Nanolayered layered silicate materials of octahedrally arranged units with divalent metal ions at centers of the units covalently linked above and below to tetrahedrally arranged oxygen and hydroxyl units with silicon atoms. The silicate materials contain silanol groups which are reactive to form derivative compositions useful for water purification to remove heavy meal cations.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel synthetically derived nanolayered silicate compositions with different structural units in adjacent nanolayers. In particular, the present invention relates to octahedral metal oxide nanolayers covalently linked to tetrahedral silicate nanolayers so that numerous silanol groups are present in the silicate nanolayers. The silanol groups are reactive to form derivative products particularly useful for removing heavy metals from contaminated water.
(2) Description of Related Art
The smectite family of layered silicate minerals, the so-called "swelling clays", have theoretical surface areas of 700 meters square per gram or larger, depending on equivalent weight. However, accessing this surface area for important materials applications such as chemical catalysis, adsorption, and polymer-clay nanocomposite formation is not readily achievable, primarily because the elementary one-nanometer thick nanolayers stack one upon the another to form tactoids. This stacking behavior leading to tactoid (aggregate) formation is detected through the appearance of a 001 reflection in the X-ray powder pattern of the clay. Tactoid formation results in the mutual shielding of the basal plane surfaces of the majority of nanolayers, making the theoretical surface area generally inaccessible. For a typical smectite clay, such as montmorillonite, the surface area experimentally determined by nitrogen adsorption methods is limited to values in the range 1-50 square meters per gram. In order to achieve access to the interlayer regions of clay tactoids, the tactoids can be swelled by swelling solvent, thereby exposing the basal surfaces to potential guest molecules in the solution. However, the use of a swelling solvent to access the basal plane surface area is inconvenient and limits the applications to only swelling solvents.
Smectite clays can be pillared through the intercalation of robust cations such as in the gallery regions of the tactoids, but this approach to improving the available surface area also has severe limitations because the pillars themselves occupy the basal surfaces of the clay. Moreover, pillared clays have limited pore sizes pore sizes that exclude the adsorption of molecules with kinetic diameters above about 1.0 nanometer.
One promising approach to opening up the basal surfaces of smectite clays is to prevent the stacking of the nanolayers and avoiding tactoids formation. This relationship between nanolayers can be approximated by limiting the in-plane growth of the nanolayers in one direction so that the nanolayers are lath-shaped rather than disk-shaped, as is typical of most smectite clay minerals. Lath shaped nanolayers, such as those found for certain grades of synthetic laponite, (M. L. Occelli et al. J. Catal., 90, 256, 1984; J. Catal., 104, 331, 1987) tend to form edge-to-basal plane aggregates in a card house fashion, but the stacking of laponite nanolayers is never completely prevented. Another example of limited nanolayer stacking has been disclosed by Vogels et al. in patent WO 9607613. In this latter system, the stacking of synthetic saponite layers was limited from one nanolayer (that is, no nanolayers stacking) to not more than 20 nanolayers in a stacked tactoid. No explanation was provided for the limited stacking of nanolayers, but it is likely that the size of the nanolayers was limited in the in-plane directions, thus facilitating aggregation of the nanolayers in a card-house fashion.
The formation of nanolayered silicate phases in unstacked form holds great promise for applications in chemical catalysis, adsorption, polymer-nanocomposite formation, among many other materials applications. The usefulness of the such unstacked compositions would be greatly expanded if stacking could be prevented for nanolayers with an aspect ratio substantially greater than the aspect ratio of laponite (˜25) and more comparable to the aspect ratio of montmorillonite (>200). However, this is especially difficult to accomplish for large aspect ratio layered silicates because of the strong tendency of such large nanolayers to stack. A new process other than the card house mechanism is needed to prevent layer stacking for layered silicates with a large aspect ratio.

Board of Trustees of Michigan State University


A container (20) includes a base portion (21) having a bottom surface (23), front (24) and rear (25) walls extending upwardly from the bottom surface (23), and opposed side walls (26) extending upwardly from the bottom surface (23) and, together with the front (24) and rear (25) walls, defining an open top. A cover (22) is provided to close the open top and may be selectively attached to the rear wall (25) by hinge assemblies (50) and to the front wall (24) by a latch mechanism (60). A side handle (85) is positioned in a recess (81) formed in each side wall (26) and may be pivoted from a position in the recesses (81) to the carrying position outside the recesses (81). Alternatively, a side handle assembly (101) is positioned in a recess (112) formed in a side wall (107) and wheels (111) can be located adjacent to the other side wall (108). The handle assembly (101) may be pivoted outside the recess (112) and its handle member (115) telescoped relative to the handle assembly (101) to extend the length thereof. A track (37) on the upper surface (35) of the cover (22) may be received within a platform (43) on the lower surface (36) of the cover (22) of a like container (20) to stack the same. Similarly, a chamfer (28) is formed near the periphery of the bottom surface (23) of base portion (21) and can be received within the track (37) of the cover (22) of a like container (20) to stack the same.

All-purpose, portable, plastic storage containers, tool boxes, ice chests and the like, which have a base container with an open top and a cover for closing the open top, are well-known in the art. In some such containers, the cover merely rests on the lip of the base and, in some instances, can be snapped over the periphery of the lip of the base. In other instances, one edge of the cover is permanently hingedly attached to one upper edge of the base, with the opposite edge of the cover either merely resting on, or being latched and possibly locked to, the opposed edge of the base.
In still other versions of storage containers, opposed sides of the cover may merely be latched to the base and, when unlatched, the cover may be completely removed. Such a container is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,697. The container of that patent is unique in that it provides opposed latches which can be locked with a padlock to hold the cover on the base. Its drawbacks, however, are that it takes two padlocks to completely secure the contents of the container and there is no provision for any hinged attachment resulting in the fact that, once unlatched, the only option available to the user is to totally remove the cover. Moreover, the latch of this patent can be difficult to assemble.
Most portable storage containers are rendered portable by, for example, a handle recessable in its cover. Such is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,706. The container of that patent, as well as others, can also be carried by grasping each end of the container at an area where the top overhangs the side walls. The container of the '697 patent can likewise be gripped at the sides by grasping the undersides of the latch mechanisms. Such side-gripping is most desirable for containers that are large enough to carry heavy items which would thus warrant two-handed lifting and carrying. Ideally, such handles would be easily assembled, recessed in the sides, and lockable in a carrying position but, to date, no one has designed such handles for these types of containers.
Other storage containers are rendered portable by providing the base thereof with one or more sets of wheels. Where one set of wheels is employed at one end of the container, usually some type of lifting handle must be utilized at the other end of the container so that such end of the container can be lifted and the container then moved on its wheels. At the present time, however, no such container has been designed so that the handle can be recessed in that other end of the container, readily assembled therein, and yet be of a sufficient length to enable the user to lift and move the container.
In addition, for storage, shipping and retail display purposes, it is desirable that the containers with their covers in place, and even the covers themselves, be readily, securely and safely stackable with each other. While some efforts have been made to make similar containers nestable, and their covers stackable, to-date it is not believed that any container/cover design is such that covers can be securely stacked on each other and entire containers can be securely stacked on each other.


A computer system is provided. The computer system includes a memory and a processor. The processor is configured to scan user interface (UI) data representative of a plurality of UI controls; detect a portion of the UI data associated with private information, the portion corresponding to a UI control of the plurality of UI controls; record first session data comprising an obfuscated version of the UI control and unobfuscated versions of other UI controls of the plurality of UI controls; record second session data comprising an unobfuscated version of the UI control; encrypt the second session data to generate encrypted session data; and store the encrypted session data in association with the first session data.

Session recording tools enable users to record, store, and playback recordings of interactive computing sessions between a user and a computer system. Some session recording tools provide flexible policies that can automatically trigger session recordings where predefined criteria are met. Session recording tools allow administrative personnel to monitor and examine user activity and, therefore, support internal controls for regulatory compliance and security monitoring.

Method and system for protecting privacy of users in session recordings


The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus by which image data can be downloaded simply. A video camera 11 receives thumbnail images corresponding to one or more images included in an album from a video camera image station 41 and displays the thumbnail images on an LCD unit. If one or more images to be downloaded are selected, then the video camera 11 acquires image information of the selected image or images from a video camera image station 41, analyzes the image information and discriminates it one by one image whether or not the selected image data are downloadable. Every time one image is discriminated to be downloadable, the video camera 11 accesses a corresponding URL designated for each image, downloads the image from the URL and records the image onto a recording medium. The video camera 11 successively downloads the selected images in this manner.

