A merchandising system can include an elongated mounting member selectively securable to an associated shelf and a cooperating member received on the mounting member. The cooperating member can extend rearwardly over the associated shelf. The cooperating member can include an elongated body having a front end, and a rear end. The elongated body can include a base portion and a divider portion protruding from the base portion. A latch can be movably mounted to the cooperating member. The latch selectively engages the elongated mounting member to retard a sliding motion of the cooperating member on the mounting member.

The present disclosure pertains to a merchandising system. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a base and divider assembly employed in a forward feeding display merchandising system for storing and displaying merchandise of a variety of shapes and sizes and automatically delivering the merchandise to the front of a shelf. More particularly, the disclosure pertains to a cooperating member, such as a divider or track which can be selectively locked to a front rail or mounting member of the merchandising system.
Shelving is used extensively for stocking and storing products or merchandise in a variety of stores, such as grocery stores, drug stores and mass merchandisers, such as Walmart, Kmart and the like. Most consumer product stores contain fixed shelving which is arranged back to back between aisleways, on which shelving merchandise is stocked. It is desirable for merchandise to be displayed at the front edge of the shelf so that the customer can see the merchandise and be induced to purchase such merchandise. In such stores, if the shelves are not positioned at eye level, it is difficult for the customer to see the items being displayed, if the items are not located adjacent the front edge of the shelf. Also, fixed shelves make it difficult to rotate product, i.e., move the older stock to the front of the shelf and position newer stock behind the older stock. Rotating products is an important consideration if the goods are perishable or subject to becoming stale (cigarettes, fruit juices, dairy products and the like fall into this category). It is important for such articles that they be removed following a first in, first out system to maintain freshness.
Forward feed devices are employed to automatically move an item forward on a shelf, as the item before it in a column of merchandise is removed from the shelf. These devices generally fall into three categories. The first category pertains to inclined tracks which rely on gravity to feed, slide, or roll products forward on the shelf. Gravity feeding, however, may be unpredictable in that various materials or packages slide more easily than others because of different weights and frictional interfaces between the products and the track. The second category employs conveyor belts which still use gravity to effect forward movement. These devices are typically cumbersome, expensive and complicated due to the need to properly tension the track and the conveyor belts. The third category uses spring biased pusher paddles to feed the product forward. Such paddle based forward feed devices have become very popular and have been found useful for a variety of merchandise.
In the third category, separate dividers and tracks containing pusher paddles are usually employed, along with end dividers to separate the merchandise into columns. It has been considered advantageous to provide an integrated track and divider system because such an integrated track and divider makes assembly of the merchandising system on a shelf easier for store personnel as there are less components to handle. However, an integrated track and divider is disadvantageous from the perspective that the divider cannot be removed from the track should that become necessary. In some circumstances, such as for wide products, a drop in track is desired so that two pusher paddles urge the merchandise forward. Currently, a separate track has to be produced for this purpose. It would be advantageous to provide a two part track and divider assembly in which the divider can be selectively separated from the track or connected thereto. In other words, it would be desirable to provide a connection structure to selectively engage the divider with the track or disengage the divider from the track as may be required in a particular merchandising environment.
It would also be desirable to selectively lock the dividers to the front rail in order to retard the sideward or lateral movement of the dividers as product is being pushed forward on the track by the spring biased pusher paddles. In other words, it would be desirable to allow the divider to selectively engage the front rail in such a way that the divider is allowed to slide sideways in relation to the front rail in one end position of a locking assembly and is retarded from such sliding movement in another end position of the locking assembly. Ideally, the divider would be movable in a lateral direction parallel to the front rail while being secured in a direction perpendicular to the front rail when a locking member is disengaged but the divider would resist movement in the lateral direction parallel to the front rail and would remain secured in a direction perpendicular to the front rail when the locking member is engaged. It may be advantageous to provide tracks with such a feature as well.

Selectively locking merchandising member


An upper piggybacked unit of a tandem unit is provided with a hinge unit and at least one motion lock to prevent the upper unit from falling away from the lower unit when it is tandemly coupled to the lower unit and the lower unit is pivoted to a non-horizontal position. The motion lock may inhibit rotation and/or translation of the upper unit. The motion lock may also be self-actuating, such as a gravity dependent lock mechanism. A lock override mechanism may be provided to allow the lock to yield to excessive force without causing damage. The lock enable condition may be automatically reset after the override condition so that no special knowledge or action on the part of the user is required to return the hinge to normal operation. The motion locks are particularly useful when provided on a reprographic device, such as a copier, facsimile, printer or malfunction device having an upper unit that forms a sheet feeder unit, a lower unit that forms a scan housing, and a fixed base below the lower unit that may contain a marking engine.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a hinge assembly for use in a tandem pivot structure that has one or more tandem motion locks and a lock override. The hinge assembly is particularly suited for use in a reprographic device having two separately rotatable units provided in a piggyback fashion.
2. Description of Related Art
Printers, copiers, facsimiles and other reprographic products typically have a cover or structural housing that has to be pivoted open to gain access to internal components, such as for ink or toner replenishment, media jams, etc. Copiers and multifunctional printers and devices with printing, scanning and/or copying functions have additional requirements for pivoting covers. Such multifunction devices besides having printing mechanisms may also include scanning mechanisms and may have a feed unit with automatic document feeding mechanisms. The feed unit is normally oriented in a nearly horizontal position. Such feed units must be pivoted open to access a scanner platen glass for document copying or media jam recovery.
The feed unit may be tandemly coupled in piggyback fashion to a lower structure, which incorporates the scanner and also pivots. This lower scanner unit is also normally oriented in a nearly horizontal position. An example of this is shown in simplistic form in FIGS. 1-2. Printer device 100 includes an upper rotatable feed unit 110 coupled to a rotatable lower scanner unit 130 through a first coupling hinge 120. The rotatable lower scanner unit 130 is rotatable relative to the lower base of printer 100 through a second coupling hinge 140. Thus, two tandem hinges are provided that can each be independently rotated. However, when the lower scanner unit 130 is pivoted fully open to provide access to the interior of the printer device 100, a problem may arise as shown in FIG. 2. That is, the upper feeder unit 110 may want to pivot further, possibly falling behind the device due to the influence of gravity and/or inertial motion caused by the opening of the lower scanner unit.
If the lower scanner unit is intended to accommodate books with the upper feeder unit closed, a vertical slide or elevating range can be provided to accommodate the thickness of the book on the scanner unit. Such an elevating capability can create additional problems when the scanner unit is opened fully because now the feeder unit, if not restrained, can extend in translation backwards with undesired force and consequences, due to gravity and momentum.
When an unrestrained feeder unit 110 falls backwards due to pivot motion allowed by the first coupling hinge 120 or by unrestrained translation of an elevating slide, the feeder unit 110 can strike a wall behind the printer device 100, or a person walking behind it. Moreover, when the feeder unit 110 freely falls backwards, the feeder unit 110, first connecting hinge 120 and/or hinge mounting components can be bent or damaged.
All of these problems are brought about due to integration of functions added to printers when they require multipurpose functionality. User interface unpredictability can also be part of the problem. Users of the device may ignore motion tendencies of the various cover mechanisms they are opening. The propensity to be casual and inattentive when opening and handling of the various device units being pivoted can lead to yet another problem. The hinge may not be opened far enough to optimally accomplish the desired task, such as jam removal or ink replenishment.
Accordingly, structures for accommodating tandem pivoting units may suffer from various problems.

