A method for detecting ribosome inactivating protein (RIP) activity in a sample is provided that involves contacting a sample that contains an RIP with an inventive substrate that is depurinated to form product. The product is hybridized to a template and cleaved by an apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease such that releasing the blocked 3′ end only in a sample that contains RIP activity. The 5′ end of the product serves as a primer for extension by a polymerase reaction. The newly synthesized strand complementary to the template is detected by RT-PCR processes. A kit is provided suitable for field or laboratory use.

Ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPS, also known as ribotoxins) are toxic to animals and humans. RIPs exert their highly toxic action by catalytically inactivating ribosomes in eukaryotic cells that in turn inhibits protein synthesis leading to cellular destruction.
RIPs are generally divided into two classes, the Type I RIP and the Type II RIP. There is significant amino acid sequence homology between members of Type I and Type II RIPs, and bacterial Shiga and Shiga-like toxins. However, the Type II RIPs and the bacterial shiga and shiga-like toxins have similar mechanisms of action.
Abrin, ricin and shiga toxin belong to the type II RIP class. Type II RIPs are composed of two glycoproteins, an A-chain and a B-chain, which are joined by a disulfide bond. The B-chain mediates cellular internalization of the toxin via its high affinity for cell surface moieties and is capable of reversibly binding to a specific receptor on the cell membrane. Once bound to the specific receptor, the uptake of the A-chain into the cell is achieved through endocytosis. The A-chain then hydrolyzes the N-glycosidic bond on adenosine 4324 in the 28s subunit of eukaryotic ribosomal RNAs. This depurination subsequently prevents elongation factor 2 from binding to the ribosome resulting in loss of protein synthesis. For these reasons, Type 2 RIPs are very potent cytotoxins and animal poisons even at extremely low concentrations. The best known Type II RIP is ricin which has a median lethal dose (LD50) of about 3 μg/kg.
Type I RIPs are typically composed of a single polypeptide chain that is equivalent in activity to the A-chain of Type II RIPs. Lacking analogs of the B-chain, Type I RIPs are minimally toxic to cells with intact membranes. However, in absence of cell membranes, Type I RIPs retain significant potency in inhibiting ribosomes and protein synthesis.
At the cellular level, Type II RIPs kill through the inhibition of protein synthesis in 1-3 hours. Depending on dose and route of exposure, clinical signs manifest between 8-24 hours. Of the many type II toxins known, abrin, ricin, and shiga toxin are classified as biological threat agents because of their wide availability and ease of production. Also, these type II RIPs are highly stable, amenable to dissemination, and are persistent in the environment once disseminated.
Type I and Type II RIPs may be derived from a variety of dicot and monocot plants, and thus can be found in many places. It has been theorized that they act as antiviral or antifungal agents. Type II RIPs possess the catalytically active A-chain, and retain depurination activity in ribosomes. Type II RIPs generally target a specific nucleotide sequence called the GAGA loop which is typically found in the large ribosomal RNA of eukaryotic cells, and enzymatically remove the first adenine base, (A), from the loop nucleotide sequence. For example, in rat liver cells, the A-chain removes a specific adenine base through cleavage of the glycosidic bond of adenine 4323 from 28S ribosomal RNA.
Type II MN including ricin have been studied and tested for use in weapon systems. Their extreme toxicity makes them potential candidates for use or deployment during warfare or acts of terrorism. In the event that Type II RIPs are ever deployed, part of the initial defense includes the rapid and accurate detection of RIPs, especially at submicrogram concentrations. Currently available military systems for detecting and identifying RIPs are laboratory based and require sophisticated and expensive equipment. Therefore, such systems are of limited practical use in the field.
Early detection in the laboratory and at any remote site of dissemination is essential for ensuring a prompt and appropriate response to a biological attack. The Department of Defense's (DoD's) field-forward identification process currently rely on molecular identification systems employing the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and immunological process to identify the presence of toxin in sample. The recent domestic attacks employing ricin via the postal system exposed several vulnerabilities of the current process that include their indirect identification of toxin and inability to directly quantitate the toxin's activity or distinguish between active and inactive toxin. These are significant limitations because ricin is easily produced through a number of processes that yield toxin with various purity and stability and thus lethality at the time of dissemination. Also, as techniques for generating genetic recombinants improve and become more widely available, the potential exists to develop a toxin that can defeat the indirect detection technologies.
It has recently been discovered that the Type II RIPs do not need the entire intact 28s ribosomal RNA to serve as a substrate, but a short strand of nucleotides containing a GAGA loop will suffice. Amukele T K and Schramm V L, Biochemistry, 2004; 43(17):4913-22. Current processes to assess the N-glycosidase activity of type II RIPs are arduous and lack sensitivity. For example, the direct fluorination 2-aminopurine analog method of U.S. Pat. No. 6,864,056 requires carefully handled substrates and large detection equipment. Moreover, direct labeling processes of the excised purine consistently suffer from low sensitivity, and are thus not amenable to use as a field detection technique for identification and assessment of RIP activity.
Accordingly, there is, a need to develop processes for rapidly detecting RIPs, particularly Type II RIPs, and related ribotoxins illustratively including ricin toxin A-chain (RTA), ricin, abrin, gelonin, SLT-1, and momordin that would permit protective measures or countermeasures to be quickly implemented in the event of an attack with weapons employing the same. There is also a need to provide an assay preferably in the form of a field kit that is sturdy, portable, rapidly deployable and simple to use. Moreover, the demand for processes and assays capable of rapidly detecting RIPs has applications beyond those of the military such as in the pharmaceutical, medical, food and public safety industries, and the like.

Direct quantification of ribosome inactivating protein

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A semiconductor device includes a first insulating film having a cavity, a second insulating film formed on the first insulating film and having an opening exposing the cavity, a lower electrode of a concave shape in cross section formed on the bottom and sides of the cavity, a capacitive insulating film formed on the lower electrode, and an upper electrode formed on the capacitive insulating film. The diameter of the cavity of the first insulating film is larger than that of the opening of the second insulating film, and the end of the second insulating film located on the sides of the opening is formed in an eaves-like part to project like eaves inwardly beyond the sides of the first insulating film.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and more particularly relates to a semiconductor device, such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device, having a stacked capacitor structure obtained by stacking films constituting a memory cell capacitor above a transistor and a method for fabricating the same.
(2) Description of Related Art
In recent years, attempts have been made to meet the need for increasing storage capacity in DRAM devices by increasing the storage capacity of memory cells per unit area occupied in a DRAM chip to decrease the area occupied by the memory cells and reduce the DRAM chip size.
As a stacked capacitor structure of a known DRAM device, a capacitor electrode structure has been suggested in which an interlayer insulating film formed on a MIS transistor has a trench part and a lower electrode of a concave shape in cross section is formed on the trench part (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-79478).
FIG. 5 shows the cross-sectional structure of a known semiconductor device having a stacked capacitor structure. As shown in FIG. 5, the known semiconductor device comprises a plurality of MIS transistors 100 and capacitors 122. The MIS transistors 100 are formed on active regions of the principal surface of a semiconductor substrate 101 defined by a shallow trench isolation 102, respectively, and serve as switch transistors. The capacitors 122 are formed above the corresponding MIS transistors 100 with a first interlayer insulating film 107 interposed therebetween.
Each MIS transistor 100 is composed of a gate insulating film 103 formed on each active region of the semiconductor substrate 101, a gate electrode 104 formed thereon, insulative sidewalls 105 formed on the side surfaces of the gate electrode 104, and a source region 106A and a drain region 106B formed in the upper part of the active region.
The capacitor 122 is formed by successively stacking a lower electrode 111, a capacitive insulating film 112 and an upper electrode 113 of concave shapes in cross section on a trench part 110 of a second interlayer insulating film 109 formed on the first interlayer insulating film 107 covering each MIS transistor 100. The lower electrode 111 is electrically connected to the source region 106A of the MIS transistor 100 through a first plug 108A formed in the first interlayer insulating film 107.
A third interlayer insulating film 114 is formed on the second interlayer insulating film 109 to cover the capacitor 122, and a bit interconnect 119 is formed on the third interlayer insulating film 114. The bit interconnect 119 is electrically connected to the drain region 106B of the MIS transistor 100 through a second plug 108B formed in the first interlayer insulating film 107 and a third plug 118 formed in the third interlayer insulating film 114 and the second interlayer insulating film 109.
Next, FIGS. 6A through 6D show process steps in a known method for fabricating a semiconductor device having a stacked capacitor structure. They show only a method for fabricating the capacitor 122.
First, in a process step shown in FIG. 6A, a source region 106A of an unshown MIS transistor is formed in an active region of a semiconductor substrate 101 by ion implantation, and then a first interlayer insulating film 107 is formed to cover the MIS transistor. Subsequently, a contact hole is formed in the first interlayer insulating film 107 to expose the source region 106A, and the formed contact hole is filled with a conductive film to form a first plug 108A. Thereafter, a second interlayer insulating film 109 is formed on the first plug 108A and the first interlayer insulating film 107, and then a trench part 110 is formed in a region of the second interlayer insulating film 109 where a capacitor is to be formed (hereinafter, referred to as a "capacitor formation region") to expose the first plug 108A.
Next, in a process step shown in FIG. 6B, a polysilicon film 111A doped with impurities is formed on the entire surface of the second interlayer insulating film 109 including the trench part 110. Thereafter, the entire surface of the second interlayer insulating film 109 including the trench part 110 is coated with a resist film 120. Subsequently, the coated resist film 120 is etched back by anisotropic dry etching to leave a part of the resist film 120 only inside the trench part 110 in the capacitor formation region.
Next, in a process step shown in FIG. 6C, a part of the polysilicon film 111A located on the top surface of the second interlayer insulating film 109 is removed by anisotropic dry etching using the resist mask 120 as a mask. In this way, a lower electrode 111 of a concave shape in cross section is formed inside the trench part 110 of the second interlayer insulating film 109.
Next, in a process step shown in FIG. 6D, after the removal of the resist film 120, an insulating film for a capacitance and a conductive film for an upper electrode are formed on the second interlayer insulating film 109 and the lower electrode 111. Thereafter, the insulating film for a capacitance and the conductive film for an upper electrode are patterned into a capacitive insulating film 112 and an upper electrode 113, respectively. In this way, a capacitor 112 is composed of the lower electrode 111, the capacitive insulating film 112 and the upper electrode 113.
According to the known method for fabricating the capacitor 122, since as described above the lower electrode 111 has a concave shape in cross section, the side surface area of the capacitor 122 increases, resulting in the increased storage capacity per unit area occupied.

Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A data processor includes a reader for reading a bit stream stored in a storage if there is free space of 8 bits or more in a buffer and outputting to a first array changer, the first array changer for changing an array sequence of the 8 bits in reversed sequence for a PNG bit stream but does not change the array sequence for a JPEG bit stream, a second array changer for further changing the array sequence of the 8 bits to output in case of PNG but outputting as it is in case of JPEG when reading out fixed length data of 8 bits from the buffer to the second processor, and a first processor for reading bits of VLC by 10 bits each from the buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data processor and, in particular, to a technique for commonly processing bit streams of different bit array sequences.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital image data has come to be regularly used in recent years. Due to the demand for saving capacity in a storage medium to store image data and reducing time to transmit image data, image data is usually compressed by an encoding at a time of transmission and storage, and decoded when reproduced.
As a compression standard of image data, JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is well known. An image format based on JPEG is widely used in Web pages, digital cameras and DVDs (Digital Versatile Disk).
To reproduce JPEG compressed data, a bit stream, which is compressed data, is read out from a storage medium to retrieve a Huffman code therefrom. The retrieved Huffman code is input to a decoder and decoded by the decoder (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei-11-261424).
FIG. 13 is a view showing a JPEG format. As shown in FIG. 13, a JPEG stream is formed by a plurality of 8 bits bit blocks, with one or more 8 bits fixed length data bit blocks included at the beginning followed by a bit block of variable length (VLC) part. The number of the bit blocks in the VLC part is one or more corresponding to the code length of the VLC. At the end of the last bit block in the VLC part, a padding bit is included, which is an invalid bit inserted to align the beginning of the fixed length data bit block that follows the variable length data to 8 bits boundary of the stream. The number of the padding bits is 0 to 7.
Other than the JPEG format, PNG (Portable Network Graphics) has come to be widely used in recent years. The structure of PNG is quite similar to the JPEG format shown in FIG. 13.
These two kinds of the image formats are employed to HD DVD (High Definition DVD) and Blue-ray Disc, which are the standards for next generation DVD, and the standards allow both formats to be combined.
With such background, a reproducing apparatus that supports both JPEG and PNG image formats is required. In such reproducing apparatus, in light of similarities between JPEG and PNG formats, it is desired to reduce the size of the reproducing apparatus and to reduce the manufacturing cost by reproducing images of both JPEG and PNG formats by a single reproducing apparatus.
For example as with the VLC part in the JPEG bit stream, a VLC part of PNG is also a Huffman code, thus the encoding method for the VLC part of PNG and that of JPEG is basically the same. Therefore, an apparatus for commonly processing the VLC parts in JPEG and PNG bit stream can be considered.
By the way as shown in FIG. 14, bit sequences in the blocks of 8 bits fixed length data of the JPEG and PNG bit streams are the same, however the bit sequences in the VLC blocks are different.
Therefore, to joint apparatuses for processing the VLC parts in the bit streams of JPEG and PNG, the bit array sequences of both the VLC blocks need to be aligned before being input to a VLC processor. However, it has now been discovered that to achieve this, a control for reading out a bit stream becomes complicated.


A cryogenic rectification system wherein a product boiler is incorporated into the primary heat exchanger without encountering boiling to dryness problems wherein liquid from the cryogenic rectification plant is processed in a phase separator upstream of the product boiler, and fluid from the product boiler is passed into the phase separator prior to recovery.

In the cryogenic rectification of feed air to produce one or more products such as oxygen, often it is desired that product be recovered as elevated pressure gas. One way of achieving this is to operate the column or columns of the cryogenic air separation plant at elevated pressure and recover elevated pressure gaseous product directly from the distillation column. However, such a system is generally disadvantageous because the elevated pressure within the column burdens the separations. Preferably the final separation within a column is carried out at a relatively low pressure and, if elevated pressure gaseous product is desired, the product is withdrawn from the column and its pressure increased prior to recovery.
For the recovery of elevated pressure gaseous product, the product may be withdrawn from the column as gas and then compressed to the desired pressure. However, it is generally more preferable that the product be withdrawn from the column as liquid, pumped to the desired pressure, and then vaporized in a product boiler to produce the desired elevated pressure gas.
Typically the product boiler is a pool boiler heat exchanger which is separate from other heat exchangers of the system. This arrangement is very effective but is costly. It is desirable that the product boiler be integrated with the primary heat exchanger of the system and such arrangements are known. However, in some situations the integration of the product boiler with the primary heat exchanger may lead to a boiling to dryness problem wherein residual hydrocarbons may concentrate in oxygen creating a flammability issue and potential danger.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a cryogenic rectification system for producing elevated pressure gaseous product employing a product boiler integrated with the primary heat exchanger which enables avoidance of any hazard due to boiling to dryness.

Cryogenic rectification system with integral product boiler


A method and an apparatus for treating cardiac arrhythmias are provided. An interval between first and second consecutive beats of a heart, having first and second chamber types, is determined. The heart is paced at a first rate if the first beat is from the first chamber type and the second beat is from the second chamber type and the interval is less than a predetermined amount of time or if the first and second beats are both from the second chamber type. The heart is paced at a second rate if the first beat is from the first chamber type and the second beat is from the second chamber type and the interval is more than the predetermined amount of time.