An undertaker (hereinafter referred to as album service providing undertaker) is available which provides a service for providing an album on a network, that is, a service of storing image data of still pictures, moving pictures and so forth picked up by a user using an image pickup apparatus into a database through a network to the user. An outline of the service is described with reference to FIG. 1.
A personal computer 1 for use by a user is connected to a server 2 of an album service providing undertaker through the Internet 3.
Image data picked up by the user using an image pickup apparatus (not shown) are recorded onto a recording medium. The personal computer 1 fetches the image data from, for example, the recording medium. Further, the personal computer 1 establishes a connection to the Internet 3 and fetches image data from an information providing server not shown or the like.
The personal computer 1 can access the server 2 of the album service providing undertaker through the Internet 3 and store the image data fetched by such a method as described above into a database of the server 2. Further, the personal computer 1 can read or erase the image data stored in the database of the server 2 or transmit them as annexed data to an electric mail to another user. Further, the user can download, when necessary, desired image data from the database of the server 2 to the personal computer 1.
However, there is a subject that, when image data picked up by an image pickup apparatus are uploaded to the server 2 and when image data stored in the database are downloaded, the user is obliged to designate object images one by one to upload or download them one by one, and as a result, much time is required.
Further, there is another subject that, since operation of a personal computer is complicated, a user unfamiliar to a method of use of a personal computer cannot easily enjoy provision of the service.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Information processing system, information processing apparatus and method


A printing apparatus for printing out contents carried on broadcast signals onto paper, which comprises a receiving unit for receiving the broadcast signals; a detecting unit for detecting designated contents, which are designated for printing, from contents carried on the broadcast signals received by the receiving unit; and a printing unit for printing out the designated contents detected by the detecting unit onto paper.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing method and a printing apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing contents carried on broadcast signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sometimes people want to print out a screen image onto paper when a TV program shows a cooking recipe or an address to apply for a gift, for example. The Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-164521 discloses a conventional art for printing out a screen image from TV onto paper.
However, the conventional art described in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Out No. 10-164521 is disadvantageous in that screen images that a user does not want may be printed out.

Method and apparatus for printing contents carried on broadcast signals


Disclosed herein is a MEMS sensor module package. The MEMS sensor module package according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes: a printed circuit board (PCB); an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) stacked on the PCB, one side of the ASIC being wire-bonded to the PCB; a MEMS sensor stacked on the ASIC; and a molding encapsulating the MEMS sensor and the ASIC with a resin. Accordingly, the electrical connection distance between a MEMS sensor and an ASIC is shortened so that electrical characteristic may be improved. Further, a sensor module package may be implemented in an ASIC size, so that size reduction may be achieved to meet the requirements of mobile devices.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) sensor module package and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), also known as micro machines or micro systems technology, is the technology of manufacturing very small devices in μm or mm size based on semiconductor processing technologies. By processing silicon, crystal, glass or the like, micro mechanical structures may be manufactured such as very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI), micro gears having a thickness half that of a strand of hair, and fingernail-sized hard disks, sensors and actuators. It has a sophisticated three-dimensional structure in which surface micromachining is processed in bulk silicon etching method through evaporation, etching and the like.
A MEMS sensor manufactured by using such MEMS has been used in various applications, for example, a military application such as an artificial satellite, a missile, an unmanned aircraft, a vehicle application such as an air bag for a vehicle, electronic stability control (ESC), a black box for a vehicle, a shaking prevention application of a camcorder, a motion sensing application of a mobile phone or a game console, or the like.
A MEMS sensor is configured with a mass body adhered to an elastic substrate such as a membrane to measure acceleration, angular velocity, force, pressure or the like. That is, with the configuration, a MEMS sensor calculates acceleration by measuring inertial force applied to the mass body, calculates angular velocity by measuring Coriolis force applied to the mass body, and calculates force by measuring external force directly applied to the mass body.
Specifically, acceleration and angular velocity are measured using a MEMS sensor as follows.
First, acceleration may be calculated using Newton's law of motion "F=ma," where "F" represents inertial force applied to the mass body, "m" represents the mass of the mass body, and "a" is acceleration to be measured. Among others, the acceleration a may be obtained by sensing the inertial force F applied to the mass body and dividing the sensed inertial force F by the mass m of the mass body which is a constant.
Further, the angular velocity may be obtained using Coriolis force "F=2 mΩ×v", where "F" represents the Coriolis force applied to the mass body, "m" represents the mass of the mass body, "Ω" represents the angular velocity to be measured, and "v" represents the motion velocity of the mass body. Among others, since the motion velocity v of the mass body and the mass m of the mass body are already known, the angular velocity Ω may be obtained by sensing the Coriolis force (F) applied to the mass body.
Such a MEMS sensor is packaged in a such manner that an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is attached on a sensor element using an epoxy or the like, and then each of the elements is electrically connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) by wire bonding.
In such a MEMS sensor module package, since an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor are separate devices and an ASIC is also separately provided, there are many I/O counts. Therefore, it is very difficult to make the package light, thin and simple with those additional devices.
In this connection, Patent Document 1 teaches that a MEMS chip and an ASIC chip are stacked on a wafer, in which a cap is attached on the MEMS chip and the ASIC chip is attached on the cap, and the ASIC ship and the MEMS chip are electrically connected by wire and molded with a compound resin. Then, the compound resin is selectively removed to form holes for attaching input/output terminals, by which solder balls are soldered onto the ASIC chip.
In conventional MEMS sensor module packages including that disclosed in Patent Document 1, however, as mentioned earlier, since a MEMS chip and an ASIC chip are stacked on a wafer, wafer bonding tools and schemes need to be used in order to manufacture it, but it is difficult to process in a general process. Further, it is also a problem in that yield rate of ASIC chips and MEMS chips may deteriorate during the attaching process.
In addition, wire bonding is made on four surfaces of the ASIC chips and the MEMS chips, and thus the size of a MEMS sensor module package is increased. Further, since the stack structure has a pyramid shape, the space of the PCB is not efficiently utilized and thus additional space may be needed as the number of stacks is increased.

Micro electro mechanical systems sensor module package and method of manufacturing the same


Passive components are formed in the back end by using the same deposition process and materials as in the rest of the back end. Resistors are formed by connecting in series individual structures on the nth, (n+1)th, etc levels of the back end. Capacitors are formed by constructing a set of vertical capacitor plates from a plurality of levels in the back end, the plates being formed by connecting electrodes on two or more levels of the back end by vertical connection members.

Conventionally, the formation of passive components, e.g. resistors and capacitors, in the back end employs one or more photolithographic masks to define the deposition of a high-resistance material in the case of resistors and the deposition of a pair of planar electrodes with a dielectric between in the case of a capacitor.
In the case of resistors, the material has a high resistivity compared with the Al or Cu of the interconnect material and therefore requires a separate deposition step and a special mask different from the mask of the nth wiring level. In the case of capacitors, there will be separate deposition steps for horizontal planar electrodes and for the dielectric between the electrodes.
Structures like these perform well enough, but the requirement of one or more additional masks means that the use of such structures incurs additional costs to have the masks made, plus yield detractors associated with the additional handling and processing steps.
The art could benefit from a method of forming passive components that does not require additional masks and/or processing steps.

Passive components in the back end of integrated circuits

International Business Machines Corporation


A NTC thermistor which has superior linearity of resistance-temperature characteristic is provided without depending on a combination of two or more kinds of material but with a single semi-conductive ceramic material. As the semi-conductive ceramic material of negative resistance-temperature characteristic is a ceramic body constituting a NTC thermistor being an oxide expressed by the formula AMnyOz in which y is 0.8 to 1.6, A is a combination of rare earth element and barium and the content of barium in A is 60 to 75 mol % when y=0.8 to 1.5, and 50 to 63 mol % y=1.7 to 2.3, and z is a value which maintains the electric neutrality of the oxide. A preferable oxide is of the formula (La1-αBaα)MnyOz in which when y=0.8 to 1.5, 0.60≦α≦0.75, and when y=1.7 to 2.3, 0.50≦α≦0.63.

NTC thermistors are thermistors which have a negative resistance-temperature coefficient, that is, NTC thermistors have relatively high resistance at room temperature which decreases as the temperature is increased. Therefore, NTC thermistors are used as a temperature sensor or in a temperature compensation circuit, for example.
Generally, the resistance-temperature characteristic of an NTC thermistor is not linear. When an NTC thermistor is utilized as the above described temperature sensor or in a temperature compensation circuit, a more linear resistance-temperature characteristic is preferred so that the response to small temperature changes is linear. The conventional method of obtaining a preferred resistance-temperature characteristic by using a fixed resistor or an IC device, for example, in the circuit in which an NTC thermistor is adopted is well known. However, that method requires a complicated circuit and results in higher cost.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-272904 (Patent Document 1) discloses an NTC thermistor having a linearized resistance-temperature characteristic by laminating two kinds of NTC thermistor materials in one body. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-231508 (Patent Document 2) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2-189901 (Patent Document 3) disclose a similar method. In the Patent Document 2, a thermistor having linear resistance-temperature characteristics over a wide temperature range by uniting a first and a second thermistor which are different from each other in the characteristic into one body so as to be equivalent in parallel without causing reaction therebetween is disclosed. In the Patent Document 3, an NTC thermistor of linearized resistance-temperature characteristic by laminating and forming one body with two or more kinds of resistor layers which have different resistance-temperature characteristics is disclosed.
All of the methods disclosed in the Patent Documents 1 to 3 is conceived to obtain a linearized resistance-temperature characteristic by laminating or uniting ceramic layers of at least two kinds of thermistor material which have a different negative resistance-temperature characteristic each other.
According to the method disclosed in the Patent Documents 1 to 3, problems exists in that at least two kinds of thermistor material must be prepared and, furthermore, selecting material which make a linearized resistance-temperature characteristic is difficult. Moreover, since ceramic layers composed of at least two kinds of thermistor material are united, undesired characteristic change or cracking due to a weak united interface tends to occur from elemental diffusion, a difference of contraction percentage or a difference of linear coefficient of expansion, for example, at firing.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-272904    Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-231508    Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2-189901

