The invention relates to a method for producing a cast component, particularly a gas turbine component, by casting. According to the invention, the method comprises at least the following steps: a) preparing a melting crucible; b) preparing a semifinished granular material from an intermetallic titanium/aluminum material; c) filling the melting crucible with the semifinished granular material, whereby the quantity of the semifinished granular material placed inside the melting crucible corresponds to the quantity necessary for casting the component; d) melting the semifinished granular material made of the intermetallic titanium/aluminum material inside the melting crucible; e) preparing a casting mold; f) pouring the melt into the casting mold; g) solidifying the melt inside the casting mold, and; h) removing the cast component from the casting mold.

The present invention relates to the production of components from an intermetallic titanium-aluminum material, in particular the production of gas turbine components, using a casting method. During casting, molds, so-called casting molds, are used, wherein the casting molds have an interior contour which corresponds to the exterior contour of the component to be produced. In principle, a distinction is made between casting methods which use lost casting molds and casting methods which use permanent casting molds. With casting methods which use lost casting molds, only one component can be produced with one casting mold. With darting methods which use permanent casting molds, the casting molds can be used multiple times. So-called precision casting, among others, belongs to the casting methods which use lost casting molds. Reference is made here to gravity casting as an example of casting methods which use permanent casting molds.
During the technical casting production of components from an intermetallic titanium-aluminum material, the procedure in accordance with prior art is that a melting crucible is filled with a semifinished material, wherein in accordance with prior art the semifinished material consists of rods of the intermetallic material which are produced from pellets of the metallic elements by arc melting or electron-beam melting. The production of these semifinished materials and thus the production of the cast component is very cost-intensive, wherein the quality of the material is very dependent on the melting technology used to provide the semifinished material. In accordance with prior art, the rod-shaped semifinished material for filling a melting crucible is broken up by spark erosion or by water jet cutting, whereby the quantity of the rod-shaped semifinished material which is placed in the melting crucible is adjusted to the dimensions of the melting crucible. This results in a cost-intensive filling of the melting crucible during the production of cast components made of intermetallic materials.
Assuming this, the present invention is based on the problem of creating a novel method of producing a cast component.


A dispenser cathode with multilayer sintered body is suggested, wherein the layers have a thickness of between 0.01 and 10 mm and have different compositions.

Dispenser cathodes are also called matrix cathodes. They consist, in general, of a dispensing body, which is pressed or sintered from a metal powder and is impregnated with the actual emission material. Metals such as tungsten, molybdenum, or chromium can be considered for use as the metal powder for the dispensing body. The use of mixtures of such metal powders has been known as well. It has been known from, e.g., German Auslegeschrift No. DE-AS 10,68,818 that the dispensing body can be built up in a layered pattern. It has been known from German Offenlegungsschrift No. DE-OS 20,48,224 that dispensing bodies can be pressed into a cavity of a cathode sleeve. The porous matrix body can be impregnated with an emission material, which consists of, e.g., BaO-CaO-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, by impregnation, melting in, or the like.
It has been found, in general, that so-called mixed metal cathodes, i.e., cathodes whose dispensing bodies are pressed and sintered from a metal powder mixture, posses improved emission properties and better current stability. The dispensing bodies of mixed metal cathodes consist, in general, of metals of a first group, such as tungsten, molybdenum, or chromium, and of metals of a second group, such as nickel (Ni), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), rhenium (Re), osmium (Os), iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt), scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), lanthanum (La), lanthanides, titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), niobium (Nb), and tantalum (Ta). A higher percentage of metals of the second group, especially a higher percentage of Os, was found to have a highly favorable effect on the stability of the emission current. However, shrinkage of the sintered body, as a result of which poor heat transmission to the cathode sleeve and undesirable evaporation of the emission material occur, was found to be disadvantageous.

Dispenser cathode and process for preparing it


The present invention offers a brace for the treatment of tennis elbow and similar muscular disorders whereby both massage therapy and the continuous application of a fluid, topical lotion is provided. The brace is attached to the arm of a wearer such that a massage ball protruding from one end of the brace is in contact with the affected area of the arm such that as the arm is moved the massage ball exerts massaging pressure on the arm while simultaneously transferring a fluid, topical lotion from a fluid reservoir to the affected area of the arm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to orthotic devices, especially as they relate to sports injuries. More particularly, the invention comprises a brace to aid in the relief of lateral epicondylitis, better known as tennis elbow, or other muscular pains, through support, pressure, massage and the application of topical lotions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Repetitive motion sports injuries have long been a problem suffered by athletes. One of the most common of sports related repetitive motion injuries is lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow. A brace is often used to help reduce the pain and swelling from these injuries, with many variations of braces having been expounded over the years.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,135, issued to Stephen R. Madow, et. al., on Aug. 29, 2000, presents an ELBOW BRACE WITH MOVABLE SUPPORT, in which a flexible lamination of Airpreene(trademark), providing heat retention, compression and breathability, lined with Coolmax(trademark), which allows wicks perspiration away from the skin, keeping the area dry. A movable support, external to the flexible lamination, provides specific pressure where needed. By contrast, the present invention provides massaging pressure by the use of a massage ball and also provides continuous application of a topical lotion from a reservoir within the brace.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,912, issued to John P. Kenney on May 16, 2000, presents an ORTHOTIC/ELECTROTHERAPY FOR TREATING CONTRACTURES DUE TO IMMOBILITY, wherein a cuff around the upper arm or leg and a cuff around the lower arm or leg are hingedly joined by rigid brace members on each side of the joint. In one embodiment, an optional electrotherapy module has electrodes in both the upper and lower cuffs to provide electrical stimulation to damaged muscles to stimulate healing. The present invention, contains no rigid brace members, but rather provides therapy through a massage ball and topical lotion applicator.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,729, issued to Min-Tseng Yu on May 2, 2000, presents an ORNAMENTAL ARTICLE FOR TRANSDERMAL DRUG DELIVERY, in which a bracelet is strung with a plurality of beads, each of which has a chamber for holding a topical medication and a plurality of discharge ports. Yu, however, provides no massage therapy, as does the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,981, issued to Tracy E. Grim, et. al., on Oct. 20, 1998, presents a RESILIENT ORTHOPAEDIC SUPPORT WITH INDEPENDENTLY STRETCHABLE LAYERS, wherein a lamination of an inner, breathable layer provides comfort for the wearer and wicks perspiration away from the body while an outer, compressive layer provides support. In the preferred embodiments, Grim includes a padded aperture in the outer, compressive layer which provides a lesser compression on the patella. Additional lateral support is provided for the knee by semi-rigid stays or hinged brace elements incorporated into the sleeve of the brace. Grim does not incorporate massage therapy, as does the present invention, nor release topical lotions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,081, issued to Donaerl B. Mann on May 7, 1996, presents an ELBOW ORTHOSIS HAVING AN INFLATABLE BLADDER SUPPORT AND METHOD OF USE, wherein a flexible, multi-layered brace element containing an inflatable bladder is fitted to a joint such that when the bladder is inflated the joint is substantially immobilized. In a second embodiment, Mann adds a rigid, angularly adjustable brace element over the flexible brace for additional support. Again, Mann does not provide massage therapy or a lotion applicator, as does the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,913, issued to Franklin H. Nyi on Nov. 12, 1991, presents an ELBOW BRACE AND METHOD FOR PREVENTING OR ATTENUATING TENNIS ELBOW, in which a tubular elastic sleeve member is fitted over the elbow joint to provide constrictive support to the elbow. Incorporated into the material of the elastic sleeve member are two donut shaped shock absorbing elements designed to fit over the medial epicondyle and the lateral epicondyle of the humerous. Additionally, a tubular pressure transmitting element is positioned to contact the extensor digitorum muscle while a second tubular pressure transmitting element is positioned to contact the tendon of the triceps brachii. While Nyi does provide massage action through the pressure transmitting elements, it does not provide active rolling or massage therapy by its fixed tubular device or provide means for the continuous application of a topical lotion, as does the present invention.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
Lateral epicondylitis, better known as tennis elbow, is a common complaint not only among tennis players, but others, as well. The pain of this ailment and other muscular pains can often be relieved by massage therapy and the application of topical lotions or salves. The present invention presents a brace which provides the desired massage and accupressure therapy and continuous application of a topical lotion or salve.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an elbow brace which provides massage and pressure therapy to the affected area.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an elbow brace which continuously applies a topical lotion or salve.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an elbow brace which supports the forearm.
An additional object of the invention is to provide an elbow brace which is easy to wear.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

Elbow brace with massage ball and topical product dispenser


The personalized memorial display provides an aesthetically pleasant means for celebrating the life of an individual at their respective final resting place. The apparatus includes a human-shaped body, a structurally rigid support, a backing, a glazing, and a customized etching. The customized etching is a personalized statement regarding the passed individual that is imprinted into the glazing in order to preserve the memory of said individual for as long as the memorial stands. The glazing is held within the body and covered and supported by the backing, ensuring longevity of the glazing and thus the memory of the departed. The body is raised above the ground and supported by the rigid support. The apparatus acts as a permanent memorial to the memory of an individual.