Hinge with tandem pivot structure motion lock and override


A semiconductor integrated circuit device includes a reference voltage generating circuit outputting a reference voltage from a step-up voltage, a step-up circuit stepping up the reference voltage within a range lower than an external power supply voltage and thus outputting the above step-up voltage, a step-down circuit stepping down the external power supply voltage and thus outputting a step-down voltage equal to the reference voltage, and an internal circuit receiving, as a power supply voltage thereof, the step-down voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to semiconductor integrated circuit devices, and more particularly to a semiconductor integrated circuit device equipped with a reference voltage generating circuit and a step-down circuit that steps down an external power supply voltage externally supplied and produces a step-down voltage equal to a reference voltage generated by the reference voltage generating circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In FIG. 1, there is illustrated an essential part of a related semiconductor integrated circuit device. The device shown in FIG. 1 includes a reference voltage generating circuit 1, a VCC power supply line 2, resistors 3 through 5, enhancement type nMOS (n-channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor) transistors 6 and 7, and depletion type pMOS (p-channel MOS) transistors 8 and 9. The reference voltage generating circuit 1 generates a reference voltage VREF. The VCC power supply line carries an external power supply voltage VCC externally supplied.
The device shown in FIG. 1 also includes a step-down circuit 10, which steps down the external power supply voltage VCC externally supplied. The step-down circuit 10 includes a VCC power supply line 11, an enhancement type pMOS transistor 12 serving as a regulator transistor, and an operational amplifier 13. Symbol VIIA denotes a step-down voltage obtained by stepping down the external power supply voltage VCC.
Further, the device shown in FIG. 1 includes an internal circuit 14, which is operated by a power supply voltage which is the step-down voltage VIIA output by the step-down circuit 10.
The reference voltage generating circuit 1 generates the reference voltage VREF equal to 2.times.VTH.sub.n-E +2.times..vertline.VTH.sub.n-D .vertline. where VTH.sub.n-E denotes the threshold voltage of the enhancement type nMOS transistor and VTH.sub.n-D denotes the threshold voltage of the depletion type nMOS transistor.
In the step-down circuit 10, the pMOS transistor 12 steps down the external power supply voltage VCC, and the step-down voltage VIIA obtained at the drain of the pMOS transistor 12 is fed back to the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 13. The output signal of the operational amplifier 13 controls the gate voltage of the pMOS transistor 12 so that the step-down voltage VIIA equal to the reference voltage VREF can be produced.
It will be noted that the pMOS transistors 8 and 9 forming the reference voltage generating circuit 1 are supplied with the external power supply voltage VCC, while the transistors forming the internal circuit 14 are supplied with the step-down voltage VIIA. The breakdown voltage of the nMOS transistors 8 and 9 will be reduced and the stable operation thereof may not be ensured, if the gate oxide films of the nMOS transistors 8 and 9 are formed by the same process as the gate oxide films of the transistors forming the internal circuit 14 so that the gate oxide films of the nMOS transistors 8 and 9 have the same thickness as that of the transistors forming the internal circuit 14.
If the gate oxide films of the nMOS transistors 8 and 9 are formed so that they are thicker than those of the transistors forming the internal circuit 14, the stability of the operation of the reference voltage generating circuit 1 can be improved. However, the production process will become complex.
There is a case where another reference voltage different from the reference voltage VIIA internally produced is externally applied to the semiconductor integrated circuit device equipped with the reference voltage generating circuit 1 when testing it. In such a case, if the reference voltage externally supplied is higher than the reference voltage VREF generated by the reference voltage generating circuit 1, the externally supplied reference voltage gets over the reference voltage VREF generated by the reference voltage generating circuit 1. Hence, the externally supplied reference voltage higher than the reference voltage VREF can be supplied to the non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 13.
If the reference voltage externally supplied is lower than the reference voltage VREF generated by the reference voltage generating circuit 1, the externally supplied reference voltage cannot get over the reference voltage VREF. Hence, it is impossible to supply, when testing the device, the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 13 with the externally supplied reference voltage lower than the reference voltage VREF.

Semiconductor integrated circuit device with voltage patterns


This patent pertains to selective inhibition of assembly of the membrane attack complex of complement by use of less than 1 kDa molecular weight forms of the aurin tricarboxylic acid synthetic complex (ATAC), and their derivatives. It further pertains to the use of these materials to treat human conditions where there is evidence of self destruction of host tissue by the membrane attack complex. These diseases include, but are not limited to, Alzheimer disease, age related macular degeneration, and atherosclerosis.

Numerous agents have been described which will inhibit the complement system. These include heparin, suramin, epsilon-aminocaproic acid, and tranexamic acid. However, no orally effective agents have been described that will leave the necessary opsonization by complement functional, but which will prevent self damage by blocking assembly of the membrane attack complex. Eculizumab, a parenterally effective humanized monoclonal antibody which blocks C5 conversion has been described, but, as a high MW immunoglobulin antibody, it will not cross the blood brain barrier and will not be effective in CNS disorders. We show in this invention that components of less than 1 kDa MW of the aurin tricarboxylic acid synthetic complex (ATAC) blocks MAC assembly at the final stage of C9 addition and that they are safe and effective following oral administration.
Complement is a key component of both the innate and adaptive immune systems. It carries out four major functions: recognition of a target for disposal, opsonization to assist phagocytosis, generation of anaphylatoxins, and direct killing of cells by insertion of the membrane attack complex (MAC) into viable cell surfaces. Although complement is an essential defense system of living organisms, it is widely regarded as a two edged sword. Its opsonizing components are beneficial, but the membrane attack complex is potentially self damaging.
The complement system as it is understood today is illustrated in FIG. 1. It consists of two main pathways: the classical and the alternative. The pathways have differing opsonizing mechanisms, but they have in common assembly of the terminal components to form the membrane attack complex (C5b-9). The classical pathway commences with the C1q component of the C1 complex recognizing a target that needs to be phagocytosed. Subsequent steps involve dissociation of the C1 complex, cleavage of C2, C4, and C3 to provide amplification as well as covalent attachment of the activated complement components to the target. By this means the target is disposed of by phagocytes that have receptors for the activated complement components so attached.
Both pathways result in C5 being cleaved into C5a and C5b. The released C5b fragment can then insert itself into the membranes of nearby cells. C6, C7, C8 and C9 (n) can then become sequentially attached to the membranes. The addition of C9 renders the complex functional by opening holes in the membranes, thus leading to death of the cells. Its physiological purpose is to kill foreign pathogens, but in the case of sterile lesions, it can destroy host cells by the phenomenon known as bystander lysis.
The complement system therefore operates in two parts. The first part is opsonization, which prepares targeted tissue for phagocytosis. The second part is assembly of the membrane attack complex, which has the purpose of killing cells. The former is essential, but the latter is not. For example, approximately 0.12% of Japanese are homozygous for the nonsense CGA-TGA (arginine 95stop) mutation in exon 4 of C9 (Kira et al., 1999). These individuals cannot make a functioning membrane attack complex. This means that there are more than 150,000 Japanese leading healthy lives despite this deficiency. The Japanese experience indicates that selective inhibition of membrane attack complex formation on a long term basis is a viable therapeutic strategy.
The membrane attack complex exacerbates the pathology in all diseases where there is persistent overactivity of the complement system. Such diseases include, but are not limited to, age related macular degeneration, Alzheimer's disease, and atherosclerosis. This purpose of this invention is to provide a method for successfully treating such conditions by eliminating the danger of bystander lysis caused by the membrane attack complex of complement. This is achieved through administration of low molecular weight component of the aurin tricarboxylic acid synthetic complex which include aurin tricarboxylic acid (ATA). aurin quadracarboxylic acid (AQA), aurin hexacarboxylic acid (AHA), and their combination termed ATAC.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Selective inhibition of the membrane attack complex of complement by low molecular weight components of the aurin tricarboxylic synthetic complex


A template for imprint lithography (IL) that reduces significantly template production costs by allowing the same template to be re-used for several technology generations. The template is composed of an array of spaced-apart moveable and individually addressable rods or plungers. Thus, the template can be configured to provide a desired pattern by programming the array of plungers such that certain of the plungers are in an “up” or actuated configuration. This arrangement of “up” and “down” plungers forms a pattern composed of protruding and recessed features which can then be impressed onto a polymer film coated substrate by applying a pressure to the template impressing the programmed configuration into the polymer film. The pattern impressed into the polymer film will be reproduced on the substrate by subsequent processing.

