Disclosed a facsimile apparatus that combines copying with transmission. An external telephone is connected to it to be remotely controlled by a remote signal including at least one DTMF signal from the external telephone. And, there is provided means for comparing the tone duration of the tone-pair signal having DTMF frequencies sent by the external telephone with a predetermined detection time, and deciding whether or not said tone-pair signal is a valid DTMF signal used for remote signals based on the compared result. Further, there is provided means for estimating the tone duration of DTMF signals that is specific to the external telephone, and setting the optimum detection time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to facsimile apparatus, and, more particularly, to a facsimile apparatus which can be operated by DTMF (dual tone multifrequency) signals from an external telephone.
2. Description of the Related Art
Facsimile apparatus or facsimile machines combine copying with transmission. They routinely send and receive facsimile signals over the telephone network, increasing the uses of the telephone systems besides sending and receiving voice signals of the conversations by ordinary telephone sets. The amount of information that can be handled by facsimile apparatus is huge. Therefore, facsimile apparatus have enjoyed tremendous acceptance and growth in homes and businesses.
An external telephone is usually arranged to be connected to the facsimile apparatus so that either one is available on the common telephone line. When the external telephone uses the telephone line for conversation, the facsimile apparatus is sometimes wanted to be connected to the telephone line for the purpose of sending or receiving facsimile images. At that time, operation of switching over to the facsimile apparatus from the external telephone is needed.
Now, there is a type of facsimile apparatus that is remotely operated by the combinations of DTMF signals (numbers 0 through 9 and symbols # and *) sent from the external telephone which is the Touch-Tone telephone having a push-button keypad. That is, the tone-pair signal frequencies sent from the external telephone are tested in the facsimile apparatus mentioned above to determine if they are DTMF frequencies. Then, the tone durations is measured to determine if the tone-pair signal is present at least for a predetermined detection time. The tone-pair signal that accomplishes the timing requirement is recognized as a valid DTMF signal used for the remote operation. The combination of valid DTMF signals may indicate the type of remote operations.
In the facsimile apparatus mentioned above, the remote operation by DTMF signals is performed after the signals have accomplished filtering and timing requirements. Therefore, the remote operation by talk-off, that is the detection of speech segments or other sounds as a real DTMF signal, is effectively prevented.
However, since the tone duration of the DTMF signal is tested on the basis of a predetermined fixed detection time, the facsimile apparatus has the following disadvantages.
That is, as for the electronic telephones which can send DTMF signals, there are provided some models having operating parameters wherein tone durations of DTMF signals generated are 50 ms. 80 ms and 120 ms varying according to the models. And there is still a model in which a DTMF signal is generated while a key of the push-button keypad is pressed. Therefore, the facsimile apparatus having the electronic telephone used as the external telephone may receive DTMF signals having a different tone duration peculiar to the model.
At the beginning of the connection of an external telephone to the facsimile apparatus, it is needed to set the detection time at the minimum time, that is 50 ms (actually a little bit shorter time, say 45 ms), as the detection time, so that every electronic telephone is available as the external telephone for the purpose of remote operations. However, when a external telephone having operating parameters wherein the tone duration of DTMF signals is for example 120 ms, is connected to the facsimile apparatus, there exists a higher probability that the DTMF signal is erroneously recognized compared to the case where the detection time is set at 120 ms (actually a little bit shorter time). Therefore, at the time of erroneous recognision of the signal and erroneous operation in the known facsimile apparatus, it is necessary to reset the dectection time in the range where the facsimile apparatus is allowed to be remotely operated and in the optimum condition adapted to the operating parameters of the external telephone.
As mentioned above, the known facsimile apparatus are arranged to recognize DTMF signals in light of the frequencies and the detection time for preventing the erroneous identification of the DTMF signal. However, the facsimile has disadvantages in that it is inconvenient for the user to manually set the detection time that is optimized to the tone duration of DTMF signals as one of the operating parameters of the external telephone.

Facsimile apparatus controlled by DTMF signals


A display device includes a container having a bottom plate, a light source disposed in the container, which provides light, a circuit board disposed in the container, a socket terminal electrically connected to the light source and the circuit board, and a display panel which receives the light from the light source and displays images. The circuit board and the light source are positioned on a same side of the bottom plate of the container. The socket terminal includes a socket part and a fixing part, the socket part and the fixing part are connected to the light source and circuit board, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light supplying unit and a display device using the light supplying unit, more particularly to a light supplying unit and a display device having a socket-type terminal for a light source.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional liquid crystal display ("LCD") device is known for having several advantages such as thinness, lightness and low voltage consumption among various display devices. The LCD device needs light from an outside source since a LCD panel of the LCD device, which displays images cannot emit light itself. Thus, the LCD device needs a light supplying unit for providing the LCD panel with light. The light supplying unit uses a light source and/or an optical component such as an optical film or plate to enhance brightness and uniformity of light. The light source is a lamp such as a cold cathode florescent lamp ("CCFL"), a hot cathode florescent lamp ("HCFL"), and an external electrode florescent lamp ("EEFL").
Generally, when the lamp is assembled in the light supplying unit, the lamp is soldered with a wire for transferring power to drive the lamp and held by a holding means such as lamp holder. However, the soldering process has various problems such as deterioration at a joint of the lamp and the wire, and low throughput resulting from manual soldering process, etc.

Light supplying unit and display device using the same


This disclosure relates generally to a system and method for the delivery of cooled air selectably using a device with removable component which directs cooled air to a desired area at or near the hair of a subject. The device may have one or more components which may be quickly and easily removed and replaced.

Lice are scavengers. They feed on the dead skin and other debris found in hair, scalp and other parts of a body. They are usually only discovered once a colony has been established. An established colony will include both adult lice and eggs. Mature females lay between three to four eggs ("nits") per day. If the adults are removed but not the nits, those nits will hatch within eight days and reproduce. It is therefore necessary to kill or remove both the adults and the nits to prevent re-infestation. Lice procreate by attaching their eggs to human hair with saliva which makes the eggs difficult to remove. Lice may be removed using only a mechanical removal method by removing the adults and repeating the process after the nits have hatched. An example of a method using a comb in combination with a liquid to remove lice is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,758 issued to Thorne. Single session treatments are far more convenient and also reduce the risk of lice transfer.
Traditionally, removal of lice in a single session requires extremely high temperature air to kill both adults and nits. Heat is delivered to the lice via increasing the temperature of ambient air and delivering it directly to the lice using a device like a traditional hair dryer. Extremely high temperatures are uncomfortable and potentially damaging to both skin and hair. Various methods have been developed to avoid damage by applying heat only to hair, shielding more sensitive areas, or lowering the temperature. These methods of reducing discomfort also lower the effectiveness of the lice eradication. Air delivery devices such as hot air blowers and hair dryers are typically used for a variety of applications such as drying hair and cleaning or stripping surface layers. In addition, cold air blowers are sometimes used to style hair from a wet or dry condition. These traditional air delivery devices do not contemplate the application of cold air to an area to perform a non-cosmetic service.
In some prior methods, lice combs are used to mechanically remove both adult lice and nits, and can be used either alone or in combination with heat treatment. Usually, combinations including mechanical removal attempt to compensate for the ineffectiveness of the heat treatment. Lice removal combs, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,909,042 issued to Bachrach et al, utilize the width of the teeth of the comb to allow hair to pass tightly between the teeth in order to separate insects from the hair. As a slight variation, combing is used in combination with certain lubricating liquids in order to loosen the bonding agent adhering nits to hair. Combing methods can be generally effective without prior heat treatment. However, mere combing requires considerable time and effort to ensure that all lice are removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,427 issued to Dolev discloses a method of elimination of lice through the application of heated air to the hair of a person while directing the heated air away from the scalp in order to avoid discomfort. This method discloses the use of heated air with enough temperature to eradicate both adults and nits. This air delivery system is made less effective by the need to direct the air away from the scalp of the subject.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,969 issued to Van Scoik et al discloses a lice eradication treatment which applies a composition that releases, or absorbs, heat when brought in contact with water to the infested area. This change in temperature desiccates the nits in the case of a temperature increase, immobilizes the parasites, and increases the pH of the environment of the nit. Removal is then accomplished through combing or other mechanical removal. This method discloses temperature change through a chemical process and liquid transfer, not an air transfer.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,789,902 and 8,162,999 both issued to Clayton et al disclose methods of lice eradication that include heating a volume of air, and directing the air at the lice located in an area, while still eradicating a portion of the infestation. This method employs heated air at a temperature below the heat level in conventional treatments, but it encounters the same problems. In addition, the lower temperature is difficult to transfer uniformly through hair and is somewhat less effective.
Cold temperatures are also effective to immobilize or kill adult lice, and weaken the bond between nits and hair. Cold is advantageous because there is no need to reduce exposure to skin and hair. Below ambient air temperature treatments are used routinely in a clinical setting to reduce blood flow or nerve activity to a particular area reducing inflammation and swelling that causes pain around a joint or tendon. There is a substantial need for an effective, non-chemical, and potentially therapeutic system for delivering low temperatures to immobilize or kill lice which does not cause unnecessary discomfort. Cold temperatures directed to a scalp or head area effectively immobilize or kill adult lice and weaken the bond between nits and hair. An air delivery device that separates components contemplates the disposable nature of at least one of the components. Prior air delivery devices affix each piece in a way that requires removal of a fastener or some other more permanent fixture. The casing and interior components are not meant to be removable or replaceable. The removal of a component that comes into contact with the person is advantageous because the component can then be replaced for each use. The removed components can be sanitized or checked for dirt and debris in some fashion.