Whenever a person dies, there is always a great amount of grief and sadness that is experience by those who were close to the passed person. Such grief and sadness subsides over time, however there are some therapeutic actions which can help to ease the transition out of mourning for those that were close to someone who has passed away. These therapeutic actions include for example, visiting the person's grave site and placing flowers, placing other objects such as balloons or wreaths at the grave site, and creating small memorials or temporary shrines to those who have been lost. Such small memorials and shrines are especially common when a tragedy occurs that unexpectedly claims the lives of many people, both young and old. Some memorials are often set up at or near the site of the tragedy, and are visited by many people who wish to mourn those that have died. Unfortunately, such memorials are often very temporary and must eventually be removed such that normal life may continue on. The removal of the memorial can sometimes happen too soon for those who have not completed grieving. Of course, those who still wish to mourn may visit the grave site of their loved ones. Grave sites are almost always located in cemeteries which can often be dark and foreboding places, especially for young children who may be easily unsettled in the presence of so many graves.
It is the object of the present invention to create a memorial display figure which serves as a visual memorial to help those grieving come to terms with the loss of their loved ones. The memorial is a permanent positive expression of a lost loved one. The memorial allows a community to express compassion for those who are grieving due to their recent loss. This memorial also gives the living a venue to express their loss by having a forum to express what the loved one meant to them. Far too often we see make shift memorials of crosses, flowers, and stuffed teddy bears, but we don't know anything about the person. We may wonder who were they, were they young or old, did they have children, did they live nearby, where did they go to school. So many questions, but no answers. We only know that someone has pasted. This invention allows for that information to be shared. The memorial display figure is intended to allow people to memorialize their loved ones in an alternative way to visiting a permanent grave site. Additionally, the present invention can be very useful for people who have moved far away from the grave of their lost loved ones and as a result, cannot visit the grave as often as they may want to. The present invention may also serve well in impromptu memorials for those that have been claimed by tragedies to allow the community to mourn. This memorial acts as a broad board to communicate the passing of a person. It is a further object of the present invention to allow for the creation of memorial parks which may serve as an alternative to cemeteries as a place for people to go to mourn their lost loved ones. Such a memorial park may be a bright and beautiful place, complete with playgrounds and swings amid the memorials to help families to mourn their loss through a colorful environment that depicts a pleasant story line through visual scenic display of relative activities that the deceased may have enjoyed. It is a visual expression of love for a loss one.
Not only is the present invention a memorial display, it can also be used as a celebratory expression or celebratory display.


A process and apparatus is disclosed for the biological treatment, in particular composting, of biogenic and abiogenic substances and/or mixtures of substances in a compost pile in the presence of biologically active components such as microorganisms. The process occurs in a closed reactor having a plurality of reactor zones, namely the compost pile itself and at least one reactor gas space adjacent to the compost pile. Rotting conditions, changes in rotting conditions and/or process parameters in the compost pile are adjusted, maintained, controlled or regulated, steady-state, quasi-steady-state and/or non-steady-state operation of the reactor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for the biological treatment, in particular composting, of biogenic and abiogenic substances and/or mixture of substances in a clamp in the presence of biologically active components, in particular microorganisms, in a closed reactor having a plurality of reactor zones.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such processes and plants are known, for example as industrial composting processes and composting plants in a very wide range of embodiments. The rotting, i.e. composting, of biogenic organic and abiogenic substances under aerobic conditions results in the formation of heat and metabolic gases which have to be removed via aeration (ventilation) systems. Usually, fresh air flows through the rotting mixture and the corresponding waste air is blown out. Oxygen is introduced in an uncontrolled manner with the fresh air supply, and moisture and heat are removed with the waste air. Gas, humidity and/or temperature gradients result which cannot be influenced and, owing to the network of operating and process parameters, are suitable only for describing the process.
Thus, important process aims cannot be achieved by means of these conventional aeration systems. If water discharge is desired, heat is thus simultaneously removed in an uncontrolled manner. Thus, on the one hand the desired moisture contents cannot be maintained and on the other hand important predetermined temperatures for the development of mesophilic and thermophilic microflora cannot be independently controlled. It is also not possible to influence the microbial conversion of substances by means of a defined oxygen feed. The deficiencies of the current process controls are evident in the problem of establishing reproducible and specific conditions in the medium, for example in the formation of excessively high temperature plateaus in certain treatment phases, in an undesired dry stabilization of the rotting material and in an unsatisfactory conversion. The discharge of odoriferous substances and production condensate, which necessitate additional treatment means, are further aspects. Since the key parameters of the biological process control, the oxygen supply, the temperature and the moisture content, can be only inadequately maintained, no improvement in the rotting process is achieved even by connecting separate reactors to a central air preparation means, especially since the contents of the reactors exhibit different degrees of rotting and are supplied with identical air quality and quantity of air.
A basic aspect in the further development of the composting process is to improve the unsatisfactory and incorrect use of the potential performance of specific microflora, to remedy the inevitably poor reproducibility of desired qualities as defined by the quality guidelines for composts and/or to prevent the formation of pockets of harmful flora in composts and to prevent their secondary products and to improve the cost-efficiency of the rotting process by optimum process control. The risks of possible harmful effects in the diversified use of composts are otherwise incalculable and are unacceptable against the background of product liability.
DE-40 21 868 A1 - HERHOF - discloses a process for the composting of wastes. The material to be rotted is introduced into a closed container and microbially degraded with a supply of air. To start the composting rapidly and reliably, the waste air emerging from the rotting material is recycled to the rotting material during the initial phase. This air circulation phase is discontinued as soon as the oxygen content falls below 18%. The air circulation system described in this publication serves for conserving the biogenically formed heat, especially in winter.
DE-40 21 865 A1 - BERHOF - likewise describes a process and an apparatus for composting wastes with air circulation. The air circulation serves for maintaining hygienic conditions over a period of 5 days. It is started only after the degradation of the readily degradable components because the biogenic heat formation in the vigorous initial phase of the treatment then cannot be controlled by the system described if it is used for regulating the gas balance. Cooling can be achieved only by means of the fresh air supply as part of an undefined set of parameters.
Finally, DE-40 08 104 A1 - WIENECKE - describes a composting system which is suitable only for small containers since the aeration employs only convection. Control of microbial conversion is not possible.
In the case of these composting plants which have already been realized in practice (DE 40 21 868 A1; DE 40 21 865 A1; DE 40 08 104 A1), the air circulations described are those which are conceptually derived from process engineering which operates only with fresh air and which (from a lack of knowledge) does not utilize the possibilities offered by predetermined climatic conditions. Thus, importance is preferably attached to optimum oxygen supply (21%) in the gas phase, which supply can be achieved with a relatively low air throughput per unit volume and unit time. Frequently, the process relies on the carbon dioxide concentration as a control parameter, which is nonsense in the case of rotting mixtures whose pH is above 7. The attempt to achieve temperature plateaus which are as high as possible rules out the desire to regulate the temperature in the rotting mass to the biologically required conditions for desired conversions as an indispensable condition. However, where this route is adopted, it is found that the air throughput rates are set much too low to create homogeneous conditions in the substrate.
The composting plant stated at the outset is disclosed in DE 40 34 400 A1 or the corresponding WO 92/07807 - GRABBE. In order to avoid repetitions, this document is hereby incorporated by reference. It describes a process for the biotechnological treatment of a mixture of residues, preferably in the form of a clamp, by a microbial conversion process in a closed system which is suitable in particular for the production of compost. Here, physical, chemical and biological process parameters are included in the process control and together tailored to the microbial conversion required for this purpose in each case, with optimization of the hygienization, odor elimination and continuous humus formation of the mixture of residues. For this purpose, the mixture of residues is subjected to two different aeration methods or a mixed form of these two aeration methods. In one aeration method, air is passed through the mixture of residue. In the second aeration method, on the other hand, the air is passed along above the mixture of residues. In order to establish desired temperature conditions, humidity conditions and/or oxygen/carbon dioxide ratios, in particular profiles, in the mixture of residues, the two aeration methods are adapted to one another in such a way that variable mixing ratios between 0 and 100% can be generated from the circulated air volume flow rate. The means for aeration are in each case fans, one fan passing the air along above the mixture of residues and a second fan blowing the air through the mixture of residues.
The process described in the last-mentioned publications (DE 40 34 400 A1, WO 92 07807) usually operates successfully. However, problems may occur when the density of the mixture being rotted hinders flow through the mixture. In the limiting case where the mixture being rotted is impermeable to air, the fan provided for ensuring flow through the mixture merely builds up a static pressure under the clamp without it being possible to cause the air to flow, not even when both fans are running, i.e. the fan provided for ensuring flow over the clamp supports the fan provided for ensuring flow through the clamp, in that the air passing along the top of the clamp has a certain suction action on the clamp. Although both fans are running, only the air flowing over the clamp causes a certain air circulation in the system.
Further patent applications of the applicant (German patent applications with application numbers P 42 15 269.0-41 and P 42 15 267.4 and PCT applications with the application numbers PCT/EP93/01142 and PCT/EP93/01143), which have not yet been laid open, describe variable air circulation systems in closed rotting means for compost production, which eliminate the obvious disadvantages of the conventional systems. They additionally have the advantage that the relevant process parameters can be controlled independently of one another and can be combined in a suitable manner for optimizing the process control. In contrast, these parameters mutually influence each other in the conventional systems and hinder the biological process. The disclosure content of the above patent applications is hereby expressly also declared to be part of the description of the present application.

