A compressible sleeve for fitting around the shank of a rotatable tool has a cut out portion at the forward end thereof. The sleeve is compressed to a diameter less than the inner diameter of the bore of a tool holder by an annular wear ring having a generally cylindrical central opening with a diameter larger than the diameter of the bore of the tool holder, but having an inwardly directed projection that retains the cylindrical sleeve in a diameter that is less than the diameter of the bore of the tool holder. When the shank of the tool is subsequently driven into the bore of the tool holder, the wear ring is forced forwardly along the sleeve until the projection of the wear ring falls between the cut out portions of the sleeve thereby allowing the sleeve to expand to the diameter of the bore of the tool holder. The outer walls of the cut out portion of the sleeve engage the ends of the inwardly directed projection of the wear ring thereby preventing the wear ring from rotating with the tool.

Machines for cutting hard surfaces, such as used in the trenching and mining industries and for removing the upper surfaces of concrete and asphalt pavement, employ tools fitted into tool holders on a rotatable wheel or drum. The tools have a tapered forward cutting end and axially located behind the forward cutting end is a cylindrical shank that rotatably fits within a complementarily shaped bore in the tool holder. Between the forward cutting end and the shank, the tools have a rearwardly directed annular surface or flange that contacts the forward surface of the tool holder. Force is applied through the rotating drum or wheel to the tool holder and through the radial flange to the tool to thereby force the tool into the hard surface to be cut.
The shank of the tool is retained in the bore of the tool holder by a sleeve made of a spring steel that fits around the shank of the tool and engages a shoulder on the shank to prevent the shank from being removed from the sleeve. The sleeve is compressed during the insertion of the shank and sleeve into the bore of the tool holder after which the radially outward force applied by the sleeve against the inner wall of the bore retains the shank of the tool within the bore. The radially outwardly directed force applied by the sleeve as it is compressed prior to insertion into the bore of the tool holder also complicates the insertion process.
To receive the tool and compressed sleeve, the bore of the tool holder has a frustoconical countersink, with the outermost diameter of the countersink being larger than the outermost diameter of the unstressed sleeve. To insert the tool into the tool holder, the distal end of the shank is fitted into the bore with the rearward edge of the sleeve abutting the frustoconical surface of the countersink surrounding the bore. Thereafter, the nose of the tool is struck with a hammer or the like, forcing the shank of the tool and the sleeve rearwardly. As the sleeve moves axially into the bore, it is compressed by the frustoconical countersink.
The insertion of the tool into a tool holder require a machine operator to use both hands. In many cases, however, the drum or wheel of the machine is in such an orientation that the tool holder is inaccessible to both hands of the technician without a time consuming repositioning of the drum or the technician's body. It would greatly simplify the insertion of replacement tools in the tool holders of a machine if a technician could position and insert the tool into a tool holder using only one hand.
During the operation of such machines, the useful life of the tools is enhanced by the rotation of the tool, causing it to wear evenly around its circumference. The tools are mounted at an angle of about seven degrees on the drum or wheel and the contact of the tool body with the surface to be cut applies a component of force to the side of the tool that is perpendicular to the axis of rotation. The rotation of the flange of the tool against the forward surface of the tool holder causes wear to the forward surface of the tool holder. To prevent such wear, it has become common to provide an annular wear ring around the shank of the tool between the forward surface of the tool holder and the rearwardly directed flange of the tool.
When the wear ring operates properly, the wear ring remains stationary against the forward surface of the tool holder while the tool rotates against the forward surface of the wear ring such that only the forward surface becomes worn away. Currently existing wear rings are retained in the stationary position by the resistance caused between the forward end of the tool holder and the rearward surface of the wear ring, which is generally greater than the resistance between the forward surface of the wear ring and the rearwardly directed radial flange of the tool. Although this is so, there is a tendency for the wear ring to rotate with respect to the forward end of the tool holder. The same forces that cause the tool body to rotate also cause the wear ring to rotate. Considering that a tool may undergo as many fifty thousand rotations within a single day, the forward end of the tool holder will undergo a significant wear caused by the rotation of the wear ring. To minimize the rotation of a wear ring that is retained by friction between the forward end of the tool holder and the rear surface of the wear ring, it is desirable that the outer diameter of the wear ring be no greater than, or even smaller than, the outer diameter of the radial flange of the tool body. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a wear ring that is retained against rotation with respect to the tool holder.
Several problems are also encountered in removing the tool from a tool holder. Presently, it is the practice to provide an annular groove around the tapered forward cutting end of the tool that can be grasped by the prongs of an extraction tool. Where a wear ring is fitted around the shank of the tool, the use of existing extraction tools may result in the wear ring falling off the end of the shank of the tool onto the work surface below the machine. As a result, the machine operator may be required to collect the dropped wear rings after the defective tools of the machine have been replaced.
Several efforts have been made to overcome the foregoing problems, and one of the most notable is disclosed by Simon, U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,027. Simon discloses a rotatable tool having an axial shank, a compressible sleeve fitted around the shank, and a wear ring fitted around the compressible sleeve with the inner diameter of the wear ring equal to or less than the diameter of the bore of the tool holder. The shank has a shoulder at the forward end thereof that is spaced from the radial flange, and the forward end of the sleeve abuts against the shoulder. With the sleeve compressed by the wear ring, the distal end of the shank can be more easily fitted into the bore of the tool holder to thereby facilitate the insertion of the shank of the tool. As the shank of the tool is driven deeper and deeper into the bore, the wear ring is forced forwardly off of the forward end of the sleeve after which all the radially outwardly directed forces of the compressed sleeve are applied to the inner surface of the bore to retain the tool in the bore.
Although the device of Simon does assist in the insertion of the shank of the tool into a tool holder, and provides for a wear ring between the forward surface of the tool holder and the rearwardly directed annular surface of the flange, the wear ring is retained against rotation with the tool only by the friction between the forward surface of the tool holder and the rearward surface of the wear ring and therefore rotates with the tool.
There are certain problems that have been found with the structure of the sleeve and wear ring of Simon. The rotation of the shank within the sleeve of Simon requires that the forward edge of the sleeve abut against the annular shoulder that is spaced from the surface of the radial flange. However, it has been found during the use of the tool the sleeve becomes somewhat extruded, causing it to lengthen, and as the sleeve lengthens the forward end thereof is forced over the annular shoulder. The sleeve then becomes pinched between the enlarged diameter portion of the shank adjacent the radial flange and the bore of the tool holder, thereby preventing or inhibiting the rotation of the tool. Where the tool fails to rotate properly, it will become prematurely worn and reduce the efficiency of the machine or require frequent service.
Products currently made in accordance with Simon include a wear ring with an inner diameter equal to the diameter of the bore, and as a result, the distal end of the shank cannot be manually inserted into the bore of a tool holder using one hand. Efforts to provide a wear ring having a central opening that is less than the diameter of the bore to thereby further compress the sleeve until the distal end of the shank and sleeve may be manually fitted within the bore have resulted in an increase in the incidence of wedging between the shank and the bore. This is because the bore of the wear ring must be made smaller than the diameter of the bore of the holder, and since the enlarged portion of the shank must rotate within the bore of the wear ring, the shoulder at the forward end of the shank must be correspondingly reduced.

Non-rotatable wear ring and retainer sleeve for a rotatable tool


An active implantable medical device having a function for monitoring the sympathico-vagal activity by an analysis of endocardiac acceleration. The device collects at least one physiological parameter of the patient, analyzes that collected parameter and delivers at an output data representative of the sympathico-vagal activity of the patient. The physiological parameter is an endocardiac acceleration (EA), and the representative data include at least one value function of the endocardiac acceleration, in particular a function of a first peak (PEA I) at the time of the phase of isovolumic ventricular contraction and/or of a second peak (PEA II) at the time of the phase of isovolumic ventricular relieving.