Method and device for low temperature eradication or removal of ectoparasites


The invention discloses a method for adhering a metal layer to a polymer substrate. The metal layer is deposited on a sacrificial substrate of a mold to form part of an interior surface of the mold, and a solution of monomers is deposited on the metal layer. The monomers are then polymerized together to form the polymer substrate on the metal layer. Then the polymer substrate is removed from the mold such that the metal layer is removed from the mold and adhered to the polymer substrate.

Thin films of conductive and/or decorative metals, particularly transition metals or their alloys, can be only selectively applied to polymeric substrates or coated with polymeric films because of the lack of adhesion of most metals to polymers. In general, the surface of the polymer must be modified, as by oxidation, roughening, or the like, or an intermediate adhesion-promoting agent must be applied to the polymer or metal surface which adds to the cost and sometimes detracts from the appearance of such laminates. The use of films as decorative and durable coatings would increase if a method could be found to coat polymeric substrates with strongly adherent, metallic or conducting films, particularly in the area of flexible electronics, biomedical devices and neural electronics.
Flexible electronics have become important in recent years. In particular, flexible electronics can be important because it allows the integration of high performance electronic devices to several fields of application where typical electronics on rigid substrates could not be integrated. Flexible electronic devices can be easily integrated on several kinds of curved surfaces. For example, within the healthcare sector, electronic devices and circuits developed on flexible substrates can be exploited to monitor, for example, glucose blood level, temperature, pressure, etc. In such a way, electronic plasters, implantable sensors, etc., can be developed. The method and devices developed with the same may enable such sensors developed on a flexible substrate to be minimally invasive and more easily accepted by the patient since they are better adapted to the shape and mechanical properties of the human body than typical electronic devices and systems. Other application fields include ambient intelligence, distributed sensors, electronics on textiles, energy harvesting, power management, and industrial electronics.
A potential issue relating to flexible electronics concerns the fabrication of flexible electronic devices. In particular, the fabrication of flexible electronic devices may be critical because it involves the handling of flexible, and thus fragile, electronic/semiconductor devices. Accordingly, the fabrication of flexible electronic devices is costly since it involves the employment of special handling and packaging tools suitable for handling flexible semiconductor devices without damaging them.
Cortical neural interfaces provide a communication platform for direct interaction with the nervous system. Communication with the central nervous system has enabled treatment of numerous conditions such as epilepsy and depression, control of prosthetic devices and the advancement of the field of neuroscience. However, devices designed to record extracellular neural activity generally fail within one year of implantation. This failure has been widely attributed to gliosis, the chronic reactive biological response to the foreign probe, which leads to death of neurons and encapsulation of the implant resulting in a loss in the signal-to-noise-ratio or the inability to invoke responses through stimulation over time. A number of factors contribute to the timeframe and extent of the observed gliosis: size, stiffness, surface chemistry, insertion procedure and mechanical constraints provided by electrical contacts have been shown to have a direct effect on glial scarring. The focus of this work is to minimize long term device stiffness, but each parameter must be considered in device development.
Neural interfaces are typically made of silicon microneedles, planar electrodes or metal microwires. The extreme mechanical mismatch between these devices (commonly tungsten or silicon) is strongly linked to the extensive gliosis and reduction in signal quality over time. Recently much research has focused on the design, manufacture and implantation of flexible probes made from polymers, such as polyimides or Parylene-C, with thin-film conductors defined by photolithography; these devices have a reduced mechanical mismatch between neural tissue and the implants. Polymer probes are stiff enough for implantation into the cortex directly or with the aid of an insertion tool, depending on geometry. These polymers are still, however, 5 or 6 orders of magnitude stiffer than the surrounding neural tissue. Softening neural interfaces have been demonstrated utilizing the swelling of a nanocomposite polymer film. Combining advances in polymer-based probes and shape memory polymers (SMPs) will allow for the further development of devices that are stiff enough for insertion, but undergo orders-of-magnitude reduction of stiffness following insertion.
SMPs are a class of mechanically active materials used to store a metastable shape and return to a globally stable shape upon activation by a stimulus, such as temperature, humidity, light or a combination of these stimuli. In thermally active SMPs, recovery is induced by heating the polymer through a transition, such as crystalline melting or a glass transition, leading to a considerable drop in modulus. SMP activation by moisture is a variation of thermal activation, where the drop in modulus is triggered by plasticization of the polymer leading to thermal activation at a lower temperature. Many thermally activated SMP biomedical devices have been proposed including cortical probes that self-insert upon recovery of the device. Research in flexible electronics has produced neural interfaces on flexible substrates such as, Parylene-C, various polyimides and other engineering thermoplastics, and soft, elastomeric substrates. Processing by photolithography on shape memory polymer substrates that demonstrate a dramatic change, from flexible to soft, triggered by physiological conditions has not been studied extensively.

Processability of polymeric substrates and related methods

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


Disclosed are a slurry composition for chemical mechanical polishing and a precursor composition thereof. The polishing slurry composition includes deionized water, abrasive particles, a pH-adjusting agent and a surfactant, wherein the surfactant includes two or more ionic moieties and two or more lipophilic groups. The polishing slurry composition can polish convex surfaces of a semiconductor having a step height at a higher rate than the polishing rate for concave surfaces acting as polishing stop layers of the semiconductor so that the polishing can be self-stopped, reduces the occurrence of surface defects after the polishing process, and has a high degree of polishing planarization and good dispersion stability.

High integration of semiconductor devices plays a significant role in the development of electronic media that necessitate large data storage capacity and high data processing speed. The importance of miniaturization of semiconductor devices is also emphasized by the advancement of multi-functional mobile electronic media. The requirements for high integration and miniaturization make planarization processes important in achieving smaller linewidths in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.
Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) processes have been employed to manufacture semiconductor devices having small linewidths. Generally, polishing slurries for use in CMP processes include deionized water, abrasive particles, and optionally, a polishing performance assistant or a stabilizer. Such CMP processes are based on the principle that a polishing slurry is supplied in a state where a material to be polished is placed in contact with the surface of a polishing pad such that the polishing slurry is chemically reacted with the surface of the material and at the same time the polishing pad is moved relative to the material to physically planarize irregularities of the material.
CMP processes for the formation of semiconductor interlayer dielectrics (ILDs) are carried out to polish convex surfaces of a single-layer material having a step height at a higher rate than the polishing rate for concave surfaces acting as polishing stop layers of the single-layer material, thereby planarizing the single-layer material. Generally, slurries for ILD polishing have a slight difference in polishing rate between concave surfaces and convex surfaces of semiconductors, which makes self-stopping of the polishing process difficult. In addition, generally slurries suffer from many problems in terms of surface characteristics and storage stability.
As mentioned above, as semiconductor devices become more densely integrated and smaller in size, CMP processes will be of increasing importance. However, many improvements, such as high planarity and reduction of defects, are still required to manufacture devices with ultrafine linewidths.

Slurry composition for chemical mechanical polishing and precursor composition thereof


A method of joint inversion processing acoustic velocity and electrical resistivity well log data. The method includes generating an initial model of earth formations over an interval of interest. The initial model corresponds to earth formations for which the acoustic velocity and resistivity well log data have been measured. The initial model includes layers each having a geometry, a value of resistivity and a value of acoustic velocity. Acoustic velocity and resistivity data are synthesized based on the initial model. Differences are determined between the synthesized data and the measured data. The initial model is adjusted and the steps of synthesizing the log data and determining the differences are repeated until the differences reach a minimum, thereby generating a final model of the earth formations. The step of adjusting includes determining a coupling relationship between the acoustic velocity and the resistivity for the earth formations, and generating an inverse Jacobian matrix of sensitivity functions of the resistivity and acoustic velocity with respect to the geometry and the coupling relationship.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of well log data processing. More specifically, the invention is related to methods of inversion processing of well log data to derive a parametric model of earth formations which would produce a well log instrument response similar to well log data actually measured within a wellbore drilled through the earth formations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Well logging instruments make measurements related to various physical properties of earth formations from within wellbores drilled through these earth formations. The physical properties can include, among other things, electrical resistivity, and acoustic propagation velocity in one or more modes of acoustic energy propagation. The actual values of the measurements made by the well logging instruments depend not only on the values of these physical parameters but also on the spatial distribution of the response of each well logging instrument. Consequently, the spatial distribution of earth formations having the particular values of the physical parameters also affects the measurements made by the well logging instruments.
A process known in the art for determining both the spatial distribution and the values of the physical properties of the earth formations is called inversion processing. Inversion processing is described, for example, in D. L. B. Jupp and K. Vozoff, Stable Iterative Methods for Geophysical Inversion, Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 42, pp. 957-976 (1975). Inversion processing is usually performed by generating an initial estimate, or model, of the values and of the spatial distribution of the physical properties of the earth formations through which the wellbore is drilled. Since the spatial distribution is generally known for the response of the particular logging instruments for which the inversion process is being performed, a synthetic set of instrument responses, or synthetic well log, can be generated from the initial model. If the initial model does not precisely represent the actual distribution of physical properties of the formations through which the wellbore is drilled, there will generally be some differences between the measured well log data and the synthetic well log. If there are significant differences between the synthetic well log and the measured well log, the initial model will be "adjusted", meaning that the spatial distribution and/or the values of the physical properties will be changed, and a new synthetic well log will be generated from the adjusted initial model. If the differences between the synthetic well log made from the adjusted model, and the measured log data are still significant, the steps of adjusting the model, generating the synthetic well log and comparing the newest synthetic well log to the measured well log are repeated until the differences between the synthetic and the measured well logs are minimized. The model as finally adjusted is then deemed to be a reasonable representation of the spatial distribution and the values of the physical properties of the earth formations.
As initially described by jupp and Vozoff, supra, inversion was "one-dimensional", meaning that the spatial distribution of the physical properties was deemed to be variable only along the axis of the wellbore. The earth formations did not change properties radially outward from the wellbore. Later advances in inversion processing enabled determining a spatial distribution of physical properties in both the axial and radial directions, this being so-called "two-dimensional" inversion.
A limitation to the inversion processing known in the art is that it is generally performed only for a single type of well log measurement. In certain instances, inversion processing data from different types of well logging instruments measuring the same earth formations may each result in a different finally adjusted model (wherein the differences between the synthetic well log and the measured well log are minimized). Differences between finally adjusted models for each type of well log instrument make it difficult to resolve the most likely spatial distribution of properties of the earth formations through which the wellbore is drilled.
One method to improve inversion processing is described in A. G. Mezzatesta et al, Improved Resolution of Reservoir Parameters by Joint Use of Resistivity and Induction Tools, Society of Professional Well Log Analysts, Houston, Tex., (1994). The method described in the Mezzatesta et al reference includes generating a single earth model which minimizes the differences between synthetic and measured well log data for a combination of galvanic and induction type electrical resistivity measurements run in the same wellbore (and consequently through the same earth formations). A drawback to the use of the method described in the Mezzatesta et al reference is that wellbore operators typically do not run both galvanic and induction type resistivity well logging instruments in the same wellbore for reasons of cost and operating efficiency. Further, wellbore conditions and earth formation resistivity values which are more suitably logged with induction well logging instruments can be undesirable for logging with typical galvanic well logging instruments, and vice versa. Consequently, the method described by Mezzatesta et al has not yet found wide commercial application.
Other types of well logging instruments are more commonly used in combination with either galvanic or induction well logging instruments, but as yet no inversion processing has been devised to make use of the various types of well log data available from the typical wellbore, primarily because the different well logging instruments measure fundamentally different physical properties of the earth formations. Accordingly, the invention is intended to provide a method of jointly inversion processing resistivity and acoustic well log data.