Apparatus for the biological treatment of substances and/or mixtures of substances in closed rotting reactors


The present invention relates to a hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) system comprising an X-ray source providing a beam of photons which is directed through the system so as to excite electrons from an illuminated sample. An X-ray tube is connected to a monochromator vacuum chamber in which a crystal is configured to monochromatize and focus the beam onto an illuminated sample. A hemispherical electron energy analyser is mounted onto the analysis chamber. An air gap is provided between the X-ray tube and the monochromator chamber, which air gap is provided with a first radiation trap to shield the ambient air from the radiation when the air gap is illuminated with X-rays from the source.

To date, the majority of HAXPES experiments for different scientific and industrial purposes have been conducted on the approximately only 20 existing beamlines situated at synchrotrons worldwide. These few synchrotrons around the world are very large-scale facilities and belong to national laboratories. The small number of available beamlines and related instrumentation, the significant costs for operating them and associated access limitations, have restricted the amount of output and development efforts of the HAXPES technique. The main reason for HAXPES being confined to synchrotrons is the dramatic decrease in photo-ionisation cross sections with an increase in X-ray energy. In order to counteract said decrease in photo-ionisation, highest possible X-ray intensities combined with highly efficient photoelectron analysers with, in relative terms, very large acceptance angles are necessary.
Even though HAXPES is also afflicted with certain limitations, just as all other experimental techniques, there is a strong motivation to pursue this technique, including the ability to study bulk materials, buried layers and interfaces, and samples without any need of surface preparation. These measurements are enabled by the increase in information-depth with increasing photon energy.
The previously mentioned lack of wide ranging access to HAXPES facilities combined with a large number of potential applications is a strong motivation to develop the laboratory-based HAXPES system here described. Up to now, the development of laboratory systems has been impeded particularly by the limited availability of high intensity, monochromated X-ray sources and large angle, high-energy analysers. Therefore, only a very small number of systems have been developed so far, and then with a significantly lower maximum photon energy of 5.4 keV (Cr Kα).
In addition to the much higher photon energy, the laboratory-based HAXPES system according to the present invention comprises three separate vacuum chambers: 1) a monochromator chamber housing a monochromating crystal, 2) an X-ray tube housing an electron gun and a jet of liquid Gallium, and 3) an analysis chamber housing the photo-electron energy analyser and a fast-entry load lock in which the sample to be analysed is introduced into the vacuum system.
Since the demands of the vacuum systems in the three separate vacuum chambers is different, in theory it would be preferable to separate them. However, such a separation of the vacuum chambers inevitably leads to an increased risk of X-rays radiation leaks, which could be of a harmful nature if not duly controlled. Furthermore, the separation of the vacuum systems must still allow for a motion of the constituting parts relative to each other, as the high photon energy puts severe demands on the precision of the parts position in order to fulfil the diffraction condition required by the monochromator crystal. This requirement of motion of the constituting parts relative to each other even further accentuates the risk for radiation leakage, which as mentioned may be potentially harmful at certain levels.
The varying demands of the vacuum systems are mainly caused by the cleanliness offered by the different vacuum levels. In the sample environment, an ultra-high vacuum level is required to keep the sample clean, whereas in the monochromator chamber it is sufficient to maintain a high-vacuum level to avoid absorption of the X-rays by the residual gas. In the X-ray tube, a high vacuum level is also necessary for safe operation of the electron gun, which generates electrons that hits the liquid Ga, thereby generating X-rays. The separation of the X-ray tube is also needed to avoid Ga contamination in the other vacuum systems. It is also of importance to be able to optimize the X-ray tube position relative to the monochromator crystal as well as to be able to move the monochromator in unison with the X-ray tube relative to the analysis chamber and electron analyser.
As mentioned initially, prior to the laboratory-based HAXPES system here described, synchrotron light sources have been in use to create X-rays for photo-electron spectroscopy experiments at the same high excitation energies. Such experiments are normally placed in a separate room, not accessible during experiments due to the harmful radiation levels. Experiment control is therefore normally made remotely. Other types of equipment in which these high excitation energies typically are used are in X-ray diffractometers. This types of experiments are normally enclosed in a cabinet, housing all instrumentation and by its size and thickness forming the actual radiation protection.
For a compact, laboratory-based system, bulky and expensive arrangements for protection from radiation leakage and, therefore, complex operation of the HAXPES system, is not viable. All movements would have to be motorized and several cameras would have to be installed to be able to control and optimize the system without hands-on access. There are a number of restrictions on the permitted motion and if the movement of the parts were to be motorized, a quite complex system of motors and limit switches would result; thereby making it unpractical to use and most likely prohibitively expensive given the up to 12 degrees of freedom provided in the HAXPES system. Due to the combination of high excitation energies and the required high level of precision in the X-ray optics, a direct hand-to-eye correlation is considered necessary in order to set the optics correctly and achieve the correct energy resolution at maximum radiation flux.
Thus, there is a need to address the difficulties in HAXPES system design associated with relative movements of vacuum chambers, simplicity in operation, precision in setting the optical equipment, accessibility and space requirements. Last by most importantly, the system needs to be in full compliance with applicable safety regulations to avoid radiation leakage, since hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy utilizes X-rays of high photon energies to excite photo-electrons from the sample under investigation.
The present application utilises an electron gun that excites the Gallium is running at 70 kV, which also creates dangerous radiation that easily penetrates most materials. Prior art systems for HAXPES have been running at significantly lower energies and thus, radiation has not been any major issue. At excitation energies up to 30 kV, which is used for Cr Kα-based systems, only a few millimetres of steel will block the radiation. However, to block radiation created by 70 kV electrons, rather centimetres than millimetres of steel thickness is needed.

Hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy arrangement and system


A method for fabricating a thin film transistor (TFT) is provided. The method includes steps of a) providing an insulation substrate, b) forming a conductive layer on the insulation substrate, c) defining the conductive layer as a gate conducting structure by a first photolithography and etch process, d) forming a gate insulation layer, a channel layer, a junction layer, a source/drain layer and a data line layer in sequence, and etching the data line layer, the source/drain layer and the junction layer by a second photolithography and etch process to form a source/drain structure and a data line structure, and e) heat-treating the junction layer to reduce resistance between the source/drain structure and the channel layer.