Semi-conductive ceramic material and NTC thermistor using the same


Methods and systems are provided for internal monitoring of applications. A distributed management framework may comprise a plurality of applications and application servers, wherein each of the applications is configured to make function calls to standard programming functions. The function calls to the standard programming functions are intercepted. The function calls are routed to alternative implementations of the standard programming functions, and the alternative implementations are used to collect availability metrics for the plurality of applications. Manager threads may be used for internal monitoring of application execution. Applications may be modified with additional instructions to monitor program execution and automatically generate output comprising an execution history.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the field of application performance management and, more particularly, to internal monitoring of applications in a distributed management framework.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the information technology (IT) departments of modern organizations, one of the biggest challenges is meeting the increasingly demanding service levels required by users. With more and more applications directly accessible to customers via automated interfaces such as the world wide web, "normal" business hours for many enterprises are now 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The need for continuous availability and performance of applications has created complex, tiered IT infrastructures which often include web servers, middleware, networking, database, and storage components. These components may be from different vendors and may reside on different computing platforms. A problem with any of these components can impact the performance of applications throughout the enterprise.
The performance of key applications is a function of how well the infrastructure components work in concert with each other to deliver services. With the growing complexity of heterogeneous IT environments, however, the source of performance problems is often unclear. Consequently, application performance problems can be difficult to detect and correct. Furthermore, tracking application performance manually can be an expensive and labor-intensive task. Therefore, it is usually desirable that application performance management tasks be automated.
Automated tools for application performance management may assist in providing a consistently high level of performance and availability. These automated tools may result in lower costs per transaction while maximizing and leveraging the resources that have already been spent on the application delivery infrastructure. Automated tools for application performance management may give finer control of applications to IT departments. Application performance management tools may enable IT departments to be proactive and fix application performance issues before the issues affect users. Historical performance data collected by these tools can be used for reports, trending analyses, and capacity planning. By correlating this collected information across application tiers, application performance management tools may provide actionable advice to help IT departments solve current and potential problems.
Typically, a significant portion of any IT budget is incurred in trying to sustain business objectives. Without the ability to peer into the quality of application software, the benefits of other IT investments cannot easily be seen, and efforts spent on ensuring optimal performance of infrastructure components may never be appreciated. IT organizations are often required to manage deployment of business-critical applications that have poor reliability, performance, or scalability. Server-based enterprise applications present a particularly significant challenge for IT organizations trying to provide required service levels while controlling IT infrastructure costs. It is desirable to provide improved systems and methods for application performance management, health monitoring, and error resolution.

Internal monitoring of applications in a distributed management framework


The present invention provides compounds of Formula (I) and (II): (I) (II) wherein R1, R2, R4, R5, R6, X and n are as defined herein, and wherein R3 is hydrogen or a sulfur protecting group. Compounds of Formula (I) and (II), wherein R is hydrogen, may be useful in methods for detecting a reactive metabolite in a sample, e.g., wherein the metabolite is generated from the metabolism of a test compound, and wherein the metabolite and the compound of Formula (I) or (II) react to form a detectable adduct, e.g., detectable by mass spectrometry.

Drug induced toxicity remains one of the major reasons for the failure of drug candidates to be approved and the withdrawal of approved drugs from the market. See, e.g., Olson et al., Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. (2000) 32:56-67. Chemically reactive electrophilic metabolites of the drug are likely mediators of the toxicity, possibly by acting as covalent modifiers of essential cellular machinery. See, e.g., Guengerich et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. (2005) 433:369-378; Kalgutkar et al., Curr. Drug. Metab. (2005) 6:161-225. Often drugs undergo biotransformation to metabolites that can interfere with cellular functions through their intrinsic chemical reactivity towards glutathione (GSH), leading to GSH depletion, and towards other functionally critical macromolecules, resulting in reversible modification, irreversible adduct formation, or irreversible loss of activity. See, e.g., Srivastava et al., Handb. Exp. Pharmacol. (2010) 196:165-194. There is now a great deal of evidence which shows that reactive metabolites are formed from drugs known to cause hepatotoxicity, such as acetaminophen, tamoxifen, isoniazid, and amodiaquine.
Preclinical screens have been developed in an effort to minimize bioactivation liabilities in the early stages of drug discovery. See, e.g., Ma and Subramanian, J. Mass. Spectrom. (2006) 41:1121-1139. The most common analytical techniques used in preclinical screens are gas chromatography (GC) or liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS), e.g., such as GC or LC coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) scanning. Mass spectrometry offers a much greater sensitivity than alternative methods, such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and thus affords the analysis of numerous low abundance metabolites, but its quantitative precision is inherently poorer. One strategy for improving the detection of metabolites by mass spectrometry involves treating the sample with a "heavy" and "light" version of an isotopic labeling reagent, thereby creating a "heavy" and "light" version of the labeled metabolite. See, e.g., Lamos et al., Anal. Chem. (2007) 79:5143-5149. Installing a positively-charged functional group has also been found to enhance the ion efficiency and corresponding high detection sensitivity in positive ion mode electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). See, e.g., Lamos in supra, Yang et al., Anal. Chem. (2006) 78:4702-4708; Johnson, Rapid Commun. Mass. Spectrom. (2000) 14:2019-2024; Barry et al., Rapid Commun. Mass. Spectrom. (2003) 17:603-620; Mirzaei et al., Anal. Chem. (2006) 78:4175-4183; Soglia et al., Chem. Res. Toxicol. (2006) 19:480-490; and U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0248234.
However, despite these efforts, there continues to remain a need for additional improvement and development of early screening assays to identify and/or quantify potential chemically reactive electrophilic metabolites which may be responsible for drug-induced toxicity.

Trapping reagents for reactive metabolites screening


A device and method for guided insertion of microelectrodes into tissue is provided. The device includes a flexible optical fiber for optical coherence tomography imaging, a metal layer coating the optical fiber for recording electrical signals and an outer insulation layer coating the metal layer along the optical fiber length. The method includes inserting an optical fiber coated with a metal layer and further coated with an insulation layer into a tissue, collecting intraoperative image data through the optical fiber by optical coherence tomography, receiving the image data on a computer and displaying the image on a monitor, using the image data to determine a location in the tissue, receiving an electrical nerve signal through the metal layer and measuring the electrical nerve signal on a electrophysiological recording system.

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a surgical procedure used for the treatment of various diseases including Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. In the surgical procedure, a DBS lead is implanted at a target site to stimulate brain matter and thereby alleviate the clinical condition. To be effective and avoid deleterious side effects, the DBS lead must be located correctly within the brain matter. Therefore, before DBS lead placement is made, microelectrodes are typically used to penetrate deep brain matter and refine anatomical or imaging-based stereotactic targeting techniques. The microelectrode recording is used to precisely identify the target (i.e. thalamus, sub-thalamic nuclei (STN), GPi) in the brain for test stimulation before DBS lead placement is made. This recording involves a small metal wire, namely the microelectrodes recording leads (MER lead) that monitors the activity of nerve cells in the target area. Through the recording, the surgeon listens to the contrast in the electrical signal fired by the neurons and reads the waveforms on a computer to identify the stimulation target. The size of the MER lead is made extremely small to prevent bleeding and damage to the human brain as it is inserted deep into the human brain.
Currently, MER leads and stereotactic image guided systems (e.g. Nexframe® stereotactic image guided system by Medtronics) are the only tool the surgeon uses to locate the stimulation target. Intraoperative CT scans to augment information provided by preoperative MRI scans have been put forward to provide more accurate navigation of the MER. However, no intra-operative imaging device is currently available to provide real time images to the surgeon. In addition, the target for stimulation is typically very small (eg. for STN 3 to 5 mm), which makes it difficult to locate if the brain shifts during surgery. If the initial path of the MER lead is offset such that the stimulation target is missed, the surgeon will typically pull back the lead and reinsert it a few millimeters away with no indication or guidance from any devices on what direction and distance to re-target the lead. This method is suboptimal and can cause significant damage to the brain. Reinserting the probe multiple times into a similar region of the brain causes increasing risk of excessive bleeding which causes brain damage as well as affecting stimulation effectiveness.