In conventional optical lithographic practice a thin film of a photoresist material is applied to a substrate. The photoresist film is exposed to a desired pattern of radiation and the exposed photoresist is developed to reproduce the desired pattern. The pattern can be reproduced onto the surface of the substrate by an etching process. However, in this approach resolution is limited by the wavelength of the exposure radiation and as the feature size becomes smaller the equipment becomes increasingly expensive and complex.
Imprint lithography (IL) has gained considerable attention as a cost effective and technically feasible method for fabricating nanometer-dimension structures. Due to its low cost relative to conventional optical lithography tools and next generation lithographies (NGL), and because of the apparent ability to produce devices with critical dimensions as small as 10 nm, IL can play an important role in the integrated circuit and hard disk drive industries as well as telecommunications, specifically in the production of surface acoustic wave devices.
For imprint lithography techniques generally, a relief pattern in a template is used, in conjunction with polymeric materials to create a desired pattern on a substrate. The process, illustrated generally in FIGS. 1a–1d, involves coating the surface of a substrate 110, that can be silicon or quartz, with a thin film of a deformable polymer material 115 (FIG. 1a). Subsequently, the film is imprinted with a pattern of trenches by applying pressure to a patterned template 120 (FIG. 1b). Application of pressure can be mechanical or by fluid pressure such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,482,742 to Chou. The imprinted film can be cured by the application of heat, illumination, pressure or combinations thereof. Following the curing step (FIG. 1c), a reactive ion etch (RIE) process can be used to remove unwanted material from the trenches imprinted on the surface of the polymer film and transfer the pattern into an under lying structure that can be the substrate or other functional thin films (FIG. 1d) (cf. Voisin, U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2003/0205657, Nov. 6, 2003). The imprint lithography process is discussed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,905 to Chou.
For integrated circuit manufacturing or other high resolution applications, the template should have a precise pattern that pressing transfers, inherently with minimal demagnification, to the surface of the integrated circuit device.
Numerous variations of the basic IL method outlined above have been developed. Discussions of these methods can be found in Bailey et al., J. Vac. Sci. Tech. B 18(6), 3572–3577 (2000), Colburn et al., Proc. SPIE, 3676, 379–389 (1999), Tan et al., J. Vac. Sci. Tech., B16(6), 3926–3928, (1998), and Sreenivasan et al., Proc SPIE, 4688, 903–909 (2002).
One particular IL component critical to its cost effectiveness is the template or mask. According to a cost-of-ownership study by Sreenivisan (ibid.), the IL mask is estimated to cost about $40,000. This mask cost assumes volume production and an inspection and repair infrastructure that is not currently available. Actual mask cost in prototyping volumes will likely approach $100,000, particularly since the mask is a "1×" technology. That is, the feature sizes that are printed are equal to their corresponding features on the mask. This is in contrast to the reduction technology practiced in most commercial optical photolithography technologies that typically employ 4× or 5× reduction. As with all masks, as the feature size of IL masks decreases, the time required to pattern or "write" a mask increases. Consequently, not only does the mask cost increase but also the turnaround time to fabricate a mask increases. Thus, for small-volume manufacturing and prototyping, mask costs can become prohibitively expensive, i.e., the mask amortization cost schedule far exceeds the technology generation duration.

Programmable imprint lithography template


Currency and consistency requirements are specified as part of a query against a database that may contain replicated data that is updated asynchronously and therefore may not be completely up to date. The database system constructs query execution plans that include an input selection operator that verifies the currency of a replica and selects a subplan using the replica for execution only when the replica meets the query's currency constraints. It checks possible query execution plans at construction time against the query's consistency constraints and any plans that may produce a result not meeting the consistency constraints are rejected. In this way, the query result is guaranteed to satisfy the query's currency and consistency requirements.

Many application systems today make use of various forms of asynchronously updated replicas, which are saved data derived from some underlying source tables, to improve scalability, availability and performance. The term replica can mean traditional replicated data and data cached by various caching mechanisms. "Asynchronously updated" means that the replica is not updated as part of a database transaction modifying its source tables; so that the state of the replica does not necessarily reflect the current state of the database. While the use of replicated data greatly enhances performance in many cases queries are still unnecessarily routed to a backend server due to uncertainty about the currency and consistency requirements of the query as well as the currency and consistency of the replicated data.
If an application uses replicas that are not in sync with the source data, it is clearly willing to accept results that are not completely current but, most likely, the application has some limits on the acceptable "age" of the data. Today, these currency requirements are not explicitly declared anywhere but can only be indirectly inferred from the properties of the replica used. The following example illustrates this approach.
An application that queries a replicated table that propagates updates every 30 seconds is implicitly saying that it is willing to accept data that is up to 30 seconds old. If the replication is later reconfigured to propagate updates every 5 minutes, it is necessary to determine if 5 minute old data still meets the currency requirements of the query. Today's systems cannot provide any assistance in making this determination because they have no way of knowing what a given query's currency requirements are.
Data currency requirements are currently expressed implicitly through the choice of data sources for queries. For example, if a query Q1 does not require completely up-to-data data, the application may be designed to submit the query to a database server C that stores replicated data instead of submitting it to database server B that maintains the up-to-date state. Another query Q2 access the same tables but requires up-to-date data so the application submits it to database server B. The routing decisions are hardwired into the application and cannot be changed without changing the application.
Recent work has addressed peripherally some of the issues surrounding currency and consistency requirements in database query processing. For example, Epsilon-Serializability allows queries to specify inconsistency bounds but the purpose is entirely different. The objective is to achieve higher degree of concurrency by allowing queries to see database states with bounded database divergence introduced by concurrent update transactions.
WebViews suggests algorithms for the online view selection problem considering a new constraint—the required average freshness of the cached query results. The model of freshness is relatively coarse and the use is purely heuristic, providing no guarantee on currency and consistency of the result of an individual query.
Recent work with obsolescent materialized views deal with determining whether to use local or remote data by integrating the divergence of local data into the cost model for the database system's query optimizer. The usage of currency information is heuristic, the staler the data is, the higher the cost added to the plan. A related approach formulates a heuristic function that is simply the comparison of a user specified threshold and a weighted score calculated from a single view. No guarantees on the currency or consistency of the result of an individual query are provided.