The present invention provides a method for fabricating a thin film transistor, and more particularly to a method for fabricating a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD).
Please refer to FIGS. 1(a) to (e). For fabricating a typical TFT-LCD, five photolithography and etch processes are required. A gate conducting layer is formed on an insulating substrate 10 and a first photolithography and etch process is performed to form a gate conducting structure 11, as shown in FIG. 1(a). A gate insulator layer 12, a channel layer 13, and an etched-stop layer are formed in sequence, and the etched-stop layer is etched by a second photolithography and etch process to form an etched-stop structure 14, as shown in FIG. 1(b). In addition, a source/drain layer and a data line layer are formed in sequence, and a third photolithography and etch process is performed to form a source/drain structure 15 and a data line structure 16, as shown in FIG. 1(c). A passivation 17 is formed and a fourth photolithography and etch process is performed to define a contact window structure 18, as shown in FIG. 1(d). Finally, a transparent electrode layer is formed and a fifth photolithography and etch process is performed to form a transparent pixel electrode area 19, as shown in FIG. 1(e).
However, there is a problem that the five photolithography and etch processes are complex, time consuming and costly. Furthermore, damage due to the photolithography and etch processes may occur, thereby deteriorating reliability and yield of the fabricating process.
Therefore, the present invention provides a method for fabricating a TFT-LCD to overcome the foresaid drawbacks.
There is an object of the present invention to provide a method for fabricating a thin film transistor (TFT).
In accordance with the present invention, the method includes steps of a) providing an insulation substrate, b) forming a conductive layer on the insulation substrate, c) defining the conductive layer as a gate conducting structure by a first photolithography and etch process, d) forming a gate insulation layer, a channel layer, a junction layer, a source/drain layer and a data line layer in sequence, and etching the data line layer, the source/drain layer and the junction layer by a second photolithography and etch process to form a source/drain structure and a data line structure, and e) heat-treating the junction layer to reduce resistance between the source/drain structure and the channel layer.
Preferably, the channel layer is formed by intrinsic semiconductor, and the source/drain layer is made of highly doped semiconductor. The intrinsic semiconductor is intrinsic amorphous silicon, and the highly doped semiconductor is highly doped amorphous silicon.
Preferably, the material of the junction layer is one of a highly doped germanium layer and a highly doped silicon-germanium layer.
In addition, the junction layer has a thickness ranged from about 100 to 200 angstrom. The step of heat-treating the junction layer is an annealing process performed at 350 to 550xc2x0 C. for 2 to 4 hours.
In addition, the junction layer is a silicidable metal layer. Preferably, the silicidable metal is one selected from a group consisting of chromium, nickel and platinum. The silicidable metal layer has a thickness ranged from about 50 to 100 angstrom.
Preferably, the step of heat-treating said junction layer is an annealing process performed at 230xc2x0 C. for 1 hour.
There is another object of the present invention to provide a method for fabricating a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD)
In accordance with the present invention, the method includes steps of a) providing an insulation substrate, b) forming a conductive layer on the insulation substrate, c) defining the conductive layer as a gate conducting structure by a first photolithography and etch process, d) forming a gate insulation layer, a channel layer, a junction layer, a source/drain layer and a data line layer in sequence, and etching the data line layer, the source/drain layer and the junction layer by a second photolithography and etch process to form a source/drain structure and a data line structure, e) forming a passivation and defining a contact window on the passivation by a third photolithography and etch process, f) forming a transparent electrode layer and defining a transparent pixel electrode region by a fourth photolithography and etch process, and g) heat-treating the junction layer to reduce resistance between the source/drain structure and the channel layer.
Preferably, the channel layer is formed by intrinsic semiconductor, and the source/drain layer is formed by highly doped semiconductor. The intrinsic semiconductor is intrinsic amorphous silicon, and the highly doped semiconductor is highly doped amorphous silicon.
Preferably, the material of the junction layer is one of a highly doped germanium layer and a highly doped silicon-germanium layer.
Preferably, the junction layer has a thickness ranged from about 100 to 200 angstrom. The step of heat-treating is a first annealing process performed at 230xc2x0 C. for 1 hour. The junction layer is a silicidable metal layer having a thickness ranged from about 50 to 100 angstrom.
In accordance with the present invention, the silicidable metal is one selected from a group consisting of chromium, nickel and platinum.
In addition, the transparent pixel electrode is made of indium tin oxide. Furthermore, the first annealing process is combined with a second annealing process performed on the indium tin oxide.
The present invention may best be understood through the following descriptions with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Method for fabricating thin film transistor


A method of handling a short message re-delivery for a network entity of a wireless communication system includes receiving a request corresponding to a transmission failure of a short message transmitted to a communication device without a Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network Number (MSISDN); generating a first correlation identification (ID) according to the request; and storing the first correlation ID with a short message service center (SMSC) address corresponding to the short message.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for a network of a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method of handling short message service (SMS) re-delivery for a network of a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A long-term evolution (LTE) system supporting the 3GPP Rel-8 standard and/or the 3GPP Rel-9 standard are developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as a successor of a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), for further enhancing performance of the UMTS to satisfy increasing needs of users. The LTE system includes a new radio interface and a new radio network architecture that provides a high data rate, low latency, packet optimization, and improved system capacity and coverage. In the LTE system, a radio access network known as an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) includes multiple evolved Node-Bs (eNBs) for communicating with multiple user equipments (UEs), and communicating with a core network including a mobility management entity (MME), a serving gateway, etc., for Non-Access Stratum (NAS) control.
A LTE-advanced (LTE-A) system, as its name implies, is an evolution of the LTE system. The LTE-A system targets faster switching between power states, improves performance at the coverage edge of an eNB, and includes advanced techniques, such as carrier aggregation (CA), coordinated multipoint transmission/reception (CoMP), UL multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), etc. For a UE and an eNB to communicate with each other in the LTE-A system, the UE and the eNB must support standards developed for the LTE-A system, such as the 3GPP Rel-10 standard or later versions.
The Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network Number (MSISDN) together with International mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) are two important numbers used for identifying a mobile subscriber. The IMSI identifies the subscriber identity module (SIM) card, and the MSISDN is used for routing calls to the user. Simply put, the MSISDN is the telephone number to the SIM card in a mobile phone. Nowadays, the number of the mobile devices significantly increases and the MSISDN may run out due to the limited digits of the MSISDN. In other words, part of the communication devices may not have the corresponded MSISDN in the near feature. Thus, how to operate the wireless communication system having the communication devices without the MSISDN becomes an important topic to be discussed.
If a short message(SM) is failed to deliver due to temporary error, e.g., the UE is un-reachable or out of memory, the short message is stored in the short message service center (SMSC) for redelivery. The HSS/HLR sets the message waiting data (MWD) which is part of message waiting indication (MWI) to associate the UE and the SMSC storing the failed SM. The MWD contains the MSISDN or IMSI of the UE and a list of SMSC address.

Method of handling a short message service re-delivery


A gating system comprising a gate, footplate, latch, c-bracket, and parallel structural members which provides infinite mounting points to connect gates to slotted floor slates with a footplate. The gating system simplifies the design, manufacture, installation, and operation of animal management.