Micrometer size multi-functional probe for OCT and electro-physiological recording


A micro-machined MEMS resonator gyroscope and accelerometer is fabricated from an epilayer semiconductor wafer to incorporate a substantially planar, H-shaped resonator mass suspended from a support plate by two opposed elongated springs that couple to the relatively short crossbar member of the H. The masses are harmonically oscillated relative to the support plate and a baseplate portion, and two orthogonal modes of the structure corresponding to the two nearly degenerate fundamental torsional modes thereof are used for sensing angular rate about one axis, and linear acceleration along two axes, of the sensor. The H-shaped mass advantageously incorporates a relatively high length-to-width aspect ratio, and in one embodiment, the springs may advantageously incorporate either a square cross-section, such that the structure can be tuned to substantially match the fundamental frequencies of the two resonance modes of the structure by removing, e.g., by an etching process, a small amount of material from the upper surfaces of the springs.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to micro-electromechanical system ("MEMS") devices that sense inertial rotation and acceleration, commonly referred to as gyroscopes and accelerometers. More specifically, the invention relates to MEMS resonant gyroscopes and accelerometers.
2. Related Art
Precision micro-electromechanical accelerometers and gyroscopes have wide application in the field of inertial navigation and guidance. Such sensors are manufactured using sophisticated semiconductor manufacturing, or "micromachining," techniques, and typically incorporate at least one planar mass, typically of silicon, pendulously mounted adjacent to at least one planar structure, also typically of silicon, so as to define an electrical capacitance between the mass and structure. Movement of the mass relative to the structure in response to inertial forces imposed on the sensor, e.g., in response to an acceleration of the sensor along an "axis of sensitivity" thereof, results in a change in the capacitance that is a direct measure of the sensor's acceleration.
In addition to such "direct" measurements of linear accelerations, such sensors can also be used advantageously within an inertial system to "indirectly" measure rotational velocity, or angular rates, about an axis of sensitivity of the sensor, through use of the well known Coriolis principle. Thus, a body moving with a given velocity ν relative to a coordinate system that is rotating with an angular velocity {dot over (θ)} will experience a Coriolis acceleration α that is equal to the vector cross-product 2{dot over (θ)}X ν, which is directed normal to the path of rotation of the body, and which acts to deflect the relative velocity ν of the body in the direction of the angular velocity {dot over (θ)} of the system. Hence, if a rotational relative velocity, or more practically for the planar types of structures found in MEMS gyroscopes, a vibratory, sinusoidally varying relative velocity ν=V sin ωt, i.e., "dither", is imparted to the mass of the sensor, then the capacitance between the mass and the adjacent structure will likewise vary sinusoidally in response thereto. If an angular velocity {dot over (θ)} is then imparted to the sensor, it will experience a Coriolis acceleration given by the relationship α=2{dot over (θ)}X V sin ωt, in which the Coriolis acceleration α may be seen as the modulation of the sinusoidally varying capacitance signal of the sensor with a signal that is a function of the angular rotation {dot over (θ)} of the sensor, and from which the desired angular rate {dot over (θ)} of the sensor may therefore be extracted using well known demodulation techniques.
Examples of such prior art MEMS inertial sensors and "microgyroscopes" may be found in the patent literature, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,758,093 to T. K. Tang et al.; 6,675,630 to A. D. Challoner et al.; 6,651,500 to R. E. Stewart et al.; 6,595,056 to R. E. Stewart; 6,539,801 to R. C. Gutierrez et al.; 6,487,907 to T. K. Tang et al.; 6,367,786 to R. C. Gutierrez et al.; 6,360,601 to A. D. Challoner et al.; and, 5,894,090 to T. K. Tang et al.
One measure of the accuracy of a MEMS inertial sensor is the stability over time of the capacitance between the moving masses and fixed structures, i.e., its "bias stability." Prior art MEMS resonant gyroscopes designed to achieve a bias stability of at least 10 degrees per hour typically use symmetrical resonating structures, such as rings. In a symmetrical resonating structure, there are two "nearly degenerate" modes that couple very efficiently in response to inertial rotation. However, due to the small sensing area available for capacitive sensing, MEMS gyroscopes that use ring structures typically exhibit high angle random walk, or rotation-rate white noise. In addition, due to the crystalline structure of silicon, there is a dependence of spring constant with orientation. This breaks the symmetry of the structure and adversely affects the drift performance of MEMS gyroscopes that use ring structures. Some of the limitations of ring structures have been overcome by using other structural shapes, such as a "cloverleaf" gyroscope with an underlying post. However, these devices are not substantially planar in configuration, and consequently, are more difficult to manufacture and package.
Additionally, for any symmetrical structure, the resonant motion of the structure about its axis of symmetry can be described as a linear combination of two orthogonal modes of rotation or oscillation. The resonant motions involve resilient flexing by different portions of the structure. As a practical matter, the symmetry of a symmetrical structure can never be really perfect, and accordingly, to achieve an accurate sensor, expensive, high-precision machining of the structure is required to approach true symmetry as closely as possible.
Accordingly, there is a long-felt but as yet unsatisfied need in the industry for a highly accurate, substantially planar MEMS resonant gyroscope that is simple in construction, avoids expensive, high-precision machining, and is therefore easy and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

Micro-electromechanical system inertial sensor


A method for automatic sleeve filling of a winding shaft on roll cutting and winding machines is provided in which, in an exemplified embodiment, in a first step at least two empty winding sleeves are slid onto a free end of a winding shaft so that the winding sleeves are adjacent to one another, in a second step the last winding sleeve slid on by a freely positionable fork piece of a freely programmable draw-off plate along the winding shaft is slid over the winding shaft until the last winding sleeve has reached a predetermined position, in a third step the next-to-last winding sleeve slid on is grasped by tongs freely positionable along the winding shaft and is slid over the winding shaft to the point where in a fourth step the fork piece can dip into the gap produced by the tongs so that the next-to-last winding sleeve is positionable along the winding shaft by the fork piece.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for automated sleeve filling of a winding shaft on roll slitting and winding machines.
2. Description of the Background Art
Roll slitting and winding machines are often equipped with two winding shafts, sometimes even more, on which winding sleeves are placed, corresponding to the width of the longitudinally slit strips. Often these winding sleeves are fastened onto friction rings that are supported by the winding shaft, moving with somewhat of a lead. This lead serves to compensate for length and diameter tolerances of the winding rolls. The fastening of the sleeves on the friction rings usually takes place, as in the case of free-wheeling, by clamping elements that are activated via the torque. In the case of a standstill or slight backward rotation the empty winding sleeve can easily move axially and be positioned at the correct location corresponding to the predetermined slit widths of the strips to be slit.
Various processes and devices are known for filling the winding shafts. Two different ways for filling the winding shafts will be described in the following. It is assumed for the description that follows that in the case of roll and sleeve refilling in the stopped state, the winding shafts are solidly supported on one side, usually the drive side, and a support bearing at the other end of the winding shaft is moved away from the winding shaft to such a distance that a floating state of the winding roll develops; this pertains to the device in accordance with the invention as well as the process. A floating state is achieved, for example, when a support bearing or another bearing is removed from one end of the winding shaft so that the end of the winding shaft hangs free in the air. Thus the finished wound rolls can be slid off and the empty sleeves slid on.
In a first example the sliding off of the wound roll is accomplished manually onto a supporting belt or a supporting shaft adjacent to the winding shaft, from which the wound rolls are later removed individually. If the wound rolls are very heavy, moving them off by hand can take a great deal of effort. In such a case, so-called draw-off plates are provided on the machines; these are supported on guides that run parallel to the winding shafts and are movable by motors over threaded spindles, chains or other conveyer devices. Draw-off plates is the name given to apparatus which can be moved inward in the area of the winding roll and by means of which the winding sleeves and/or the finished wound rolls can be moved away over the winding shaft. During the winding process these plates are parked on the drive side in the free space between an outermost material edge and the machine frame. The plates are provided with a horseshoe-shaped fork piece which surrounds the respective winding shaft closely but does not make contact. In this way it is possible to ensure that the draw-off force of the plate is exerted not only against the end surface of the winding roll but also or exclusively against the end face of the winding sleeve. Telescoping, i.e., displacement of the wound strip relative to the sleeve of the winding roll due to pressing by the draw-off plate is thus avoided.
In an additional example for applying the winding sleeve, each winding sleeve individually and successively is put in place manually and slid with suitable measurement methods, for example a measurement slider or a ruler, to the winding position. Numerous auxiliary devices are customary for recognizing the correct position: from a hand-marked line through an applied ruler or a measuring tape that can be pulled out, as described in DE 101 55 133 A1, wherein the measuring tape can also be designed with digital indication of the position, all the way to laser light dots—various methods are known and conventionally employed.
The drawbacks of these procedures are obvious, since these operating modes are not economical; they can only be justified when the number of rolls per winding, which is also called a lifter, is not too large; and the poor economy point is about 12 rolls and two winding shafts.
In the case of small slit widths, generally linked with a larger number of winding rolls, the use of so-called core boxes is usual. Core boxes are groove-shaped half shells with semicircular chambers in which the empty winding sleeves are placed. As a result of the chambers, the sleeves are positioned at an exact right angle to the axis of rotation. The chamber distance also corresponds exactly to the slit width. Often the core boxes are also provided with upper half shells (half boxes) that can be moved into and out of position, so that the empty winding sleeves are supported and secured all around. These core boxes with inserted sleeves are carried manually or by devices and shoved onto each winding shaft over a free end. Now all winding sleeves have the correct distance from one another. After opening the upper half box, the lower core box is first removed radially and then axially from the winding range. The solution using core boxes is operationally reliable. However, each slit width requires a core box made specifically for it. Thus core boxes mainly come under consideration only for standard widths, for example in the case of adhesive tape rolls.