In recent years, the use of implantable cardiac devices, such as pacemakers and defibrillators, has become increasingly common. Such devices are now used not only to treat and terminate cardiac arrhythmias, but also to provide valuable information to the clinician regarding the implanted device and its interactions with the patient.
Normal heart rhythm is termed normal sinus rhythm. The initiating impulse for a heart beat normally begins in an area high (towards the patient's head) in the right atrium called the sinus node. Electrical propagation spreads to the left atrium and down the right atrium simultaneously. Mechanical contraction follows electrical activation by a delay in the order of hundreds of milliseconds. At the base of the atria, the electrical signals converge on the atrio-ventricular (AV) node. The AV node conducts electrical impulses slowly from the atria to the ventricles, which provides blood from the atrial contraction time to fill the ventricles. When this relationship is appropriate and normal, as in normal sinus rhythm, the heart is said to be operating with atrio-ventricular (or AV) synchrony.
One type of arrhythmia known as a "junctional rhythm" results in a loss of proper atrio-ventricular synchrony. The term "junction" refers to the "AV junction", also known as the "AV node", and such rhythms are sometimes called nodal rhythms. During a junctional rhythm, the initiating impulse originates in the AV junction. Subsequently, the atria and ventricles are activated electrically and contract mechanically at nearly the same time, since retrograde conduction of the impulse from the AV node to the atria and antegrade conduction from the AV node to the ventricles takes about the same time. Near simultaneous contraction of the atria and ventricles does not allow transport of blood from the atria to the ventricles. The impact of this improper timing includes higher pressures in the atria, retrograde flow of blood into the veins that feed blood to the heart, and lack of ventricular filling. The latter results in a compromised hemodynamic status.
The AV node beats spontaneously at a rate faster than the sinus node or any other part of the heart in order to establish and maintain a junction rhythm. Generally, the portion of the heart which beats most rapidly establishes and controls the cardiac rhythm. If the heart rate is fast, it is called tachycardia. While tachycardia was initially described as greater than 100 beats per minute, it has come to be used in a more relative sense. A heart rate which is faster than appropriate for a given physiologic condition of a patient is now generally considered tachycardia although the rate may be less than the classical threshold of 100 beats per minute. Thus, a junctional rhythm is sometimes called junctional tachycardia.
The source of the junctional beat may also be referred to as an ectopic beat. A beat which originates from a location other than that which would be normal is said to be "ectopic". As example, an ectopic atrial beat is one which does not originate from the sinus node. Beats which originate from the ventricles are ventricular ectopic beats. Junctional rhythms may also be called junctional ectopic tachycardia and abbreviated JET.
Symptoms associated with junctional rhythms are a result of the loss of AV synchrony resulting from aberrations of the normal conduction sequence of the heart. These symptoms may include shortness of breath, choking sensation, chest pain, fatigue, anxiety, dizziness, and confusion, all of which are generally considered to be signs of decreased cardiac output. In some instances, pulsations may manifest in the neck and abdomen of the patient due to the contraction of the atria on closed AV valves, which forces blood back into the venous system. Hypotension, pallor, cool extremities, diaphoresis, reduced urine output, jugular venous distension, ascites, and hepatojugular reflex can also be associated with junctional tachycardia.
Junctional tachycardia occurs frequently following surgical procedures to correct congenital heart defects (often children) and repair heart valves. These rhythms may occur because the patient's sinus node is slow or their AV node is fast. On an ambulatory basis, some patients experience junctional rhythms. Some are brief, infrequent episodes for which patients are asymptomatic, while others produce symptoms and/or are persistent. Since episodes occur infrequently, it is unlikely that such an episode will occur during examination of patients who have implanted devices such as a pacemaker or defibrillator. Junctional rhythms typically are not recognized during routine ambulatory ECG monitoring of patients with devices, as recognition of this arrhythmia is not reported by such systems. However, ambulatory recording with special monitors that incorporate telemetry from the implanted rhythm management device combined with algorithms designed to detect junctional rhythms has demonstrated that junction beats and junctional rhythms exist with a far higher frequency than previously understood in typical pacemaker or defibrillator (ICD) patient populations.
Dual chamber pacemakers and ICDs typically pace and sense the right atrium and right ventricle. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices pace and sense the right atrium, right ventricle and the left ventricle. One feature of such devices is the maintenance of atrio-ventricular synchrony. CRT devices restore and maintain inter ventricular synchrony, between left and right ventricles. These devices prevent bradycardia by maintaining a suitable atrial rate with atrial pacing and (A-V) ventricular synchrony with ventricular pacing. During AV block, ventricular pacing synchronized to spontaneous atrial beats or atrial pacing maintains proper A-V timing. Junctional rhythms, however, often render pacemakers inhibited.
If junctional rhythms produce atrial beats closely followed by ventricular beats, dual chamber pacemakers may sense the atrial beat but the closely following sensed ventricular beat causes the pacemaker to presume the rhythm is normal sinus rhythm, and no pacing will occur. If junctional rhythms produce atrial beats closely following ventricular beats, the action is essentially the same. Sensed ventricular beats cause the timing of the pacemaker to be reset and resume a new timing cycle for subsequent beats. Sequences of consecutive ventricular beats are generally recognized by pacemakers as premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and recorded as such for later interrogation by clinicians.
Thus, implanted pacemakers are generally ineffective at treating junctional rhythms and physicians are presented with few if any clues in the patient's record as to the possible occurrence of such rhythms. If patients experience infrequent symptoms, their presentation during follow-up is with few if any clues about the possible occurrence of junctional rhythms as the explanation. For the patient in whom junctional rhythms are recognized, therapeutic options are quite limited. Raising the pacemaker rate allows the atrium to become faster than the junctional rhythm, but this option is nearly always unsatisfactory. While raising the rate of pacing when the patient presents in clinic for follow-up may allow restoration of AV synchrony and control of heart rate with the pacemaker at that time, activities of daily living will frequently cause the junctional rhythm to exceed the programmed rate of the pacemaker and loss of AV synchrony will again recur. Reprogramming the pacemaker to a higher rate that will overcome the junctional rhythm completely for all time is often at a rate which can not be comfortably or safely sustained.

Method and system for detecting and treating junctional rhythms


Paint applicator having improved cleanability and paint-carrying capacity wherein the paint-carrying surface is coated or treated with a fluoroacrylate polymer or copolymer, a fluorourethane polymer or copolymer, or a mixture thereof, and a method for treating such paint applicators are disclosed.

Paint rollers, paintbrushes and other applicators are widely used as applicators as a means of applying paint to surfaces. However, cleaning the applicators after their use is an unpleasant task because of the difficulty in removing all the paint from in between the paint-carrying fibers. Failure to remove all the paint will lead to fibers that are too stiff to provide a smooth painted surface, and with individual fibers that are too fouled and poorly separated to provide a suitable paint-carrying capacity. On the other hand, a very thorough cleaning typically requires many washings, with additional cleaning of the hands and containers used, generating large amounts of contaminated wash solvents for disposal.
Numerous mechanical devices have been patented to make the job of cleanup easier, for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,185. Such devices are complicated and few people ever purchase, use and/or maintain them.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,798 discloses a brush aimed at applying a thick liquid cosmetic product to a surface. It uses a monofilament fiber made of plastic containing from 0.2 to 15% by weight of an agent for improving the slip characteristic of the fiber and for reducing its wettability by water and/or other solvents. These ingredients are incorporated within the body of the fiber, with the result that the disclosed brush requires the use of expensive, custom-made brush filaments.
In the production of synthetic fibers for use as textiles and carpets, it is known that the synthetic fibers may be treated with a polymeric fluoroprotectant composition to improve stain resistance, oil repellency and water repellency. No reference to the application of such fluoroprotectant compositions to fabric or filaments used for paint applicators was located, nor any teaching that such application will make it easier to remove paint from such applicators.
There is a need for paint applicators, such as paint roller covers and brushes, that are easier to clean. It would be even more advantageous if these applicators surprisingly had increased the paint-carrying capacity during use. The present invention provides such paint applicators.

Fluorochemical finishes for paint applicators


A capping and nitrogen dosing apparatus for containers includes a rotary capping machine which is configured to serially receive filled containers, and apply closures to respective ones of the containers. The present apparatus includes a dosing system for injecting an inert gas, typically nitrogen in liquid form, into the head space of each container to enhance the integrity and rigidity of the package, and to improve the freshness and flavor of the container's contents. Notably, the dosing system is configured to effect nitrogen injection close to or at the so-called transfer point of the capping machine, thus desirably abating nitrogen dissipation, and enhancing consistent and efficient product dosing.

Injection or "dosing" of nitrogen (N2) into containers has come into increasingly widespread practice in packaging of non-carbonated contents in order to increase package rigidity (by increasing internal pressure), as well as for enhancing shelf life, flavor, and freshness of a container's contents. Nitrogen injection systems typically employ liquid nitrogen, which gasifies attendant to container dosing.
While current nitrogen dispensing systems typically provide accurate dispensing of nitrogen, process parameters apart from the injection system create variability which acts to limit the effectiveness of traditional injection systems. Typically, injection systems employed heretofore introduce nitrogen into a container, such as on a bottling line, well in advance of the point at which a closure is applied to a container, sealing it. In such arrangements, the nitrogen, which may be in liquid form, comes to rest on top of the product being packaged, and depending on the fill level, distance from point of closure application, and amount of product spillage that occurs as the package is placed in a position to be sealed, the effectiveness of the nitrogen dose can vary. In total, all of these variables undesirably act to reduce the effectiveness and reliability of current nitrogen dosing systems.
The present invention is directed to a capping apparatus including a nitrogen dosing system which has been specifically configured to overcome shortcomings associated with previously known arrangements by effecting injection of nitrogen, or a like inert gas, into containers just prior to application of a closure to each container by the apparatus.

Alcoa Closure Systems International, Inc.