Creating confinement area for animal production, such as those used in pork confinement barns include a vast array of designs developed throughout decades of component additions and modifications to solve the problems. The problems, such as structural failure, corrosion failure, animal control, animal entrapment, animal injury, and biosecurity issues all have driven these changes. The pen design in a particular facility is defined by floor slat slot configurations, gating lengths, post styles, feed line location, feeder size, desired animal groupings, movement options, cost, and customer preferences. With so many wants and constraints, every production barn is a custom gating system burdened with unnecessary overhead and manufacturing errors.
The hog confinement production barns, for example, have transitioned to wean-to-finish production. Therefore, the need to control very small "weaned" animals to market-weight requires alterations to pen hardware. Typically, the additional blocking components, "sometimes after thoughts", are added to either gates, t-post or square-posts preventing the small animal movement beyond and between pens.
The floor slats of a confinement building have slots that allow animal waste to transfer from the floor to a biowaste pit. The floor slats are produced in multiple configurations of width, length, number of slots, and configuration of slots. Additionally, the floor slats with unbalanced slot configurations are often installed in a particular slot stagger by alternating end-to-end orientations in the barn. There are instances of damaged floor slats being replaced with a different design, thus requiring locational attention to gating design when rebuilding a barn. Floor slats will remain the production standard for confinement floor and bio-waste management and gating hardware attachment for the foreseeable future.
The floor slat slots are also used to secure pen hardware to the floor. The pen sizes are a derivative of the barn dimensions and today's gating systems utilize large floor plates welded to t- and square-post to ensure the gating can be secured to the floor. Dill (U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,621) teaches a gating system wherein the gate panels are defined with vertical post with small mounting feet welded to the bottom. This design does not provide flexibility in mounting orientation, and this foot design is not compatible with the floor slats of the modern production barn. Gent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,695) teaches an extendable gate with slotted footplates that are sufficiently long to intercept multiple floor slat slots.
The floor slats over time experience surface wear, chips, and sagging between supporting structures. When a barn has sagging floor slats and is installing a new gating package, the onsite modifications to compensate for floor sagging add a significant cost, reduce the quality of the installation, and reduce the overall customer perception of quality.
The gates are in many forms of steel and non-steel materials; and built in vertical and horizontal dividers, sometime both in the same product assembly. The primary method of manufacturing the gates is to cut and weld components into rigid assemblies.
The current fixed-gate assembly designs require gates be supported at gate junctions or end points by a t- or square-post weldment with a large footplate to ensure sufficient length to attach to the floor slat, preferably with two fasteners. O'Connor (U.S. Pat. No. 2,745,638) teaches the requirement for posts in a gating system, wherein the gates are solid panels, specifically concrete panels. This is representative of the current hog confinement gating systems, gate panels with t-post and square post structural requirements.
Gates that swing are latched to the fixed-gate, t- or square-post using simple mechanical methods. These methods include drop rods which must be removed from the latch. Once removed, the drop rod can be dropped and end up in the biowaste pit located below the floor slats. Once dropped in the biowaste pit, the drop rod is not retrievable and is lost. Another option is a mechanical flipper lock that swings out of the way of a hinge point, referred to as a flag and pin. Once out of the way, the gate is lifted and opened. The flipper lock provides a mechanical stop to prevent the animals from lifting the gate and opening. The flipper lock must be blocked on the animal side of the gate to prevent accidental gate opening. This blocking component represents a historical modification made to maintain animal pen assignment.
Panel gates, steel or plastic, are very restrictive to air movement. Stainless steel gating is expensive and reserved for the very financially elite producers. Steel and imported galvanized gating remains a very viable and proven gating system. The gating package chosen for a barn is hardware and installation cost driven, except for very rare instances.
Pen configurations are primarily driven by the need to anchor the gates to t- and square-post to the floor slat slots at specific gate joints. Because of the many floor slat options, without knowing the exact layout of the slats, a gating installation is completely designed wrong and must be remanufactured. Furthermore, the engineering resource cost to create and recreate special assemblies can exceed the productivity value of a project.
T- and square-posts are the current method of connecting gates to the floor. Both are a vertical plate or tube welded to a large floorplate. Floorplates are commonly 8″×17″×½″ thick with multiple parallel slots which are designed to perpendicularly intersect floor slat slots. Thus, allowing for the placement of two to four floor anchoring bolt assemblies. The floorplates are laser cut and the drops are calculated in the cost as scrap. Plates are commonly manufactured from steel or stainless steel. This method means every t- and square-posts are basically custom to a barn's design. The custom nature of the current gating design places great risk on the builder to deliver a product without errors.
During installation, the most common solution to wrong fitting equipment is to cut and reweld. When this involves stainless and galvanized materials, toxic gases are emitted and rarely are workers properly equipped with the correct protective equipment. When the modifications are made to hot dipped galvanized components and assemblies, the protective coating is destroyed, and repair is expensive, inadequate or never completed. Steel gates with no coating or a low-cost paint coating are least affected by in field modifications involving cutting and rewelding.
Therefore, for all the reasons stated herein, there is a need for a more standardized, minimize part and assembly count, robust, simplified broad application installation process, bio-secure, animal well-being focused, and cost-effective gating system.
Thus, it is an object of the disclosure to eliminate the need for t- and square-posts at gate assembly joints.
Another object of the disclosure is to linearly increase the number of locations a gate can be connected to the floor slat slots.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to maintain excellent air circulation associated with non-panel gates.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that is easily cleaned, maintained, or improves the biosecurity capability.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that has no internal cavities to house disease, thus improving the biosecurity capability.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that has no sharp edges which could affect animal well-being.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that attaches to the floor and is easily cleaned improving the biosecurity capability.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that attaches to the floor and has no internal cavities to house disease, thus improving the biosecurity capability.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system which attaches to the floor and has no sharp edges which could affect animal well-being.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system wherein no component of the gating system can entrap or cause injury to the confined animal.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to simplify the installation of a gating system in new barns.
Another object of the disclosure is to simplify the installation of a gating system in old barns.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to simplify the installation of a gating system in old barns with sagging floors.
Another object of the disclosure is to eliminate over production waste associated with large footplates in a gating system.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to eliminate over production waste associated with t- and square-posts in a gating system.
Another object of the disclosure is to eliminate the need for t- and square-posts in a gating system.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to minimize manufacturing errors of a gating system.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system with reduced part variations.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system with higher and more statistically capable production methods.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system with a gate latch which cannot be opened by the confined animal.
Yet another object of the disclosure is a to provide a gating system with a gate latch that allows opening by swinging in or out at either end.
Another object of the disclosure is a gating system with a gate latch that is easily cleaned for biosecurity purposes.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that has a gate latch which is fully protected from animal contact from both sides.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that does not require removal of a drop rod to open the gate.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that has a latch which cannot be removed and strike or poke the animals.
Another object of the disclosure is to minimize the number parts and assemblies to create confinement barn gating.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system with components which are utilized in moving and stationary applications.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system with a latch that is easily assembled and disassembled.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system with a latch that is used in all animal gating systems.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system with a latch that can work with multiple materials.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system with a latch that works with multiple finish coatings.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a gate which works in any angular orientation to the floor slat slot.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a gate to floor securing method which minimizes intrusion into the pen area.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a gate to floor securing method that minimizes intrusion into walkways and alleys.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a gate to floor securing method which eliminates over production waste associated with large foot plates.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a gate to floor securing method which allows for use of multiple floor anchor bolts.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that removes the design requirement about gate joint locations.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a gate that does not have to be attached to a wall to be structurally sufficient for animal confinement.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a gate to floor attaching method which allows for vertical positioning.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a footplate that can secure a gate parallel to the floor slots.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a footplate that can secure a gate perpendicular to the floor slats.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a footplate that can secure a gate to the floor at any angle.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a singular footplate for all installation requirements for fixed gating.
Another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that comprises a singular footplate, and by its production method, does not produce scrap or use excessive amounts of material associated with over production.
Yet another object of the disclosure is to provide a gating system that does not require any additional hardware, such as a flipper, to secure a gate in the latched state.

Livestock confinement gating system and method


A multimedia terminal for processing multimedia signals having a host processor, latency, jitter insensitive and latency, jitter sensitive devices, and an isolation device between the latency and jitter insensitive devices and the latency and jitter sensitive devices operative to pass only low bandwidth signals is provided.

Multimedia terminals, such as multimedia desktop computers, consist of a variety of hardware and software modules. Hardware modules comprise physical devices, such as plug-in cards, that perform specific data and signal processing tasks, whereas software modules comprise microprocessor software code that executes either on microprocessors located on the hardware modules, or on the host microprocessor.
A typical use of a multimedia terminal is in the processing of analog and digital signals derived typically from external signal sources (e.g., a video camera), and from file servers (such files being the digitized versions of analog or digital signals). For example, a multimedia terminal might take an external analog video signal as an input, digitize it, compress it, then send it to a Network Interface Card (NIC) for transmission into a digital network (for eventual reception by another multimedia terminal that would perform the inverse operation of sending the decoded video signal to an analog television monitor).
Multimedia signals are typically high-bandwidth, and time-sensitive, in nature. For example, an increasingly popular video compression scheme is commonly known as MPEG-2 (Motion Picture Experts Group)(International Standards Organization (ISO) 13818-1). An instance of such a video compression card inside a multimedia terminal may generate a bit-rate in excess of 4,000,000 bits per second, which is a high-bandwidth signal. The signal is also time-sensitive in nature, meaning the Presentation Time Stamps (PTS) embedded in the MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS) must be processed by the terminal with a minimum amount of jitter. Jitter, in analog communication, is a distortion caused by a signal's variation from its reference timing causing errors in data transmission. This variation in amplitude, time, frequency or phase of the signal and may be caused by background noise. Jitter, causing a change in phase of the signal, delays the signal. Reducing jitter thus implies a decrease in the maximum time that the video compression card has to wait to access the terminal data bus. This time is known as bus latency.
Although various implementations of multimedia terminals exist, no architectures specifically address the need of providing low-latency and low-jitter transmissions within the terminal. The need to provide such characteristics will increase as signal bandwidths increase (as is to be expected over time). As signal bandwidths increase, there is an increase in high frequency noise which results in higher jitter and thus higher latency. For example, it is not inconceivable that very high bandwidth network connections (in excess of hundreds of mega-bits per second) will be available to the average person at home within a few short years. The provision of very high bandwidth networks will place demands on multimedia terminals and the technologies used within the terminals to facilitate the processing and transmission of multimedia signals for low-jitter and low latency transmission.
Present implementations typically place the multimedia processing devices on a main bus inside the terminal. FIG. 1, below, shows a typical implementation whereby all devices are placed on a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus 30. The PCI bus is an increasingly popular bus technology that permits the transmission of high-bandwidth signals and low-bandwidth signals. In FIG. 1, there are four devices shown connected to the PCI bus 30: a host processor 20, an auxiliary device 12, a multimedia processing device 14, and a network interface card (NIC) 16. Inside the host processor is shown a bus arbiter 18 that manages device access to the PCI bus 30.
In this example, all the devices 12, 14 and 16 communicate with the host processor 20 via the PCI bus 30 because the host processor 20 is responsible for configuring, controlling and managing the operation of the devices. Such communication signals can be low-bandwidth, or high-bandwidth in nature. For example, the auxiliary device 12 could be a video card, another type of NIC, or an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) Bus-to-PCI Bridge.
The multimedia processing device 14 shown in this example processes external multimedia signals (such as analog or digital baseband video and audio signals) using MPEG-2 compression and decompression and sends/receives MPEG-2 data to/from the NIC 16. Therefore, the multimedia processing device 14 requires low-latency and low-jitter transmission of processing signals to/from the NIC 16 via the PCI bus 30.
The auxiliary device 12 may process signals that are quite unrelated to the signals processed by the multimedia processing device 14. However, both devices share the same PCI bus 30. When the auxiliary device 12 has data to send to/from the host processor 20, it will request access to the PCI bus 30 and will be eventually granted access by the bus arbiter 18. While the auxiliary device 12 has sole use of the PCI bus 30, the mulrimedia processing device 14 must hold-off sending data because the PCI bus 30 can serve only one device at a time. This holding-off introduces latency, and consequently, signal jitter in the data to be sent to/from the host processing device 14 from/to the NIC 16.