EP-A-0 565 909 (issued to Sorin Biomedica Cardio SpA) describes a device in which the sympathico-vagal activity is analyzed based upon the cardiac signal collected (sensed) by endocavitary electrodes, in particular by an analysis of the variability of RR intervals (intervals separating two consecutive spontaneous ventricular depolarizations). Interest in monitoring the sympathico-vagal activity arises from the possibility of predicting the imminent occurrence of a syncope of vaso-vagal origin, and preventing its occurrence by an adapted therapy, typically (but not exclusively) an antibradycardiac stimulation therapy.
Primarily, a syncope is a temporary loss of consciousness with a fall in the muscular tone, resulting from the temporary reduction of cerebral circulation. Among various types of syncopes, the vaso-vagal syncope is caused by a temporary imbalance of the regulation system of the vaso-vagal balance. This leads to an excessive activation of the vagal system, in turn resulting in a vasodilatation and a bradycardia leading to the syncope. One can anticipate syncope by a certain number of precursory signs. It is desirable among patients carrying a cardiac pacemaker to detect a risk of imminent occurrence of such a syncope and to apply a suitable therapy and to avoid the fainting of the patient.
It is generally considered that the vaso-vagal syncope comes from a state where the sympathetic nerve system has a particularly high reactivity that initiates an antagonistic response of the parasympathetic system, causing in turn a vasodilatation inducing a reduction of the filling of the ventricles and the bradycardia. Because the chain of events leading to the syncope begins several minutes before the loss of consciousness occurs, it is desirable to be able to detect such a state as soon as possible to be able to take the suitable required measures.
It is, however, unfortunately not possible to directly measure the balance of the autonomous nervous system. It is only possible to evaluate this state in an indirect manner based upon various physiological parameters such as the heartbeat rate, the myocardic contractility, the ventilatory activity or other parameters, or a combination of these various parameters. The known techniques, however, appear difficult to implement, taking into account in particular the multiplicity of the factors likely to modify the heartbeat rate, factors which are not necessarily related to an imbalance of the sympathico-vagal system.
The present invention has as an objective proposing an alternative approach to the analysis of the sympathico-vagal activity by an implanted device, while proposing to implement a detection based on the analysis of endocardiac acceleration, more particularly an analysis of the peaks of endocardiac acceleration.
One can collect (i.e., detect or sense) an endocardiac acceleration signal, as described in EP-A-0 515 319 (assigned to Sorin Biomedica Cardio SpA), which describes a endocavitary probe equipped with a distal stimulation electrode located at the bottom of the ventricle, and a micro-accelerometer able to measure the endocardiac acceleration. The endocardiac acceleration signal thus measured during a cardiac cycle forms, inter alia, two peaks corresponding to the two major noises that it is possible to recognize in each cycle of a healthy heart.
EP-A-0 655 260 (Sorin Biomedica Cardio SpA) describes a manner of processing the endocavitary acceleration signal delivered by the sensor located in the extremity of a probe to derive from it, in particular, the two peak values of endocardiac acceleration, useful in particular for the detection of cardiac disorders and the release (or not) of a therapy, for example, an antibradycardiac stimulation therapy accelerating the stimulation rate. The first peak of endocardiac acceleration ("PEA I") corresponds to the closing of the mitral and tricuspid valves, at the beginning of the isovolumic phase of ventricular contraction (i.e., the systole). The variations of this first peak are closely related to the variations of the pressure in the ventricle (the amplitude of peak PEA I, more precisely, being correlated to the positive maximum of the pressure variation dP/dt in the left ventricle) and can thus constitute a parameter representative of the contractility of the myocardium, itself related to the level of activity of the sympathetic nerve system. The second peak of endocardiac acceleration ("PEA II") corresponds to the closing of the aortic and pulmonary valves, at the moment of the isovolumic ventricular relaxation phase. This second peak, which is produced by the abrupt deceleration of the blood mass moving in the aorta, constitutes a parameter representative of the peripheral blood pressure at the beginning of the diastole.
The invention proposes to use this information for heretofore unknown and different purposes, namely, to analyze the sympathico-vagal activity of the patient.

Monitoring the sympathico-vagal activity by analysis of endocardiac acceleration in an active implantable medical device


Reflective bank structures for light emitting devices are described. The reflective bank structure may include a substrate, an insulating layer on the substrate, and an array of bank openings in the insulating layer with each bank opening including a bottom surface and sidewalls. A reflective layer spans sidewalls of each of the bank openings in the insulating layer.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a reflective bank structure for light emitting devices. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a reflective bank structure for light emitting diode devices.
2. Background Information
Light emitting diode (LED) devices may include a p-type semiconductor layer, an n-type semiconductor layer, and one or more quantum well layers between the p-type semiconductor layer and the n-type semiconductor layer. The light emitting efficiency of a LED device system depends upon the internal quantum efficiency of the quantum well layer(s) and the light extraction efficiency from the system.
One implementation for increasing light extraction efficiency has been to include a reflective layer in the electrode layer opposite the light emission direction. For example, for a top emission structure, the bottom electrode may include a reflective layer, and vice versa. Light emitting from the lateral surfaces of a LED device may decrease light extraction efficiency.
One implementation for increasing light extraction efficiency from a horizontal LED chip is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,482,696 in which a horizontal LED chip is placed within a cavity of an insulating submount with a pair of conductive-reflective films on sidewalls of the cavity. An n-side electrode on a bottom side surface of the horizontal LED chip is flip chip bonded to a pad on one of the conductive-reflective films, and a p-side electrode on the bottom side surface of the horizontal LED chip is flip chip bonded to a pad on the other conductive-reflective film. In this manner, the horizontal LED chip is packaged within the submount, and lateral emission through the side surfaces of the horizontal LED chip is reflected to increase light extraction efficiency of the package.
One implementation for increasing light extraction efficiency from a vertical LED device system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,884,543 in which a light emitting surface of the vertical LED device is mounted on a narrow wiring in a transparent substrate. A transparent resin is formed over and around the vertical LED device, and a reflective film is deposited over the transparent resin and the vertical LED device to direct light toward the light emitting surface.

Light emitting device reflective bank structure


The present invention relates to a device for preparing a photographic liquid which is to be applied in the manufacture of a photographic photosensitive material wherein multiple layers of photographic liquids are applied simultaneously. The present invention has at least one chemical measuring station which measures various kinds of chemicals sent from chemical storage tanks and prepares a photographic liquid which is to be applied to a film, supplies the measured chemicals to a pot and a conveys the chemicals in the pot to a hopper from which the chemicals are supplied to a liquid preparation tank.

The present invention relates to a device for preparing a photographic liquid which is to be applied in the manufacture of a photographic photosensitive material, and particularly relates to a photographic liquid preparation device which is effective in applying multiple layers of photographic liquids at the same time.
A general type of liquid preparation device was disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 74715/81 (the term "OPI" as used herein means an "unexamined published application").
In the manufacture of a photographic photosensitive material, multiple layers of different liquids need to be applied on top of one another on a carrier made of a plastic film of triacetyl cellulose, polyethylene terephthalate or the like, or made of laminated paper. For a color-sensitive material, for example, the layers of such applied liquids include photosensitive emulsion layers sensitive to red, blue and green light, respectively, and are of two or three different sensitivities, high, medium and low sensitivities. Also included is an intermediate layer serves as an optical filter, a protective layer which enhances the physical strength of the surface of the material, and so forth. Presently, in current color film ten or more layers are applied in all.
To apply such a large number of liquids, an apparatus which can apply multiple layers simultaneously is used in order to enhance productivity. Usually, multiple liquids are applied at the same time. For that purpose, the plural different liquids need to be simultaneously prepared and supplied to an application process in order to manufacture a photographic photosensitive material. Each of the liquids is produced by adding various kinds of chemicals to a raw emulsion or an emulsified substance as the main constituent of the liquid, mixing them and stirring them. The added chemicals include an acid or alkali for pH adjustment, a viscosity increasing agent for viscosity adjustment, a surface active agent for surface tension adjustment, and so forth. Many of the chemicals are added at different mixture ratios for different liquids.
In a conventional device for preparing a photographic liquid which is to be subsequently applied, a single pipe is laid from each chemical storage tank (m kinds in all) to each liquid preparation tank (n kinds in all) and fitted with a measuring unit, a control unit, a valve and so forth. Therefore, n.times.m sets of pipes, measuring units, control units, valves and so forth are provided in all in the conventional device.
As a result, the conventional device has problems mentioned below.
(1) Since there are a large number of the pipes, the measuring units, the control units, the valves and so forth, the cost of the equipment is high. PA1 (2) Maintenance of the device requires a large number of steps. PA1 (3) The reliability of the equipment as a whole is low.