The present invention is a motorcycle wheel holder with the capability of holding four motorcycle wheels simultaneously. The holder is capable of being rolled around and folds into a closed configuration by rotating two arms into its main frame. The arms are lockable in the deployed or stored configuration via actuation of locking pins. The unique geometry of the invention allows it to be oriented vertically or horizontally.

There have been many different embodiments of motorcycle wheel storage devices over the years; some have been available commercially as shown by GP Tech, Ten-80 Racing and Tyrsox and some have been built as a one-of-a-kind embodiment to meet the needs of the individual motorcyclist.
Prior embodiments of motorcycle wheel holders have traditionally consisted of metal rod(s) onto which a motorcycle wheel is installed and held in place. Individual wheels have often been incorporated into the device to allow it to be moved around relatively short distances such as from a racer's team paddock area at a race track to a tire vendor within the paddock area of the same race track. Many of the devices have generally been capable of being folded or dismantled for compact storage and/or shipping.
Like prior embodiments, the present invention also uses metal rods to hold the motorcycle wheels, has wheels incorporated to allow it to be moved, and can be folded. Unlike prior embodiments, the present invention has unique features including the ability to fold the device for storage that utilizes two identical arms linked to a main frame with pivot pins and angle-locking pins, which allow both arms to fold parallel to the main frame for compact storage. Also, the special geometric arrangements of the two arms, main frame, wheels, and rubber feet allow the invention to be oriented vertically or horizontally with motorcycle wheels oriented directly above each other when the invention is oriented vertically and at equal distance from the ground/floor when the invention is oriented horizontally.
The size and proportions of the apparatus and its components can be altered to fit various applications. More motorcycle wheels can be accommodated with the use of longer rods. Details of the embodiment of the invention can be varied without varying the concept of the invention.


Equalisation of a communication channel is achieved through use of a Wiener filter frequency response mechanism that operates to transform at least a portion of a data stream generated from a plurality of space time coded (STC) symbol streams received from a plurality of transmit antenna elements into a packet spectrum. A training sequence for a channel through which the symbol streams have been sent is also transformed to a channel impulse response spectrum in order to assess the channel impulse response for the channel. The packet spectrum is equalised with the channel impulse response spectrum to produce an equalised packet spectrum in the transform domain. This is then converted into a time domain equalised data stream for recovery of originally transmitted information.

Cellular wireless has enjoyed an extremely rapid growth from the 1980s, and there is now an almost widespread coverage of cellular radio services in industrialised countries. In recent years there has been a similar, albeit more rapid, growth in the demand and supply of data services in a wireless environment. Such data services include Internet and intranet traffic and other (principally packet-based) data transmission schemes. Indeed, demand for the support of data services can be seen by the amount of e-mail retrieval arid web browsing that already takes place in locations such as airport lounges, hotel lobbies, company conference rooms and dedicated rooms with ports for connection to electronic notebooks and lap top computers.
As will be appreciated, data traffic is both asymmetric in nature and is not time critical; this contrasts with a generally uniform bandwidth distribution in voice traffic and the requirement that voice traffic be subjected to a maximum latency for coherent information reception. More explicitly, far greater data bandwidth is necessary for a wireless access point to subscriber terminal (i.e. the so-called forward link or down link) than that bandwidth required in the reverse link or uplink direction. The asymmetry in data communication, as will be understood, arises from the fact that the uplink is generally used to solicit information (e.g. web pages) as opposed to relaying data files.
Cellular subscriber handsets, whilst fundamentally providing mobility, are nevertheless used when effectively stationary which may subject the subscriber handset (or the like) to fading conditions associated with the channel. Facing is a dominant process that adversely affects quality of service experienced in second generation cellular systems, such as the frequency division multiplexed (FDM) global system for mobile communication (GSM). Such second generation systems often operate in a time division multiplexed (TDM) downlink transmission mode to provide time diversity which attempts to address fading. Code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, however, are inherently less susceptible to channel and physical environments because spread spectrum transmissions provide diversity gain to mitigate adverse multipath effects like fading, with each channel in the CDMA system defined by a unique spreading code on a frequency carrier. Information recovery from an assigned channel resource in a CDMA-based system is therefore dependent upon knowledge of the spreading code. More specifically, each channel is comprised from a unique coded sequence of "chips" that are selected from a relatively long pseudo-random spreading sequence (typically many millions of bits in length). A communication device has access to an information-bearing channel by virtue of a communication device having particular and detailed knowledge of a specific code that identifies the specific bits used by the information-bearing channel.
The use of orthogonal Walsh codes for downlink transmit diversity antennas may be used to address fading and coloring of a channel through use of space-time transmit diversity (STTD) for non-dispersive channels; this is described in the paper "Space Time Block Coded Transmit Antenna Diversity for WCDMA" presented to the European Technical Standards Institute (ETSI) on 30 Oct. 1998 by Texas Instruments. Essentially, STTD provides a linear algebraic way of resolving out symbols in a channel through an interleaving mechanism of CDMA code words and, more particularly, the use of inverted and complex conjugated versions of interleaved CDMA code words in a diversity path. In STTD, the length of the CDMA code words support a certain capability for inter-symbol rejection.
Information (such as voice, data or video) is spread across all chips of the spreading sequences, with the processing gain of the system determined by the number of chips required to construct a single data bit. Essentially, the processing gain is a ratio defined by the number of chips required per symbol/bit (generally fixed for a second generation network). In general, it is therefore better that a receiver has a high processing gain in order that it is better able to distinguish each user signal against a background of other-user generated interference and system noise.
From a practical but exemplary perspective, a TDD-CDMA-based system may exhibit a frame structure of duration ten milliseconds (10 ms). Each frame will contain a number of slots or packets, say fifteen in total, of which at least one is usually assigned to function as a control channel. Dependent upon a spreading factor of the CDMA-based system (but assuming that the frame is indeed 10 ms in duration and fifteen slots in length), each packet or slot (of duration 667 μs) is 2560 chips in length. Each packet or slot further contains at least one (and usually at least two) data portion(s) and at least one training sequence interspersed between successive data portions. The training sequence always contains a relatively high number of chips (e.g. five hundred and twelve in one particular form) that can be contrasted with the relatively few chips assigned to a data symbol. The training sequence, which in essence is simply a burst of random data known to an addressed device, is therefore used to assess (by virtue of a cross-correlation function) a channel impulse response for channel equalisation purposes, with the length of the training sequence rendering it effectively immune to degradation in the downlink path. In a particular system, a CDMA code word, sometimes referred to as a "user symbol", comprises a maximum of 256 chips. Consequently, each slot or packet of each frame contains a total of at least ten symbols and, possibly, hundreds of symbols with 512 chips (i.e. two CDMA code words, for example) consumed as the training sequence. Putting this in a slightly different light, the 2048 remaining chips in a slot (2560–512 chips of the training sequence) comprise a number of CDMA code words based upon an applied (and varying) spreading factor. The spreading factor (SF) typically varies between, say, one and two hundred and fifty-six, with a spreading factor of sixteen therefore yielding one hundred and twenty-eight CDMA code words.
A high speed downlink Internet access system for nomadic users within a CDMA physical layer architecture is described in the paper "CDMA/HDR: A Bandwidth Efficient High-Speed Wireless Data Service for Nomadic Users" by Paul Bender et al, Pages 70 to 77, IEEE Communications Magazine, July 2000.
The use of equalisers (as opposed to RAKE receivers) in communication devices, e.g. handsets and the like, is commonly advocated for third generation applications since it enhances bit error rate (BER) performance and can increase spectral efficiency. The function of the equaliser is to mitigate symbol corruption induced by an imperfect channel, with an equaliser designed to condition data such that it appears to have been passed through, optimally, a perfect channel.
Equaliser design and particularly equaliser efficiency are presently constrained by processing overhead/workload. In the context of a mobile device, workload must necessarily be restricted because of its associated drain on battery power. Unfortunately, in a dispersive multi-path channel, finite impulse response (FIR) equalisers require a significant number of filter "taps"; with each tap representing a different weighting coefficient that is applied to a sample. Increasing the number of taps improves accuracy and effectiveness of the FIR equaliser. A significant problem occurs with implementation of FIR filters in equalisers, namely that the each sample applied to an input of the FIR equaliser must be multiplexed by each tap. In a typical CDMA-type system, by way of example, there are eight samples per chip and a chip rate typically in excess of 1 MHz; this results in significant workload for a digital signal processor. Indeed, in a bad time dispersive multi-path channel environment, a seventy-tap FIR could be required. A truncation of the number of taps would reduce computation load but at the cost of introducing side lobes into any frequency domain representation. Furthermore, if the sample rate of each tap is increased by N-fold in order to provide a requisite degree of over-sampling, the number of taps required to span a certain time interval and maintain the frequency response also increases by N-fold. Consequently, there is a resultant N2-fold increase in computation load. Thus, equalisers containing filters designed using straightforward FIR equalisation can be very expensive.
With respect to equalisers and mechanism of equalisation, these generally fall into one of several categories identified immediately below:
(i) Cholesky factorisation of the channel impulse response autocovariance matrix. This factorisation, which relies on matrix manipulation, is efficient when the autocovariance matrix is strongly banded, but this banding is only associated with low dispersion channels. After matrix factorisation, least squares filter equations are solved by back substitution, as usual in the Cholesky method, although the processing load is dependent upon the duration of the multipath spread. The Cholesky factorisation method can also be ill-conditioned and numerically unstable and some measure of accuracy in the computation is required;
(ii) Decision feedback equalisers (DFE). These uses a combination of forward FIR filtering, a threshold decision device (such as a hard limiter) and a feedback filter. Essentially, the feedback loop provides a mechanism that attempts to subtract echos by feeding back the channel impulse response (CIR). However, the channel subtraction mechanism provides error propagation problems. DFEs are commonly used in FDMA applications, such as the US 2nd generation cellular phone receivers and telephone modem equalisers.
(iii) Zero-forcing filters synthesise an FIR filter and operate to equalise channel dispersion for a finite time span about an origin. For an n-tap FIR Filter, solving to a set of linear equations will always form a weight set such that the convolution of the sample channel impulse response Hk and the Wiener filter response Wk will have a combined impulse response which is zero at n−1 arbitrary points and has a central unit response at k=0; and
(v) The Wiener least squares filter. This equalisation technique utilises a modified inverse filter which controls the white noise response of the filter, ie. the undesired enhancement of thermal noise from the antenna. If the discrete frequency response of the channel is Hk and the thermal noise variance is σ2, then the Wiener filter frequency response is:
      W    k    =            H      k      *                                                      H            k                                    2            +              σ        2
The paper "Smart Antennas for Third Generation Mobile Radio Systems" by Martin Haardt (Siemens), Stanford Colloquium on Smart Antennas", July 1999, describes channel equalisation in terms of the Wiener filtering response, and explores how two or more receiving antennas can be included in the description of the received data. A further paper by H Sari et al titled "Transmission Techniques for Digital TV Broadcasting", IEEE communications magazine 33(2) February 1995, discusses channel equalisation in the context of the Wiener filter mechanism. STTD is included in the standards for 3G cellular systems in the European UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) system and similar systems in the American CDMA2000 proposals. Consequently, it is important for these STTD systems efficiently to implement data recovery and equalisation algorithms in battery powered mobile units.
In general, least squares solutions (such as (i) and (iv) above) are better than algebraic solutions and give better BER performance.
In a dispersive channel for space time transmit diversity (STTD), the channel impulse response matrix, data vector and antenna signals can be written in block vector form, with the antenna signals related to the CIR and data vector by a block convolution operation:
                    y                  2                    k                    =                                    (                                                                                Y                    0                                                                                Y                    2                                                                                Y                    4                                                                                ⋮                                                      )                                                                                d                          2                            k                                      =                                            (                                                                                D                      0                                                                                D                      2                                                                                D                      4                                                                                ⋮                                                              )                                                                                h                              2                                k                                              =                      (                                                                                H                    0                                                                                H                    2                                                                                H                    4                                                                                ⋮                                                      )                                                            y              2                k              =                  ∑                  τ          =          0                          2                    L                                            d                      2                                      (                              k                -                τ                            )                                                        h                      2                                                                          τ
The STTD operation results in the associated equaliser having to run at half the rate of the channel sampler; this compromises the capabilities of the equaliser to an extent that renders the performance of the equaliser worse than an equivalent equaliser without STTD. Furthermore, the performance of RAKE filters, when installed into the equaliser, is very poor in any significant multi-path.
Channel equalisation to address channel imperfections therefore poses implementation difficulties.
Joint user detection algorithms (JDAs) are usually reserved for CDMA systems that use low spreading factors (e.g. less than 32). JDA is an algebraic solution in the receiver that counters inter-user interference caused by multi-path in the radio channel, typically by using matrix algebra and linear equations. The multipath renders Walsh codes belonging to different users non-orthogonal to an extent dependent on amplitude severity. For this reason, JDA is of interest in high-speed data options of, for example, 3G standards where spreading factors down to four may be encountered at the highest data rates. It has been proposed that all available Walsh codes should be used in parallel for each user on the downlink for an asymmetric bandwidth "fat pipe" variant of the 3G standards, and under these conditions the channel equaliser or JDA is desirable. Unfortunately, a significant issue arises from that fact that JDAs are inherently processor-intensive operations and that JDAs are required in a handheld portable terminals in which battery drain is roughly proportional to the instruction processing rate of the processor and hence to the complexity of the algorithms. As such, there is a fundamental conflict between data recovery and effective mobile operation, with it being desirable to attain a low DSP computation count in order to extend battery life.