System for isolating high-band-width signals transmitted between latency and jitter sensitive devices coupled to a secondary bus from operations on a primary bus

International Business Machines Corporation


Among other things, an integral image sensor includes a sensor surface having a surface area at which light-sensitive pixels are arranged in rows and columns. The surface area includes two or more light-sensitive subareas each of the subareas having been configured to have been diced from a wafer along two orthogonal dimensions to form a discrete image sensor. The two or more light-sensitive subareas are arranged along one of the two orthogonal dimensions. The sensor surface of the integral image sensor is flat and continuous across the two or more subareas.

This description relates to image sensors.
Individual discrete image sensors used in digital camera applications, for example, are typically obtained from a wafer on which the sensors, formed in rows and columns, are separated by dicing the wafer. In some dicing processes, slices are made in two orthogonal directions across the wafer to form saw streets between the rows and columns of sensors. Each image sensor has an array of light-sensitive pixels usually arranged in rows and columns parallel to the rows and columns along which the sensors themselves are arranged. When the sensors are formed on the wafer, subareas that do not contain light-sensitive pixels are formed between the sensors to provide space for the dicing slice or kerf to be made without damaging the sensors. To incorporate a sensor into a circuit electrical connections are made from the circuit to interconnection contacts that are typically arranged along two or more sides of the sensor.
Image sensors are sometimes used in applications that do not include lenses between the object and the sensor, for example, in contact imaging systems such as the ones described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/173,500, filed Feb. 5, 2014, and incorporated here by reference.

Image sensors comprising arrays of photosensitive elements separated by a non-photosensitive intervening region


This invention concerns a vision enhancement apparatus that improves vision for a vision-impaired user of interface equipment. Interface equipment stimulates the user's cortex, directly or indirectly, to provide artificial vision. It may include a passive sensor to acquire real-time high resolution video data representing the vicinity of the user. A sight processor to receive the acquired high resolution data and automatically: Analyze the high resolution data to extract depth of field information concerning objects of interest. Extract lower resolution data representing the vicinity of the user. And, provide both the depth of field information concerning objects of interest and the lower resolution data representing the vicinity of the user to the interface equipment to stimulate artificial vision for the user.

Many 'blind' people have partial sight of one kind or another. For instance cataracts cause sight to dim across the entire field of vision, but retinitis pigmentosa can produce tunnel vision where all peripheral vision is lost. Age related macular degeneration (AMD) causes the opposite effect, where the central region of vision becomes obscured but the peripheral vision is still available.

Vision enhancement for a vision impaired user


A pipelined microprocessor (10) and system (2) incorporating the same, utilizing combined actual branch history and speculative branch history to predict branches, is disclosed. The microprocessor (10) includes a branch target buffer, or BTB, (56) having a plurality of entries (63) that are associated with previously branching instructions. Each entry (63) has a tag field (TAG) for storing an identifier for its branching instruction based upon the logical address therefore, and a target field (TARGET) for storing the target address for the branching instruction if the branch is taken. Each entry (63) also includes a branch history field (BH), the most-recent bits of which are applied to a pattern history table, or PHT, (53) as an index thereto to retrieve a prediction for the branch. A count field (CT) is also provided with each entry (63), to count the number of positions in the branch history field (BH) that correspond to speculative history, such as may arise in closely-packed programs where multiple instances of the branching instruction are encountered before resolution of an earlier instance. Upon resolution of the branching instruction, correct predictions are indicated by decrementing the count field (CT) for its entry. Mispredictions are reflected in the BTB (56) by the corresponding entry having its count field (CT) reset to reflect that no speculative history remains, by shifting the branch history field (BH) downward, and by including the actual result of the mispredicted branch therein. This arrangement allows more actual branch history to be used in predicting the next instance of the branching instruction, while maintaining the storage requirements of the BTB (56) relatively low.

In the field of microprocessors and other programmable logic devices, many improvements have been made in recent years which have resulted in significant performance improvements. One such improvement is the implementation of pipelined architectures, in which multiple microprocessor instructions are processed simultaneously along various stages of execution, so that the processing of subsequent instructions (in program order) begins prior to the completion of earlier instructions. Because of pipelining, the effective rate at which instructions are executed by a microprocessor can approach one instruction per machine cycle in a single pipeline microprocessor, even though the processing of each individual instruction may require multiple machine cycles from fetch through execution. So-called superscalar architectures effectively have multiple pipelines operating in parallel, providing even higher theoretical performance levels.
Of course, as is well known in the art, branching instructions are commonplace in most conventional computer and microprocessor programs. Branching instructions are instructions that alter the program flow, such that the next instruction to be executed after the branching instruction is not necessarily the next instruction in program order. Branching instructions may be unconditional, such as JUMP instructions, subroutine calls, and subroutine returns. Some branching instructions are conditional, as the branch depends upon the results of a previous logical or arithmetic instruction.
Conditional branching instructions present complexity in microprocessors of pipelined architecture, because the condition upon which the branch depends is not known until execution, which may be several cycles after fetch. In these situations, the microprocessor must either cease fetching instructions after the branch until the condition is resolved, introducing a "bubble" of empty stages (i.e., potential instruction processing slots) into the pipeline, or must instead speculatively fetch an instruction (in effect guessing the condition) in order to keep the pipeline full, at a risk of having to "flush" the pipeline of its current instructions if the speculation is determined to be incorrect.
The benefit of speculative execution of instructions in keeping the pipeline full, particularly in architectures with long or multiple pipelines, typically outweighs the performance degradation of pipeline flushes, so long as the success rate of the speculative execution is reasonable. Many modern microprocessors therefore follow some type of branch prediction techniques by way of which the behavior of branching instructions may be predicted with some accuracy. One type of branch prediction is referred to as "static" prediction, as the prediction does not change over time or history. A simple static prediction approach merely predicts all branches to be "taken". An improved static branch prediction approach predicts according to branch direction, for example by predicting all branches in the forward direction to be "not taken" and predicting all backward branches (e.g., LOOP instructions in DO loops) to be "taken". Of course, unconditional branches may always be statically predicted as "taken".
Dynamic branch prediction refers to a known technique of branch prediction that uses the results of past branches to predict the result of the next branch. A simple well-known dynamic prediction technique merely uses the results of the most recent one or two conditional branching instructions to predict the direction of a current branching instruction.
A more accurate dynamic branch prediction approach predicts the direction of a branching instruction by its own branching history, as opposed to the branch results of other instructions. This approach is generally incorporated into modern microprocessors by way of a branch target buffer. A conventional branch target buffer, or BTB, is a cache-like table of entries that each store an identifier (a "tag") for recently encountered branching instructions, a branch history-related code upon which prediction is made, and a target address of the next instruction to be fetched if the branch is predicted as taken (the next sequential address being the address to be fetched for a "not taken" prediction). When a branching instruction is fetched, its address is matched against the tags in the BTB to determine if this instruction has been previously encountered; if so, the next instruction is fetched according to the prediction code indicated in the BTB for that instruction. Newly-encountered branching instructions are statically predicted, as no history is present in the BTB. Upon execution and completion of the instruction, the BTB entry is created or modified to reflect the actual result of the branching instruction, for use in the next occurrence of the instruction.
Various conventional alternative actual prediction algorithms that predict branches based upon the most recently executed branches or upon the branching history of the same instruction, are known in the art. A well-known simple prediction algorithm follows a four-state state machine model, and uses the two most recent branch events to predict whether the next occurrence will be taken or not taken. The four states are referred to as "strongly taken", "weakly taken", "weakly not taken", and "strongly not taken". A "strongly" state corresponds to the last two branches (either generally or for the particular instruction, depending upon the implementation) having been taken or not taken, as the case may be. A "weakly" state corresponds to the last two branches having differing results, with the next branch result either changing the prediction to the other result, or maintaining the prediction but in a "strongly" state.
A recent advance in branch prediction algorithms uses not only branch history results, but also branch pattern information, in generating a prediction of branch behavior. For example, a certain branch instruction may be a loop of three passes, such that its branch history will repetitively follow a pattern of taken-taken-not taken. Use of a simple two-bit, or four-state, prediction mechanism will not correctly predict the branching of this instruction, even though its behavior is entirely predictable. The well-known two-level adaptive branch prediction mechanism, described in Yeh & Patt, "Two-Level Adaptive Branch Prediction", The 24th ACM/IEEE International Symposium and Workshop on Microarchitecture, (November 1991), pp. 51-61, uses both branch history and branch pattern information to predict the results of a branching instruction. Branch prediction using the Yeh & Patt approach has been applied to microprocessor architectures using BTBs, as described in U.K. Patent Application 2 285 526, published Jul. 12, 1995.
A known limitation of branch prediction in deeply pipelined architectures arises from tight loops of program code, for example where the same branching instruction is encountered more than once within a range corresponding to the number of instructions in the pipeline. In this case, the actual branch history (and branch pattern information) that is modified upon execution and completion of the instruction is somewhat out of date, and may result in incorrect prediction of an otherwise predictable branch, because the updating of the results may not be "synchronized" with the most recent prediction of the branch result. This problem is described in International Publication No. WO 94/27210, published Nov. 24, 1994. As described in this publication, a known approach to avoid the problem of small program loops is to include "speculative branch history" information in the BTB entry for each branching instruction; the speculative branch history may be used to predict a branch if branches have been predicted for that instruction but have not yet been resolved. As described in WO 94/27210, separate fields may be provided in each BTB entry for the actual and speculative branch history information, with the actual branch history copied into the speculative branch history field upon the first speculative prediction. The use of speculative branch history in this manner permits the accurate prediction of branching patterns, even if occurring within small program loops.
According to this approach, however, a redundant copy of the actual branch history is kept in each BTB entry. For purposes of efficiency and chip area, it would be desirable to have only a single copy of the actual branch history in each BTB entry, rather than requiring additional storage area for the redundant copy. However, according to conventional techniques, a microprocessor having a single combined actual and speculative branch history field cannot recover from a misprediction if more than one speculative branch prediction is stored in this combined field. Especially as pipelines become deeper in modern microprocessors, many programs will have multiple instances of conditional branches within the pipeline at a given time, requiring the storage and use of multiple speculative branch predictions in predicting the next instance of the instruction.