Enforcing currency and consistency constraints in database query processing


The semiconductor radiation detector has a low leakage current, high radiation detecting efficiency and low cost. A high-density impurity layer of the detector is formed at least on one surface of a semiconductor crystal wafer beforehand. A crystal of a size required for forming the detector is diced from the wafer and the diced surfaces of the crystal have a mirror finished surface. A passivation film is formed on the diced surfaces of the crystal immediately after polishing.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor radiation detector suitable for a device for irradiating a specimen with a charged particle such as an electron beam and x-ray, detecting characteristic x-ray generated from the specimen and analyzing the elements of the specimen and a device for irradiating a specimen with x-ray, detecting x-ray which is transmitted through or reflected from the specimen and analyzing the structure of the specimen, the manufacturing method and an apparatus of radiation detection using the above semiconductor radiation detector.
A method of irradiating a specimen with a charged particle such as an electron beam or x-ray, detecting characteristic x-ray generated from the specimen or fluorescent x-ray and analyzing the specimen is known. For its typical example, a method called energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of irradiating a specimen with an electron beam in an electron microscope, detecting characteristic x-ray generated from the specimen and analyzing the elements of the specimen can be given.
As characteristic x-ray or fluorescent x-ray has energy peculiar to an element composing a specimen, the number of the generation of x-ray per unit time to analyze elements is required to be counted every energy of x-ray. The energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy is a method of using a detector wherein an output signal having height proportional to the energy of incident x-ray is acquired, identifying the energy of x-ray by combining the detector with a pulse-height analyzing circuit and analyzing elements.
For an x-ray detector used for the above energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, there is a semiconductor radiation detector (hereinafter simply called a detector) using a semiconductor crystal such as silicon and germanium.
An apparatus using these detectors and having energy resolution of approximately 140 eV for x-ray having energy of 5.9 keV is known. For the structure of a semiconductor radiation detector, three types of a pin-type, a pn-type and Schottky-barrier type (or a surface-barrier type) are known.
For a detector according to this type of energy dispersion method heretofore used, there is a detector produced by dispersing lithium in a silicon crystal called a lithium-drifted silicon detector.
Of the above three types of detectors, for a first example, the typical contour of a pin-type detector is shown in FIG. 7A. FIG. 7A shows a cross section viewed along a line A-Axe2x80x2 in FIG. 7B showing the appearance of the detector. The detector uses a p-type silicon crystal 101 and the outline is cylindrical and the detector has a concentric deep groove 6.
The pin-type has structure in which an intrinsic semiconductor region (an i layer) 1 formed by dispersing lithium in a semiconductor substrate 101 is held between a p-type layer 2 and an n-type layer 3 respectively formed on opposite surfaces, gold is respectively deposited on the surfaces of the p-type layer 2 and the n-type layer 3 and electrodes 4 and 5 are formed.
Negative voltage is applied to the electrode 4 on the p-type side of the detector by a bias supply 50 (reverse bias voltage is applied). Normally, x-ray is made incident from the surface of the electrode 4 on the p-type side. When x-ray 10 is incident upon the intrinsic semiconductor region 1, a secondary electron is generated and produces an electron-hole pair 20 and 21, losing energy. The generated electron 20 moves to the electrode 5 on the n-type side by an electric field between the electrodes 4 and 5.
The number of the generated electron-hole pairs is proportional to the energy of incident x-ray. The electron 20 which reaches the electrode 5 is converted to a voltage pulse 52 having height proportional to the number by an amplifier 51 and the energy of x-ray is identified by a pulse-height analyzer 53.
Reverse bias voltage applied to the electrodes 4 and 5 is set to high voltage of approximately 1000 V to prevent an electric charge (the electron-hole pair 20 and 21) generated in the intrinsic semiconductor region 1 from being recombined and from being annihilated.
To acquire high energy resolution for the ability of a detector, it is required to reduce leakage current which flows in a detector when reverse bias voltage is applied down to 100 fA or less and to reduce the capacitance of the detector. Therefore, a detector is housed in a vacuum container, is cooled by liquid nitrogen and others, leakage current thermicly generated is reduced by keeping the detector at low temperature and further, surface leakage current is reduced by the concentric deep groove 6.
The capacitance of a detector is in inverse proportion to the thickness of the intrinsic semiconductor region 1 and is proportional to area S. The area S means the cross section of a part (the intrinsic semiconductor region 1) inside each groove 6 and is a sensitive part to x-ray. The thickness of the intrinsic semiconductor region 1 is set to approximately 3 to 5 mm.
In the case of a silicon detector, characteristic x-ray having energy of approximately 20 keV with the above thickness can be detected efficiently. For area S, a silicon detector having area of 10 to 30 mm2 is known. If area is further large, capacitance is increased and energy resolution required for analyzing elements is not acquired. If area is 20 mm2, that is, the diameter inside each groove 6 is approximately 5 mm, a silicon detector having the outside diameter of approximately 11 mm is known.
Next, in a pn-type detector for a second example, an n-type layer or a p-type layer of high density is formed on the surface including a p-type or an n-type semiconductor crystal in place of the above intrinsic semiconductor region 1 to produce pn junction and the above detector utilizes a depletion layer generated by applying voltage in a reverse direction. The high-density same-type layer is formed on each opposite surface and further, each electrode is formed on the layer.
When x-ray is incident on the depletion layer in a state in which reverse bias voltage is applied between these both electrodes and the depletion layer is generated in pn junction, an electron-hole pair 20 and 21 are generated and the electron 20 moves on the side of the electrode 5 by an electric field generated in the depletion layer as in the intrinsic semiconductor region 1 of the pin-type detector shown in FIG. 7A.
Also, for a third example, a detector utilizing a depletion layer generated by applying voltage to Schottky barrier formed by forming a metal electrode on the surface of a semiconductor substrate by gold and others in a reverse direction is called Schottky-barrier type detector (or a surface-barrier type detector). The thickness of a depletion layer is proportional to the square root of applied voltage and is in inverse proportion to the square root of the density of impurities in a crystal. To acquire a depletion layer 3 mm thick by applied voltage of 1000 V, a crystal of higher purity by 3 or 4 digits is required, compared with a crystal used for producing a normal transistor and a normal integrated circuit.
As for Schottky-barrier type detector, to acquire a depletion layer 3 mm thick by applied voltage of 1200 V as an example of the numerical value, a crystal of the purity of approximately 5xc3x971011 pieces per 1 cm3 in the density of impurities is required. As recent crystal manufacturing technology is developed, a crystal of high purity which meets the above specification can be manufactured and is actually utilized.
As for a heretofore used lithium-drifted silicon detector, as lithium is thermally diffused when the detector is left at room temperature for a long time and has a bad effect upon the characteristics of the detector such as capacitance increases, the detector is said to be always kept at low temperature, however, each type detector shown in these first to third examples using a high-purity crystal is not required to be always kept at low temperature.
For the contour of a detector, a detector having a contour in which the thickness of a periphery outside a groove is thinned and shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B and a detector provided with a cylindrical brim and shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B are known as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,578 except the contour provided with the deep groove 6 shown in FIG. 7A. There is effect that leakage current is reduced in both contours. These groove and brim are formed by machining with a supersonic wave and further chemical etching of the machined surface.
Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-92868 formerly proposed by these inventors, there is a polygonal detector manufactured by a process shown in FIG. 10 wherein leakage current is reduced by adopting a mirror finished and polished surface.
The outline of each process for manufacturing the above detector according to a manufacturing process shown in FIG. 10 will be described below.
First, there is a process for dicing a rectangular parallelepipedic specimen (crystal) for example from a wafer to produce the detector.
Next, there are a process for polishing the surface of the crystal a mirror finished surface and a process for removing a minute damage due to polishing by etching.
Next, there is a process for doping n-type or p-type impurities in the crystal by ion implantation and annealing it and there is a process for removing an oxide film (a natural oxide film) on the surface of the crystal, depositing metal for forming an electrode on the surface and on the back of the specimen and forming a diode.
Finally, there is a process for forming an insulating passivation film on the whole specimen except the surface of the electrode after the surface of the specimen is cleaned.
The outside drawing of an example (a pin-type detector) of a detector acquired as described above is shown in FIG. 11B and a cross section viewed along a line A-Axe2x80x2 in FIG. 11B is shown in FIG. 11A. As shown in FIG. 11, a reference number 102 denotes a high-purity n-type silicon crystal, 2 denotes a p-type layer, 3 denotes an n-type layer, 4 and 5 denote an electrode and 7 denotes a polyimide passivating film.
For the other documents related to the formation of the passivating film 7, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-36410 for example can be given. In the case of the example, a passivating film is also formed in a final manufacturing process after an electrode is formed on the surface and on the back of a detector. That is, as shown in FIG. 12, in a final manufacturing process after a common electrode 4 and individual electrodes 5 are formed on the surface and on the back of a detector 100, the side (the end face) 8 of the detector 100 and the periphery 9 except the main surface which functions as the light receiving surface of the above common electrode 4 are covered with an insulating film (an oxide film) in the shape of a frame. In this example, a solder bump 5a is formed on the surface of the individual electrode 5 on the back.
However, as for two structures described in the first and second examples of the above detector, there are problems that a semiconductor crystal is required to be cut cylindrically as shown in FIG. 7A, a deep groove is required to be formed, difference in a level is required to be made on the side on which a groove is formed as shown in FIG. 8A, control in the dimension of these grooves and the control of a surface state of the groove are difficult, a manufacturing yield is bad, work is complex and a product is high-priced.
Also, further, there are problems that if plural detectors are arranged to enhance sensitivity in detecting x-ray, it is difficult to enhance mounting density because the cross section of each detector is circular and the area of a part sensitive to x-ray is small, compared with the outer cross section of the detector because ineffective areas such as a groove and a brim are provided. The above area is hereinafter called effective area. Further, a detector the cross section of which is not circular is also known, however, there is a problem that the machining of a groove and a brim is more complicated.