Equaliser for digital communications systems and method of equalisation


A powered endoscopic surgical apparatus is provided and includes a handle including a housing, a power source supported in the housing; an endoscopic portion extending distally from the housing of the handle; an end effector assembly coupled to a distal end of the endoscopic portion, the end effector assembly including a pair of jaws configured to perform a surgical function; a driving member; a drive source including a motor powered by the power source and connected to the driving member; and a gear assembly engaged with the motor. The gear assembly including a gear rack provided on the driving member; and a main gear operatively connected with the gear rack, the motor spinning the main gear such that rotary motion of the main gear moves the driving member in an axial direction such that the driving member actuates the end effector to perform the surgical function.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a surgical stapling device that has an improved and internally powered driving mechanism.
2. Background of the Related Art
Surgeons have recognized in the art the benefits of a compact surgical apparatus for the application of surgical clips and staples to body tissue in a number of different medical procedures. Often, prior art surgical staplers require some degree of physical force or lateral movement in order to operate a handle to actuate the surgical stapler and fire the staple after a compression to actuate the surgical stapler and fire the staple after a compression of tissue is made. It would be desirable to have a precise surgical stapler device that is compact and easy to use and will quickly and easily fire. Also, once compression of the desired stapling location is made, only a very limited degree of force to the surgical stapling device should be required in order to complete the actuation of the device and thus firing of the staples such as by actuating a trigger switch. Moreover, such a powered stapling device should be very easy to manipulate and hold by the surgeon.
Attempts have been made in the art to provide such a surgical stapling device that is pneumatic or gas powered and/or also externally powered in order to remedy this desire. However, it would be beneficial to provide a disposable apparatus for the application of staples to body tissue that is self contained, self powered and easy to manufacture.
Additionally, tissue exhibits visco-elastic properties. Once under pressure from a jawed structure such as an approximation device of a surgical stapler, the body tissue will slowly compress. Blood and other fluid traverses from the high pressure or gripped area to another low pressure or adjacent area. Once released, as expected the fluid will return from the adjacent area to the previously compressed area.
Prior art surgical stapling devices will approximate tissue. Then, once the approximation is made, the surgeon will introduce the staple into the body tissue.
It is desirable to provide a surgical stapler device that result in a uniform staple formation. It is also desirable to provide a surgical stapler device that allows for an appropriate time interval to elapse for tissue compression. This allows for the blood and fluid to travel away from the compressed area. Compression by an approximation device reduces the amount of blood and fluid therebetween. Without such compression, an uncompressed body tissue remains thicker whereas the compressed body tissue would be thinner, and more compact. The surgeon must control compression time by observing the tissue or by using a separate timing device.
Accordingly, compression of the tissue for the proper amount of time is important for a proper and uniform staple formation due to this viscoelastic tissue phenomenon.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A stereoscopic image display and a driving method thereof are discussed. The stereoscopic image display includes a data driving circuit that supplies a data voltage to data lines of a display panel; a gate driving circuit that supplies a gate pulse to gate lines of the display panel; and a timing controller that controls operation timings of the data driving circuit and gate driving circuit. The gate driving circuit delays a rising timing of the gate pulse to a point in time after a rising edge time of the data voltage in a 3D mode for displaying a 3D image on the display panel, under a control of the timing controller.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to a stereoscopic image display and a driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Stereoscopic image displays are categorized into a glasses type that requires the use of special glasses and a non-glasses type that does not require use of the special glasses. In the glasses type, a binocular parallax image is displayed on a direct view-based display device or a projector by changing a polarization direction or in a time division manner, and polarization glasses or liquid crystal shutter glasses are used to implement stereoscopic images. In the non-glasses type, generally, an optical plate such as a parallax barrier or the like for separating an optical axis of the binocular parallax image is provided in front of a display screen so that left-eye image light and right-eye image light are separated to implement stereoscopic images.
Glasses-type stereoscopic image displays are categorized into a polarization glasses type and a shutter glasses type. The polarization glasses type requires a polarization separation device, such as a patterned retarder, to be bonded to a display panel. The patterned retarder separates the polarizations of a left-eye image and a right-eye image displayed on the display panel, thereby creating a binocular parallax. As the polarizations of the left-eye image and the right-eye image are separated by the patterned retarder, a viewer wearing polarization glasses can see the left-eye image with the left eye and the right-eye image with the right eye and therefore can perceive a stereoscopic effect due to the binocular parallax. The patterned retarder may be implemented as a glass patterned retarder GPR based on a glass substrate or a film patterned retarder FPR based on a film substrate. In recent years, the film patterned retarder FPR, which can reduce the thickness, weight, price, etc., of the display panel compared to the glass patterned retarder GPR, has come to be more preferred.
If a stereoscopic image display that displays a stereoscopic image by the binocular parallax is unable to completely separate the left-eye image and the right-eye image, the viewer may feel or perceive a crosstalk where the left-eye image and the right-eye image overlap each other when viewing them with a single eye (left eye or right eye). A gray-to-gray (GTG) crosstalk is defined as a mean crosstalk for the gray levels.
On the screen (or pixel array) of the polarization glasses type stereoscopic image display, odd-numbered pixel lines (hereinafter, abbreviated as "odd lines" can display a left-eye image and even-numbered pixel lines (hereinafter, abbreviated as "even lines") can display a right-eye image. In this polarization glasses type stereoscopic image display, gray-to-gray (GTG) crosstalk may be represented as a mean value of a perceived crosstalk for the gray levels of odd and even lines on the screen. In the polarization glasses type stereoscopic image display, there is as big a difference in gray level between data written to the pixels of odd lines and data written to the pixels of even lines, both of which are connected to the same data line, as the binocular disparity between the left-eye image and the right-eye image. Thus, the polarization glasses type stereoscopic image display is more susceptible to gray-to-gray crosstalk. In other words, the polarization glasses type stereoscopic image display shows a large difference in gray level between data voltages continuously supplied to the pixels of odd lines and the pixels of even lines, respectively, through the same data line.