Microprocessor using combined actual and speculative branch history prediction


A keyboard controller is used to drive the PDEN pins on DIMMs. A PC has a keyboard controller with a plurality of programmable input/output (I/O) pins. The state of the programmable I/O pins can be set by software. The pins are coupled to individual PDEN pins on the DIMMs. When the programmable I/O pins are activated, the PDEN pins are driven active and each DIMM outputs a signal indicating its characteristics. The signals are latched and stored for use by a memory controller.

Most computer systems (PCs) have a motherboard with a plurality of memory slots. A dynamic random access memory (DRAM), usually in the form of a single inline memory module (SIMM), can be placed into each slot to increase the memory capacity of the PC.
For example, a typical PC has four memory slots on the motherboard. Assume that each slot is filled with an 8-megabyte SIMM. Thus, the PC has a total of 32 megabytes of main memory. Alternatively, the slots could be filled with 16-megabyte SIMMs, for a total of 64 megabytes of main memory.
When turned on, a PC performs a power on self test (POST) controlled by its basic input/output system (BIOS). By performing this test, the PC can determine certain characteristics of its installed SIMMS, such as memory density. In addition, the PC tests the memory on its motherboard by writing data to memory and then reading the data to verify the memory's contents.
Recently, new storage devices called dual inline memory modules (DIMMs) have been developed. DIMMs may use synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) instead of DRAM. SDRAM, unlike DRAM, has a digital interface that controls the memory. The digital interface receives commands and then internally converts the commands into memory access cycles.
SDRAM must be initialized before it can be accessed. The BIOS, however, cannot determine whether a DIMM contains DRAM or SDRAM using standard detection algorithms. Furthermore, the BIOS cannot perform a blanket SDRAM initialization on system memory because it might violate the timing on a DRAM DIMM. Accordingly, the PC cannot easily determine the characteristics of its installed memory.
To avoid the above-described problem, DIMMs have a presence detect enable (PDEN) pin. When the PDEN pin is activated, the DIMM drives a plurality of presence detect (PD) pins with a hardwired signal indicating the characteristics of the DIMM. This signal can be latched and stored by the PC.
The PD pins, however, are likely to be multiplexed with the memory data bus or other signals in the PC. If the PDEN pin is also multiplexed, then the PDEN pin might drive the PD pins while other data was on the memory data bus. Such a situation would corrupt the data on the memory data bus.
The PC, therefore, must have individual single function pins that activate the PDEN pins on each DIMM. Unfortunately, the number of pins available on a memory or integrated controller is extremely limited by PC design constraints. Therefore, individual single function pins cannot be spared to drive the PDEN pins.
Accordingly, there is a need for a way to determine the characteristics of memory installed in a PC supporting SDRAM DIMMs. More specifically, there is a need for a way to drive a DIMM's PDEN pin without requiring the use of a individual single function pin in the memory controller.


The disclosed devices for lateral flow testing may include a receptacle for receiving bodily fluids from a patient that has a predetermined fluid volume for application to one or more lateral flow test strips. A test strip holder may be positioned to receive the predetermined fluid volume of the bodily fluids from the receptacle. Various other components, devices, and methods are also disclosed.

Peritonitis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in peritoneal dialysis ("PD") patients globally. According to the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis guidelines, peritonitis can be diagnosed when at least two of the following are present: (1) clinical features consistent with peritonitis, e.g., abdominal pain and/or cloudy dialysis effluent; (2) dialysis effluent with a white blood cell count greater than 100/μL or greater than 0.1×109/L (after a dwell time of at least two hours), with more than 50% of the white blood counts being polymorphonuclear; and (3) a positive peritoneal dialysis effluent culture.
In practice, when a patient presents in the clinic with symptoms of peritonitis, it typically takes clinicians from a couple of hours to five days to get the results of a white blood cell count and peritoneal dialysis effluent cell culture. There is also about a 10% culture-negative rate even with infections.
Once an infection diagnosis is made (without knowing the specific causative agent(s)), the nephrologist typically initiates empirical antibiotic therapy. Such therapy typically includes administering at least two different broad-spectrum antibiotics which collectively cover most of the gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, along with an anti-fungal agent to prevent secondary fungal peritonitis until the causative agent(s) and drug susceptibility tests become available.
Lateral flow tests (also commonly referred to as "lateral flow assays") to diagnose peritonitis or other conditions have been developed. Generally speaking, a lateral flow test for peritonitis or other conditions are performed by placing a bodily fluid (also referred to as an "analyte") that may contain a target substance functioning as a marker for the condition on an end of a prepared test strip, laying the test strip on a horizontal surface, and allowing the analyte to wick across the test strip via capillary action. As the fluid proceeds, if the target substance is present in the analyte, the target substance reacts with bioactive particles (also referred to as "conjugates") and the combined target substance and bioactive particles proceed along the strip as the fluid proceeds. If a sufficient amount of the target substance is present, the combined target substance and bioactive particles congregate at a test line, and an indication (e.g., a color) of the presence of the target substance appears. If there is not enough (e.g., none) of the target substance in the analyte, then the indication does not appear at the test line or the indication is faint. Regardless of whether enough of the target substance is present in the analyte, a control indication may appear at a control line when the fluid reaches the control line, to indicate that the test was successfully completed.
If insufficient analyte is applied to the strip, the fluid may not reach the control line, and no control indication will appear at the control line. Without a control indication appearing, another test may be required. If too much analyte is applied, the test may show a false positive. Additionally or alternatively, too much analyte may result in an oversaturated test strip and/or spills, which can present a hazard particularly when the analyte is a bodily fluid.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference characters and descriptions indicate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. While the example embodiments described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. However, the example embodiments described herein are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the present disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Devices and methods for lateral flow tests of bodily fluids


A delta-sigma A/D converter includes a D/A converter realized with a mixed-mode comb filter connected in a feedback loop from the output of the A/D converter to the input of the A/D converter. The D/A converter is configured to predistort a feedback signal. The converter further includes an analogue filter at the input of the A/D converter. The analogue filter is configured to cancel the predistortion of the feedback signal.

In general, radio transceivers operate in environments where interference is present. In addition to desired signals, noise and unwanted signal sources cause interference. For example, a radio transceiver may receive strong unwanted signals out of the desired signal range. These so called blocker signals must be filtered out from the received signal early in the receiver path of the transceiver. Preferably, the blocker signals should be filtered out from the received signal before analogue-to-digital conversion in order to prevent intermodulation distortion and aliasing.
Continuous-time delta-sigma or ΔΣ modulators may be used as the A/D converter of a receiver. The use of ΔΣ modulators relax the antialias filtering requirement but even with these modulators strong out-of-band signals may render the modulator unstable or at least create distortion.
Document K. Phillips et al, "A continuous-time ΔΣ modulator with increased immunity to interferers", IEEE J. of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 39, December 2004, discloses a known counter-measure against blocker signals. In the solution, the feedback signal of the ΔΣ modulator is predistorted with an analogue filter. This method is illustrated in FIG. 1. The ΔΣ-modulator comprises a forward path 100, a comparator 102, and a feedback loop 104 comprising a D/A converter 106 and an analogue high pass filter 108. Unfortunately, this method does not decrease the circuit complexity, since in order to save one filter stage in a prefilter before an A/D converter, two filter stages have to be added to the A/D converter. Additionally, the high pass filtering of the D/A converter output easily requires operational amplifiers with higher slew rate than other operational amplifiers in the modulator, thus further increasing the power consumption.