Automated sleeve filling for winding shafts on roll slitting and winding machines

Kampf Schneid- und Wickeltechnik GmbH & Co. KG


A process for document registration is executed with a structured document of a file as an input. An analyzed structured document and information for document search are generated and stored in databases, respectively. A query input is analyzed, a document search index is read and a search process is executed, producing matching document identifier information and matching strings position information. Then, a corresponding analyzed structured document is read from the database based on the document identifier information, the matching information is embedded in the structured document based on the matching strings position information, and a structured document with added highlight information is generated and displayed. A document is searched from which the element information constituting a stumbling block to the search is removed, and the result of the search is displayed with highlight information added to the original structured document.

The present invention relates to a technology of searching and displaying a structured document produced in the standard generalized markup language (SGML) or the hypertext markup language (HTML), or more in particular to a method and an apparatus for searching and displaying the result of searching a structured document in highlight.
With the extension of ownership of word processors and the like, the document information produced are going electronic more and more. These electronic documents have individual unique formats depending on the equipment or the software which has produced the documents and cannot be used with another equipment or software. The need has arisen, therefore, for some conversion means.
Various structured documents have been proposed as a common format for exchanging such documents. These structured documents can define the hierarchical structure including chapters, sections and paragraphs constituting a basic structure of documents and also can contain layout information.
A descriptive language for the structured documents for which standardization is under way is a standard generalized markup language (SGML). SGML uses a method of expressing a document element by embedding a specific character string called a tag in the text as element information of a structured document. According to SGML, the names and contents of tags and the document elements indicated by tags can be defined by a document type definition (DTD).
The above-mentioned SGML and DTD are described in detail in "Practical, SGML" (edited and translated by the SGML Gathering, Working Group for Practical Application, Apr. 20, 1992, published by Japan Standards Association).
Assume that these structured documents are registered in the data base of a search system and searched by specifying an element name. In the case where the DTD varies from one document to another to be registered, a processing method is to analyze the elements of each document, determine which portion of the document corresponds to a specified element name, and acquire and retrieve the character string to be searched.
This method, however, consumes considerable time for processing. Also, in a method using a table listing a portion of each document corresponding to each element name, it is necessary that all the element names appearing in each document are managed collectively and to register all corresponding portions of each document for each element name. This requires a management table of enormous size.
Further, all documents in registration with different DTDs do not necessarily have the same element to be searched. Also, in the case where different names of the same meaning such as "abstract" and "gist" are attached to elements, all the different element names have to be specified for search. In actual practice, therefore, a structured document cannot be searched easily.
For the search of a structured document, therefore, it is necessary to register only the documents generated according to the same document type definition. In this way, element names specified in advance are used to manage corresponding portions of each document.
At the time of search, an element name to be searched and a query are specified. If a character string meeting the query is contained in the portion of each document corresponding to the specified element, the query is judged as matching.
An explanation will be given of conventional techniques having the function of displaying the contents of a document as the result of searching a structured document.
A first conventional technique that can be cited is JP-A-8-339369 entitled "Document display apparatus and document display method".
This conventional technique discloses a method of converting into a layout for element analysis and element display and displaying the contents of a specified element of a SGML document. It is possible to display a structured document by element using this technique. Further, this conventional technique provides means for highlighted display (an intensified display with the color, style or size of a character changed or a character underlined) of a specified element.
The means for highlighted display disclosed in this conventional technique, however, is for controlling a display method for each element, and specifies whether a particular element is displayed or not displayed and whether it is displayed in highlight or not. This conventional technique, therefore, fails to disclose a method of realizing highlighted display of a matching query term which is required for displaying the result of searching a structured document.
A second conventional technique disclosed in JP-A-8-212230 entitled "Method of document search and document searching apparatus" is a method for highlighted display of the result of searching a document other than a structured document.
This conventional technique, however, only acquires a matching strings position of a text for display and adds highlight information, but has no function of adding the highlight information to a document obtained as a result of searching a structured document.
A mere combination of these two conventional techniques cannot realize the function of adding the highlight information to a matching query term in a document output as the result of searching a structured document.
Specifically, highlight display of a structured document requires means for producing a DTD with element information for highlight added to the DTD used for producing a document to be displayed.
A method of altering the document type definition for adding highlight information to a structured document is disclosed in JP-A-8-159202 entitled "Method and apparatus for plate management of structured documents" constituting a third conventional technique, in which a DTD is produced by adding a new element to the original DTD.
The use of this conventional technique makes it possible to produce a document type definition with the highlight information added thereto.
It is seen that the first and second conventional techniques permit a structured document to be displayed with the elements thereof clearly known on the one hand and permit a highlighted display of a matching strings position of a document not structured on the other.
Further, the use of the third conventional technique makes it possible to specify a document type definition with highlight information added for each element.
By combining these techniques, it is possible to output a structured document with highlight information added to the result of searching a specified element thereof and thereby to realize a highlighted display of the structured document.
In recent years, the internet has explosively spread as a method of acquiring the latest information. Also, the function of searching information on a web has been improved as a means for quickly acquiring information required by the user from a great amount of information available on the internet.
The hypertext markup language (HTML) is for describing the contents of a document and expressing information for linking to other resources and a document format on WWW (World Wide Web). HTML is regarded as a SGML described in accordance with a specified DTD. A means for producing and processing a HTML document is a HTML editor. A HTML browser, on the other hand, analyzes and displays the HTML document thus produced.
There is a type of HTML browser which is supplied with a character string (hereinafter referred to as "the query term") and which has such functions as searching a HTML document on display and displaying a matching strings position intensively by reverse video or the like.
A SGML browser provides a means having the function of display and processing a layout in SGML. The SGML browser conducts full-text search of the SGML document on display and displays a portion meeting the query term in highlight. Such a browser analyzes a document and produces display data when the document is displayed. The data for display on the browser are searched and a matching strings position is displayed in highlight on the screen.

Method and apparatus for searching and displaying structured document


A process for treatment of water to convert ammonia to nitrate including: feeding water containing dissolved ammonia, as an influent introducing water to be treated, into a packed column containing filter media as packing; introducing air through a diffuser at the bottom of the packed column to maintain the water saturated with oxygen throughout the packed column; establishing colonies of bacteria converting ammonia to nitrate within the column; and removing an ammonia-free and nitrite-fee effluent from the column.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of drinking water treatment and, more specifically, to the removal of ammonia from drinking water.
2. The Prior Art
Ammonia occurs naturally in some groundwater, or is added to water to form chloramines in drinking water distribution systems. Research on the presence of ammonia in drinking water distribution systems has suggested some correlation between excess ammonia and increased biological activity (Servais et al. 1995; Wilezak et al. 1996) and adverse effects on water's taste and odor (Bouwer and Crowe 1988; Rittmann and Huck 1989).
Chloramines (a combination of ammonia and chlorine) are commonly used as disinfectants in the water treatment process in place of free chlorine because they produce lower levels of disinfection by-products such as trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, and other halogenated organic compounds, which are potentially carcinogenic or mutagenic. Free ammonia is produced when chloramines break down within the distribution system (Vikesland et al. 2001) and when excess ammonia relative to chlorine is added in the chloramine production process.
The oxidation of ammonia to nitrite, and then nitrate, is a biological process referred to as nitrification. When nitrification occurs uncontrolled in drinking water distribution systems, the biological stability of the distribution system is disrupted, which can cause a number of water quality problems (Rittmann and Snoeyink 1984). The autorophic bacteria responsible for nitrification are abundant in many source waters and can grow readily in distribution systems if ammonia and oxygen substrates are available. The occurrence of nitrification in distribution systems is common and has been will-documented (Rittmann and Snoeyink 1984; Odell et al. 1996; Fleming et al. 2005). The growth of nitrifying bacteria in distribution systems can cause a number of problems. For example, biological activity has been shown to promote corrosion of some metals (Bremer and Wells 2001; Lee et al. 1980). In the case of nitrifying bacteria, the corresponding pH drop associated with the biological oxidation of ammonia directly impacts corrosion of distribution system materials.
In addition, the nitrifying bacteria support the development of undesirable heterotrophic bio-films by supplying organic carbon substrates. These biofilms produce metabolic byproducts that adversely affect the taste and odor of the water (Suffet et al. 1996). Incomplete nitrification of ammonia can result in increased levels of toxic nitrite (NO2). Because the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA) maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) apply at the entry point into the distribution system, rather than within the distribution system, monitoring of contaminants such as nitrite and nitrate are normally not conducted at the consumer's tap. If nitrification resulting from elevated ammonia levels in the source water occurs in the distribution system, elevated and potentially dangerous levels of nitrite and nitrate can form and go unnoticed.
Many regions in the United States have excessive levels of ammonia in their source waters. For example, farming and agriculture in the Midwest contribute to relatively high levels of ammonia in many ground waters. Although ammonia in water does not pose a direct health concern, nitrification of significant amounts of excessive ammonia may. In addition, ammonia in arsenic bearing waters, for example, may negatively impact arsenic removal by creating a chlorine demand and reducing the chlorine's availability for oxidation of arsenic. Clearly, the complete oxidation of excess source water ammonia during the treatment process reduces the potential negative impact (nitrification) on distribution system water quality. While physicochemical methods for ammonia removal, such as ion exchange, are able to remove ammonia to varying degrees, biological approaches may be the most efficient and cost-effective.
Biologically-active filtration has been used successfully for addressing reduction of some contaminants in Europe for years. Bouwer and Crowe (1988) documented the use of various biological methods throughout Great Britain, France, and Germany, including fluidized beds, rapid sand filters, biologically active granulated active carbon (GAC), and soil-aquifer treatment. However, the use of biologically active filtration to oxidize ammonia as a full-scale drinking water treatment process has not been adopted in the United States because number of concerns including the potential release of excessive numbers of bacteria into finished waters, sensitivity of bacteria to changes in water chemistry and operating conditions, and a lack of long term documentation of the effectiveness and reliability of biological water treatment processes. Biological oxidation of ammonia requires oxygen to convert ammonia to nitrate. Many waters contain ammonia levels requiring greater levels of oxygen than can be introduced through accepted processes. The result is incomplete oxidation of ammonia and elevated levels of nitrite. Nitrite is more toxic than nitrate to humans and subsequently is regulated at a lower level (1 mg N/L) than nitrate (10 mg N/L), "N/L" meaning "as nitrogen, per liter."