Preparation device for photographic liquid to be applied


There is provided a switching device that electrically connects or disconnects a first terminal and a second terminal to/from each other. The switching device includes a semiconductor layer, a drain electrode that is formed in the semiconductor layer, where the drain electrode is connected to the first terminal, a source electrode that is formed in the semiconductor layer, where the source electrode is connected to the second terminal, a gate insulator that is formed on the semiconductor layer between the drain electrode and the source electrode, a floating gate that is formed on the gate insulator, where the floating gate retains a charge therein, and a tunnel gate that is formed on the floating gate, the tunnel gate supplying a tunnel current determined by a driving voltage applied thereto to charge or discharge the floating gate.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a switching device and a testing apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a switching device that connects or disconnects, to/from each other, a drain electrode and a source electrode provided on a semiconductor layer and to a testing apparatus using the same.
2. Related Art
Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanical relay using a reed switch surrounded by a metal guard pipe. The mechanical relay achieves excellent high-frequency characteristics since the guard pipe and the reed switch are arranged coaxially. Patent Document 2 discloses an photo MOSFET relay. The photo MOSFET relay is a semiconductor relay and thus has a longer lifetime than a mechanical relay. Patent Document 3 discloses a semiconductor relay that is turned on/off in such a manner that a high voltage is applied to a control gate to inject electrons into a floating gate and that a gate portion is irradiated with an ultraviolet ray to cause the electrons to be emitted.
A testing apparatus for performing a logic test on a device under test (DUT) includes a pin driver that outputs a test signal to the DUT and a pin comparator that detects an output signal output from the DUT. In order to be capable of performing a direct current (DC) test as well as the logic test, the testing apparatus additionally includes a DC test unit that outputs a DC voltage, a relay (an I/O relay) that connects and disconnects the DUT to/from the pin driver and the pin comparator, and a relay (a DC relay) that connects and disconnects the DC test unit to/from the DUT. The I/O relay and the DC relay are mechanical relays or photo MOSFET relays, for example.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-185896
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-294488
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 03-208409
A mechanical relay provides electrical connection and disconnection by opening and closing of a metal contact. Therefore, the metal contact deteriorates due to friction and the like. Accordingly, the mechanical relay has a short lifetime. Furthermore, the mechanical relay cannot be integrated into a semiconductor integrated circuit, which results in a large size and undermines efforts to increase the device density.
A photo MOSFET relay is configured such that components such as a photocell, alight emitting diode, and a MOSFET are mounted on a lead frame and connected to each other by means of bonding wires. Therefore, the photo MOSFET relay is complex in structure, large and expensive. In addition, the photo MOSFET relay exhibits poor high-frequency characteristics because of the parasitic inductances of the lead frame, bonding wires and the like and the RC product of the on resistance and the gate capacitance of the MOSFET. Furthermore, since the photocell and the light emitting diode are formed by using a GaAs semiconductor or the like, the photo MOSFET relay cannot be integrated together with other circuits that are formed by using a silicon semiconductor. For the reasons stated above, the photo MOSFET relay hampers attempts to reduce the size of a device including the photo MOSFET relay, to increase the density of the device and to lower the cost of the device.
According to the semiconductor relay disclosed in Patent Document 3, it is required to irradiate the gate portion with an ultraviolet ray to cause the electrons to be emitted. The semiconductor relay thus cannot be easily turned on/off.
Here, the testing apparatus outputs a test signal having a high frequency such as several GHz. Accordingly, it is desirable that the I/O relay is capable of transmitting a high-frequency test signal with low distortion and transmitting a test signal whose frequency widely ranges from a DC to approximately several 10 GHz with a low loss. In the testing apparatus, it is desirable that the impedance of the transmission path between the pin driver and the DUT accurately takes a predetermined value (for example, 50Ω). Accordingly, the I/O relay desirably has a small number of impedance mismatch points. Furthermore, the I/O relay desirably has a low DC on resistance so that the loss and waveform distortion can be prevented.
The DC relay is connected at one end thereof to the DUT-side terminal of the I/O relay. Therefore, when the testing apparatus performs a logic test, the electrostatic capacitance of the DC relay during the off state is added to the impedance of the transmission path between the pin driver and the DUT. For this reason, the DC relay desirably has a low electrostatic capacitance during the off state in order to reduce its influence on the impedance of the transmission path for a logic test. Furthermore, the DC relay desirably has a low DC on resistance such that there is no difference in DC level between the output end of the DC test unit and the input end of the DUT.
Here, the testing apparatus repeatedly performs tests, which indicates that the I/O relay and the DC relay are turned on/off a very large number of times. Therefore, the I/O relay and the DC relay desirably have a long lifetime.
In light of the above, a switch that is utilized as the I/O relay in the testing apparatus desirably has excellent high-frequency transmission characteristics, a wide frequency range and a low loss, a small number of impedance mismatch points, and a low DC on resistance. On the other hand, a switch that is utilized as the DC relay in the testing apparatus desirably has a low electrostatic capacitance during the off state and a low DC on resistance. Furthermore, the switches that are utilized as the I/O relay and the DC relay in the testing apparatus desirably have a long lifetime. Here, the mechanical relay and the photo MOSFET relay discussed above both have advantages and disadvantages for their usage as the I/O relay and the DC relay in the testing apparatus.


An expandable inflation device for up to two balloon catheters for angioplasty includes a plurality of three port valves controlling flow to two fluid channels each coupled at an outlet to a balloon catheter for angioplasty. In line pressure gauges, which may be removable, monitor pressure of each channel. Each balloon catheter may be inflated and deflated, sequentially inflated, simultaneously inflated, sequentially deflated, simultaneously deflated, inflated to the same pressures, inflated to different pressures, partially deflated, and fully deflated.

Angioplasty entails mechanically widening narrowed or obstructed arteries, such as arteries obstructed from atherosclerosis. An empty and collapsed balloon on a guide wire, known as a balloon catheter, is fed into a vessel to the narrowed location and then inflated to a fixed size using fluid (e.g. water) pressure of about 5 to 30 atmospheres. Typically, a balloon is inflated with sufficient pressure (4-12 atm) to fully expand the stenosis indentation (dumbbell or waist) of the partially inflated balloon. Occasionally, some calcified or highly fibrotic lesions require very high inflation pressures (>14 atm) to expand and eliminate the "dumbbell" appearance of the balloon. Overinflation of the balloon increases the risk of artery dissection. The inflated balloon forces open the obstruction comprised of white blood cell/clot and plaque deposits and expands surrounding muscular wall of the vessel, opening up the blood vessel for improved flow. The balloon is then deflated and withdrawn. A stent may or may not be inserted at the time of ballooning to ensure the vessel remains open.
A bifurcation lesion involves a clinically relevant side branch. Plaque may be located either in both branches or in the main vessel only or in the side branch only. The carina is the flow divider that lies between the main branch and side branch and is the region of high flow and high shear stress.
One angioplasty technique for plaque at a bifurcation is the "kissing balloon" technique. Noncompliant balloons, each having a balloon size that is about same size as the vessel (usually a slightly smaller diameter balloon for the side branch) are used. A balloon is first fed into the side branch so that it protrudes into the side branch and extends into the main branch, but not proximal to a stent. The balloon may be fed into a stent in the side branch. Another balloon (shorter than the main branch stent) is advanced to the main branch so it lies within the main branch but not extending beyond the confines of the stent in the main branch. The balloons are inflated simultaneously. Then the balloons are deflated simultaneously to avoid distortion. In a variation of the basic technique, the side branch balloon is inflated to high pressure (>20 atm, perhaps 24 or 26 atm) and then deflated. Then the main branch balloon is inflated to moderate pressure and deflated. Then, both balloons are simultaneously inflated at low pressure to correct any distortion caused by sequential balloon inflation. These procedures require the ability to independently inflate, maintain inflated, monitor pressure in, and deflate each balloon.
Unfortunately, devices available today do not provide the ability to independently inflate, maintain inflated, monitor pressure in, and deflate each balloon in a kissing balloon procedure. Instead, many practitioners use two separate indeflator devices to inflate, monitor and deflate each balloon independently. While effective, such an approach is not without problems. Managing two separate, but abutting, indeflators in limited available space, with several tubes extending to and from each indeflator, presents challenges to the practitioner and great risk of confusing one indeflator for the other.
Often it is not known if a second catheter is required for a procedure until the procedure is underway. A means for adding a "kissing balloon" module while a procedure is underway is needed.
Thus, what is needed is a device that facilitates independently supplying radiopaque contrast medium through one or more catheters, while independently inflating, monitoring and deflating up to two distal balloons using an expandable device, to which a second module can be added if and when needed.

Expandable device for independently inflating, deflating, supplying contrast media to and monitoring up to two balloon catheters for angioplasty


An audio signal input and output device includes a port that inputs or outputs an audio signal, an interface that receives a specification of a channel or bus to be assigned to the port, and a sender that sends information over a network for assigning the channel or bus based on the specification received by the interface. The information assigns the inputted audio signal to a predetermined input channel of the management device. A speaker emits a sound based on the inputted audio signal.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-175745 discloses an audio system including a plurality of speakers and a server. The plurality of speakers and the server are connected to each other through a network. The server gives an identifier to each of the plurality of speakers. As a result, a user can identify the plurality of speakers in an audio system.
However, even when an identifier is given to each of a plurality of devices, in a case in which the number of devices is increased, it is difficult for a user to set which audio signal is sent to which device or which audio signal is received from which device.
In view of the foregoing, an example embodiment of the present subject matter is directed to provide an audio signal input and output device, an audio system, and an audio signal input and output method that make it easy for a user to set which audio signal is sent to which device or which audio signal is received from which device.
An audio signal input and output device includes a port that inputs or outputs an audio signal, an interface that receives specification of a channel or bus to be assigned to the port, and a sender that, based on the received specification, sends information for assigning the channel or bus, to a management device.
A user can easily set which audio signal is sent to which device or which audio signal is received from which device.
The above and other elements, features, steps, characteristics and advantages of the present subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the example embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

Audio signal input and output device, audio system, and audio signal input and output method


A crimping apparatus for receiving a circular array of die segments for radially inwardly crimping an end fitting onto a hose includes an upper plate assembly and a lower plate assembly. The upper plate assembly includes an upper back plate attached to an upper front plate by a plurality of fasteners. The lower plate assembly includes a lower back plate attached to a lower front plate by a plurality of fasteners. The upper back plate and lower back plate cooperate to form a first hinge portion and the upper front plate cooperates with the lower front plate to form a second hinge portion. The arrangement allows the upper assembly to pivot about the lower assembly at the first and second hinge portions. The crimping apparatus is advantageous because it allows the passage of large elbow hose fittings that could not pass through the central bore of a conventional die cage.