Also, as the process flowchart as prior art shown in FIG. 10 and the pin-type detector shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, a polygonal detector adopting mirror polishing is characterized in that as the contour is simple, the manufacture is simple and a large effective area ratio is obtained. However, the yield of a product where leakage current 100 fA or less is generated by the application of reverse bias voltage of 1000 V is at most approximately 2%. Particularly, the yield in the case of Schottky-barrier type detector described as the above third example is low. In most Schottky-barrier type detectors, the typical value of voltage at which leakage current rapidly increases, breakdown starting voltage is approximately 200 V. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to manufacture an actually usable detector.
When this type of detector is manufactured by prior art, a manufacturing method of forming a passivating film in a required part of the detector as a final process after a diode is completed via a process for diffusing impurities and a process for forming an electrode respectively required for a detector has been customarily adopted as to any detector of a pin type, a pn type and Schottky-barrier type.
Also, when this type of detector is manufactured, there is a problem that the following process is troublesome because an impurities diffusing process is executed every semiconductor crystal diced from a wafer.
Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to enable setting voltage at which leakage current rapidly increases, breakdown starting voltage to a still higher value than conventional 200 V and to provide a reliable semiconductor radiation detector.
A second object is to provide a manufacturing method of an improved semiconductor radiation detector wherein a detector the leakage current of which is 100 fA or less is acquired at the yield of at least 90% even if reverse bias voltage of at least 1000 V is applied.
A third object is to provide an apparatus of radiation detection provided with a semiconductor radiation detector the leakage current of which is 100 fA or less even if reverse bias voltage of at least 1000 V is applied.
The above first object is achieved by a semiconductor radiation detector characterized in that an insulating passivation film covers the side of a crystal and is provided except a main part of an electrode formed region formed on the surface and on the back of the semiconductor crystal and in the vicinity of the periphery of the main part so that the insulating passivation film surrounds the above periphery, at least an electrode on the side of a light receiving part is expanded from the main part of the electrode formed region of the semiconductor crystal so that the above electrode covers the periphery of the insulating passivation film and both peripheries are overlapped and laminated based upon a semiconductor radiation detector provided with diode structure configured by an electrode respectively provided on the surface and on the back of a semiconductor crystal, an insulating passivation film covering at least the side of the crystal of the above diode structure, a light receiving part configuring the main part of the surface electrode in the diode structure and a signal output part for outputting a signal generated in the diode structure from the electrode on the back as a detection signal when a radiation is incident on the light receiving part in a state in which reverse bias is applied between both electrodes.
As for the configuration of the detector according to the present invention, any radiation detector of a pin type, a pn type and Schottky-barrier type is effective, however, particularly Schottky-barrier type detector is the most effective.
A semiconductor crystal is represented by silicon, however, a compound semiconductor crystal may be also used and generally, a well-known semiconductor crystal used for a detector can be used.
As for an insulating passivation film, an organic insulating film formed by polyimide and others is desirable because the organic insulating film is easy to form its pattern, however, an inorganic insulating passivation film may be also formed by SiO2 and others by well-known chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
The detector according to the present invention which is the second object can be easily acquired by a manufacturing method described below.
A process in the manufacturing method according to the present invention is characterized in that first, after both surfaces of a wafer are polished, impurities required for the configuration of the detector are doped inside the wafer after a process for removing a damaged layer caused by a cleaning process and polishing on the wafer and removing a natural oxide film formed on the surface of the wafer by cleaning using hydrofluoric acid and others. The above process is also characterized in that a crystal in size required for forming the detector from the wafer into which the impurities are doped is diced in the shape of a cube for example for a later detector manufacturing process.
Hereby, multiple crystal specimens for forming the detector into which the required impurities are doped under the same condition can be prepared at a time.
Heretofore, the doping of impurities into a wafer has been individually executed for a diced specimen after the wafer is diced into a crystal in size required for forming the detector.
Second, the process in the manufacturing method according to the present invention is characterized in that the timing (the order) of the process for forming an electrode on the surface and on the back of a crystal specimen for forming the detector into which impurities are doped is shifted to a final process after the process for forming the insulating passivation film and electrode structure on the side of the light receiving part is improved.
As described above, heretofore, after an electrode is formed on a crystal specimen for forming the detector into which impurities are doped beforehand, the insulating passivation film is customarily formed on the surface of the detector except the electrode as a final process. However, the voltage at which leakage current generated when reverse bias voltage is applied rapidly increases (breakdown starting voltage) of the detector manufactured according to the above process is 200 V and is low.
These inventors performed various experiments and examined them to enable setting the above breakdown starting voltage to a higher value than 200 V. As a result, unexpectedly when the above process for forming the electrode is shifted after the process for forming the insulating passivation film to be a final process of manufacturing the detector and electrode structure on the side of the light receiving part is improved as described later, the above breakdown starting voltage is remarkably enhanced and unexpected characteristics exceeding conventional 200 V by far are acquired.
Also, a fact that a detector the leakage current of which is 100 fA or less even if reverse bias voltage of at least 1000 V is applied can be acquired at the yield of at least 90% becomes apparent.
The process for forming the insulating passivation film and the process for forming the electrode according to the present invention will be described in detail below.
To explain the process for forming the insulating passivation film, first, a crystal specimen used for this process is prepared via the following preparation process. That is, at least the side of a crystal specimen diced from a wafer for forming the detector is polished a mirror finished surface and further, etching processing is executed to remove a damaged layer by the above polishing.
In a process for polishing to be a mirror finished surface, in the case of Schottky-barrier type detector, a layer where impurities are diffused on the back of a specimen is left without being polished, the side is polished and a layer where impurities are diffused on the surface to be the light receiving part is also polished and is removed. If a pin-type detector and a pn-type detector are formed, only the side is polished and both the front surface and the back on which an electrode is formed are not polished.
In an etching process, an electrode formed region on the surface and on the back is covered with a resist film if necessary. That is, in the case of Schottky-barrier type detector, a resist film (a photoresist film) is formed in only an electrode formed region on the back of a specimen and the other surface is etched, protecting an impurity diffusion layer. If a pin-type detector and a pn-type detector are formed, only the side is etched, protecting an electrode formed region both on the surface and on the back with a resist film.
The specimen to which etching processing is applied as described above is cleaned by an organic solvent if necessary, further, is cleaned by inorganic aqueous solution such as hydrofluoric acid and the surface of the specimen is cleaned. If a resist film is used in etching processing, the specimen is cleaned by an organic solvent to remove a residue of an organic matter. A natural oxide film generated on the surface of the specimen is removed by cleaning using inorganic acid aqueous solution.
An insulating passivation film is formed on the surface of the specimen the surface of which is cleaned via the above processing. The insulating passivation film is continuously provided from the whole area of the side of the specimen to the periphery close to the side except the main part of the electrode formed region formed both on the surface and on the back of the specimen.
For the insulating passivation film, an organic insulating film formed by polyimide resin and polyamide resin is desirable and can be easily formed by applying resin solution to a specimen. Besides, an inorganic insulating passivation film such as SiO2 may be also formed by well-known CVD.
Next, the process for forming an electrode will be described. An electrode is respectively formed on the front surface and on the back of the above specimen on which the insulating passivation film is formed as a final manufacturing process. The electrode on the side of the light receiving part is laminated so that the above electrode on the side of the light receiving part covers from the electrode formed region which is surrounded by the insulating passivation film on the surface of the specimen and inside which a crystal is exposed (the main part of the electrode formed region) to the periphery of the insulating passivation film.
As described above, in the present invention, structure in which the periphery of the electrode on the side of the light receiving part covers the periphery of the insulating passivation film and both peripheries are overlapped is guessed one of reasons why excellent characteristics that electrostatic focusing is relaxed and thereby, breakdown starting voltage exceeds conventional 200 V by far are acquired.
As the surface of a specimen is cleaned and an electrode is formed in a state in which the insulating passivation film is formed, the following particulate adheres to the insulating passivation film and does not directly adhere to the surface of a crystal directly and even if a particulate of electrode material is dispersed on the side of the specimen in the process for forming an electrode and adheres and as a result, it is guessed that the deterioration of the characteristics is remarkably reduced.
According to the manufacturing method, as the insulating passivation film is previously formed and an electrode is formed afterward, it is easy to cover the periphery of the insulating passivation film with the periphery of the electrode on the side of the light receiving part and the degree of the overlap of both peripheries can be arbitrarily controlled by arbitrarily selecting the size of an electrode pattern.
It is desirable that an electrode on the back of a specimen also has the same contour as the electrode on the side of the light receiving part, however, as heretofore, the periphery of the insulating passivation film and the periphery of the electrode may be also close in place of laminated structure that the periphery of the insulating passivation film is covered.
These electrodes can be easily formed by well-known film formation technology such as deposition, sputtering and CVD and pattern formation technology by lithography.
For electrode material, at least one kind of gold, palladium and aluminum is used for desirable material.
The third object of the present invention is achieved by applying the semiconductor radiation detector acquired as described above to an apparatus of radiation detection having well-known configuration. That is, as the above apparatus of radiation detection is provided with the semiconductor radiation detector the leakage current of which is 100 fA or less even if reverse bias voltage of at least 1000 V is applied, a reliable apparatus of radiation detection which is sensitive in radiation detection can be realized.
The present invention is made based upon the above experiments and the details of the contents of the experiments will be described in embodiments.