Biological filter for oxidizing ammonia in drinking water treatment

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency


An inrush current protection circuit for preventing generation of inrush current when an AC voltage is intermittently applied to a load, and an application of the circuit to a microwave oven. A switch is interposed between a power source for supplying an AC signal and a load. A positive characteristic thermistor, which restricts a magnitude of a current applied to the load to a predetermined value even when an inrush current of over a predetermined magnitude is applied thereto, is interposed between the power source and the load and connected in parallel to the switch. A DC relay provides to the switch a signal for turning ON the switch which is energized by the DC signal provided from a rectifier after a delay time passes from the time that the AC signal is inputted to the rectifier and is turned OFF. The turned-ON switch is provided to a bypassing circuit of the positive characteristic thermistor, and the AC signal is supplied to the load through the positive characteristic thermistor for the predetermined delay time from the time that the AC signal is received, and is supplied to the load through the switch after the predetermined delay time passes, thereby effectively cutting off the inrush current generated during when a power is intermittently supplied. The inrush current protection circuit can be employed to a power source of a microwave oven to prevent the inrush current from be flowing into a high voltage transformer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inrush current protection circuit and an application thereof, and more particularly to an inrush current protection circuit which applies to a load an inrush current initially generated when an alternating current is applied thereto and having a magnitude thereof reduced, thereby protecting the load from electrical damage, and to an application of the circuit to a power source of a microwave oven.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A high voltage is generally needed to drive a magnetron of a conventional microwave oven, and a high voltage transformer is used for the high voltage.
A drive voltage which is supplied to the high voltage transformer of the microwave oven and to a load connected to a second coil thereof should be stable. In relation to a drive power supply of such a microwave oven, technologies for supplying stable powers to loads are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,927 issued to Accuse Kaminaka, U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,774 issued to Kong-Keen Lee, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,520 issued to Bung Ap Lam.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,927, Kaminaka suggests a technology for selectively and intermittently supplying an electric current to microwave and heat ovens by appropriately combining switching means corresponding to cooking modes, thereby maintaining a temperature of the ovens at a predetermined value and also making it possible to cook food without any extension of cooking time. In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,774, Lee suggests a technology for preventing instability of output voltage due to LC resonance between a high voltage condenser and a secondary winding of a high voltage transformer, and thereby preventing damage of a magnetron due to a high voltage and providing a stable power to the magnetron, by interposing a diode between the secondary winding of the transformer and the condenser for driving the magnetron and thus variably inducing the output voltage of the transformer depending on a feedback voltage. In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,520, Lim suggested a device for preventing a high voltage transformer from being overheated. Lim's device directly senses a temperature in a second coil of the transformer and uses a thermostat to control a power supply to a first coil of the transformers according to the detected temperature.
On the other hand, there is a need to intermittently supply a drive power to a high voltage transformer in order to prevent a magnetron from being overheated. Particularly, in a power source of a mechanical microwave oven, a drive power is intermittently supplied to a first coil of a high voltage transformer according to a selected cooking time and a high frequency output level. However, the intermittent supplying of the drive power is accompanied by an inrush current, which applies electrical impacts to the power source and generates flickering in the power source. Therefore, the high voltage transformer is required to be provided with a stable voltage, while minimizing variations in the drive power source.
Referring to FIG. 4, a drive mechanism of a power source in a conventional microwave oven is shown. After a food to be cooked is placed in a cooking chamber and then first and second doors are closed, switches 110a ad 110b of the doors are turned ON. In this state, a user uses an output regulating knob (not shown) to select an output of a magnetron 126 and uses a timer knob (not shown) to set a cooking time. Then, a timer switch 104 is turned ON to drive a timer motor 106, and in turn, to drive a cavity lamp 142, a turn table motor 144, and a cooling fan motor 146. A variable power control switch 108 is periodically turned ON and OFF according to control signals of the timer motor 106 to intermittently operate the magnetron 106. The intermittent power supply to the magnetron prevents the food to be cooked from being overheated.
However, an output wave of the control switch 108, immediately after the control switch 108 is switched ON, includes an inrush current of over a predetermined magnitude as indicated by "A" in FIG. 3. In case such an inrush current is directly applied to a first winding 128 of a high voltage transformer 120, an electrical impact which is generated by the inrush current can impair endurance of the device and can also cause flickering, which undesirably affects a health of a human body and operations of peripheral devices. For this reason, in European nations, a regulator named "Flicker" is provided to regulate a voltage variation of an input power source at an amount proportional to the amount of the inrush current, and to strictly control product standards of electrical devices. The inrush current should be effectively controlled to satisfy the product standards.
In order to prevent the inrush current, as shown in FIG. 4, there are provided a fuse 114, a cement resistor 112 connected in parallel to the fuse 114, an AC relay 116, and a bypassing switch 110 associated with the AC relay 116. When an energized current is applied to the AC relay 116 and the AC relay 116 sends an operation signal to the switch 110 after a delay which is a self-response time needed to energize an energizing coil. As a result, the inrush current generated immediately after the control switch 108 is turned ON is flowed to the cement resistor 112 and damped during the response time, and then is bypassed to the switch 110.
The fuse 114 is provided to prevent the AC relay 116 from being unintendedly turned ON due to an abnormality thereof or to a delayed response time thereof. An abnormality of the AC relay 116 can cause the cement resistor 112 to be overheated, thereby badly affecting wires and moldings around the wires and occasionally starting a fire.
The response time of the AC relay is, in general, approximately 6 ms, and is 10 ms in a slow acting type AC relay in which the contact point structure thereof is modified. That is, the bypassing switch 110 of the AC relay 116 remains OFF for 10 ms from the time that the inrush current starts to be applied to the AC relay 116, and then is turned ON. A measured output current of the control switch 108 illustrates that, as indicated by "A" in FIG. 3, an inrush current of over a predetermined magnitude is generated during at least one period of the AC power source. For example, the period for a 50 Hz power source is 20 ms. Therefore, the time needed for the inrush current to pass the cement resistor 112 should be at least 20 ms in order to prevent bad influences of the inrush current and thereby supply a stable power to the high voltage transformer. However, the maximum self-response time of a slow acting AC relay is restricted to 10 ms due to its point contact structure, and thus the inrush current cannot be effectively prevented.
Moreover, since the AC relay 116 has four tap terminals, terminal inserting processes are required to assemble it. Further, the cement resister 112 is a terminal type of two tap terminals and is mounted on the bottom surface of an electrical device chamber by screws, so terminal inserting processes and screw threading processes are required. The AC relay 116 is especially used in a mechanical microwave oven in which a DC power source cannot be used, and is generally expensive. Further, the fuse is effective in preventing a fire which can be started by an abnormality of the AC relay, but has a disadvantage in that it needs to be replaced after use.