This invention relates to crimping machines for radially crimping or contracting the socket of a hose fitting onto the end of a hose and more particularly to a crimping die assembly for use in such crimping machines.
In the production of hose assemblies, it is common to permanently secure a hose fitting onto the end of a hose by deforming or crimping an outer socket of the fitting around the hose end to compress the hose end between the socket and a fitting nipple positioned inside the hose bore. To accomplish the crimping, it is a common practice to utilize a circular array of pie-shaped die segments to physically engage the fitting socket and reduce the socket in diameter, thereby securing the fitting to the hose end.
In the art of hose crimping, a common practice is to utilize a rigid die cage assembly to fix the die segments in a circular array. A die cage assembly is advantageous because it aligns the die segments for proper interaction with a die plate and facilitates ease of use by allowing the crimp machine operator to handle one assembly instead of several individual die segments. A conventional die cage assembly provides a further advantage of maintaining the die segments in a spaced apart position prior to the crimping operation to allow insertion of a hose fitting into a central axial bore between the die segments. The insertion is typically accomplished by incorporating a spring positioned between the die cage and the die segments, which is used to force the segments radially outward to enlarge the central bore.
Conventional crimping machines typically employ an engagement mechanism for receiving a die cage assembly. Once received within the crimping machine, the central bore of the die segments may be reduced by actuating a hydraulic ram to drive the die cage assembly into a die plate. The die segments typically have a radially outer conical cam surface that engages a frusto-conical bore of the die plate as the die cage assembly is driven into the die plate. The engagement of the die plate and the die segments converts the axial movement of the die cage assembly into radial contraction of the die segments by the camming action of the conical outer surface of the die segments against the bore of the die plate. The camming affect reduces the central bore of the die segments, thereby engaging and reducing the diameter of the fitting socket and securing the fitting to the hose end.
A further advantage of a die cage assembly is that it allows the crimp machine operator to easily interchange assemblies. The die cage assembly can be readily removed from the engagement mechanism on a crimping machine and replaced with another assembly containing a different array of die segments. Therefore, one crimp machine may be employed to crimp several different hose and fitting combinations over a broad range of diameters.
While the use of a die cage assembly offers several advantages, such as ease of handling and interchangeability, it also has undesirable limitations. One key limitation is that only fittings that have a terminal end capable of passing through the relatively small central bore between the die segments may be crimped in a conventional die cage assembly. Thus, such a limitation prevents a fitting having a terminal end in the shape of a large elbow from passing through the central bore of the die segments.
The present invention is directed to a hinged die cage assembly that allows an upper plate assembly to pivot about a lower plate assembly. When the upper plate assembly is pivoted to an xe2x80x9copenxe2x80x9d position, large elbow hose fittings are permitted to pass through the central bore of the die segments.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a die cage assembly is provided that includes an upper plate assembly and a lower plate assembly. The upper plate assembly includes an upper back plate attached to an upper front plate by a first plurality of fasteners. The lower plate assembly includes a lower back plate attached to a lower front plate by a second plurality of fasteners. The upper back plate and lower back plate cooperate to form a first hinge portion and the upper front plate cooperates with the lower front plate to form a second hinge portion. The first hinge portion and second hinge portion are joined such that the upper plate assembly is able to pivot about the lower plate assembly at the first and second hinge portions. The upper and lower plate assemblies are adapted to receive a plurality of die segments for radially inwardly crimping a fitting onto an end of a hose.
The present invention is advantageous because it allows passage of large elbow hose fittings that would not pass through the central bore of the die segments in a conventional die cage. The invention is further advantageous because it achieves the aforementioned result without destroying the integrity of a conventional die cage assembly.


The present disclosure relates to a computer implemented method for loading data in a target database system. The method comprises: determining that a load of a source table is expected to occur in the target database system. A future target table may be provided in advance in accordance with a defined table schema, and thereafter a load request for loading the source table may be received. Data of the source table may be loaded into the future target table.

The present invention relates to the field of digital computer systems, and more specifically, to a method for loading data in a target database system.
Data loading is one of the most frequent operations performed in a database system. Improving the data loading may thus improve the overall performance of the database system. However, controlling the time required to perform such data loading may be a challenging task.

Method for loading data in a target database system

International Business Machines Corporation


A solid composition comprising. a. a cleansing effective amount of an anionic surfactant or mixture thereof, PA1 b. an alcohol ethoxycarboxylic acid of the formula EQU R--(OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2).sub.n --O CH.sub.2 COOH PA1 c. a carbanilide antibacterial agent in antibacterial effective quantities wherein component b is in sufficient quantities to solubilize the carbanilide antibacterial agent.. wherein R is an alkyl of an average of about 8 to 20 carbon atoms inclusive and n is a number of 1 to about 20,

Antibacterial agents have been placed into cleansing compositions for many years. However, not all antibacterial agents are active or present stable entities in specific cleansing compositions. Some antibacterial agents are easier to stabilize and maintain their activity in solid compositions. Other antibacterial agents more readily maintain activity and stability in liquid cleansing compositions. Antibacterial agents of the carbanilide family are well known to be difficult to solubilize and also to stabilize in liquid systems, particularly aqueous liquid systems and even in solids such as bars. The most well known of these carbanilide antibacterial agents is triclocarban.
A new method of solubilizing carbanilide antibacterial effective amounts and utilizing them in a solid cleansing composition has been discovered. The antibacterial active agent is solubilized in an alcohol ethoxycarboxylate. The solubilized carbanilide agent is then incorporated into a solid cleansing composition by standard methods. The cleansing composition having the alcohol ethoxycarboxyl acid also is superfatted by the alcohol ethoxycarboxyl acid. Additionally, the alcohol ethoxycarboxyl acid seems to provide an additional benefit of improving the rinsability of the cleansing compositions from skin.


Pyrazinamide (PZA) conjugates and hybrids are provided herein. The PZA conjugates are useful for treating bacterial infections. In one embodiment, the PZA conjugates are useful for treating tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial pathogen caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is known to cause pulmonary infection and to become extremely pervasive within the lungs. TB is considered to be one of the world's deadliest communicable diseases because of its high virulence and the ability of M. tuberculosis to enter into a dormant state, then subsequently undergo reactivation. Pyrazinamide (PZA) is a first-line antituberculosis prodrug that is often used in combinational therapy with drugs such as isoniazide, ethambutol, streptomycin, and rifampicin.
PZA is perceived to inhibit vital ribosomal proteins after being converted into its active constituent, pyrazinoic acid (POA), by the tuberculosis enzyme, pyrazinamidase (PZAase) (FIG. 1A). It may lower the pH of the area surrounding M. tuberculosis to such an extent that the organism is unable to grow. Due to its low lipophilicity, POA cannot be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract. Fortunately, the drug can be absorbed in the pyrazinamide configuration.
One of the drawbacks of using PZA to treat TB is that it inhibits protein synthesis. With prolonged administration of the recommended dose, harmful side effects such as hepatitis, acute hypertension, thrombocytopenia, and gastrointestinal discomfort have been reported. To overcome these issues, several molecular hybridization approaches have been reported for the development of potential antitubercular agents. Most hybridized structures include clinically used drugs such as rifamycin, ethambutol and isoniazid coupled with other hydrophobic structures such as cinnamic acid derivatives. Unfortunately the most promising prodrugs of POA are not stable.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide improved prodrugs of POA methods of their use.

Pyrazinoic acid conjugates and hybrid conjugates

AUGUSTA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.


Aspects for rigidly positioning a load-bearing bar are disclosed. In one aspect, a method includes positioning a bar between two surfaces so that one end is oriented towards one surface, and the other end is oriented towards another surface. The method also comprises rotating a crank to facilitate having each end make contact with its corresponding surface. Here, rotating the crank extends an extension shaft away from a control shaft, whereas rotating in an opposite direction inserts the extension shaft into the control shaft. An apparatus is also disclosed, which includes a control shaft comprising a crank that rotates a gear assembly, and an extension shaft coupled to the control shaft. Here, the extension shaft extends away from the control shaft when the gear assembly rotates in a first direction, and retracts when the gear assembly rotates in an opposite direction.