Stereoscopic image display and driving method thereof


A carry on service which allows a mobile device adapted for wireless communication over a permanent communication network carries information objects on behalf of other devices. Carry on information objects are transferred from a carry on user device over a wireless ad-hoc network to a carry on provider device. There, they are stored until they can be forwarded to a carry on gateway device of the permanent communication network. This device forwards the carry on information objects to an appropriate service. The service provider checks the received information objects and executes the contained service requests.

A user of a user device which is adapted for communication over a permanent (not temporary) communication network may wish to send an information object to a desired destination in a situation where the user device is disconnected from the permanent communication network. A possible situation of disconnection is, for example, a mobile phone the user of which is far off the next base station of a wireless communication network (e.g. according to GSM or UMTS standard) so that no connection between the mobile phone and the base station can be established. This may be the case in a mountainous area, for example. Another situation is, for example, a notebook computer used by a businessman on a journey and no access to the Internet or any other communication network is available at the moment (may be because the businessman has left at home a radio adapter for the notebook computer that otherwise might allow wireless communication of the notebook computer over a wireless communication network). It is clear that a lot more situations of temporary disconnection of a user device from a permanent communication network are conceivable.
A typical information object a user of a user device might wish to transmit is, for example, an SMS message or an e-mail message. Another example of an information object is a software program which might be used by a receiving computer to execute a particular task. Still another example of an information object is a file or a set of data, e.g. measuring data or data resulting from calculations, to be transmitted to a customer or to a coworker.
In case of disconnection from the permanent communication network the user of the user device has the option to wait until communication of his user device over the permanent communication network is possible again. However, this may take a long time, and in some cases too long, e.g. when an urgent message has to be transmitted. Waiting for re-connection to the permanent communication network may not be acceptable then.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,206 A it is known to share a single communication channel of a cellular wireless communication network among a plurality of mobile terminals. The mobile terminals are connected with each other over a wireless ad-hoc subnetwork. One of the mobile terminals acts as a master while the others are slaves within the subnetwork. Whenever a slave wants to use the communication channel it notifies a corresponding request to the master. The master allocates the communication channel to the slaves based upon the incoming requests.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,122 there is known a wireless messaging system which includes a messaging network having a respective user agent for each of a plurality of subscribers. The user agent includes a plurality of messages prestored therein. Each message is allocated to a respective message code. Whenever a subscriber wants to forward a message to a desired receiver, it sends the corresponding message code to its user agent. The user agents expands the received message code to the full message and effects transmission of the expanded message to the desired receiver.

Transmission of carry-on objects using a wireless ad-hoc networking environment


A power supply device having a transformer for generating at least one output voltage supplied to an electronic apparatus with power saving mode includes: a switching circuit connected to the transformer, a reference signal generator for generating a reference signal having a first high frequency or a second low frequency according to whether the electronic apparatus is in a normal operation mode or a power saving mode, and a PWM control circuit for generating a PWM signal to control the switching operation of the switching circuit according to the reference signal and a feedback signal from the output voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a switching mode power supply device, and more particularly a power supply device with normal operation and power saving modes.
2. Description of the Related Art
The switching mode power supply device generally employs as the reference signal an oscillation signal with a frequency as high as possible, e.g., 100 KHz, in order to increase the transformation efficiency. In the power-off or sleep mode, such an apparatus cuts off all the power sources supplying the load except the power source supplying the circuits for controlling the power saving mode, thus minimizing the power consumption.
An earlier switching mode power supply device which connected between a rectifier circuit and a load with a power saving mode, includes an oscillator, a pulse width modulation (PWM) control circuit, switching circuit and a transformer with multiple secondary coils. The transformer has at least one output voltage delivered to the load, a part of which is fed back to a feedback circuit connected to a comparator.
The oscillator generates an oscillation signal of a high frequency which serves as a reference signal for the PWM control circuit to generate a PWM signal to control the on/off operation of the switching circuit. The feed back circuit feeds a part of the output voltage of the transformer back to the comparator to detect changes in the output voltage depending on the rising and falling of the feedback voltage.
The comparator compares the output feedback signal with an inherent reference signal of the feedback circuit to provide the resultant signal for the PWM control circuit to maintain the output voltage of the transformer at a given value corresponding to the normal operation mode or power saving mode. Namely, the PWM control circuit generates a PWM signal to modify the on-duty interval in response to the oscillation signal and the feedback signal of the feedback circuit, thereby controlling the on/off operation of the switching circuit 23 to control the output voltage of the transformer.
Hence, the switching circuit carries out the switching operation according to the same oscillation signal at both the normal operation mode and the power saving mode, thus increasing the power consumption for the switching operation which reduces the advantage of the power saving mode.
The following patents each discloses features in common with the present invention but do not teach or suggest the specifically recited power supply device with a reference signal generating circuit for the power saving mode of the present invention: U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,616 to Watanabe, entitled Power Supply Circuit With Power Saving Capability, U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,035 Kikinis et al., entitled Timer-Controlled Computer System Shutdown And Startup, U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,375 to Reinhardt et al., entitled Apparatus And Method For Controlling Power Usage, U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,001 to Cepuran, entitled Power Saving Method And Apparatus For Changing The Frequency of A Clock In Response To A Start Signal, U.S. Pat. No. 5,684,681 to Huh, entitled Drive Circuit Of Switching Element For Switching Mode Power Supply Device, U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,386 to Youn, entitled Power Supply Control Method And Corresponding Circuit, U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,924 to Huh, entitled Electric Power Supply Device For A Monitor, U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,871 to Choi, entitled Power Supply Circuit With Power Saving Mode For Video Display Appliance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,257 to Lee, entitled Power-Supply Controller Of Computer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,881 to Lee, entitled Power-Supply Controller Of Computer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,572 to Masleid, entitled Power Management System For Integrated Circuits, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,616 to Watanabe, entitled Power Supply Circuit With Power Saving Capability.