Joint inversion processing method for resistivity and acoustic well log data


A system provides to respective appliances information relating to the total power consumption and, as appropriate, other information relating to the operating conditions of the other appliances and/or environmental conditions. The respective appliances process the information individually, to determine if they should alter their current levels of power consumption.

The present invention refers to a method for the management of the electric energy consumption in a domestic environment.
It is known that the theme of the home automation, i.e. of the integrated management of different electric devices being present in a home, is always increasing in interest.
The known home automation systems involve the presence of a central supervisor unit that usually proves to manage the different household appliances by controlling some xe2x80x9cintelligentxe2x80x9d sockets, that therefore control the supply of the energy to the different household appliances by means of ON/OFF type operations.
A first type of drawback is due to the complexity of the control units, which, having to manage a plurality of different domestic apparatuses in different times and ways, must be of the programmable type; this necessarily implies that the user is forced to a complicated programming activity.
A second type of drawback is due to the poor efficiency of the control and supervision system, which, as said before, manages the electric supply of different domestic apparatuses solely with ON/OFF type operations driven through the so called xe2x80x9cintelligentxe2x80x9d supply sockets; such control mode is clearly very elementary and approximate.
A third type of drawback is caused by the cost of the central supervision units which, because of its programmability, needs of a suitable user interface, composed typically by a keyboard and a display, and of an electronic control system with suitable elaboration and memory capability (for example a personal computer).
The main aim of the present invention is that of resolving the cited drawbacks of the known systems for managing the house electric appliances (represented, i.e., by household appliances such as washing or cooking machines), based on the use of supervision and control units of the centralized type.
Within such aim, the present invention strives to provide for an optimized management method, that avoids to overcome the limits of the installed maximum power being established by the contract with the electric energy supplier, and also allows to favour the use of different household appliances during time periods of reduced energy cost; this invention seeks similarly to show a method in which the optimized management of the energy can be obtained in a fully automatic way, without any action by the user.
These and other aims, that will appear clearer in the following, are reached according to the invention, by a method for the management of the electric energy consumption in a domestic environment incorporating the characteristics of the annexed claims.

Method for the energy management in a domestic environment


A tool holder includes a base member (10), a shaft (12) arranged on the rearward end of the base member (10) for connection to a machine spindle and a front facing recess in the front end of the base member arranged coaxially with respect to the shaft axis for receiving therein a coaxially aligned tool (24) which can be clamped in place by means of a clamping member (22). A regulating member (28) is furthermore axially guided in the base member (10), which regulating member serves as a positioning stop for the tool (24). In order to make possible a simple adjustment of the regulating member from a location externally of the tool holder, the regulating member (28) is constructed so that it has an axially extending rack thereon, while a gear (32) mating with the tooth system (30) of the rack and a clamping screw (42) engaging a keyway (38) of the regulating member (28) with its cone tip (44) are supported in the base member (10 ).

Tool holders of this type are particularly suited for receiving shaving tools having a cylindrical shaft, such as drills, cutters and reaming tools. The recess is thereby usually designed as a chuck or as a collet receiving means. The regulating member which coaxially extends into the recess can be adjusted in a predetermined range to serve as a positioning stop for the axial adjustment of the tool. An adjusting screw is usually used as the regulating member, which adjusting screw can be operated only through the shaft or through an externally accessible recess. To adjust the regulating member, thus either the tool holder must be removed from the spindle or the tool from the tool holder.
It is furthermore known in a tool holder of the above-mentioned type (WO 90/10517) to adjust the regulating member with an adjusting mechanism operable from the outer surface of the base member. The regulating member is supported in the base member and is there constructed so that it has an axially extending cylindrical bolt with a rack section thereon, and a gear mates with the tooth system of the rack section and a clamping element is movable into and out of engagement with the outer surface of the cylindrical bolt. Since the positioning stop is exposed to significant axial forces during the machining operation, there exists the danger that an unwanted axial adjustment occurs when the clamping member provided there is not sufficiently tightened.