By way of background concerning conventional methods for stabilizing a load on a vehicle, it is first noted that such loads are often heavy. If not properly stabilized, these loads may thus undesirably slide behind a vehicle during transit and cause substantial damage to both the load and the vehicle. To this end, although conventional load protection bars may adequately stabilize light loads, such bars often lack the strength to stabilize heavier loads. Namely, because conventional load protection bars lack a mechanism for rigidly positioning themselves against walls with enough strength to stabilize heavier loads, such bars will simply slide off or break when a heavier load is pushed against it.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a methodology for stabilizing a load which overcomes these limitations. To this end, it should be noted that the above-described deficiencies are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with the state of the art and corresponding benefits of some of the various non-limiting embodiments may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.


A fastener and associated lock washer having an integral anti-rotation mechanism. The head of the fastener includes a plurality of saw teeth—arranged in a radial array. A lock washer is configured to interact with the head of the fastener. The lock washer includes one or more spring tabs positioned to bear against the radial array of saw teeth. As the fastener is rotated in a first direction, the saw teeth depress and pass over the spring tab(s). However, if the user attempts to rotate the fastener in the opposite direction, the spring tab snaps up into the saw teeth and arrests the motion—in the manner of a ratchet and pawl mechanism. The invention preferably includes a second means for selectively defeating the anti-rotation mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of fasteners. More specifically, the invention comprises a fastener and companion component which cooperate to form a unidirectional latch.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mechanical fasteners are commonly used to pull two separate components together and hold them in a desired position. In such fasteners, threads are most commonly used to convert rotary motion into linear motion. However, simple camming surfaces may also be used for a "quarter-turn" type fastener. The present invention may be applied to many different types of prior art fasteners, including both threaded and camming types. However, for purposes of brevity, the following disclosure uses threaded fasteners to illustrate the preferred embodiments of the invention.
Threaded fasteners are designed to tighten when turned in a first direction and loosen when turned in the opposite direction. The most common thread pattern is a "right-hand thread," in which the fastener is rotated in a clockwise direction to tighten. Those skilled in the art will know that fasteners which convert rotary motion to linear motion may not always remain in the tightened position. The shaft of such a fastener is placed in tension when the fastener is tightened. This tension may cause the fastener to rotate in the opposite direction over time—particularly when vibration or other cyclic motion is present. Thus, a prior art fastener may "back out" over time.
Concern over a fastener gradually working its way loose is particularly acute in the medical field, where threaded fasteners are often used to secure orthopedic hardware. It is known to secure such fasteners by tightening surgical wire over the head of the fastener and threading it through an existing or created orifice in adjacent bone. This is a time-consuming process which produces unpredictable results.
It is desirable to provide a fastener having an integral anti-rotation mechanism so that the fastener may be retained in a tightened state. It is also desirable to provide a means for defeating the anti-rotation mechanism when the user actually desires to remove the fastener. Finally, it is desirable to provide a relatively inexpensive anti-rotation mechanism so that the design may be employed in fields where low cost is a necessity. The present invention provides these features.


Techniques are disclosed herein for identifying, recording and restoring the state of a database session and various aspects thereof. A session template data structure is generated that includes session attribute values describing various aspects of the session that is established between a client system and a database management system (DBMS and enables the client system to issue to the DBMS commands for execution. Based on the session attribute values, DBMS may generate a template identifier corresponding to the session template data structure. The template identifier may be stored in an association with the session state that it partially (or in whole) represents. In an embodiment, when another state of a session is captured, if the template identifier for the state is the same, then rather than storing the attribute-value pairs for the other state, the template identifier is further associated with the other state. In an embodiment, a request boundary is detected where the session is known to be at a recoverable point. If recovery of the session is needed, the session state is restored, and replay of commands start from this point. Each command replayed is verified to produce the same session state as it produced at original execution. If the session is determined to be a safe point, then all the commands recorded for replay prior to the safe point may be deleted.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
The ability to perform an automatic failover during a critical failure or planned maintenance of the database management system (DBMS) or a component thereof without having any control over client applications that are using the DBMS, is highly desirable. Especially when a client application is using a cloud-hosted DBMS, the client application may not be in control of the management of the DBMS, while the administrators of the cloud, who manage the DBMS, have no control over or knowledge about the client application. Indeed, in the cloud-based DBMS environment, a client application and DBMS-related services are completely abstracted from each other. The DBMS has lesser or no knowledge about or control over the client application and is managed by a cloud provider. And, a client-managed application similarly has lesser or no knowledge about or control over the DBMS it connects with.
Therefore, it is critical, when planned maintenance, load rebalancing or an interruption in the session of a client application with the DBMS, to find a safe place for the client application to seamlessly and automatically restart its work. Accordingly, planned maintenance, load rebalancing or an interruption in the session are examples of possible operations that require that database sessions are released without disrupting applications. The term "disconnection-requiring planned operation" (or simply "planned operation") refers to such an operation. A safe place is a point at which the session of a client application with a DBMS can be closed without an adverse effect to the application.
One approach is to track the transactions in the session. A client driver may track whether any request (that includes transactions, SQL, and non-SQL work) has been started by the application and track the receipt of directives from the DBMS when a request is started until it completes. The DBMS may assume that when a request is not in progress, the session is recoverable. However, the session, which has an in-flight request, may not transparently recover the in-flight work when a new session is established with a new database server or using a new service.
To transparently recover for the client application, it is necessary to rebuild the original session state at the interruption point in the new session so that the application can seamlessly continue to execute its work that was interrupted in the original session. This becomes a particularly complex problem when the state information of a session includes temporary tables and other temporary data structures, on which the client application work in the session relies.
Nevertheless, after detecting an interruption with the original session, a new session may then be opened with the DBMS. The DBMS can redirect the request to a database server/service that is not affected by the interruption. A new session that is opened as a recovery from the interrupted session at such a point would need to recover the session state of the previous state to succeed in a seamless continuation of the client application's work.
One approach to do so is for the DBMS to send directives to the client driver that is using the session to capture (or ignore) the commands that have been sent through the original session. However, for the captured command to be replayed and produce the same results as in the original session, the execution environment, session state, of the command has to be the same in the new session.
This a complex problem because various aspects of the session state are created by various components of DBMS executing various functions for processing the command and thus, affecting the execution environment for the same or next command to be executed. New techniques are needed to distinguish between the various aspects and their effect on the restorability of the session state on the new session.
Furthermore, even if the state is exactly restored in the new session, the DBMS may still need client input for determining which commands can be replayed and which commands can or should be ignored. For example, if a command includes sending an email or another external action, the client driver has to be notified of such logic to ignore the command from being recorded for the purposes of replay. Otherwise, the external action may be performed twice, which would have unintended consequences (e.g., sending an email twice) and will be an error for the client application.
Requiring a client application to determine how to recover a session state is a requirement for the client application to be involved in infrastructure management. That is not the area of the expertise that the developers of client application are generally well-versed, and thus doing so may be burdensome and error-prone, and does not scale. To transparently recover the state of the session in case of planned maintenance, load imbalance, or unplanned outage, the recovery should be performed with minimal or no client application intervention.
Additionally, a session state at a point in a lifecycle of a session may include hundreds if not thousands of attributes describing these various aspects of the execution environment of the session. Each of the values of such attributes may change during the lifecycle of the session, thus changing the actual session state. Maintaining thousands of permutations of thousands of attributes for a lifecycle of a single session may require enormous amounts of fast access memory on a database server or on a client computing system. There may be hundreds of concurrent sessions making memory management of session state information particularly problematic. Additionally, the state information may need to be transferred between database servers and/or client computing system. Doing so, would put a burden on the network and add to the latency of query executions.

Abstract: In an embodiment, the template is used to set the initial state when borrowing from a session pool The state tracking is also used to know that the session can be failed over safely during planned operation as the session is unlikely to drain by itself even when not used.


A method and system that may include two or more authentication devices configured to authenticate a user via an authentication session. The method and system may also include a device operably coupled to the two or more authentication devices and being configured to manage the authentication session.