Semiconductor radiation detector and manufacture thereof


The present invention provides a measurement method and an apparatus. The method includes: receiving, by served user equipment UE accessing a serving base station, restrictive measurement resources of at least two neighboring cells that are respectively sent by base stations serving the at least two neighboring cells; and performing, by the served UE based on the restrictive measurement resources, RRM measurement on a neighboring cell, in the at least two neighboring cells, whose measurement resource needs to be limited, and/or performing radio link monitoring RLM on a serving cell of the UE based on the restrictive measurement resources. According to the method, the served UE can learn the restrictive measurement resource of the neighboring cell, and according to the restrictive measurement resource learnt by the served UE, the served UE performs neighboring-cell RRM measurement and/or performs RLM on the serving cell of the served UE.

In a heterogeneous network (English: Heterogeneous Network, HetNet for short), a time-domain enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (English: enhanced Inter-cell Interference Coordination, eICIC for short) mechanism effectively increases system and cell-edge throughputs. With eICIC, an almost blank subframe (English: Almost Blank Subframe, ABS for short) is used in a macro cell to reduce interference of the macro cell on user equipment (English: User Equipment, UE for short) within a cell range extension (English: Cell Range Expansion, CRE for short) area, that is, a small cell. Interfered-with user equipment can be prevented from interference only when the user equipment decodes control information or transmits data in the ABS.
At present, when macro UE accessing the macro cell approaches small cells, the small cells that the macro UE approaches may be referred to as neighboring cells of the macro UE. The macro UE needs to perform neighboring-cell radio resource management (English: Radio Resource Management, RRM for short) measurement. To ensure an effect of neighboring-cell RRM measurement performed by the macro UE and reduce interference of the macro cell on neighboring-cell RRM measurement, a macro base station (macro eNB) predefines a set of neighboring-cell restrictive measurement resources. The neighboring-cell restrictive measurement resources are subsets of the ABS. When the macro UE needs to perform neighboring-cell RRM measurement, the macro base station selects, from the ABS, some subframes to form neighboring-cell restrictive measurement resources, and notifies the macro UE of the neighboring-cell restrictive measurement resources. The macro UE performs neighboring-cell RRM measurement in the subframes included in the neighboring-cell restrictive measurement resources.
However, when ultra dense networking is used, there are a plurality of interference sources, and interference is not from only the macro base station. Interference caused due to superposition of interference from at least two neighboring cells becomes main interference. As small cells (such as a micro base station, a pico base station, and a femto base station) are distributed more densely, service fluctuation becomes severer. This requires that an eICIC mode should be changed more frequently.
The inventor finds that, although an existing neighboring-cell RRM measurement method can reduce interference of a macro cell on RRM measurement, when small cells are densely distributed, serious mutual interference is caused and interference between the small cells affects a measurement effect and measurement accuracy of neighboring-cell RRM measurement and/or macro-cell radio link monitoring (English: Radio Link Monitoring, RLM for short) that are/is performed by the macro UE.


The invention relates to the method of feeding the air, or fluid of lower density, into the duct (2) by means of tubes separated one from another in such a way that there should be water, or liquid fluid, between them, so that this bathes at least part of its walls. In other words, similar to the stalks of a bouquet submerged in water, and at whose ends, instead of flowers, air bubbles exit, these being produced at the air inlet at the extremity of the stalk or tube. It relates more specifically to the method of feeding the lower-density fluid by means of tubes which at their base are grouped, close to each other or touching, and at their outlet extremities are separated, as if forming a bouquet, in such a way that the separation distance of the extremities of the tubes, between axes of symmetry, is approximately the diameter of the bubble.

Spanish patent P201000275 describes a source of renewable energy for the production of mechanical or electrical energy, comprising a duct submerged in a fluid, generally water, contained within another tube or vessel, whose outlet section is approximately at the same level as the free surface of the water, and its inlet at a lower level. The system likewise features an element which introduces a fluid of lower density, usually air, into the interior of this duct, by means of bubbles of uniform size, and preferably of relatively small size, approximately in the same direction as the duct and occupying the entirety of its profile, which brings about the upward mobility of said fluid (air-water mixture) towards the surface. The upward mobility is due to the hydrostatic upthrust exerted by the water outside the duct (greater density) from the lower section of the duct on the fluid (air-water mixture) located within the duct, this featuring a lower density. Thus, as in Archimedes' upthrust, the air bubbles borne by the water situated within the duct transmit part of their upthrust to the water. The energy of this induced flow is what is harnessed, as is the static and dynamic pressure of the fluid with the lower density, generally air, which is fed into the duct under static and dynamic pressure.

Source, which harnesses the difference in density between fluids for the production of renewable energy