A session initiation protocol (SIP) server adds billing and authentication information to conventional SIP messages used in establishing call transfers. This additional information is later verified by a SIP server and used to enable advanced billing and fraud protection features for call transfers in a SIP telecommunications network.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to voice over packet based networks, and more particularly, to SIP communication networks.
B. Description of Related Art
The transmission of voice and video over packet based networks, as compared to traditional dedicated line telephone service, provides the possibility of significantly cheaper and more flexible voice and video connectivity.
SIP (session initiation protocol) is a signaling protocol for initiating, managing and terminating voice and video sessions across packet networks. SIP sessions involve one or more participants and can use unicast or multicast communication. Borrowing from ubiquitous Internet protocols, such as HTTP and SMTP, SIP is text-encoded and highly extensible. SIP may be extended to accommodate features and services such as call control services, mobility, and interoperability with existing telephony systems.
Conventionally, in SIP, mechanisms exist for performing a call transfer. In a call transfer, a first party (e.g., party A) and a second party (party B) are engaged in a communication session. A call transfer occurs when party A instructs the system to terminate party A's call with party B and instead connect party B to a third party (e.g., party C). A receptionist, for example, may frequently wish to transfer an incoming caller's call to an appropriate final recipient for the call.
The conventional SIP protocol enables rudimentary call transfers but does not address the proper billing of a transferred call nor the prevention of unwanted call transfers or fraudulent activities related to transfers.
In accordance with a traditional approach, if party B calls party A and then party A causes party B to be transferred to party C, then party B is viewed as the originator of the call to party C and any charges are assessed to party B. However in some instances, when party A transfers party B to party C, it may be desirable to bill party A rather than party B. For example, party A and party C may be phones within a business enterprise, and party B may be a customer who calls party A seeking service. Party A may need to transfer the inbound call to party C. If there are extra charges involved in connecting the call to party C, it may be desirable that the business enterprise be assessed any such charges rather than having the customer, party B, pay for the transferred call.
An unwanted call transfer may relate to party A being unauthorized to perform a transfer. For example, party A may be a telephone in an unsecured area such as the lobby of a corporate office or a hotel.
Without proper controls, such a phone may be a springboard for penetrating a company's phone system or for placing fraudulent toll calls that will be billed to the phone.
Another form of unwanted call transfer may arise when party B is normally disallowed from calling party C directly, perhaps for reasons of security or because of call charges. It may be desirable in some circumstances to ensure that party A does not, intentionally or unintentionally, circumvent the restrictions configured into the network that otherwise prevent party B from reaching party C. As a form of fraud, party B may try to deceive party A into completing the call to party C, perhaps causing charges to be assessed to party A. Of course, it is also conceivable that, in some situations, party A might be given the authority to transfer party B to party C, even if party B cannot reach party C directly. For example, a receptionist may transfer an inbound call to a doctor, even if the doctor's line cannot be reached directly by callers outside the office.
Exposure to fraud arises when party B is able to capture signaling information during a successful transfer to party C by party A. During the transfer, party B may obtain enough information from the conventional SIP messages to be able to reproduce similar signaling later and subsequently contact party C without going through party A. This is another technique by which party B may conduct fraudulent or unwanted communications. For example, party B may "replay" the signaling information to make it appear that party A should pay for subsequent calls.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to improve call transfer support under the SIP protocol.

Policy control and billing support for call transfer in a session initiation protocol (SIP) network


By devising the arrangement of memory arrays surrounding the central region of the chip, the total length of a data bus can be reduced. The memory arrays are arranged such that one of two memory arrays that are located at the positions point-symmetric with respect to the central region corresponds to lower DQ terminals, and the other memory array corresponds to upper DQ terminals. Preferably, the memory arrays corresponding to the upper DQ terminals and the memory arrays corresponding to the lower DQ terminals are each located collectively. Thus, a semiconductor memory device with improved data propagation characteristics on the data bus can be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor memory device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a data bus structure of the semiconductor memory device having memory arrays arranged so as to surround a peripheral-circuit region located in the center of the chip.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) including synchronous dynamic random access memories (SDRAMs) generally have a 2n-bit storage capacity. In order to realize this capacity, the memory arrays or banks of the DRAM are generally arranged in two by two, i.e., two rows by two columns.
Developing a new DRAM with a fourfold memory capacity in a 3-year cycle is the conventional trend. However, it is becoming technically difficult to improve the memory capacity as such. In the meantime, with expansion of the information and communication industry such as widespread use of the Internet, there is an active demand on the market for the improved memory capacity. In such circumstances, a DRAM having a 2(2n+1)-bit capacity has also been developed against the conventional trend. Such a DRAM may have an irregular memory-array arrangement instead of the conventional mainstream, i.e., the arrangement in two rows by two columns.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the conventional irregular memory-array arrangement.
Referring to FIG. 14, a semiconductor memory device 500 includes four banks A to D. Each of the banks A, B, C and D is formed from a respective one of memory arrays AU, BU, CU and DU corresponding to upper data input/output (I/O) terminals UDQ and a respective one of memory arrays AL, BL, CL and DL corresponding to lower data I/O terminals LDQ. Each memory array has a 64-Mbit capacity, and each bank has a 128-Mbit capacity.
In other words, the banks A, B, C and D respectively include the memory arrays AU, BU, CU and DU corresponding to the upper data I/O terminals.
The banks A, B, C and D further includes the memory arrays AL, BL, CL and DL corresponding to the lower data I/O terminals, respectively.
Due to the shape of a memory cell unit, each memory array having a plurality of memory cells arranged in a matrix is sized to have a shorter side L and a longer side 2L. A column decoder band CPW is provided along one of the shorter sides of each memory array. Each column decoder band CPW includes preamplifiers and write drivers in addition to column decoders. A row decoder band RD is provided along one of the longer sides of each memory array.
The semiconductor memory device 500 is divided into nine regions of three rows by three columns. The memory arrays AL, DU and DL are respectively located in the regions of the first row, first column, the first row, second column, and the first row, third column. The memory arrays AU and CU are respectively located in the regions of the second row, first column, and the second row, third column. The memory arrays BL, BU and CL are respectively located in the regions of the third row, first column, the third row, second column, and the third row, third column.
The region of the second row, second column is the central region CEN. A plurality of pads PD and not-shown peripheral circuitry are provided in the central region CEN. The plurality of pads PD are divided into two pad trains, which are located in parallel with the longer side of the central region CEN. The first train located near the memory array DU includes the pads corresponding to the lower data I/O terminals LDQ. The second train located near the memory array BU includes the pads corresponding to the upper data I/O terminals UDQ.
Note that, in the case where the data I/O terminals for outputting and receiving the data receive 16-bit signals DQ0 to DQ15, the lower data I/O terminals LDQ respectively receive the signals DQ0 to DQ7, and the upper data I/O terminals UDQ respectively receive the signals DQ8 to DQ15.
An example of the simplest data bus structure corresponding to such a memory-array arrangement is shown in FIG. 14. An I/O line within a memory array and a data bus are connected to each other through the preamplifier and the write driver that are included in the corresponding column decoder band CPW provided along the shorter side of the memory array. Therefore, the data bus includes the portions located near the respective column decoder bands CPW and extending in parallel with the shorter side of the chip. These portions are connected to each other so as to allow for the data transmission between these portions and the data I/O terminals.
The total length of the data bus is not sufficiently considered in the conventional memory-array arrangement shown in FIG. 14. More specifically, the semiconductor memory device 500 having the three-row by three-column arrangement shown in FIG. 14 includes a data bus 502 for transmitting the data to the lower data I/O terminals LDQ and a data bus 504 for transmitting the data to the upper data I/O terminals UDQ.
In such a memory-array arrangement, the total length of the data bus 502 is about 8L, provided that the shorter side of the memory array is L. In this case, this data bus has the longest total length. This data bus itself has the largest load, which may significantly degrade the frequency characteristics in the read operation if the semiconductor memory device has short CAS latency in the data transmission. This may also increase the effective data write time, making it difficult to write the data to the memory array at a high speed.
As has been described above, in the irregular memory-array arrangement in which the memory arrays are arranged around the central region, the use of a simple memory-array arrangement or data bus structure is likely to make it difficult to satisfy a required specification.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor memory device having a reduced load on a data bus and thus having improved operation frequency characteristics in the case where memory arrays are arranged so as to surround a peripheral-circuit region located in the center of the chip.
In summary, according to the present invention, a semiconductor memory device formed in a memory region of a main surface of a semiconductor substrate includes first and second input/output (I/O) terminal groups, a plurality of first memory blocks, a plurality of second memory blocks, a first data bus, and a second data bus.
The first and second I/O terminal groups are each located collectively in a central region of the memory region. The plurality of first memory blocks are provided in a peripheral region surrounding the central region, for receiving and outputting data from and to the first I/O terminal group. The plurality of second memory blocks are provided in the peripheral region, for receiving and outputting data from and to the second I/O terminal group. The plurality of second memory blocks are each located at a position symmetric to a position of the corresponding first memory block with respect to the central region, and are arranged so as to surround the central region together with the first memory blocks. The first data bus connects the first I/O terminal group to the plurality of first memory blocks. The second data bus connects the second I/O terminal group to the plurality of second memory blocks.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor memory device formed in a memory region of a main surface of a semiconductor substrate includes first and second input/output (I/O) terminal groups, a plurality of first memory blocks, a plurality of second memory blocks, a first data bus, a second data bus, and a selection circuit.
The first and second I/O terminal groups are each located collectively in a central region of the memory region. The plurality of first memory blocks are provided in a peripheral region surrounding the central region, for receiving and outputting data from and to the first I/O terminal group. The plurality of second memory blocks are provided in the peripheral region, for receiving and outputting data from and to the second I/O terminal group. The plurality of second memory blocks are arranged so as to surround the central region together with the first memory blocks. The first data bus connects the first I/O terminal group to the plurality of first memory blocks. The second data bus connects the second I/O terminal group to the plurality of second memory blocks. The second data bus includes a first sub data bus for transmitting data to and from one of the plurality of second memory blocks, and a second sub data bus for transmitting data to and from another one of the plurality of second memory blocks. The selection circuit is provided in the central region, for selecting one of the first and second sub data buses according to an address signal so as to transmit data to and from the second I/O terminal group.
Accordingly, a main advantage of the present invention is that, in an irregular memory-array arrangement in which the memory arrays are arranged so as to surround the central region, the total length of the data bus can be reduced, allowing for high-speed data transmission.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Semiconductor memory device with improved data propagation characteristics of a data bus