Extensible authentication protocol (EAP) is a general protocol for authentication that supports multiple authentication protocols as an extension to data link layers, such as the point-to-point protocol (PPP) or IEEE 802.1x, for example, without requiring IP, as described, for instance, in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) publication, RFC-3748. EAP is a lock-step protocol that supports exchanges of single data packets. Thus, EAP cannot efficiently transport bulk data.
Many of the authentication methods supported by EAP accomplish authentication through an EAP session characterized by a sequential message conversation in which a multi-step exchange of successive EAP messages occurs between a peer and an authenticating entity (e.g., an authentication server) that terminates the EAP authentication method. EAP assumes ordering guarantees provided by the data link layer, thereby supporting in-order packet delivery and retransmission. Thus, a new request—other than the initial request—cannot be sent before receiving a valid response. A host receiving an EAP packet has three options: act on it, drop it, or forward it.
In some environments, a peer may gain access to the network through a network access server (NAS), to which two or more authentication servers are associated, for example, for redundancy and/or load balancing purposes. Currently, the peer is required to carry out the entire authentication conversation with a single authentication server to successfully negotiate an authentication method and subsequent authentication. That is, EAP sessions typically fail when a mid-conversation EAP packet is terminated at an authentication server that has not been privy to the ongoing EAP conversation. Because the NAS varyingly assigns a path of travel for EAP packets received from the peer, however, it is statistically unlikely that each of the EAP packets in an entire EAP conversation will terminate at the same authentication server; an unlikelihood that increases with the number of EAP packets in a given EAP conversation and with the number of associated authentication servers in a given network.

Extensible authentication protocol (EAP) state server


An apparatus for the prevention of flag entanglement upon a flagstaff that is comprised of a specifically milled wood block which acts as an attaching mechanism to the flagstaff and is the hinge point for a metal rod that is attached to the flag. The hinge point of the block allows the rod to swing in a 180 degree arc from the 90 degrees to 270 degrees. The length of the rod being equal to or greater than the width of the flag in conjunction with the hinge block action prevents the flag from flipping over and tangling on the staff.

Seasonal flags and banners have become increasingly popular in the past 20 years. It is rare that when driving through towns or residential areas that you won't see a flag or banner flipped over and tangled on its' staff. There have been attempts to prevent this by adding rods across the bottom in the seam, adding weight in the corners, and attaching the flag to rotating rings on the staff. In the past, I flew my American flag on a vertical staff; however, I recently started flying my flag on a slightly elevated staff. I found that I had the same problem other people have. As a result, I started to search for ways to prevent the furling of a flag on its staff. This inventor has not found any of the past methods as effective as the flag restraint I have invented and tested.


A sputtering target formed of a refractory metallic silicide having a composition MSi.sub.x including a mixture composition of an MSi.sub.2 phase in the form of particles (M: at least one refractory metal selected from a group consisting of W, Mo, Ti, Zr, Hf, Ni and Ta), and an Si phase provided as a matrix phase. Interface layers having a predetermined thickness are formed at the interfaces between the MSi.sub.2 phase and the Si phase. The value X in the composition formula MSi.sub.x is set to a range of 2.0 to 4.0, and the thickness of the interface layers formed between the MSi.sub.2 phase and the Si phase, the dispersion of the composition, the density ratio of the target, the electrical resistivity of the Si phase and the surface roughness are set to predetermined values. An uniform high-quality thin film in which a composition distribution is uniform can be manufactured stably by using this target.

This invention relates to a sputtering target formed of refractory metallic silicide and a method of refractory metallic silicide and a method of manufacturing the same and, more particularly, to a sputtering target formed of refractory metallic silicide, having a high density and improved qualities and used for forming thin films as electrodes and wiring members of semiconductor devices, and a method of manufacturing this type of sputtering target.
Conventionally, polysilicon is used for forming electrodes or wiring of semiconductor devices or, more specifically, for forming gate electrodes of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) type large scale integrated circuits (LSI). However, with increase in the degree of integration of LSIs, polysilicon becomes unsatisfactory because of delay of signal propagation due to its resistance which is still disadvantageously large.
On the other hand, for facilitating the formation of devices based on self-alignment, refractory materials to be used as materials for gate, source and drain electrodes are recently in demand, and refractory metallic silicides which are compatible with silicon gate process are regarded as desirable.
Sputtering is known as one of the methods suitable for forming refractory metallic silicide thin films for electrodes or wiring of semiconductor devices. In sputtering methods, argon ions are made to collide against refractory metallic silicide type target so as to release the metal and deposit the same as a thin film on a substrate opposed to the target plate.
The properties of the silicide film formed by sputtering therefore greatly depend upon the characteristics of the target.
Conventionally, such refractory metallic silicide target is obtained by a method (such as the ones disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 61-141673 and 61-141674) in which MiSi.sub.2 obtained by reaction between a refractory metal powder (such as a powder of W and Mo) and a silicon (Si) powder is hot-pressed together with Si, or a method (such as the ones disposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 61-58866 and 61-179534) in which a semi-sintered silicide body is impregnated with Si.
These conventional methods, however, entail drawbacks described below. In the case of the former, the proportion of the Si phase ranges from 8 (MSi.sub.2.2) to 25% (MSi.sub.2.9) by volume and is smaller than that of the MSi.sub.2 phase. For this reason, it is not always possible to uniformly spread the Si over the peripheries of angular MSi.sub.2 particles obtained by pulverization even if the process is based on hot-press sintering. The resulting target may therefore have a non-uniform and defective structure which has aggregations of angular MSi.sub.2 particles having different sizes, localized Si phase portions and pores and which therefore has a large spatial dispersion of its composition such that the composition varies between central and peripheral portions of the plate-like shape of the target.
The melting point of the MSi.sub.2 phase greatly varies depending upon the kind of refractory metal M. For example, the melting points of WSi.sub.2, MoSi.sub.2, TiSi.sub.2 and TaSi.sub.2 are 2165.degree., 2030.degree., 1540.degree. and 2200.degree. C., respectively. Hot press sintering is effected by using the MSi.sub.2 phase having such different melting points and the Si phase having a melting point of 1414.degree. C. maintained at a temperature not higher than the eutectic temperature. For this reason, sintering cannot be promoted between thermally stable MSi.sub.2 particles, the strength of bonding between the particles is so small that the resulting sintered body is breakable, and pores remain in the resulting structure which reduce the degree of compactness.
In a case where a silicide film is formed by sputtering using a target having such properties, the composition of the silicide film is variable and unstable and it is difficult to obtain the desired film composition, since the distribution of the composition of the target is non-uniform. Also, if sputtering is effected by using a target in which the strength of bonding between particles is small and which has pores, the target may break at its sputtering surface from the positions of defective portions such as those mentioned above so that fine particles come off from the target surface. There is a problem of these particles being mixed in the deposited silicide film.
In a case where work-defect layers having very small cracks or chipped portions formed during mechanical working of the target are not completely removed because target surface finishing is inadequate, or in a case where the load applied through a grinding wheel to the surface to be ground is excessive at the time of grinding of the target so that a residual stress is caused in the target surface portion, the amount of particles coming off from the work-defect layers or residual-stress portions is increased, and the problem of the particles being mixed in the film is also encountered. Other serious problems are thereby experienced, that is, the resistance of the electrode wiring of the resulting semiconductor device is increased or a short-circuit accident takes place, resulting in a considerable reduction in the product yield. Specifically, in the case of high density integrated circuits, the width of the electrode wiring is reduced as the degree of integration is increased as from the 4 megabit scale to the 16 megabit scale, and the short-circuit fraction defective caused by particles mixed in the deposit film is thereby increased abruptly.
In the latter of the above-mentioned conventional methods, the composition of the target is controlled by the density of the semi-sintered silicide body. However, in a case where a semi-sintered body having a predetermined density is made by synthesis of MSi.sub.2 based on silicide reaction between a metal powder and a silicon powder, or in a case where a semi-sintered body having a predetermined density is made by sintering a pressed compact formed from an MSi.sub.2 powder, the density varies depending upon the processing temperature, the processing time and the pressing pressure, and it is therefore very difficult to obtain a target having the desired composition.
Further, according to the inventors' knowledge, there is no possibility of impurities being collected by diffusion at the interfaces between the MSi.sub.2 phase and the Si phase of the target because high-purity MSi.sub.2 and Si products are ordinarily used as raw-material powders, and the strengths of interface bonding between the MSi.sub.2 phase and the Si phase and interface bonding between MSi.sub.2 phase portions are therefore small.
There is also a problem of the sputtering operation being unstable because the difference of the electrical resistances between the MSi.sub.2 phase and the Si phase is extremely large. That is, the electrical resistances of WSi.sub.2, MoSi.sub.2, TiSi.sub.2 and TaSi.sub.2 capable of constituting the MSi.sub.2 phase are 70, 100, 16, and 45 .mu..OMEGA..multidot.cm, respectively, and are thus small, while that of the Si phase is 2.3.times.10.sup.10 .mu..OMEGA..multidot.cm and is thus extremely large. The electrical resistance therefore abruptly changes at the interface between the MSi.sub.2 phase and the Si phase, also because no impurity diffusion layers exist at the interfaces. Specifically, in the structure of the target made by the latter method, the Si phase constituting the matrix phase is in a continuous form, and small-resistance MSi.sub.2 phase portions are surrounded by the large-resistance Si phase portion.
If sputtering is effected by using a target having such a structure, insulation breakdown of the MSi.sub.2 phase and the Si phase necessarily takes place at a voltage higher than a certain level, and a discharge starts flowing. That is, if the applied voltage is higher than a certain level, discharge takes place, and parts of MSi.sub.2 particles or the Si phase of a small interface strength thereby come off and disperse as fine particles.
Serious problems are thereby encountered; the resistance of the electrode wiring of the resulting semiconductor device is increased or a short-circuit accident takes place, resulting in a considerable reduction in the product yield.
If sputtering is effected under optimum deposition conditions by using a conventional target formed of an alloy of a refractory metal and silicon to form a refractory metallic silicide film on a substrate, the distribution of the film thickness can be made uniform but the proportion of the refractory metal in the film composition is larger at a central portion of the substrate than at a peripheral portion, and a trough-curve distribution of the MSi.sub.x composition is exhibited.
Accordingly, the distribution of the sheet resistance of the thin film is as represented by a trough curve, and the dispersion of the electrical characteristics in the film on the substrate surface is large.
It is considered that this non-uniformity of the distribution of the composition of the thin film formed on the substrate surface is mainly due to a large difference between the sputter release angle distributions of the refractory metal (M) and the silicon (Si) and due to the variation of the amount of Si atoms dispersed by argon (Ar) atoms which variation depends upon the relative positions of the target and the substrate.
In addition, since the film composition at the substrate center is rich in the refractory metal, the film stress thereat is high and the thin film may be easily peeled off during heating oxidation in a later processing step.
It is difficult to prevent occurrence of such non-uniformity of the film composition even by variously changing the deposition conditions relating to the position of the magnetic field generator and the processing voltage.
The inventors had an idea of forming a target having a composition distribution reverse to the film composition distribution such that the distribution of the composition of a thin film formed by sputtering using this target can be made uniform.
In the conventional manufacturing methods, however, it is extremely difficult to obtain a target having a composition distribution in which the proportion of a component is continuously changed and, hence, to make the composition distribution in the formed thin film uniform.