Komet Praezisionswerkzeuge Robert Breuning GmbH


A system for deriving final display parameters for a wide range of MR images consists of a feature generator utilizing both histogram and spatial information computed from an input MR image, a wavelet transform within the feature generator for compressing the size of the feature vector, a competitive layer based neural network for clustering MR images into different subclasses, a bi-modal linear estimation network and a radial bases function network based non-linear estimator for each subclass, as well as a data fusion system using estimates from both estimators to compute the final display parameters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to displaying magnetic resonance images and more particularly to linearly re-mapping the image intensity range of magnetic resonance images.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic Resonance (MR) images have typically a data depth of 12 bits. For displaying any 12-bit MR image on a common 8-bit computer monitor, the image intensity range of the MR image needs to be re-mapped in general. One of the common prior art re-mapping processes is the so-called windowing process. It maps the image intensity values linearly from [(center--width)/2, (center+width)/2] to [0, 255], where center and width are two display parameters to be adjusted. The image intensity values below [(center--width)/2] are mapped to zero, while they are set to 255 if greater than [(center+width)/2]. Obviously, these two parameters can greatly influence the appearance of the image displayed. In other words, the brightness and the contrast of an image is determined by these two parameters. Inadequate adjustment of these parameters can lead to degradation of image quality and in severe cases to loss of valuable diagnostic information of the images.
Automatic adjustment of the above-mentioned two display parameters is in fact a very complicated problem because of the following reasons:
The maximum and the minimum pixel intensity value are instable quantities for the automatic adjustment of display parameters. They can be influenced strongly by many factors, such as spikes and background noise. This makes any system that uses the maximum and minimum values of the image intensity instable.
The region of interest in the intensity domain may only occupy a small portion of the dynamic range of the image pixel values. It is therefore inadequate to map the entire dynamic range of an image to [0, 255].
The spatial distribution of an image may also play an important role in the adjustment of the display window parameters. Different organs may have similar intensity distribution (histograms) but should be windowed differently. This factor makes the use of other information sources beyond the histogram of MR images necessary. Unfortunately, all current algorithms known to us are based on histograms or its derivatives.
It is also evident that the optimal display parameters also depend on the type of MR examinations. Different types of MR images may need to be viewed, and hence windowed differently. For example, 3D angiographic images, T1 or T2 weighted images, and inversion recovery images should be windowed very differently.
In general, images acquired with body or surfaces coils have to be treated differently. Surface coil images tend to have much larger dynamic range than the body coil images.
Individuals may have very different preferences in terms of image brightness and contrast. Some testing results have shown significant differences in adjusting the image appearance among different users or user groups. There is also evidence indicating that large differences in adjusting the same image may even occur for the same individual at a different time.
The optimal display window parameter setting is environmental condition dependent. Different lighting conditions, for example, may influence the adjustment results greatly.
The optimal display parameters are also monitor dependent. Different monitor settings, such as the gamma curve, the brightness and the contrast control values, may also affect the window width and center parameters strongly. There may be even large difference between aged and new monitors.
There have been some prior art methods developed for the automatic adjustment of a display window's width and center values. The most basic method is to determine the maximal and the minimal intensity values of each MR image, and then map them to [0, 255] in a linear fashion. This method does not work well in many cases because it does not solve any of the problems mentioned above.
The weaknesses of this basic method can be overcome partially by a more robust histogram based method as proposed by W. J. Ryan, R. T. Avula, B. J. Erickson, J. P. Felmlee and N. J. Hanglandreou in "Automatic Window Width And Window Level Calculation For MR Images", Proceeding of Radiological Society of North America, pp.447, 1995. In this method, after the histogram of an image has been computed, all of the histogram bins with less than a certain number of pixels are removed for further calculation. This step is used to reduce the influence of bad pixels (outliers in the statistical sense), such as spikes and background noisy pixels. However, this method still can not provide satisfactory solutions for a wide range of MR images because it completely relies on the histogram information to determine the display parameters, which is not sufficient for the adjustment of the display window width and center for a wide variety of MR images. Through test data, many cases have been found where human operators have selected a very different setting of the display parameters for some images with very similar histograms, but with different spatial distributions. This problem will be discussed in more detail in the Detailed Description of the Invention. It is an object of the present invention to resolve this ambiguity for using histogram information only, by utilizing some spatial statistical information of the images in addition to the histogram information for the display window parameters determination. The performance and robustness of such a system would be greatly improved with the addition of spatial statistical information.
R. E. Wendt III in "Automatic Adjustment Of Contrast And Brightness Of Magnetic Resonance Images", Journal of Digital Imaging, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 95-97, 1994, has proposed a system which determines at first the type of an MR image by reading the image header information, and then computes the display parameters depending on the type of the image. This provides a possibility to determine the actual field of view of the image to avoid pixels lying on the edge and outside of the field of view. It also ignores pixels that have values below a threshold, depending on the type of image being processed. However, this system requires that different rules must be set for different types and orientations of MR images. This makes the system somewhat impractical, since the software may have to be re-programmed to reflect any new changes in the MR image acquiring process, such as the use of new coils or new pulse sequences. It is therefore very desirable to have some adaptation capability built-in so that the system can adapt to these new coils or sequences without the re-programming of the software. An obvious possibility is to use neural networks which provide "learn by example" capability. By showing the new examples, the neural networks can be re-trained without re-programming.
There is also a neural network based method developed for the automatic adjustment described by A. Ohhashi, S. Yamada, K. Haruki, H. Hatano, Y. Fujii, K. Yamaguchi and H. Ogata in "Automatic Adjustment Of Display Window For MR Images Using A Neural Network", Proceeding of SPIE, Vol. 1444, Image Capture, Formatting and Display, pp. 63-74, 1991. A group of six features from the gray-level histogram of the MR images to be displayed is at first extracted. A back-propagation neural network is then trained to learn the relationship between these features and the desired output of the optimal display parameters set by human operators. Although this method has some advantages by utilizing a neural network over the above two methods, it is still a pure histogram based method since the features for the training is generated only from the histogram. As mentioned above, pure histogram based methods will not be able to solve the potential problem for the images with different spatial distributions but very similar histograms. In addition, pure neural network based methods in general have problems when an input image type has not been trained before. Since MRI can generate a large amount of different image types with different pulse sequences and different TR, TE, TI parameters, it presents a great challenge for any pure neural network based method to cover all possible cases in the training phase. Furthermore, this method uses only one neural network to learn the relationship between histogram based features and the desired output of the optimal display parameters. However, in practice, one neural network in many cases is often not enough for capturing the very complex, sometimes even totally conflicting, relationship. There is an obvious need for using more networks to minimize the probability of conflicting situations. The problem becomes "how can multiple networks be organized and utilized in a meaningful way?" and "what kind of means can be used as a safety net if a totally unknown image is given to be windowed?".
It is an object of the present invention to address all of the issues mentioned above through the development of a comprehensive neural networks based system. Such a system, unlike other prior art systems, should be designed with easy extensions for on-line adaptation capability, thus it should be developed as an adaptive system.

Robust and automatic adjustment of display window width and center for MR images


An optical isolator includes first and second optical splitter-combiners disposed within a semiconductor die. The optical splitter-combiners are coupled together into an interferometer configuration by first and second waveguide sections also disposed in the semiconductor die. A non-reciprocal optical phase shift element is disposed within the semiconductor die and includes the first waveguide section passing through the non-reciprocal optical phase shift element. The optical isolator is configured such that forward propagating waves are constructively recombined by the second optical splitter-combiner while reverse propagating wave are destructively recombined by the first optical splitter-combiner.

Optical communication systems may be used as high-bandwidth interconnects between electronic based processing systems. A signal is converted from the electrical realm to the optical realm on a transmitter side, launched into a transmissive medium (e.g., optical fiber), and then converted back to the electrical realm on a receiver side.
A number of photonic devices may be coupled with the transmissive medium between the transmitter side and the receiver side for manipulating the optical signal in a variety of manners, such as focusing, repeating/amplifying, routing, splitting, encoding/encrypting, and the like. Since propagation of an optical wave through a transmissive medium or photonic device is usually bi-directional (i.e., an optical wave can propagation in the forward and backward direction), these photonic devices can causes backward propagating reflections due to, for example, mismatches in an index of refraction at the interfaces of these photonic devices. If not blocked, these backward propagating reflections can disturb the operation of the optical communication system. A backward propagating reflection that enters the laser source on the transmitter side can interfere with stimulation emission within a resonance cavity of the laser source, and thereby cause unwanted noise limiting the performance of the optical communication system.
Optical isolators are often inserted inline between a laser source and a transmissive medium to block backward propagating reflections from entering the resonance cavity. Currently, optical isolators are standalone devices coupled to the output of an optical source via an optical fiber. Known standalone optical isolators include discrete, nonintegrated components such as a polarizer and a birefringent crystal rotator.

Integratable optical isolator in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer configuration


A motion activated and light sensitive multi-purpose safety light, having a housing for supporting: a motion sensor; a light emitting diode which serves as both a light source and a light detector; an electronic circuit which further comprises; a motion sensor amplifier to condition the motion signal received from the motion sensor, a driver for illuminating the light emitting diode in a flashing manner, a timer enabling the operation of the driver and a photo-amplifier providing amplification of the input signal received from the light emitting diode. A user-selected control components for providing parameters relating to the conditioning and the flash rate. A printed circuit board providing an area to mount the electrical components and electric circuit and a system power source.

Many injuries have occurred due to poor night time visibility. In an attempt to alleviate this problem various devices have been proposed to give visible notice of one's presence under low light situations. These devices include, for example, various forms of reflectors, and steady and flashing lights which are attached to people, animals or objects. For example, a person running on the side of a road at night may wear a device which incorporates a reflector or flashing light in an attempt to be more visible to passing motorists. Likewise, such a device may be attached to a collar of a dog or to a surface on a bicycle frame enhancing the likelihood of visual detection. Such devices can increase visibility during daylight hours as well as at night. In the past, however, designs have fallen short of their intended purpose: to dependably and effectively increase detection of the person, animal, or object to which the device is attached.
Reflectors, for example, since they are dependent on an external light source, will fail in the situation where a motorist approached an intersection and, after stopping, makes a right turn without noticing a bicyclist who had come up alongside the motorist. Also, reflectors often lead to confusion. If there are numerous lights in close proximity at an intersection, a reflector as a light source may be mistaken as another motorist traveling at the speed of traffic or a stationary light along the roadside, depending on the motorist's perception. Both situations may lead to serious physical injury to the motorist and bicyclist.
Other indicators rely on various moving parts which are subject to wear and fatigue resulting in failure. For example, one design for a bike requires a generator to supply power to a light source mounted on the bike. The generator is activated by bringing one end of the generator rotor in physical contact with the bike tire or wheel. As the wheel turns the generator produces power for the light source. Since the generator is physically touching the tire or wheel, wear to the tire or wheel occurs which may ultimately lead to wheel failure. Additionally, since the generator and the light source are typically mounted in separate areas, a conductor to carry power to the light must be used. In operation, a bike is subjected to environmental elements resulting in dirt and moisture, and vibration invading the electrical connections leading to failure due to corrosion or wire breakage. While battery powered devices may solve some of these problems, batteries are expensive, wear out, and are hazardous to the environment.


A coil includes a coil element to receive MR signals with a first frequency from a subject. The coil element includes a main current path section in which an MR current arising due to electromagnetic induction of the MR signals with said first frequency flows, and a current blocking section that makes smaller than said MR current an electromagnetic current flowing in said main current path section due to electromagnetic induction of electromagnetic waves with a second frequency different from said first frequency.

The embodiments described herein relate to a coil receiving MR signals from a subject, and an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) system including the coil.
A reception coil for receiving MR signals from a subject is employed in MRI apparatus.
The reception coil known from, for example Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 08-252234, has a problem in which application of low frequency noise to the reception coil results in artifacts such as ghosts appearing in an MR image.

GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC


A method and a processing system for a communications network, including receiving a program code including multiple instructions for the communications network dividing the program into multiple sequences, defining multiple relocation objects, each corresponding to a dependency relationship between two or more of the sequences, and allocating the sequences to a processor instruction memory.

In processor technology, such as data packet processing technology, more specifically in the entering of instructions for the processes, traditional linker algorithms uses large chunks of code, i.e. machine code chunks from an assembler. Traditional linkers also have an object file where the code chunk is stored along with relocation objects. The linkers place many chunks of code sequentially in a memory and link the chunks of code together using of the relocation objects. The codes are optimized by memory utilization, i.e. all codes are placed in sequence.
A disadvantage with known processor assembly-linking algorithms is that it is difficult to meet processing requirements of the processor during programming and compiling. More specifically, it is difficult to include real time requirements of the data processing, when programming and compiling using traditional linker algorithms.