A method for syndesmotic repair includes forming a bone tunnel through a first bone and a second bone. A partial anchoring construct is inserted through the bone tunnel. The partial anchoring construct includes a first flexible strand defining a first adjustable loop and a first anchor coupled to a first end of the first adjustable loop. A second end of the first adjustable loop is coupled to a first pull-through strand. A second anchor is coupled to the second end of the first adjustable loop after the first adjustable loop is inserted through the bone tunnel by the first pull-through strand. The length of the first adjustable loop is adjusted to position the first bone and the second bone in a predetermined spacing.

Various injuries include separation of soft tissue from one or more bones and/or separation of bones from normally anatomical correct positioning. Maintaining the bones in the correct anatomical positions during healing is important to provide proper soft tissue reattachment and proper bone healing. For example, during syndesmosis repair, a first bone and a second bone must be maintained in a fixed position to allow the connective tissue to refuse.
Current suture systems include a suture anchor and one or more knots for maintaining sutures in a fixed position. Knots formed in the sutures can cause irritation during healing and may be subject to tearing due to friction or other forces applied to the knot. Current systems further require surgeons to form knots during surgery. Such systems are prone to failure and increase time of surgery.

Partially assembled knotless suture construct


A barrier composite having reduced blocking is disclosed. The composite may include a substrate, a barrier layer formed from polyvinylidene chloride disposed on the substrate, and an anti-blocking layer disposed on the barrier layer. The anti-blocking layer may be formed from polyvinyl alcohol, and optionally, colloidal silica, wax, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the anti-blocking layer may be formed from a polymeric carrier material, colloidal silica, and a wax. Methods for forming such composites and for forming a roll of such composites are also disclosed.

Aqueous latexes of polyvinylidene chloride (PVdC) have been used to form moisture and oxygen barrier coatings for many years. In a typical coating process, the PVdC latex is coated onto paper, film, and other substrates to yield cost-effective packaging constructions with excellent barrier properties. During the application process, the PVdC is first coated onto the substrate and then dried by being exposed to infrared radiation, hot air, or a combination thereof. Often, two layers of PVdC are applied to the substrate to improve the barrier properties of the resulting composite.
The composite is typically wound into a roll for later processing. A major drawback with the presently available PVdC coating processes is that, under certain circumstances, the PVdC tends to adhere to the uncoated side of the substrate. Thus, the composite is prone to blocking when the roll is unwound.
While not wishing to be bound by theory, there are several factors that might contribute to this blocking effect. First, there is often a chemical affinity between the PVdC and the uncoated side of the substrate to which it is applied, so that the PVdC tends to adhere to the substrate when the composite is wound into a roll. Next, any residual moisture resulting from the coating process can cause the layers to adhere to one another. Further, the crystallinity of PVdC, which is a function of the temperature and time, has been shown to impact the degree of blocking. PVdC adherence to the uncoated side of the substrate tends to diminish as the degree of crystallinity increases. However, the minimal application of heat to the PVdC barrier material during the drying process does not sufficiently drive the degree of crystallinity to a level at which no blocking occurs. Additionally, the tension used during the winding process can impact blocking in the composite. The greater the tension, the more tightly wound the layers of the composite are forced against each other. Surface rewinders, which have primary and secondary arms that force the composite roll tightly against a winder drum, result in greater compression in the composite roll. Such compression also contributes to blocking. In some instances, such materials can successfully be wound on surface winders by carefully setting the winding speed, tension, and so forth. However, lack of repeatability and inconsistent product quality continue to present challenges. Center winders with taper tension winding control are more suited to wind rolls of the composite at low tension, but blocking may still occur.
Thus, there remains a need for a method of forming a PVdC coated substrate and a roll of such substrate that is not prone to blocking.

Anti-blocking coatings for PVdc-coated substrates


New benzimidazole derivatives of formula: ##STR1## in which R.sub.1 is H or a short chain hydrocarbon group such as methyl, hyl, isopropyl, cyclopropyl, vinyl, etc., and R.sub.2 is a group selected from among the following: CH.sub.2 OH, COOH, COOR.sub.3 and 4,4-dimethyl-2-oxazolinyl, R.sub.3 being a short chain alkyl group such as methyl, ethyl, etc., are described.. A description is also made of the preparation of these compounds, which have a high H.sub.1 antihistaminic and antiallergic activity and are devoid of effects on the central nervous and cardiovascular systems.

The prior art closest to the compounds of the present invention is in Spanish patent No. 9201512 which describes a number of piperidine benzimidazole derivatives with antihistaminic and antiallergic activity of general formula ##STR2## The major structural difference between the compounds of the present invention and those of the said patent is the presence of oxygenated functions in the phenyl group substitution. An important pharmacophorous character has moreover been found for these oxygenated functions which consists essentially in a selectivity of action and provides a pharmacological profile distinct from that of other known antihistimaines. The compounds disclosed in this invention present an almost exclusive H.sub.1 antihistaminic pharmacological activity and are therefore devoid of action on other pharmacological receptors even at doses much higher than the therapeutic ones. Because of this selectivity in action, they are valuable instruments in treating allergic-type conditions, particularly allowing their unrestricted use by persons under any other concomitant medication whatsoever, and in the case of patients with pathological cardiocirculatory disturbances.

Benzimidazole derivatives with antihistaminic activity

Fabrica Espanola de Productos Quimicos y Farmaceuticos S.A. (FAES)


A cascaded differential domino four-to-two reducer. In an embodiment, the four-to-two reducer is constructed of a first three-to-two reducer and a second three-to-two reducer directly connected to the first three-to-two reducer. In a further embodiment, the first and second three-to-two reducer both include a symmetric carry generate gate.

Digital electronic devices such as microprocessors often contain numerous components that may perform sub-functions for the device. For example, the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) of a microprocessor typically contains one or more adders that receive a number of digital inputs and that output the sum of these inputs. As another example, an electronic device may contain multipliers that receive a number of digital inputs and output the result of a multiplication function performed on these inputs. Digital circuits such as adders and multipliers may themselves be made up of smaller digital circuits or logic gates such as, for example, a reducer. A reducer receives a number of input bits and provides sum and carry bits as outputs. For example, a three-to-two reducer may receive three input bits and provide a sum bit (i.e., the sum of the three input bits) and a carry bit (indicating if the addition of the three input bits generates a carry out) as outputs. A four-to-two reducer may receive four input bits and provide a sum bit and carry bit as outputs. As would be appreciated by a person of skill in the art, such a four-to-two reducer may also receive a carry in bit and provide an intermediate carry out bit (which may be absorbed by a neighboring four-to-two reducer), but such bits are not counted as part of the "four-to-two" because for counting purposes they cancel each other out.
The component circuits in digital devices often use domino logic. A domino circuit is a type of circuit that is arranged in stages (e.g., logic gates) with the outputs from one stage used as inputs into the next stage. The clock used with a domino circuit typically is delayed for each of the individual stages to provide a set-up time for the stages. The individual domino logic gates typically have one or more precharge blocks, which force the circuit to a known state during a precharge phase of a clock, and one or more evaluation blocks, which provide output values during an evaluation phase of the clock. Domino circuits generally have a static stage in between the domino stages. For example, the domino circuit may have an inverter between the domino stages or a static complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) gate between the domino stages. Another example is the zipper domino circuit, which has a P-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (PMOS) gate between the domino stages. In a cascaded domino circuit, the outputs from one N-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (NMOS) domino gate (i.e., a gate with NMOS transistors in the evaluation block) are directly connected to the inputs of another NMOS domino gate. Thus, a cascaded domino circuit does not have any invertors, static stages, or PMOS gates in the critical path of the logic.
Four-to-two reducers have not been constructed as cascaded domino circuits. Domino four-to-two reducers have been constructed by using three-to-two reducers, but such four-to-two reducers have used static CMOS stage(s) of logic between the three-to-two reducers. The static stages in these prior four-to-two reducers have an effect on the clocking of the circuit and, as is known in the art, a circuit may not operate correctly if it is not adequately sequenced. Thus, a topology for adequately sequencing a domino four-to-two reducer without static stages has not been known.

Cascaded domino four-to-two reducer circuit and method