Power supply device with reference signal generating circuit for power saving mode


A two-phase switched reluctance motor in an embodiment includes a plurality of salient rotor poles that each have asymmetric reluctances about a central radial axis of the respective rotor pole. Each of the rotor poles has the same width, and the rotor poles are operable to provide preferential torque generation in one direction of rotation for all rotor positions. Such preferential torque generation occurs under the influence of an electromagnetic flux, which is provided by a plurality of salient stator poles having substantially the same width as the rotor poles.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to multiple-phase switched reluctance machines (SRMs) and, more specifically, to two-phase self-starting. SRMs. Additionally, the invention relates to SRMs and permanent magnet brushless direct current (dc) machines (PMBDCMs) and, more specifically, to reducing vibration and acoustical noise in SRMs and PMBDCMs.
2. Description of Related Art
Related art two-phase switched reluctance machines (TPSRMs) do not produce electromagnetic torque at certain rotor positions, i.e., when the rotor poles are midway between the stator poles. At such rotor positions, the electromagnetic torque that can be produced is zero for both phases. Therefore, exciting one or both phase windings does not help in moving the rotor from its stand-still position. Because of this, these machines are not self-starting from stand-still. This particular problem of zero torque does not arise in the case of SRMs with more than two phase windings.
The natural question that arises is why not use SRMs having three or more phases and completely do away with two-phase machines. The answer lies in the fact that the TPSRM requires fewer power devices, such as controllable power switches and power diodes, in its power converter as compared to machines with three or more phases. Using fewer power devices in the power converter lends itself to a large saving in power converter cost. This cost saving in the power converter leads to a greater cost reduction of the total motor drive system.
Moreover, a reduction in the number of power devices provides additional benefits. For example, a power converter using fewer devices can employ a smaller heat sink for the thermal management of the power devices, fewer gate drive circuits, fewer gating power supplies, and fewer components in the drive circuits and gating power supplies. Additionally, such a power converter can employ fewer pulse width modulation (PWM) channels, due to the reduction of power devices, and has a lower control burden, as only two phases have to be controlled as opposed to three or more phases. All of these factors contribute to reducing the number of components and simplifying the microcontroller that is used to control the power converter, resulting in a large reduction in cost of the motor drive system. The principle and operation of the SRM is explained in many publications and in the book "Switched Reluctance Motor Drives," R. Krishnan, CRC Press, June 2001, which is hereby incorporated by reference. For brevity, all of this description will not be provided herein, but may be obtained by reference to the identified book.
FIG. 1 illustrates a related art TPSRM. TPSRM 100 has a stator 101 with four salient stator poles 102 and a rotor 103 with six salient rotor poles 104. Rotor 103 is mounted on a shaft 105 for rotation within stator 101, about the axis of shaft 105. Stator poles 102 are wound with concentric stator windings 106-109. The stator windings 106, 107 and 108, 109, respectively, on the diametrically opposite stator poles 102 are connected usually in series, though sometimes in parallel, and the two serially connected coils constitute a phase winding, commonly referred to as stator phase. Therefore, a four-pole stator 101 will have two phase windings or two stator phases.
A rotor normally has two poles in a TPSRM. For this description, though, TPSRM 100 has a six-pole rotor 103. This combination is referred to as a 4/6 machine, the first number denoting the number of stator poles 102 and the second number denoting the number of rotor poles 104.
FIG. 2 illustrates a graph of the flux linkages for the TPSRM illustrated by FIG. 1 plotted as a function of rotor position, using a fixed stator excitation in the phase windings. FIG. 3 illustrates a graph of the electromagnetic torque for the TPSRM illustrated by FIG. 1 plotted as a function of its rotor position, using a fixed stator excitation in the phase windings. The flux linkages are defined as the product of lines of flux that link the number of winding turns in a phase winding and have been computed here using a two-dimensional finite element analysis method. The electromagnetic torque is the torque generated in the air gap of the machine, due to the flux and current in the machine, and is computed from the flux linkages versus rotor position characteristic for a given excitation current in the phase windings.
Because of the symmetry of rotor poles 104 with respect to a set of stator poles 102, flux linkages 201 and 202 and, hence, torque characteristics 301 and 302 are symmetric, resulting in instances where torques 301 and 302 are simultaneously zero for both phases. These instances of zero torque make it difficult to start TPSRM 100, if the stand-still or start-up rotor positions correspond to them. Therefore, TPSRM 100 is inherently incapable of self-starting in both directions of rotation, if provision is not made to eliminate these simultaneous zero-torque instances.
Two-phase SRMs have been in research since 1969. Most of these TPSRMs have four stator poles and two rotor poles. In order to have any directional starting capability, these machines have had their rotor poles shaped. Such rotor pole shaping is described by Byrne et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,678.
Byrne discloses rotor pole shaping taking the form of a very extended pole arc, exceeding 100 degrees, which is unusual for an SRM and is denoted in literature as an arcuate pole. Byrne also discloses populating half of the distal end portion of the rotor poles with trapezoidal slots, for the purpose of producing a flux that is linear with angular position. This feature makes the slope of the flux with respect to the rotor position a constant, resulting in constant torque. When the slotted portion of the rotor is in alignment with the stator pole, only half the flux flows as compared to a case where the unslotted portion of the rotor is aligned with the stator pole. This is the reason why the rotor pole has an arc of greater than 100 degrees.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,747,962, 5,844,343, and 6,005,321 disclose another approach to providing TPSRMs with a self-starting capability. This approach is to have rotor poles with two steps, known as stepped rotor pole faces, so that the low or high air gap part of the rotor pole pair is close to one or the other phase's stator poles. This ensures that there is a reluctance variation available for producing electromagnetic torque. The disadvantage of such an approach is that wider rotor poles are employed, giving way to low torque density and a nonlinear relationship between the flux and rotor position. Due to the nonlinear relationship between the flux and rotor position, the TPSRM has a large torque ripple and a varying torque constant, thus making control of the machine difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,537 discloses another way to create overlapping torque in TPSRMs, which involves using pole shoes. The pole shoes provide a path for fringing flux, when both phases are excited simultaneously. The fringing flux produces starting torque when the rotor poles are completely aligned with a set of stator poles. This may be viewed as the torque due to mutual flux linkages. The pole shoes accentuate the mutual flux linkages, since the pole shoes overarch a set of stator poles and come close to the other set of poles in terms of their reach, thus facilitating a mutual coupling through a flux path. The rotor slotting is used here to provide the linear flux to rotor position relationship and not for augmenting the starting torque. Also, this technique is intended for machines having a two-to-one ratio between stator and rotor poles.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,747,962, 5,844,343, and 6,005,321 also disclose various other approaches for providing a self-starting capability, using a stepped air-gap rotor with two- or even three-phase SRMs. The second and third stator windings are called auxiliary windings. They are mainly used to augment the regular torque, or used in starting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,962 discloses that a simultaneous excitation of the two phases produces enhanced torque, both at starting and running. A control system to achieve the simultaneous excitation is presented, though this control system does not provide current profiling due to its perceived complexity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,343 discloses that an auxiliary winding is selectively utilized for starting or augmenting the torque. Stator pole shifting is also used for starting purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,321 discloses that two auxiliary windings are used to generate the starting torque. In all these approaches, three or more controllable switches are needed to realize variable speed operation of the SRM. Moreover, these stepped air gap approaches do not significantly alter the requirements of a regular two-phase SRM.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,385 discloses another approach whereby the SRM has eight stator poles and four rotor poles, and one pair of rotor poles is wider than the other. This configuration provides non-zero torque at every possible rotor position, when both phases are used to generate torque. This approach seems to exploit the earlier approaches of wider rotor poles, but only for one set of rotor poles rather than for all the rotor poles.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,046,568 and 6,051,903, issued to Pengov, disclose similar approaches whereby one set of rotor poles is wider than the other set. Pengov discloses configurations whereby both pole sets align with respective stator poles of a first phase, while at the same time the wider rotor pole set communicates with the stator poles of a second phase. These configurations provide a favorable torque generation aspect to the next or successive phase. The concept has been extended to three- and four-phase SRMs. The disadvantage of this approach is that one set of rotor poles has to be twice or more as wide as the other set of rotor poles, resulting in high rotor iron volume and weight. Thus, these approaches reduce the power density of the machine. Furthermore, these approaches complicate the control system, due to the many different modes that exist in the fluxing of the machine phases.
Some of the above described related art approaches to providing a self-starting TPSRM have an unevenness in the mechanical structure of the rotor, resulting in a non-uniform air gap when the stator and rotor poles align. These approaches are prone to normally-induced forces and, hence, may have a slightly higher acoustic noise. This is yet to be proved, but can be inferred from the electromagnetic structure and the slope of the inductance curves of the machines. Therefore, a better and improved method of producing an electromagnetic torque at all rotor positions is desirable.
All reference material cited herein is hereby incorporated into this disclosure by reference.

PMBDCM and two phase SRM motor, two phase SRM rotor and stator, and coil wrap for PMBDCM and SRM motors

Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.