Method and system for determining total code execution time in a data processor


Chemical vapor deposition is used to form a film of Bi oxide, Sr oxide, and Ta oxide on a heated substrate by decomposing the precursors of these oxides at the surface of the substrate. The precursor of Bi oxide is a Bi complex which includes at least one alkoxide group and is decomposed and deposited at a temperature lower than 450xc2x0 C. The film of Bi, Sr, and Ta oxides obtained by low-temperature CVD is predominantly non-ferroelectric, but can be converted into a ferroelectric film by a subsequent heating process.

This invention relates to chemical vapor deposition methods for providing a Bi oxide-containing film on a surface of a substrate by decomposing a precursor of Bi oxide.
Interest in ferroelectric has increased in recent years, due to the utility of these materials in applications such as non-volatile memories. Information in these memories is stored by the polarization of a thin ferroelectric film which is placed between the two plates of a capacitor. The capacitor is connected to a transistor to form a storage cell, which controls the access of read-out electronics to the capacitor.
The information stored in the cell can be changed by applying an electric field to the thin ferroelectric film and flipping the polarization. Ferroelectric random access memories (FERAMs), unlike DRAMs (dynamic random access memories), retain the stored information if the power supply is turned off. In addition, they do not require refresh cycles. Desirable electrical properties for ferroelectrics used in memory applications include: (a) a low coercive field, which makes the use of as low a voltage supply as possible; (b) a high remanent polarization, which is needed for high reliability of information storage; (c) minimal fatigue, which is required for a long life-time; and (d) no imprint, as an imprint would alter the stored information.
Strontium bismuth tantalate (SrBi2Ta2O9) (SBT) is a ferroelectric material that meets all of these requirements. Significant efforts are therefore being made to integrate this material into memory devices. Capacitors in which SBT is incorporated using a sol-gel method have good electrical properties. The sol-gel method provides only a low integration density of SBT, however. To achieve a higher integration density of SBT, an alternative method, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), must be used.
In one aspect, the invention features a method of forming a Bi-containing metal oxide film on a substrate, by dissolving a precursor of Bi oxide in a solution, decomposing the precursor to form Bi oxide, and depositing the Bi oxide on the substrate at a temperature lower than 450xc2x0 C. Bi complexes which include at least one alkoxide group are used as the precursor of Bi oxide.
Embodiments of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features.
The deposition temperature may be lower than 400xc2x0 C. The Bi oxide-containing film may also be provided by adding the steps of decomposing a precursor of Sr oxide, and a precursor of Ta oxide to form Sr oxide and Ta oxide, respectively, and depositing the Bi oxide, the Sr oxide and the Ta oxide on the substrate.
The film of Bi, Sr, and Ta oxides may be deposited as a ferroelectric film or can be converted into a ferroelectric film by an annealing process.
In accordance with the invention, the ferroelectric layer is formed from an amorphous as-deposited layer or film. The amorphous film is annealed, transforming it into the ferroelectric layer. We have discovered that by forming the ferroelectric layer from an amorphous layer, a lower thermal budget is consumed by the ferro-anneal as compared to that of ferroelectric layer formed from conventional techniques. The lower thermal budget avoids or reduces excessive diffusion of one or more of the constituents of the ferroelectric layer and oxidation of the contacts.
The amorphous layer is processed to produce a ferroelectric layer in accordance with the invention. The amorphous layer comprises materials that can be transformed into a ferroelectric layer. In one embodiment, the amorphous layer comprises a Bi-based oxide ceramic. The Bi-based oxide ceramic comprises, for example, strontium bismuth tantalate (SBT) or a material derived from SBT (SBT derivative). The amorphous layer is annealed under appropriate conditions transforming it into a ferroelectric layer.
The amorphous film comprises a material which can be processed, for example by a ferro-anneal, to form a ferroelectric film. In one embodiment, the amorphous layer comprises a metal oxide ceramic material. Preferably, the amorphous layer comprises a Bi-based oxide ceramic material. More preferably, the amorphous layer comprises a Bi-based oxide ceramic material that can be processed to transform it into a ferroelectric.
The Bi-containing metal oxide film is formed by placing the substrate in a CVD chamber, heating the substrate to a deposition temperature lower than 450xc2x0 C., introducing vapors of the precursors of Bi, Sr, and Ta oxides to the CVD chamber, decomposing the precursors of Bi, Sr, and Ta oxides, and depositing the oxides on the substrate. Precursors of Bi, Sr, and Ta oxides may be decomposed in the presence of an oxidizer by oxidative decomposition, where examples of the oxidizers include O2, singlet O2, O3, H2O2, N2O, NOx (1xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa63), and downstream oxygen plasma, and where the concentration of the oxidizer is between 5% and 95% of the total gas and vapor flow into the CVD chamber. At least one of O2 and N2O may be used as the oxidizer. The oxidizer may be formed in the CVD chamber by converting an oxidizer molecule into an active oxidizer by applying to the CVD chamber plasma, UV light, heat, a sensitizer, or ion beams.
The precursor of Bi oxide may have the formula Bi(OR)3, Bi(OR)2(ORxe2x80x2), or Bi(OR)(ORxe2x80x2)(ORxe2x80x3), where each of R, Rxe2x80x2, and Rxe2x80x3 is, independently, an alkyl, aryl, or silyl group. For example, R may be tpentyl, pentyl, tBu, Bu, iPr, Pr, Et, Me, Ph, aryl, or SiRxe2x80x2xe2x80x33, and Rxe2x80x2xe2x80x3 may be tBu, Bu, iPr, Pr, Et, or Me. Examples of precursors of Bi oxide further include Bi(OtBu)3 and Bi(OCMe2Et)3. The precursor of Bi oxide may also include an alkoxy group, a phenoxy group, or a donor atom such as N, O, or S. For example, the precursor may include the group xe2x80x94CH2CH2xe2x80x94N(CH3)2.
The Bi-containing metal oxide deposited on the substrate may have the formula (Bi2O2)2+(Amxe2x88x921BmO3m+1)2xe2x88x92, where A is Bi3+, L3+, L2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+, Pb2+, or Na+, B is Fe3+, Al3+, Sc3+, Y3+, L3+, L4+, Ti4+, Nb5+, Ta5+, W6+, or Mo6+, and L is Ce4+, La3+, Pr3+, Ho3+, Eu2+, or Yb2+, and where 1xe2x89xa6mxe2x89xa65. The Bi-containing metal oxide may also have the formula Bi2WO6; BiMO3, where M is Fe or Mn; Ba2BiMO6, where M is V, Nb or Ta; Pb2BiMO6, where M is V, Nb or Ta; Ba3Bi2MO9, where M is Mo or W; Pb3Bi2MO9, where M is Mo or W; Ba6BiMO18, where M is Mo or W; Pb6BiMO18, where M is Mo or W; KBiTi2O6; or K2BiNb5O15. These metal oxides can be obtained by decomposing precursors which contain the above-described metals.
The Bi-containing metal oxide film can also be a SBT derivative. Examples of such derivatives include SrBi2Ta2O9; SrBi2Ta2xe2x88x92xNbxO9, where 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa62; SrBi2Nb2O9; Sr1xe2x88x92xBaxBi2Ta2xe2x88x92yNbyO9, where 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61 and 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa62; Sr1xe2x88x92xCaxBi2Ta2xe2x88x92yNbyO9 where 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61 and 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa62; Sr1xe2x88x92xPbxBi2Ta2xe2x88x92yNbyO9, where 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61 and 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa62; and Sr1xe2x88x92xxe2x88x92yxe2x88x92zBaxCayPbzBi2Ta2xe2x88x92pNbpO9, where 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61, 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa61, 0xe2x89xa6zxe2x89xa61, and 0xe2x89xa6pxe2x89xa62. An element of the metal oxide may be substituted by a metal such as Ce, La, Pr, Ho, Eu, and Yb.