The invention relates to a device for referencing fluorescence signals and/or calibration of fluorescence detection systems, whereby the device comprises an essentially non-fluorescing support, on which are applied polymer layers in several defined regions and with partly varying thicknesses and/or compositions. Said polymer layers are applied to the support such as to fluoresce after corresponding irradiation and the device may thus be used as a fluorescence standard. The invention further relates to a method for the production of said fluorescence standards.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device which makes it possible to compare the imaging characteristics and signal sensitivity of fluorescence detection systems and enables test-specific referencing of fluorescence signals. The invention also relates to a method for producing said device.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Frequently, biomedical tests are based on the detection of an interaction between a molecule or an affinity matrix whose identity or whose constitution is known (probe) and an unknown molecule to be detected, or unknown molecules to be detected (target molecule or target).
In modern tests, the probes, if they are molecules, are frequently immobilised on carriers in the form of a substance library in known quantity and position. Such devices are also called probe arrays or chips. Typically, a probe array comprises several so-called array elements which are the regions of a probe array in which a particular molecular probe is frequently immobilised in multiple copy. The sum of all occupied array elements thus constitutes the probe array.
Immobilisation of molecular probes in the form of a substance library on probe arrays makes it possible to analyse in parallel on several probes concurrently a sample which contains the target molecules to be detected. This makes possible a systematic analysis with a high throughput in a short time (high throughput screening, D. J. Lockhart, E. A. Winzeler, Genomics, Gene Expression and DNA Arrays, Nature 2000, 405, 827-836). For the purpose of producing the probe arrays, the probes are usually immobilised in a specified way on a suitable matrix, as described for example in WO 00/12575 (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,087, WO 98/36827) or synthetically produced (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,854).
In principle, furnishing proof of an interaction between the probe and the target molecule occurs as follows:
The probe or probes are attached in the specified way to a particular matrix in the form of a probe array. Subsequently, in a solution, the targets are brought into contact with the probes and incubated at defined conditions. If, due to complementary characteristics, the probe and the target molecule have an affinity to each other, then a specific interaction between the probe and the target takes place during incubation. The bond which occurs during this process is clearly more stable than the bond of target molecules on probes which are not specific to the target molecule. In order to remove non-specifically bonded target molecules, the system is washed with respective solutions, or heated, or is subjected to measures which have a correspondingly restrictive effect.
Furnishing proof of the specific interaction between a target and its probe can then be carried out by way of a multitude of methods which as a rule depend on the type of marker, such marker, depending on the design of the experiment, having been introduced into the target molecules or into the probe molecules during or after the interaction between the target molecule and the probe array. Such markers can for example include fluorescent groups, radioactive markers, enzymes or chemiluminescent molecules, with the method of proof to be used being governed by the type of marker (A. Marshall, J. Hodgson, DNA Chips: An Array of Possibilities, Nature Biotechnology 1998, 16, 27-31; G. Ramsay, DNA Chips: State of the Art, Nature Biotechnology 1998, 16, 40-44).
Depending on the substance library immobilised on the probe array, and depending on the chemical nature of the target molecules, by means of this test principle, interactions between nucleic acids, between proteins, and between nucleic acids and proteins can be investigated (for an overview, see F. Lottspeich, H. Zorbas, 1998, "Bioanalytik", Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg/Berlin).
The following can be considered as possible substance libraries which can be immobilised on probe arrays or chips: antibody libraries, receptor libraries, peptide libraries and nucleic acid libraries. Nucleic acid libraries assume far and away the most important role, with DNA molecule libraries or RNA molecule libraries being used particularly frequently. In this context, probe-array-based analysis of interactions between nucleic acids follows the principles of the nucleic acid hybridisation technique (A. A. Leitch, T. Schwarzacher, D. Jackson, I. J. Leitch, 1994, "In vitro-Hybridisierung", Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg/Berlin/Oxford).
Usually, proof of specific interactions between a probe and a target is furnished by fluorescence-optical evaluations because they are characterised by good sensitivity, versatility concerning the markers that can be used, and by the possibility of location-resolved and time-resolved detection of the interaction with comparatively little expenditure (above all in comparison with mass-spectroscopy methods) as well as by the elimination of irradiation exposure, the latter occurring when radioactive marking reagents are used. In addition, depending on the fluorophores used for marking, the excitation wavelength range and the detection wavelength range can be set.
However, in practical application, qualitative and quantitative fluorescence-optical evaluations are negatively affected by a number of factors connected to fluorescence spectroscopy per se, to the type of the fluorescence markers selected, and to the type and construction of the detection systems used. Such factors include above all non-specific background signals (signal noise) which arise as a result of intrinsic optical characteristics of the fluorescence markers (e.g. bleaching, quenching or fluorescence quenching of the dyes used); as a result of the physical-chemical characteristics of the probe or of the targets and their solutions (e.g. autofluorescence); as a result of fluctuations in the optical system (e.g. irradiation intensity of the light source, and extraneous light); and as a result of the construction and type of the detection systems used (e.g. autofluorescence of the assembly elements, capability of the detectors for spatial and temporal resolution, scattering, reflections).
Any assessment as to whether a measured fluorescence intensity represents a signal or merely forms part of signal noise thus requires elimination or minimisation of disturbing influences, as well as the use of devices and methods which make referencing of the measured fluorescence signals possible. Such devices are also referred to as a fluorescence calibration standard.
Efforts to minimise device-related signal noise result in very considerable technical expenditure on the construction of highly sensitive detectors which make possible both qualitative and quantitative evaluation of fluorescence signals. In particular, for evaluation during high throughput screening of probe arrays, which evaluation necessitates a certain degree of automation, specially adapted detection systems are required.
Fluorescence-optical read-outs of molecular probe arrays by means of standard epifluorescence structures, e.g. CCD (Charge Coupled Device) based detectors are used which for the purpose of qualitative differentiation of optical effects (scattering, reflection) achieve excitation of the fluorophores in the dark field (by way of reflected-light microscopy or transmitted-light microscopy) (C. E. Hooper et al., Quantitive Photone Imaging in the Life Sciences Using Intensified CCD Cameras, Journal of Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence 1990, 337-344). In this process, imaging of the probe arrays takes place either by exposure or by rastering with the use of high-resolution optics. Complicated illumination optics and filter systems are necessary for minimising occurring autofluorescence, or for providing system-inherent optical effects such as illumination homogeneity, across the entire probe array.
Confocal scanning systems (described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,810) make it possible to evaluate fluorescence signals from selected planes of a sample. They are based on selecting the fluorescence signals along the optical axis by means of pinholes, which results in very considerable adjustment effort in relation to the samples, as well as necessitating the establishment of a powerful autofocus system. The technical implementation of such systems is highly complex, and the required components which include lasers, pinholes, (cooled) detectors (e.g. PMT, avalanche diodes, CCD systems), high-precision mechanical translation elements and optics, have to be integrated and optimised in relation to each other at considerable expense (described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,459,325, 5,192,980, 5,834,758).
Thus, detection systems are known with which the molecular interaction of a target comprising a fluorescence marker and a specific probe, as occurs e.g. in probe-array-based experiments, can be detected. Despite the very considerable technical expenditure described, which expenditure arises depending on the type and construction of the detection system used, for minimising signal noise, it is not possible to eliminate signal noise entirely. Therefore, qualitative and quantitative evaluation of measured fluorescence signals continues to necessitate referencing or calibration of the experiments and the detection devices by means of fluorescence calibration standards. Calibration of detection systems by means of fluorescence calibration standards is carried out, inter alia, in order to be able to make statements regarding the sensitivity of the spatial and temporal resolution and the geometric image aberrations, such as e.g. the curvature of field of the respective system.
Calibration of detection devices regarding their temporal resolution is necessary because, for the purpose of differentiating between the actual fluorescence signal (which is often long-lived) and autofluorescence signals (which are often short-lived), measuring of the signals has to be carried out across an extensive time period.
When using CCD detectors, it is necessary, by means of standards, e.g. to determine the linearity and sensitivity of the detector in the fluorescence wavelength range used, the spatial and temporal resolution, as well as the curvature of field (flat field determination) of the detector. Confocal detection systems require calibration with regard to the regions which are excited, or which contribute to the overall intensity.
Calibration of experiments by means of fluorescence calibration standards is necessary because the fluorophores which are used as markers are subjected to considerable fluctuations with regard to their fluorescence yields, due to the environmental conditions to which they are exposed (e.g. autofluorescence of solvent components, pH value, temperature, irradiation time), and thus absolute quantification e.g. of hybridisation yields on probe arrays is only possible with some reservations.
Calibration of various fluorescence detection systems by means of fluorescence calibration standards is also very important because only such calibration permits a comparison of fluorescence signals obtained in experiments, which fluorescence signals were obtained using different detection systems and different devices within a system (comparison above system level or above device level).
In the state of the art, various teachings are known which are intended to make it possible to calibrate fluorescence detection systems or fluorescence signals.
For the purpose of calibrating fluorescence detection devices, it is e.g. possible to use chips which comprise a fluorescent plastic layer. Such calibration standards are associated with the disadvantage that they do not allow calibration of the detection systems with regard to their spatial resolution or with regard to their dynamic characteristics across a wide fluorescence range. Similarly, determining the curvature of field e.g. of CCD detectors is not possible with these standards, because, due to the thickness of the chip, homogenisation of the fluorescence signal through the chip occurs. Thus, calibration of the influence which the geometric relationships have on the detection of fluorescence signals (influence which in particular in the case of different detection systems and principles can assume a decisive role), cannot be undertaken, either above device level or above system level.
When using CCD-based fluorescence detectors and in particular when carrying out excitation by funnel-shaped or beam-shaped lasers or multispectral illumination systems such as e.g. cold-light sources, alignment of the illumination homogeneity with the use e.g. of movable diffusing disks requires expensive calculation and image manipulation to define the flat field. From the state of the art, no fluorescence calibration standards are known which make it possible to define the flatfield for correcting the illumination homogeneity in such direct-imaging systems.
Furthermore, there are fluorescence calibration standards which are based on doped glass. These standards, too, are associated with a disadvantage in that they do not permit calibration of the detection systems with regard to their spatial resolution or with regard to their geometric characteristics, because, due to the dimensions of such standards, homogenisation of the signals takes place as a result of the volume of glass. Confocal systems in which only certain regions and layers along the optical axis are excited, or contribute to the overall intensity, and in which the problem of transmission losses through the structural layers which are lying above exists, also cannot be calibrated with regard to their geometric characteristics if such standards are used.
WO 01/06227 describes the manufacture of a fluorescence calibration standard based on microparticles or nanoparticles, and further describes their application, both for calibrating fluorescence detection systems and for referencing fluorescence intensity signals in fluorometric assays. These standards are also not suitable for calibrating the fluorescence detection systems with regard to their spatial resolution. Thus, any comparison above the device level in the case of signal intensity data obtained from experiments based on probe arrays is only possible with some reservations.
In order to be able to differentiate the short-lived background fluorescence (e.g. of autofluorescent solvent molecules) from the actual fluorescence signal, and in order to be able to reference the actual signal, long-term emitting marker substances can be used as a standard, with the signals of said marker substances being proven by time-resolved detection methods. Frequently, these marker substances are phosphorescent chelates of rare-earth metals (in particular those of europium or terpium). However, these substances are associated with a disadvantage in that they can only be excited with UV light sources. Furthermore, the chelates used are often unstable in aqueous form.
In order to achieve quantitative evaluation of molecular interactions in probe-array-based experiments by means of fluorescence measurements, and in order to achieve standardisation of such signals, for the purpose of calibrating or referencing, the experiments are carried out by dual-colouring of the probe molecules, e.g. by competitive hybridisation (M. Shena, D. Shalon, R. W. Davis, P. O. Brown, Quantitative monitoring of gene expression patterns with a complementary DNA microarray, Science, 1995, 220,467-70, and D. Shalon, S. J. Smith, P. O. Brown, A DNA microarray system for analyzing complex DNA samples using two-color fluorescent probe for hybridization, Genome Res., 1996, 6, 639-45). Since in such calibration standards the signals obtained by way of the reference molecules always depend on the concrete experimental conditions, it is difficult to carry out a quantitative comparison above the device level or above the system level.
The disadvantages of the fluorescence calibration standards known from the state of the art clearly show that there is a considerable requirement for devices which make it possible to calibrate fluorescence detection systems with regard to their spatial and temporal resolution, as well as with regard to their geometric and dynamic characteristics.
In addition, there is a considerable requirement for devices for referencing fluorescence signals which make possible comparisons above system level and above device level and/or comparison above the level of individual tests, of fluorescence signals e.g. of experiments based on probe arrays.