A vehicle seat including: a seat component including, a cushion material forming an outer shape of the vehicle seat, a plurality of groove parts formed to the cushion material and intersecting each other, a corner part formed by intersection of the plurality of groove parts, and a skin material covering the cushion material, wherein the skin material covers the cushion material while a portion of the skin material is engaged inside the plurality of groove parts in a pulled state, wherein the cushion material includes a protruding portion protruding from an external portion of the corner part, and wherein the protruding portion covers the external portion of the corner part and shrinks toward the external portion of the corner part by a pressing force of the skin material engaged inside the plurality of groove parts in the pulled state.

As an example of such a vehicle seat, related-art shows a vehicle seat including a seat cushion and a seat back (see, JP-A-2007-20636).
In the related-art, the seat cushion includes a cushion material forming an outer shape of the seat and a skin material covering the cushion material. The cushion material is formed with a plurality of groove parts (first groove part, second groove part) into which a portion of the skin material can be fitted in a pulled state. The first groove part extends in a width direction of the seat. Further, the second groove part extends in a front-rear direction of the seat and is configured to intersect perpendicularly with the first groove part.
Further, in the related-art, it is possible to prevent a portion of the skin material from being fallen out by setting a width dimension at an entry portion of each groove part smaller than the width dimension at an inner side thereof. By doing so, the cushion material is covered with the skin material while stably engaging a portion of the skin material in the plurality of groove parts.
Further, linear design lines are exhibited on the surface of the seat cushion by fitting the skin material in the cushion material. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain a vehicle seat having an excellent design.


The homepage creation and update program allows the user to perform only selection of desired images and indication of beginning of homepage creation process to automatically create a homepage easily. The homepage creation and update program possesses a function of displaying plural stored images and allowing the user to select desired images, a function of allowing the user to indicate beginning of the homepage creation process, and a function of automatically creating or updating a homepage using the selected images after the user selects desired images and then indicates beginning of the homepage creation process. The homepage creation and update program allow a computer to execute these functions, so that the user performs only selection of desired images and indication of homepage creation to acquire an automatically or semiautomatically created or updated homepage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a homepage creation and update program, and more particularly to a homepage creation and update program capable of automatically or semiautomatically creating or updating homepages easily.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, when operating a personal computer to create a desired homepage, users have been required to have a knowledge of JavaScript, HTML language or the like for homepage creation. Therefore, it is not easy for users to create or update their homepages. Recently, software to aid in homepage creation is released, allowing limited users to create their homepages and open them in a network.
However, even if users employ conventional software to aid in homepage creation, there remain difficulties in operation from starting up a homepage creation software system to creating a homepage, and a large number of steps from completion to registration of a homepage. For these reasons, common users have not been able to create their homepages easily.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a homepage creation and update program, which does not require a knowledge of HTML, and are capable of automatically or semiautomatically creating or updating homepages, allowing users to only select desired images and indicate homepage creation on an image viewer screen, which displays plural image files and buttons indicating uses of the image files.


A method of increasing the shelf life of a sterilant mixture of ethylene oxide and one or more halocarbons when the mixture is in contact with iron oxide on the surface of a storage vessel. Sufficient carbon dioxide is added to the mixture to reduce the reactivity of the iron oxide for converting ethylene oxide to reaction products of ethylene oxide. In an alternate embodiment, a hollow carbon steel vessel which holds a mixture of ethylene oxide and a halocarbon as a sterilizing gas has its inside surface passivated by forming a reaction product of iron oxide and carbon dioxide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of sterilizing gases and more particularly to sterilization based on the use of ethylene oxide.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to sterilize articles by the application of boiling water or steam to the article to be sterilized. However, in the field of medicine among others, there is a need to employ sterilant compositions because many articles cannot withstand the temperature or moisture associated with steam sterilization. Sterilization with a germicidal agent, such as ethylene oxide gas or ethylene oxide containing gas mixtures has played an important role in sterilizing heat or moisture sensitive materials. Ethylene oxide is a widely used sterilant since it is both an inherently effective sterilant and its residues rapidly volatize from the article to be sterilized. Although ethylene oxide alone may be used to carry out sterilization, this is not done because ethylene oxide is a highly flammable gas. Ethylene oxide forms explosive mixtures in air from about 3.0 volume percent to 100 volume percent ethylene oxide. Thus, when ethylene oxide is used alone as a sterilizing gas, precautions such as explosion proof equipment are necessary. Therefore, ethylene oxide sterilant is generally used in a mixture with a flame retardant. Gaseous sterilization of reuseable medical and surgical equipment using a nonflammable mixture of ethylene oxide and a carrier gas has proven to be reliable, cost effective technology for many hospitals. The flame retardant component, must complement the properties of the ethylene oxide or the beneficial effects of the ethylene oxide will be lost. Inert carrier gases inhibit the flammability of ethylene oxide and provide sufficient autogeneous vapor pressure to deliver the liquid mixture from the source cylinder to the heat exchanger of the sterilizer vessel where the liquid mixture is vaporized. The most typical flame retardant chosen for use with ethylene oxide in a sterilant mixture has been dichlorodifluoromethane which known in the industry as CFC-12. The most commonly used sterilant mixture is a mixture of 12 weight percent ethylene oxide and 88 weight percent CFC-12. This mixture is commonly referred to in the industry as 12-88. In recent years CFC-12 has become undesirable since it is a chlorofluorocarbon which is believed to cause significant damage to the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere. Accordingly, worldwide reduction and elimination of the use of CFC-12 is now underway. This has created a problem for the use of ethylene oxide as a sterilant. Another flame retardant which is known for use with ethylene oxide is carbon dioxide. However a nonflammable ethylene oxide/carbon dioxide mixture contains less than 40 percent of the ethylene oxide per unit volume as does 12-88. Thus, sterilization must be carried out either at higher pressures or for longer contact times. Furthermore the large difference in the vapor pressures of ethylene oxide and carbon dioxide causes the mixture to separate as it is being withdrawn from the storage tank or cylinder, raising the danger of delivering a sterilant mixture rich in carbon dioxide, which will not sterilize, or rich in ethylene oxide, which is explosive.
As a result, improved sterilant mixtures employing ethylene oxide and other flame retardant halocarbons have been developed. These are exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,342,579; 5,376,333 and 5,039,485 which are incorporated herein by reference. Although the major purpose of the inert carrier gas component in these sterilizing gas mixtures is to mask the flammability characteristics of ethylene oxide, simple substitution of an arbitrary nonflammable gas does not necessarily ensure a useful sterilizing gas mixture.
Almost universally, sterilant mixtures employing ethylene oxide and a flame retardant halocarbon are produced in manufacturing facilities whose piping and other vessels comprises carbon steel. In addition, the sterilant mixture is stored, transported and used in refillable pressurized cylinders comprising carbon steel. Unfortunately carbon steel eventually degrades to iron oxide. It has been found that this iron oxide, in both its alpha and gamma forms, assists in the degradation of ethylene oxide to reaction products of ethylene oxide such as acetaldehyde, ethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol and other reaction products. These reaction products form oils, contaminate the sterilant mixture, stain medical devices, clog lines and tubing and render the sterilant mixture unusable. Shelf life of the mixture is only a few months at best. It has now been unexpectedly found that when the surface of the vessels in contact with the sterilant mixture has been treated by exposure to carbon dioxide, the shelf life is extended. There is a substantial decrease in the production of ethylene oxide reaction products and the sterilant mixture has a substantially extended shelflife. In another embodiment of the invention, carbon dioxide gas is intimately admixed with the ethylene oxide and hydrohalocarbon. The carbon dioxide contained in this latter mixture achieves the iron oxide passivation in the vessel, avoids subsequent fouling, yet the overall mixture retains its favorable sterilizing, non-explosive and flame retardancy properties. This result using ethylene oxide, halocarbon and carbon dioxide is surprising since, the use of carbon dioxide in sterilant atmospheres had been shown to be a polymerization promoter. Tests have demonstrated polymer growth rates from ethylene oxides to be ten to twenty times faster in the presence of carbon dioxide than CFC-12. See Conviser, Stephen A., "Hospital Sterilization Using Ethylene Oxide--What's Next?", Journal of Healthcare Materiel Management, July 1989.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved ethylene oxide/hydrohalocarbon sterilant mixture which has a substantially reduced production of unwanted reaction products of ethylene oxide. Additionally, sterilization is carried out with the composition of this invention at acceptable pressures and contact times and without unacceptable mixture separation upon withdrawal from the storage cylinder.

Shelf life improvement for ethylene oxide sterilant mixes