The precursor of Sr oxide generally has the formula Sr(thd)2 or Sr(thd)2 adduct, and may include a polyether or a polyamine. The polyether has the formula Rxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CH2CH2O)nxe2x80x94Rxe2x80x2, where 2xe2x89xa6nxe2x89xa66, and where each of R and Rxe2x80x2 may be, independently, an alkyl group, an aryl group, or hydrogen. The polyamine has the formula Rxe2x80x94NRxe2x80x3-(CH2CH2NRxe2x80x3)n-Rxe2x80x2, where 2xe2x89xa6nxe2x89xa66, where each of R and Rxe2x80x2 may be, independently, an alkyl group, an aryl group, or hydrogen, and where Rxe2x80x3 is H, Me, Et, or Pr. The precursor of Sr oxide may also include tetraglyme, triglyme, N,N,Nxe2x80x2,Nxe2x80x3,Nxe2x80x3-pentamethyl-diethylene-triamine, or N,N,Nxe2x80x2,Nxe2x80x3,Nxe2x80x2xe2x80x3,Nxe2x80x2xe2x80x3-hexamethyl-triethylene-tetramine. The precursor of Sr oxide may also be Sr alkoxide, SR alkoxide mixed with Ta and Nb alkoxides, or a Lewis base adduct of the alkoxide, where the Lewis base is tetraglyme, triglyme, N,N,Nxe2x80x2,Nxe2x80x3,Nxe2x80x3-pentamethyl-diethylene-triamine, or N,N,Nxe2x80x2,Nxe2x80x3,Nxe2x80x2xe2x80x3,Nxe2x80x2xe2x80x3-hexamethyl-triethyleneetramine.
The precursor of Ta oxide generally has the formula Ta(OR)5xe2x88x92n(X)n, where R is Me, Et, Pr, iPr, Bu, iBu, tBu, pentyl, or ipentyl, where X is xcex2-diketonate, and where 1xe2x89xa6nxe2x89xa65. For example precursor may be Ta(OiPr)4(thd). The precursor of Ta oxide may be an alkoxide including Ta pentakis (ethoxide), Ta pentakis (ipropoxide), Ta pentakis (tbutoxide), or Ta pentakis (tpentoxide).
The precursors of the Bi, Sr, and Ta oxides are dissolved in a solution of an aliphatic, a cycloaliphatic, or an aromatic solvent that may include a functional group such as an alcohol, ether, ester, amine, ketone, or aldehyde group. For example, the precursors of Bi, Sr, and Ta oxides may be dissolved in a solvent such as an alcohol. For example, t-butanol may be used as a solvent for Bi(OtBu)3, and t-pentanol for Bi(OCMe2Et)3. Alternatively, the precursors may be dissolved in a mixture of THF, iPrOH, and a Lewis base in a ratio of about 8:2:1, respectively, or a mixture of octane, decane, and pentamethyl-diethylene-triamine in a ratio of about 5:4:1. Furthermore, the precursor of Bi oxide may be dissolved in a solution comprising Lewis base adducts.
The solutions containing the precursors are evaporated by vaporizers. For example, the solution containing the precursor of Bi oxide is evaporated at a temperature from 130xc2x0 C. to 220xc2x0 C., and the solution for the precursors of Sr and Ta oxides is evaporated at a temperature from 170xc2x0 C. to 240xc2x0 C. An inert gas such as Ar, He, or N2 is added to the vapors of the solution, and a mixture of the inert gas and vapors is delivered to the CVD chamber. For example, the mixture includes vapors of the precursors of Bi oxide, Sr oxide, and Ta oxide in a ratio of about 2:1:2. It is appreciated that the concentrations of the precursors in the vapor mixture depend on several factors, including vaporization temperature, pressure in the vaporizer, gas and vapor flow rate, desired film stoichiometry, and geometry of the CVD chamber.
In the CVD chamber, the substrate is heated to the deposition temperature of 300xc2x0 C. to 450xc2x0 C. The pressure in the CVD chamber is maintained between 0.001 torr and 760 torr, for example, between 0.1 torr and 10 torr. An additional inert gas is added to the CVD chamber, where the concentration of the inert gas may vary from 10% to 90% of the total gas and vapor flow into the CVD chamber, for example, 30% to 50%. Preferably, the vapors of the precursors, the oxidizers, and an inert gas are introduced to the CVD chamber at a total flow rate of 1 ml/min to 15,000 ml/min, measured at the standard condition. The desirable flow rate may also depend on the temperature and the pressure of the gas and vapor mixture, desired film stoichiometry, and geometry of the CVD chamber. The oxides are deposited onto the substrate over a time period between 2 minutes and 2 hours, for example, between 2 minutes and 15 minutes. After deposition, the film is heated to a temperature of 600xc2x0 C. to 800xc2x0 C. for a time period between 5 minutes and 3 hours.
The substrate preferably includes Si, n-doped Si, n-doped Si, SiO2, Si3N4, GaAs, MgO, Al2O3, ZrO2, SrTiO3, BaTiO3, or PbTiO3. The film of Bi-containing metal oxide is deposited on a bottom electrode disposed on the substrate which includes a transistor. The bottom electrode is connected to the transistor by a plug. The bottom electrode may include a metal such as Pt, Pd, Au, Ir, or Rh; a conducting metal oxide such as IrOx, RhOx, RuOx, OsOx, ReOx, or WOx, where 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa62; a conducting metal nitride such as TiNx, ZrNx, or WNyTaNy, where 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61.0 and 0xe2x89xa6yxe2x89xa61.7; or a superconducting oxide such as YBa2Cu3O7xe2x88x92x where 0xe2x89xa6xxe2x89xa61, and Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10. The bottom electrode may be a Pt electrode.
A first intermediate layer may be provided between the bottom electrode and the plug. Examples of the first intermediate layer include a Ti adhesion layer and a Ti nitride diffusion barrier layer. A second intermediate layer may also be provided between the bottom electrode and the metal oxide layer. Examples of the second intermediate layer include a seed layer, a conducting layer, and a dielectric layer of high permittivity. The plug may include W or Si, and is connected to the bottom electrode and to a source/drain of a MOS field effect transistor. The film may also be used as a thin ferroelectric film for a ferroelectric capacitor, a ferroelectric memory, and/or a ferroelectric field effect transistor, for example, a metal ferroelectric semiconductor and a metal ferroelectric insulating semiconductor.
The substrate may be flushed with a mixture of an inert gas and the oxidizer before and/or after being exposed to the vapors of the precursors of the metal oxides. The processes of heating, decomposing, and depositing may be performed at least twice on the substrate. The substrate may also be removed from the chamber, treated by at least one intermediate process, such as a rapid thermal process, and returned to the chamber.
The operating conditions of the CVD may also be changed. For example, the compositions of the precursors, oxidizers, and inert gas in the mixture may be varied while the substrate is positioned in the chamber. Deposition temperature as well as the chamber pressure may also be varied. The precursor of Bi oxide may be delivered to the CVD chamber during a period between the onset of deposition and 30 minutes thereafter; the concentration of the Bi oxide is then decreased. In other methods, the substrate may be heated inside the chamber at a temperature lower than 450xc2x0 C. at least twice, or the substrate may be heated inside the chamber at a temperature lower than 450xc2x0 C. in the presence of at least one of the oxidizers O2 and O3.
In another aspect, the invention features a method of forming a metal oxide film on a substrate, by heating the substrate to a temperature lower than 450xc2x0 C. and introducing vapors of a precursor of Bi oxide to the substrate. Bi complexes which include at least one alkoxide group are used as the precursors of Bi oxide. The precursor of Bi oxide decomposes at the surface of the substrate to form Bi oxide, which is deposited on the surface of the substrate.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cprecursor of Bi oxidexe2x80x9d means any Bi complex which may be degraded to form Bi oxide. Examples of precursors of Bi oxide include Bi alkoxides, which have the structure Bi(OR)3, Bi(OR)2(ORxe2x80x2) or Bi(OR)(ORxe2x80x2)(ORxe2x80x3), where each of R, Rxe2x80x2, and Rxe2x80x3 is, independently, an alkyl or an aryl group. Bi alkoxides also include derivatives of the above-described precursors.
The use of Bi alkoxides as the precursors of Bi oxide in chemical vapor deposition offers numerous advantages. Bi alkoxides contain Bixe2x80x94O bonds which are relatively easy to cleave. Accordingly, Bi alkoxides can be decomposed at lower temperatures. Decomposition and deposition at a lower temperature decreases the migration of Bi oxide to the bottom electrode and the substrate. The degradation of the preexisting structure is thereby minimized. Furthermore, Bi alkoxides do not require oxygen as a co-reactant for the formation of the Bi oxide layer. It is believed that this contributes to conformal deposition of Bi oxides.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to these described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, suitable methods and materials are described below. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In case of conflict, the present specification, including definitions, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, and from the claims.