The invention includes a method and apparatus for dynamically pushing content over a wireless network A method includes obtaining network-level state information and user-level state information for a user in response to an indication that content is available for the user, determining whether a network-level condition is satisfied using the network-level state information, determining whether a user-level condition is satisfied using the user-level state information, and pushing the available content toward the user terminal of the user using the wireless network in response to the conditions being satisfied. The network-level state information includes cell utilization information for a cellular region associated with the user terminal of the user. The user-level state information includes at least one of a user channel quality, a user terminal power state, a user terminal battery power status, a user terminal memory status, at least one user terminal capability, and user subscription information for the user.

Content providers provide content, such as text, images, audio, video, and the like, to wireless users over wireless networks. Content providers may provide content to wireless users either on-demand (e.g., in response to requests received from wireless users over the wireless network) or automatically (e.g., by pushing content to wireless users over the wireless network). While content pushing schemes generally alleviate many problems associated with providing content to users, such as eliminating setup/buffering latencies and disruptions during playback (e.g., due to network and channel conditions), existing content pushing schemes do not work well in wireless networks.
Disadvantageously, existing content pushing schemes utilize fixed schedules for pushing content to wireless users, thereby resulting in inefficient wireless network utilization and user terminal resource utilization. Specifically, at high push rates the bandwidth of other users may be adversely affected and at low push rates the user terminal battery is drained (due to the extended time during which content is pushed to the user terminal). Therefore, existing content pushing schemes negatively impact performance perceived by all wireless users (including wireless users registered for content push services, as well as wireless subscribers not registered for content push services).

Method and apparatus for dynamically pushing content over wireless networks


A semiconductor package (20) includes circuits (22, 24). The circuit (22) includes electrical devices (52, 54) interconnected by a bondwire array (62). Likewise, the circuit (24) includes electrical devices (58, 60) interconnected by a bondwire array (64). Signal wires (76) of the bondwire array (62) are proximate to signal wires (78) of the bondwire array (64). Ground wires (66, 68) are located on either side of, and close to, bondwire array (62). Ground wires (70, 72) are located on either side of, and close to, bondwire array (64). The ground wires (66, 68, 70,72) are electrically coupled to a ground region (74). The ground wires (66, 68, 70, 72) reduce a magnetic flux density (140) via induced return currents (126, 130) on the ground wires of opposite polarity to signal currents (124, 128) on the bondwire arrays (62, 64) to reduce inductive coupling between the adjacent bondwire arrays (62, 64).

Wireless communication systems often employ power amplifiers for increasing the power of a signal. In a wireless communication system, a power amplifier is usually designated as the last amplifier in a transmission chain (the output stage) and it is the amplifier stage that typically requires the most attention to power efficiency. Indeed, the performance of a transceiver in a wireless communication system depends primarily on the performance of the power amplifier. High gain, high linearity, stability, and a high level of power-added efficiency (i.e., ratio of the difference between the output power and the input power to DC power) are characteristics of an ideal amplifier.
In general, a power amplifier operates at maximum power efficiency when the power amplifier transmits peak output power. However, power efficiency worsens as output power decreases. Recently, the Doherty power amplifier technique has been the focus of attention not only for base stations but also for mobile terminals because of its high power-added efficiency.
A Doherty power amplifier typically includes two or more amplifiers, for example, a "carrier amplifier" and a "peaking amplifier." The amplifiers are connected in parallel with their outputs joined by an offset transmission line, which performs impedance transformation. The peaking amplifier delivers current as the carrier amplifier saturates, thereby reducing the impedence seen at the output of the carrier amplifier. Thus, the carrier amplifier delivers more current to the load while it is saturated because of a "load-pulling" effect. Since the carrier amplifier remains close to saturation, a Doherty power amplifier is able to transmit peak output power so that the total efficiency of the system remains high.
The high efficiency of the Doherty architecture makes it desirable for current and next-generation wireless systems. However, it presents unique challenges in terms of semiconductor package design. Current Doherty power amplifier semiconductor package design calls for the utilization of discrete devices and integrated circuits, for example, one that forms the carrier amplifier and another that forms the peaking amplifier. These discrete devices are maintained a distance apart in order to limit problems with crosstalk that can occur between the carrier and peaking amplifiers. One source of crosstalk in the semiconductor package architecture is between arrays of signal wires, referred to herein as bondwire arrays, that may be utilized between electrical devices in each of the carrier and peaking amplifiers. That is, the performance of a Doherty power amplifier can be adversely perturbed by coupling (i.e., the transfer of energy from one circuit component to another through a shared magnetic or electric field) between adjacent bondwire arrays of the corresponding components of the Doherty power amplifier. Coupling can be of two types, electric (commonly referred to as capacitive coupling) and magnetic (used synonymously with inductive coupling). Inductive or magnetic coupling occurs when a varying magnetic field exists between current carrying parallel conductors that are in close proximity to one another, thus inducing a voltage across the receiving conductor.
Unfortunately, maintaining spatial distance between amplifiers, for example, the carrier and peaking amplifiers of a Doherty power amplifier, to control crosstalk caused by inductive coupling limits the miniaturization of the semiconductor package. Limiting the miniaturization of such devices is undesirable where low cost, a low weight, and a small volume are essential for application.

Semiconductor package with reduced inductive coupling between adjacent bondwire arrays


A semiconductor device for correcting an input signal and outputting a corrected signal are provided. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer, a plurality of first conductors formed on one of faces of the semiconductor layer and serving as input terminals to which a signal is input, second conductors of the number larger than that of the first conductors at density higher than that of the first conductors, formed on the other face of the semiconductor layer, a high impurity concentration region provided on the semiconductor layer side of an interface between the second conductor and the semiconductor layer, an insulating layer formed on the other face, and a plurality of third conductors formed on the insulating layer and serving as output terminals for outputting the processed signal.