Performance of A/D converter and receiver


A downwardly sloped rain-deflecting trim molding with an attachment system that consists of two insert prongs that engage into existing camping type recreational vehicle molding rails. A concave cross-section opening from the insert prong side going inward toward the downwardly sloped rain-deflection portion, allowing clearance for the existing recreational vehicle molding attachment screws. A caulking channel between the top edge of the downwardly sloped rain-deflecting slope and the existing recreational vehicle molding. It is made by extruding poly vinyl chloride through a die cut in the shape of the rain-deflecting trim molding.

A rain-deflecting trim molding designed to deflect rooftop water away from recreational vehicle siding, preventing black streaks caused from dirty rooftop water creeping down the siding. It attaches to existing recreational vehicle molding rail by two insert prongs. A concave opening or screw clearance arch between the prongs provides space to engage the rain-deflecting trim molding without interfering with the existing recreational vehicle molding attachment screws. A caulking channel at the top of the slope on the downwardly sloping rain-deflecting trim molding provides secure attachment to the existing recreation vehicle molding after engagement of the prongs. No prior art was found in our search of patents in Class-296 Land Vehicles, Bodies & Tops.

Rain-deflecting trim molding for use on camping type recreational vehicles


A Carbon NanoTube (CNT) composite electrode includes a lower electrode having a through-hole formed therein, and configured to be attached to the skin of a subject body to detect a biosignal, an upper electrode provided on one surface of the lower electrode to form an enclosed space between the lower electrode and the upper electrode, and configured to receive the biosignal detected by the lower electrode, and an air discharge portion formed in at least one of the lower electrode and the upper electrode, and discharging air present in the enclosed space and the through-hole externally so as to be configured to allow the upper electrode and the lower electrode to be attached to the skin of the subject body via vacuum suction.

The present disclosure relates to a carbon nanotube (CNT) composite electrode using vacuum suction.
The present disclosure has been derived from research [Assignment Management number: 1711055214, title: energy harvesting for wearable device and wireless power transmitting technique] conducted as part of a research development high quality man resource support project by the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Promotion and the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea.
An electrode attached to a body is commonly used for measuring various electrical signals generated from a body such as an electrocardiogram (ECG), an electromyograph (EMG), bio-impedance, and the like.
Such an electrode is usually divided into one of a wet-type electrode or a dry-type electrode.
Typically, there is provided a disposable wet-type Ag/AgCl electrode containing hydrogel and an adhesive material. The disposable wet-type Ag/AgCl electrode is most often used for measuring a biosignal due to ease of attachment to the body of a patient and high electrical properties. However, it is difficult to measure a biosignal for an elongated period of time because electrical characteristics may be changed over time and a problematic reaction, such as an allergic reaction, may be caused during measurement for an elongated period of time.
A dry-type electrode is fixed to a body using a separate tool such as a band, or an electrode is fixed to the skin of a user using a clamping shape or an adsorption method. However, since a volume of an electrode may be significantly large, movement in an attached state may be significantly limited.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Carbon nanotube composite electrode using vacuum suction

Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Chosun University


The present invention is a mechanical oscillator for detection and measurement of corrosive foreign materials. The elements include a mechanical oscillator that is mechanically excited, wherein the mechanical oscillator has a resonant frequency, f, and a quality factor, Q. A fuse fixed to the oscillator to change oscillator amplitude to and from essentially zero to resonance amplitude. In a preferred embodiment, the mechanical oscillator has the shape of a tuning fork where one region is compatible with the service fluid and the other region is incompatible with the service fluid or other contaminant. The sensor alarms when a measured amount of the incompatible material has been removed or the physical strength of the material has been compromised.

The present invention relates to the detection and measurement of corrosive or foreign materials. The invention may be applied generally to the detection of metal-loss by corrosion and/or erosion species in single or multiphase fluids. In particular, the present invention relates to the on-stream detection of metal-loss corrosion and/or erosion during an industrial production process. In other embodiments, the invention may be used to detect unwanted contaminants in an industrial process stream. The actual service environment may be aqueous, hydrocarbon, chemical, or a combination thereof.
Corrosive species involved in the production and processing of crude oil and hydrocarbons may cause metal-loss corrosion of production, transfer, storage, and processing equipment. Other types of corrosion degradation may also occur which do not result in metal loss but which nonetheless affect the integrity of the material of construction. Erosive species typically involve fluid and/or solids turbulence causing metal loss from mechanical actions rather than chemical. For example, these corrosive/erosive species may be hydrocarbon, hydrocarbon containing materials, or aqueous, or combinations thereof. Moreover, streams may be single or multi-phase (solids, liquids, gases). The device of the instant invention can be used to generate an alarm based on remaining metal thickness or mechanical integrity of pressure a boundary thereby enabling maintenance scheduling.
A high performance, relatively low-cost detection of a predetermined amount of material loss or material degradation, as in the instant invention, would enable, for example, optimization utilization of corrosive crudes and corrosion inhibitor additions, and reductions in unplanned capacity loss, turnaround time, and inspection costs due to corrosion-induced equipment failures. For example, the instant invention would provide a direct, low-cost alarm when the corrosion allowance of the process containment has been expended. Additional value is achievable with the instant invention by the detection of tramp materials in a process stream which may be corrosive or problematic for the industrial production process. Further value is achievable with the application to monitoring metal-loss corrosion in equipment used for the extraction of crude oil from subsurface and sub sea deposits. Other operating modes are described where the instant invention can be configured as a pressure or temperature alarm. In these and other services, a by-product of the corrosion is scale or other depositions that are adherent to the containment surface. A feature of the instant invention is that the metal loss measurement is not compromised by these non-metallic depositions.
Current corrosion sensing technologies, for example electrical resistance probes, fall far short of the performance level required to achieve the economic incentives described above. Their shortcoming is that the probes' inherent signal variability caused by thermal changes, conductive deposits, and other factors that affect electrical resistance make them intrinsically unsuitable to provide a quantitative indication of material lost from corrosion/erosion. While conventional electrical resistance probes are based on understood theoretical principles, these probes often provide low reliability and poor sensitivity to corrosion rates due to limitations in their design and manufacture. The typical output is often difficult for estimating a quantitative corrosion rate. Another technology that may be used for this application for the material loss application is known as the corrosion the coupon. In this case, a coupon fabricated from the material of interest is inserted into the process stream. At a predetermined time, it is removed and examined and/or weighed to assess the amount of material that has been lost. A significant drawback of this approach is the safety implication of inserting or removing a coupon from an operating high temperature and/or high pressure industrial process. Another drawback of the current technology is the time lag necessary to adequately detect and verify a change in corrosion rates which can then subject the equipment being monitored to an unnecessarily extended period of high corrosion rates before corrective measures can be implemented.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,928,877 and US application 2006/0037399 both employ resonators and teach a relationship between the resonance frequency and mass change. The relationship taught by the prior art applies the well-known formulae relating oscillator mass to it resonance parameters. In particular, the prior art monitors frequency and Q. A deficiency in the prior art is that a quantitative relationship is not established between the material loss, corrosion product deposition and the resonance parameters of amplitude, frequency, and Q. The instant invention teaches away from the prior art by employing a binary monitoring of the oscillator amplitude or frequency. Continuous trending is not required. Clearly this finding is not obvious in light of the teachings of the prior art. In one embodiment, the instant invention has utilized that the oscillator can be immobilized by a fusing link.
The focus of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,928,877 and 2006/0037399 is to provide a quantitative estimate of mass loss or deposition. Essentially, both provide an alarming function. The instant invention also provides an alarming function. Unlike the prior art where it is difficult to calibrate and predetermine the range for the alarm trigger, the instant invention has no such ambiguity. Once the fusing element is removed or broken, the instant invention goes into alarm mode. It is not necessary to estimate a range over which this alarm mode may initiate because the precise dimensions of the fused-element are known at the time of fabrication. In 2006/0037399 one approach to alarming is achieved by fabricating a hollow resonator. Then depending on the service, the alarming is achieved by filling or emptying the hollow space when the shell of the resonator holes through. Not only is this fabrication more complicated than the instant invention, but it does not provide a procedure to precisely predetermine the change in resonance parameters or to provide an exact measure of the material loss to achieve the alarm threshold. For the instant invention, the change in resonance parameters coincident with the detection threshold are abrupt.

Mechanical oscillator activated or deactivated by a predetermined condition

Exxonmobil Research and Engineering Company