Low temperature CVD processes for preparing ferroelectric films using Bi alcoxides


A hydraulic control valve for a construction machine is provided. The hydraulic control valve includes a boom spool slidingly coupled into a valve block to be shifted to control the hydraulic fluid supplied from a first hydraulic pump and a second hydraulic pump to the actuator and provided with an internal path, a supply path of the first hydraulic pump and a supply path of the second hydraulic pump which are formed to be vertically symmetrical about the boom spool, check valves elastically supported to open and close the supply path of the first hydraulic pump and the supply path of the second hydraulic pump, respectively, bridge paths formed to be horizontally and vertically symmetrical with respect to a path formed on a sliding surface of the valve block to supply the hydraulic fluid, cylinder paths supplying the hydraulic fluid from the first hydraulic pump to the actuator.

In general, a hydraulic control valve is used to control hydraulic fluid that is supplied from hydraulic pumps to actuators that drive working devices, such as a boom and an arm, of a construction machine, such as an excavator. Particularly, in driving working devices, such as the boom and the arm, the driving speed of the working devices can be increased by making the hydraulic fluid supplied from a plurality of hydraulic pumps in a confluent state.
A hydraulic control valve for a construction machine in the related art, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a first boom block 1 forming a supply path therein to supply hydraulic fluid of a first hydraulic pump P1 to a boom cylinder 6; a second boom block 2 making close contact with the first boom block 1 to be vertically symmetric to the first boom block 1 and forming a supply path therein to supply hydraulic fluid of a second hydraulic pump P2 to the boom cylinder 6; a first boom spool 3 installed in the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 to be shifted to control a start, stop, and direction change of the boom cylinder 6; a second boom spool 4 installed in the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2 to be shifted to make the hydraulic fluid of the second hydraulic pump P2 join the hydraulic fluid of the first hydraulic pump P1 to increase the driving speed of the boom cylinder 6; and poppets 9 elastically supported by springs 8, respectively, to open and close the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 and the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2.
In the drawing, the reference numerals "12" and "15" denote guides on which springs 13 are seated, which are oppositely fixed to end portions of the first boom spool 3 and the second boom spool 4, and "14" denotes stoppers arranged between the guides 12 and 15 of the first boom spool 3 and the second boom spool 4, respectively, to limit strokes of the first boom spool 3 and the second boom spool 4.
Hereinafter, the operation of the hydraulic control valve as constructed above will be described.
(A) The operation of the hydraulic control valve during a boom-up operation will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, if pilot signal pressure (pressure that exceeds the predetermined set pressure of a spring 13) for a boom-up operation is supplied to a pilot b port 28 of the cover 10 to lift up the boom, the first boom spool 3 that is slidingly coupled in the first boom block 1 is shifted to the left side.
At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 pushes the poppet 9 that is elastically supported by the spring 8 upward to be supplied to the bridge path 17, and is supplied to the cylinder path 19 through a notch 18 of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the left side.
At the same time, as the pilot signal pressure (pressure that exceeds the predetermined set pressure of the spring 13) for the boom-up operation is supplied to a pilot b′ port 29 of the cover 10, the second boom spool 4 that is slidingly coupled in the second boom block 2 is shifted to the left side.
At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2 pushes the poppet p that is elastically supported by the spring 8 downward to be supplied to the bridge path 32, and is supplied to the cylinder path 34 through a notch 33 of the second boom spool 4 that is shifted to the left side.
The hydraulic fluid supplied to the cylinder path 34 joins the hydraulic fluid in the cylinder path 19 on the side of the first boom block 1, and then is supplied to a large chamber of the boom cylinder 6 through an actuator B port 20 and a boom large chamber path 21. Through this, the boom is lifted up.
At this time, leakage of the high-pressure hydraulic fluid is prevented by an O-ring 36 provided on a mutual close-contact surface of the first and second boom blocks 1 and 2.
On the other hand, the hydraulic fluid that returns from a small chamber of the boom cylinder 6 passes through the boom small chamber path 22, the actuator A port 23, and the cylinder path 24 in order, and returns to the tank path 26 through the notch 25 of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the left side. Accordingly, the boom is lifted up.
At this time, since the amount of hydraulic fluid that returns from the small chamber of the boom cylinder 6 is equal to or less than a half of the hydraulic fluid of the large chamber, the hydraulic fluid returns to the hydraulic tank only through the first boom spool 3. At this time, in the second boom spool 4 that is shifted to the left side, the notch that communicates with the tank path 37 is not formed, and the hydraulic fluid does not return to the hydraulic tank through the second boom spool 4.
At this time, if the pressure that exceeds the predetermined set pressure is applied to the boom cylinder 6, relief valves 5, which are installed on the actuator A port 23 and the actuator B port 20, make the hydraulic fluid having the excessive pressure return to the hydraulic tank to maintain the predetermined set pressure, and thus the boom cylinder 6 can be protected.
(B) The operation of the hydraulic control valve during a boom-down operation will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, if pilot signal pressure for a boom-down operation is supplied to a pilot a port 27 and a′ port 30, the first boom spool 3 that is slidingly coupled in the first boom block 1 and the second boom spool 4 that is slidingly coupled in the second boom block 2 are shifted to the right side.
At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 pushes the poppet 9 that is elastically supported by the spring 8 upward to be supplied to the bridge path 17, and is supplied to the cylinder path 24 through the notch 38 of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the right side.
Further, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2 pushes the poppet 9 that is elastically supported by the spring 8 downward to be supplied to the bridge path 32. By contrast, in the second boom spool 4 that is shifted to the right side, the notch that communicates with the bridge path 32 is not formed, and thus the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2 is not supplied to the cylinder path 39 through the second boom spool 4.
Accordingly, only the hydraulic fluid on the side of the first hydraulic pump P1 is supplied to the small chamber of the boom cylinder 6 through the actuator A port 23 and the boom small chamber path 22.
On the other hand, the hydraulic fluid, which returns from the large chamber of the boom cylinder 6 passes through the boom large chamber path 21, the actuator B port 20, and the cylinder path 19 in order, and then dispersedly returns to the tank path 42 and the tank path 43 through the notch 40 formed on the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the right side and the notch 41 formed on the second boom spool 4. Accordingly, the boom can lower.
FIG. 2 is a hydraulic circuit diagram of a hydraulic control valve for a construction machine in the related art.
(A) The boom-up operation will be described with reference to the hydraulic circuit.
If the pilot signal pressure for the boom-up operation is supplied to a b port of the first boom block 1, the first boom spool 3 that is coupled to the first boom block 1 is shifted to the right side. At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 pushes a check valve 55, and is supplied to paths 56 and 57 through the internal path of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the right side.
At the same time, if the pilot signal pressure for the boom-up operation is supplied to a b′ port of the second boom block 2, the second boom spool 4 of the second boom block 2 is shifted to the right side. At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2 pushes a check valve 62, and is supplied to a path 63 through the internal path of the second boom spool 4 that is shifted to the right side. Through this, the hydraulic fluid that is supplied to the path 63 joins the hydraulic fluid on the side of the first hydraulic pump P1 in the path 57 and is supplied to the large chamber of the boom cylinder 6.
At this time, the hydraulic fluid that returns from the small chamber of the boom cylinder passes through the path 59, and then is supplied to the tank path 60 through the internal path of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the right side.
(B) The boom-down operation will be described with reference to the hydraulic circuit.
If the pilot signal pressure for the boom-down operation is supplied to a port of the first boom block 1 and an a′ port of the second boom block 2 to let the boom can lower, the first boom spool 3 of the first boom block 1 and the second boom spool 4 of the second boom block 2 are shifted to the left side, respectively. At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 pushes the check valve 55, and is supplied to a path 59 through the internal path of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the left side. Through this, the hydraulic fluid is supplied to the small chamber of the boom cylinder 6.
At this time, the hydraulic fluid that returns from the larger chamber of the boom cylinder 6 is supplied to the paths 57 and 56, and is supplied to the tank path 60 through the internal path of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the left side.
At the same time, the hydraulic fluid that returns from the large chamber of the boom cylinder 6 is supplied to the path 63 that is branched to the path 57, and is supplied to the tank path 64 through the internal path of the second boom spool 4 that is shifted to the left side. Through this, the boom can lower.
As described above, the hydraulic control valve in the related art includes the first boom block 1 and the second boom block 2 for the boom-up or boom-down operation, the first boom spool 3 and the second boom spool 4 that are slidingly coupled to the first boom block and the second boom block 2, and the poppets 9 that are elastically supported by the springs 8 to open and close the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 and the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2. Since such construction is applied to a first arm spool and a second arm spool in the same manner, the hydraulic control value becomes large-sized.
Further, in the case of mounting the hydraulic control valve onto the construction machine, the large-sized hydraulic control valve causes inconvenience during piping and layout of the hydraulic control valve which increases the manufacturing cost.

Hydraulic pressure-regulating valve for construction equipment


The present disclosure involves a method of conducting a commercial transaction. In one aspect, the method of shopping includes receiving user information signifying the start of a shopping session; generating an electronic session identifier corresponding to the shopping session and a user identified by the user information; determining a selection of a product of a shopping facility; associating the product with the session identifier in response to the determining of the selection; and notifying the shopping facility of the associating of the product with the session. The receiving, the generating, the determining, the associating, and the notifying are each performed by a computing system.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to conducting electronic transactions and, more particularly, to making and verifying purchases using a portable electronic device in communication with a commerce infrastructure.
2. Related Art
Advances in electronic commerce have not eliminated traditional physical "brick and mortar" stores. If anything, advancing technology has improved the experience delivered by physical stores by enabling improvements resulting in greater product availability, better inventory management, and reduced operating costs. However, consumers' expectations have risen as well. Consumers expect convenience, value, and personal service, all of which present a challenge for physical and virtual stores alike. One particular area of concern is the checkout process. It has proven to be no small challenge to complete checkout transactions swiftly, accurately, and effectively and to provide protection against error and theft.
Therefore, while existing methods and systems for customer checkout and point-of-sale transactions have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in every aspect. Retailers and customers alike benefit from improvements to the efficiency and accuracy of the checkout process as well as from improvements that safeguard against product loss.

Method, medium, and system for session based shopping


An ink cartridge determination system includes a cartridge mounting portion, an optical sensor positioned at the cartridge mounting portion, at least one ink cartridge configured to be inserted into the cartridge mounting portion, and a determiner. The optical sensor includes a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element. The optical sensor is configured to selectively output a first signal and a second signal based on an intensity of the light received by the light-receiving element. The at least one ink cartridge includes a first light altering portion, a second light altering portion, and a light passing portion, which are configured to sequentially intersect a optical path of the optical sensor when the at least one ink cartridge is inserted into the cartridge mounting portion, and the determiner is configured to determine a type of the at least one ink cartridge based on a time profile of a signal outputted from the optical sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ink cartridge determination systems configured to determine a type of an ink cartridge, in which the ink cartridge is configured to be inserted into a cartridge mounting, and to such ink cartridges.
2. Description of Related Art
A known ink-jet recording apparatus is configured to dispense ink onto a sheet of paper to record an image thereon. The known ink-jet recording apparatus has a recording head. The recording head is configured to selectively eject ink from nozzles to the sheet of paper. A known ink cartridge is configured to be detachably mounted to the ink-jet recording apparatus. The ink cartridge has an ink chamber configured to store ink therein, and ink is supplied from the ink chamber to the recording head when the ink cartridge is mounted to the ink-jet recording apparatus.
Another known ink-jet recording apparatus, such as the ink-jet recording apparatus described in JP-A-3-213349, is configured to determine the type of ink stored in another known ink cartridge, which is configured to be used with the ink-jet recording apparatus. The another known ink cartridge has a flag member configured to block light. The position of the flag member varies according to the type of ink stored in the ink cartridge. The flag member is configured to be positioned in an optical path of an optical sensor of the another known ink-jet recording apparatus when the ink cartridge is mounted to the ink-jet recording apparatus. The position of the flag member is detected by the optical sensor, and thereby, the type of ink is determined.
Nevertheless, the another known ink cartridge requires a flag member and a mechanism for selectively protruding the flag member from the ink cartridge and for accommodating the flag member in the ink cartridge. Therefore, the structure of the another known ink cartridge is complicated. Moreover, if the mechanism fails to protrude the flag member from the ink cartridge, the type of ink cannot be determined.