A solid-state image sensing device is a photoelectric conversion element formed in an integrated circuit by using a technique of manufacturing a semiconductor device. As a transferring device for outputting charges generated by a photodiode as the photoelectric conversion element, a charge coupled device (CCD) or a CMOS device are used. Depending on the difference between the devices, an image sensor is called a CCD image sensor or a CMOS image sensor.
FIG. 37 is across section of a general CMOS image sensor. In the CMOS image sensor, a plurality of unit cells (pixels) are formed on an Si substrate 90. In each of the unit cells (pixels) in the CMOS image sensor, a color filter 94 is formed below a microlens 92. Through a metal wiring layer 96 below the color filter 94, light is focused in a photodiode 99 formed in a P-well 98 in the Si substrate 90. Some field effect transistors such as a transistor for transferring charges generated by the photodiode 99 and converting to voltage are formed on the semiconductor substrate for every unit cell. And those transistors are connected to wires of the metal wiring layer 96.
The CMOS image sensor has an amplification transistor for each pixel. Therefore it has a feature that occurrence of electric noise caused by reading of a photoelectric-converted electric signal is suppressed. Since mass production is possible by applying the LSI manufacturing process, the CMOS image sensor is cheaper than the CCD image sensor having a high-voltage analog circuit. The CMOS image sensor has advantages such that, since the device is smaller, power consumption is low, and no smear or blooming occurs in principle. In recent years, utilizing the feature, the CMOS image sensor is applied to a cellular phone or a high-grade digital single-lens reflex camera.
One of important development challenges of a CMOS image sensor is increase in sensitivity. For higher sensitivity, scaling down of a pixel is effective means. By using the wiring technique in the LSI field, wires at a 1.5 μm pitch or less can be manufactured. However, there is limitation in diffraction of light which occurs when light passes through a metal wiring layer and is focused on the photodiode. It is therefore expected to become difficult to realize scaling down of a pixel itself, when the size of a pixel becomes smaller than 1.5 μm.
To solve the problem, a backside illumination CMOS image sensor has been proposed in recent years. By using this method, light is not focused through the metal wiring layer, so that the problem of the diffraction limitation can be avoided. In addition, the region of the photodiode in a pixel can be sufficiently assured, and a pixel can be miniaturized to the size of about the wavelength of light. However, even when a backside illumination CMOS image sensor is employed, it is difficult to make a pixel smaller than 0.6 μm as the wavelength of red light.
There is an image correcting technique as a technique for realizing a higher-precision image without increasing the number of pixels. In the technique, correction such as successive complementation, edge reinforcement, or the like on a signal of each pixel by software or hardware means is performed to make an output image closer to a real object.
JP-A 2008-54754 (KOKAI) discloses a technique for correcting an image by hardware means using a nonlinear device.


In a data processing system in which a host processing apparatus and a storage subsystem are connected via a channel interface, the present invention makes it possible to expand the number of logical device addresses in excess of the device address limitations of the channel interface, and also enhances the performance of parallel access processing for the same logical device. When an access request is generated for a logical device, the host processing apparatus stores the logical device address to be accessed in a prefix command of a channel command word (CCW) for the access request, sets this CCW in a device information block of a frame which complies with the channel interface, sets a parallel access identifier for identifying a plurality of accesses for the same device in a device address of this frame, and then sends this frame to the storage subsystem.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data processing system, comprising a host processing apparatus, and a storage subsystem connected thereto for storing and managing data sent from the host processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a data processing system having a constitution such that a host processing apparatus of a mainframe system and a disk array device or other such storage subsystem are connected together so as to be able to communicate with one another via a channel interface, the host processing apparatus, in order to process an access request for the storage subsystem, creates a chain of a plurality of channel command words (hereinafter abbreviated as CCW) comprising a command code, command parameter, and data, and sends this chain of a plurality of CCW (hereinafter referred to as a CCW chain) to the storage subsystem. Describing the CCW chain yet further, when data is transferred to the storage subsystem from the host processing apparatus, as disclosed in the "IBM 3390/9390 Storage Control Reference," a WRITE system command is generally chained to DX (Define Extent) and LOC (LOCate Record). For example, when a single record is written to the storage subsystem, the host processing apparatus creates and sends a CCW chain in which a plurality of CCW, such as DX, LOC and WRCKD (Write, Count, Key and Data), are chained together in this order. Further, the above-mentioned DX and other commands, which precede READ and WRITE system commands, are called prefix commands.
A protocol that is widely used around the world exists as the protocol for the channel interface between the host processing apparatus and storage subsystem for a mainframe data processing system. The transmission of a CCW chain between the host processing apparatus and storage subsystem is carried out using a frame of a structure stipulated by this widely used protocol. This frame comprises a field, called an information field, this information field comprises a device header and a device information block, and the contents of the CCW (command, command parameter, and data) are set in the device information block. Further, the above-mentioned device header has a two-byte device address field, and the most-significant-byte area therein is a reserve area, and the least-significant-byte area can be used for specifying a device address.
Technology for carrying out parallel processing of a plurality of access requests directed at the same logical device inside the storage subsystem in a mainframe data processing system such as this, for example, is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 2001-312454.
According to the disclosure in Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 2001-312454, when a host processing apparatus generates a plurality of access requests to the same logical device, it creates a plurality of control blocks corresponding to these plurality of access requests, respectively, and then assigns different parallel access identification information to each of these plurality of control blocks. In addition, the host processing apparatus sets the address of the logical device to be accessed in the least-significant byte of the device address on the respective access request frames sent to the storage subsystem, and in the most-significant-byte reserve area sets parallel access identification information corresponding to the respective access requests. The storage subsystem, using the parallel access identification information set in the device address of the respective received access request frames, identifies a plurality of access requests for the same logical device, and in this way, parallelly processes the plurality of access requests for the same logical device.
Generally speaking, the storage subsystem manages a plurality of logical device addresses together in units called control units (hereinafter referred to as CU). As explained hereinabove, a widely used global protocol exists as the protocol for the channel interface for a mainframe data processing system, and by simply adhering to this protocol, the address of an access-targeted logical device inside the storage subsystem is set in the least-significant-byte area of the device address on an access request frame sent to the storage system from the host processing apparatus. Thus, a logical device address capable of being managed by one CU is limited to 1 byte, and accordingly, the maximum number of logical devices capable of being managed by a single CU is limited to 256.

Data processing system configuring and transmitting access request frames with a field in channel command words to accommendate a plurality of logical device address data therein


A display control circuit that enables efficient image rotation, and scaling of bit-mapped image data stored in image memory, in synchronization with dot clock, line, or frame timing of a target display device without requiring re-writing of the display memory contents. Addresses output from a memory address counter are modified by multiplication and summation with desired image display parameters to generate new addresses for retrieving desired image data from memory locations that are physically mapped to the modifications desired for a new output image. The basic image data is not itself modified. Timing of multiplication and summation processes is synchronized to the timing of the target display device and is performed during horizontal or vertical retrace line intervals. Additional summations of address values with the display parameters is performed by dot and line. It is, therefore, possible to achieve smooth image rotation without relying on high clock rate multiplication operations timed to the dot clock frequency by using a multiplication operation once every display frame or line, and a cumulative addition operation once every dot or display line. Multipliers can operate at a low clock rate, and time-shared use is possible, enabling the circuit to be constructed on a small scale and at low cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to video display memory operating in association with a central processing unit and more particularly to an apparatus and method for modifying image data storage addresses to enable rotation and scaling of bit-mapped images for display on a display device. The invention further relates to apparatus for reducing the impact of image manipulation on central processor resources.
2. Related Technical Art
In a conventional video image display system, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 2, bit-mapped images are stored in a memory array prior to display. That is, the image data is stored across an array of storage or memory address locations in memory which correspond to relative horizontal and vertical positions of the data within the output image. Each unit of data is stored at an address having a horizontal or "X" position or value, and a corresponding vertical or "Y" value.
As shown in FIG. 2, for both writing or storing data in video memory, as well as for subsequent data retrieval from memory, the data addresses can be easily selected using horizontal and vertical address counters, 11 and 12, respectively. These counters can be incremented with respect to their designated axis, so as to retrieve data by stepping through the memory array in synchronization with a particular display device 10.
The image data is prepared for transfer from memory 9 by a central processing unit 14, possibly using a video operations control circuit 8. A parameter register file 13, or similar data storage unit, can be used to store image parameters such as absolute horizontal and vertical coordinates, scale, angle and axis of rotation, etc. The image data is subsequently retrieved and presented visually in the same geometric relationship or sense, that is axial alignment and relative size, as it is stored in memory 9. If the image is to be altered, therefore, such as by re-scaling or rotating, the image data must first be retrieved and processed by CPU 14 or operations circuit 8, and then written or re-written into memory 9.
Unfortunately, this technique has several drawbacks. One problem is that the time required to retrieve, modify, and re-write the image data reduces the operating speed of the video system, which is very undesirable for modern computer systems. A second problem with this method is that modification of the display data by the CPU, directly or through an operations circuit, and re-writing the contents of display memory obliterates the original data, requiring additional processing to regain the original image data if it is desired at a later time. A third major problem is that it has not been possible to precisely control or provide image rotation and re-scaling operations that are properly synchronized with the pixel, raster, or frame unit timing of the display. As a result, smooth image rotation on a display with different angles of rotation in each frame, and images with realistic perspective projections which are achieved by using a different magnification rate at each pixel or raster unit, cannot be achieved.
A new method and apparatus is needed, therefore, which allows proper synchronization of image manipulations with the display device timing and achieves high speed, high precision image presentation at reasonably high resolutions.

Apparatus for manipulation of display data