiple devices may be connected to the same local area network (LAN) to access services. Devices may request available services from service providers. Such a configuration, however, may prevent a device from directly accessing available services from a location outside the LAN. These and other shortcomings will be addressed by the present disclosure.

Systems and methods for providing services


The present invention relates to a laser with accurately defined and controlled oxide regions which provide electrical and optical confinement to the laser. Specifically, the oxide regions are formed by a pre-oxidation layer disordering process which defines the regions within which oxidation can occur. The present invention allows for the manufacture of highly compact lasers with reproducible optical and electrical characteristics.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to lasers. More specifically, the invention relates to edge-emitting laser structures formed by a selective oxidation process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Solid state semiconductor lasers are important devices in applications such as optoelectronic communication systems and high speed printing systems. A common laser structure is a so-called "edge-emitting laser" whose reflective mirrors are typically formed along two side edges of a semiconductor sample. Generally, formation of native oxides in a laser is an important step to achieving good electrical and optical confinement in the structure. One approach in oxide formation is commonly known as the "surface-oxidation" technique. Examples of such an approach are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,488 entitled "Semiconductor Devices and Techniques For Controlled Optical Confinement" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,360 entitled "AlGaAs Native Oxide," both of which were invented by Holonyak et al. As discussed in these patents, under the "surface-oxidation" approach, a cap GaAs layer is placed above a thick AlGaAs layer with a high aluminum content, which is deposited above the active layer of a laser structure. Under this "surface-oxidation" approach, the surface of the sample is first patterned with silicon nitride, protecting and exposing parts of the GaAs cap layer. The exposed GaAs areas are then removed by chemical etching exposing the underlying AlGaAs layer which has a high aluminum content. The sample is then oxidized in water vapor where the oxidation in the AlGaAs layer proceeds downwards from the surface until it reaches the active layer which has a lower aluminum content. Since the active layer has a lower aluminum content, the oxidation process essentially stops when it reaches the active layer, providing electrical and optical confinement to the laser structure.
A disadvantage of the "surface-oxidation" technique is that it is sensitive to fluctuations in the fabrication process. For instance, the oxidation rate is dependent upon variations in the aluminum composition and the processing temperature. This dependency creates reproducibility and uniformity issues in the performance of the devices. In addition, this technique may not be applicable to other solid state semiconductor lasers such as vertical cavity surface emitting lasers ("VCSEL's"), which has alternate AlGaAs layers of high and low aluminum content in an upper internal reflector.
Another approach towards forming oxides is a so-called "buried-layer" oxidation approach which is described in "Lasing Characteristics of High-Performance Narrow Stripe InGaAs-GaAs Quantum-Well Lasers Confined by AlAs Native Oxide," IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 8, No. 2, p. 176 (February 1996) by Cheng et al. Under this approach, an AlAs layer is placed above and below the active layer of a laser structure. Then, grooves are etched, forming a stripe mesa structure in between the grooves. As a result of the etching, the AlAs layers sandwiching the active layer are exposed along the sidewalls of the mesa. During an oxidation process, these AlAs layers are oxidized laterally from the sidewalls of the mesa towards the center of the mesa. However, other layers in the structure remain essentially unoxidized since their aluminum content is lower. The oxidized AlAs layers reduce the effective refractive index of the regions both above and underneath them, providing lateral electrical and optical confinement to the sandwiched active layer. Another discussion regarding the "buried-layer" technique is described in "High-Performance Planar Native-Oxide Buried-Mesa Index-Guided AlGaAs-GaAs Quantum Well Heterostructure Lasers," Appl. Phys. Lett. vol. 61 (3), p. 321 (July 1992) by Smith et al.
Similar to the "surface-oxidation" technique, a key disadvantage of the "buried-layer" approach is the difficulty in controlling the amount of oxidation. Because the oxidation rate of AlAs or AlGaAs with a high aluminum content depends upon aluminum composition and process variations, any variation in aluminum composition or process parameters will be reflected by changes in the oxidation rate, which in turn creates uncertainty in the amount of oxidation. The process is relatively temperature-sensitive. Therefore, when such a technique is applied to forming lasers, the devices typically have manufacturability and yield problems.
Accordingly, there is a need for developing a laser with accurately defined and controlled oxide regions which provide electrical and optical confinement.