Ink cartridge determination systems and ink cartridges


A system and method of processing commands receives and stores in a memory a first command line interface. The first command line interface processes commands addressed to boards of a first board type. The system and method receives and stores in memory a second command line interface. The second command line interface processes commands addressed to boards of the first board type. The system and method processes a first command using the first command line interface and a second command using the second command line interface. The first command and the second commands are addressed to boards having the first board type.

In modern computer systems, processing functions are often performed by electronic boards. The boards themselves may be housed in a single or multiple chassis. The boards may be placed in slots in the chassis with each slot holding a different board. The boards may be differentiated based upon different criteria. For example, the boards may perform different types of processing (e.g., resource management) or provide different hardware elements (e.g., memories).
The boards may include software images, which are stored in a memory and used by a processor to perform processing on the board. The software images may, for example, include operating system software or application programming. The software images may operate with only certain types and versions of boards.
Over time, the software images on different boards may need to be updated. For example, a new software image for a particular board may operate faster or more efficiently. A newer software image may also provide new features for a board.
A network management station, communicatively coupled to a board, may be used to upload images to the boards. An operator may type in commands to update a software image. The network management station may utilize an interface that allows a user to enter the commands to be sent to the different boards. The interface may be the command line interface (CLI). The CLI itself may be comprised of a plurality of CLI servers. Each server may process commands destined for boards having a particular type and version number.
The boards may use different protocols to communicate with each other. For example, the file transfer protocol (FTP) or trivial file transfer protocol (TFTP) may be used. Another example of a protocol is the dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP).

System and method for routing information to multiple points within an embedded environment


This disclosure provides a novel role for microRNA (miR) regulation of lipid metabolism via the MTP pathway, leading to reductions in apoB secretion and blood lipid levels. MiR regulation of the MTP pathway is shown herein to reduce hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis in vivo. Therefore, inhibition of MTP expression and activity by miR regulation is identified as a new therapeutic target for treatment of cardiovascular disease and conditions or diseases associated with cardiovascular disease such as hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, and metabolic syndrome. Treatment of cardiovascular disease and associated conditions or diseases with the novel MTP inhibitors of the invention, such as miR-30c homologs or miR-30c agonists, reduces MTP-associated lipid production without side effects that occur with other methods of MTP inhibition.

Complications from excess plasma lipid accumulation are one of the most common causes of death in Western societies (1;2) because they enhance risks for various cardiovascular and metabolic disorders such as hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome. In plasma, lipids are transported on lipoproteins that provide endogenously produced and dietary lipids to tissues. Plasma lipid levels are controlled by lipoprotein assembly and their catabolism. Hence, reducing lipoprotein production can be a useful approach to prevent and/or treat various cardiovascular and metabolic disorders.
Lipoproteins are synthesized by the intestine and liver using a structural protein, apolipoprotein B (apoB) with the assistance of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) (3;4). The assembly of apoB-containing lipoproteins requires two steps. The first step occurs within the endoplasmic reticulum that involves the synthesis of particles that contain only a small fraction of the lipid core found in the secreted lipoprotein. A larger core of lipid is added to the nascent particle in a second step. MTP is considered essential for the transfer of various lipids to apoB during the first step of the process.
Pharmacologic inhibition of MTP with Bristol-Myers Squibb's BMS-201038, a potent chemical inhibitor of MTP, reduced low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in volunteers with hypercholesterolemia. However, steatorrhea, elevation of serum transaminases and hepatic fat accumulation were observed. Thus, Bristol-Myers Squibb decided that these side effects made it unlikely that BMS-201038 could be developed as a drug for large scale use in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Combinations using MTP inhibitors and other cholesterol or triglyceride drugs have been previously disclosed (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,066,653 and 5,883,109) but suffer the same drawbacks as described above for MTP inhibitors used alone. Thus, novel approaches are needed to harness beneficial effects of reduced MTP activity.
Hypercholesterolemia is a well-known risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), the major cause of mortality in the Western world. Numerous epidemiological studies have clearly demonstrated that pharmacological lowering of total cholesterol (TC) and Low-density Lipoprotein (LDL) Cholesterol (LDL-C) is associated with a significant reduction in clinical cardiovascular events. Hypercholesterolemia is often caused by a polygenic disorder in the majority of cases and modifications in lifestyle and conventional drug treatment are usually successful in reducing cholesterol levels. However, in few cases, as in familial hypercholesterolemia, the cause is a monogenic defect and the available treatment in homozygous patients can be much more challenging and far from optimal because LDL-C levels remain extremely elevated despite aggressive use of combination therapy. Therefore, for this group of high-risk patients, effective medical therapy is urgently needed.
Triglycerides are common types of fats (lipids) that are essential for good health when present in normal amounts. They account for about 95 percent of the body's fatty tissue. Abnormally high triglyceride levels can result from such causes as cirrhosis of the liver, underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), poorly controlled diabetes, or pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas). Researchers have also identified elevated triglycerides as a risk factor for heart disease.
Higher-than-normal triglyceride levels are often associated with known risk factors for heart disease, such as low levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol, high levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol and obesity. Triglycerides may also contribute to thickening of artery walls, which is linked to the development of atherosclerosis.
MicroRNAs (miRs) are small noncoding RNA molecules that can cause post-transcriptional silencing of specific genes, either by the inhibition of translation or through degradation of the targeted mRNA. Since the initial discovery of miRs as regulators of gene expression (11), a role of miRs in development of various diseases such as cancer (12) has been identified. MiRs interact with the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of target mRNAs and reduce protein synthesis by enhancing mRNA degradation and/or by interfering with its translation (13). A microRNA can be completely complementary or can have a region of noncomplementarity with a target nucleic acid, consequently resulting in a "bulge" at the region of non-complementarity.
Two miRs have been shown to be involved in lipid metabolism miR-122 is linked to fatty acid synthesis and oxidation and is currently being tested as a therapeutic target against hepatitis C infection (1) miR-33 regulates expression of ABCA1 and ABCG1, two proteins involved in reverse cholesterol transport (14-18).
A further understanding of the regulation of lipid metabolism by miRs can reveal new physiological mechanisms to reduce lipoprotein production, hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis.

Method of treating hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis with miR-30C

The Research Foundation for The State University of New York


The invention is concerned with a process for the manufacture of beta-isophorone from alpha-isophorone by converting alpha-isophorone into beta-isophorone in the presence of a heterogeneous catalyst in the gas phase. The heterogenous catalyst used is especially an oxide or mixed oxide of the elements Mg, Al, Si and Ni.

Beta-isophorone is of great industrial interest for the synthesis of important classes of compounds. In particular, beta-isophorone is required as an intermediate for ketoisophorone (2,6,6-trimethylcyclohex-2-ene-1,4-dione) which, in turn, is used for the manufacture of vitamin E, various carotinoids, odorants and other natural products.
The manufacture of isophrone takes place by the water-cleaving trimerization of acetone. However, in this case the alpha isomer is the main product formed, in yields above 90%. The thermodynamic equilibrium of the alpha-isophorone/beta-isophorone system lies on the alpha-isophorone side, because by displacing the double bond, a lower energy conjugated system must be converted into a higher energy non-conjugated system. Moreover, the adjustment of this equilibrium takes place slowly. This means that the conversion of alpha-isophorone into beta-isophorone is associated with difficulties.
Of particular interest, therefore, is the isomerization of alpha-isophorone to beta-isophorone in high yield and in an economical manner.
Several processes for the isomerization of alpha-isophorone to beta-isophorone have already been described. The isomerization can be carried out, e.g., by reacting alpha-isophorone with molar amounts of methyl magnesium iodide with the addition of iron(III) chloride, subsequent hydrolysis and distillative working-up [A. Heymes et al., Recherches 1971, 18, 104-108].
The isomerization can also be effected by boiling alpha-isophorone for several hours with triethanolamine, subsequent fractionation and washing the distillate with tartaric acid and sodium chloride solution [DE-OS 2457157].
The catalytic isomerization of alpha-isophorone with acids which dissociate little [U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,145] is a further route to beta-isophorone. In this process the beta-isophorone formed is removed by distillation from the equilibrium. The content of beta-isophorone in the distillation still amounts to 1-2%.
Catalytic isomerization may also be carried out using acetylacetonates or metals of groups IVB, VB, VIB, VIIB and VIIIB of the periodic system as well as aluminium [EP 312 735].
However, all of the known processes have disadvantages, namely:
The adjustment of the equilibrium is a relatively slow process even with the best of the hitherto known catalysts. The weight/time yields are correspondingly low. PA1 A re-isomerization takes place at a reaction temperature above 200.degree. C. in the distillative separation of beta-isophorone from alpha-isophorone. In order to obtain pure beta-isophorone a second distillation under reduced pressure is required. PA1 The energy expenditure for the distillative separation of the alpha-isophorone/beta-isophorone mixture is high, since the content of beta-isophorone is very small.

Process for manufacture of beta-isophorone