Device for referencing fluorescence signals


Erasable paintings used to paint a design on the at least one paintable surface of the footwear. The erasable paintings are insoluble in water and thus can withstand any weather conditions. The present invention also provides an erasing solution for completely erasing the erasable from the paintable surface. The present invention also provides an article of footwear having at least one paintable surface and at least one erasable painting. The article of footwear may also include an erasing solvent to erase the at least one erasable painting. The article of footwear may also include a spray and/or liquid to make the painting permanent and/or a painting instrument. The article of footwear may also include various accessories.

Often as children, we enjoyed sketching and painting a design on our own shoes. Furthermore, a person would have enjoyed designing, sketching, and/or painting his own footwear, with an option of redesigning the recent design by erasing the recent design and painting a new design.
But footwear such as boots, shoes, sandals, flip-flops etc. are not designed to be sketched, coated or written on. If a user does paint on a footwear item it will be either not erasable from the footwear or not sustainable on the footwear.
There is therefore a need for and it would be highly advantageous to have footwear such as boots, shoes, sandals, flip-flops, crocs look alike shoes etc., and other articles such as belts, bags, umbrellas, handbags, purses, lunchboxes, furniture, hair-bows, coats, shirts, pants, other fashion wear and fashion accessories, leather articles, plastic or polymeric articles, etc., on which a person can sketch, paint and/or write. The articles will be provided with erasable paints and erasing solvent as a single article of manufacture. The person can than use the paints supplied to paint on the footwear a design the person desires. The person can also erase the design using a supplied erasing solvent and paint a new design.
The term "permanent marker" as used herein refers to a commonly used marker which is not erasable from a commonly used white board by a dry eraser or water.

Self designed fashion wear and other articles


An applicator device for applying a mass in the form of a stick (1) extending longitudinally along a longitudinal axis (M), comprising a rotatable part (10) through which the stick (1) is guided and which has an exit opening (12) for the stick (1), a hollow shaft (41) coupled to the rotatable part (10) via an axially fixed rotatable connection for axially advancing the stick (1), a body (20) fixedly connected to the hollow shaft (41), and a cap (30) for the rotatable part (10), which is detachably connected to the hollow shaft (41), the axially fixed rotatable connection being formed by a coupling portion of the rotatable part (K.2) and a complementary counterpart coupling portion (K.1) of the hollow shaft (41) in a coupling portion (K) in which the hollow shaft (41) and the rotatable part (10) engage with each other.

The present invention relates to an applicator device for applying a mass in the form of a stick, in particular a cosmetic mass.
Applicator devices for cosmetic preparations, in the form of pencils, preferably with a rotating mechanism with which the stick mass is introduced into a front portion of the rotation mechanism and can be twisted axially out of same, or is disposed such that it can be twisted forwards and backwards, are well-known. Mention can be made in this regard of DE 32 15 215 A1, DE 198 51 219 A1, DE 37 28 427 C1, DE 38 35 679 C2 and DE 44 45 230 C2, for example, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,311 A and U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,197 A.
These applicator devices are used as "liners", e.g. as lip liners, eye liners, eyebrow pencils or as cover-up sticks applied to certain points. Such "liners" usually have stick diameters ranging from 2 to 5 mm, with a useful length of the stick ranging from 35 to 60 mm. This means that applicator devices of the aforementioned kind have substantially different dimensions (and thus substantially different handling problems as well) from conventional lipsticks with stick diameters ranging between 10 and 15 mm and with stick lengths of between 35 and 45 mm.
A generic applicator device generally has the shape of an elongate cylinder. A front portion of the applicator device must be sufficiently long to accommodate the stick mass to be applied, and in the rear portion of the applicator device there is usually a threaded spindle which is non-rotatingly yet axially displaceably mounted, and which cooperates with a threaded portion in the front portion and which can push the stick mass out of the applicator device.
In applicator devices in the field of cosmetics, the stick mass consists of a more or less soft cosmetic material which is to be lightly applied to human skin and the like. In most cases, such cosmetic masses are not rigid bodies, but thixotropic preparations that are deformed or even liquefied when exposed to compressive or shearing forces. An intermediate member is therefore needed between the threaded spindle and the stick mass, in order to convert the relative rotational movement of the pusher spindle into an exclusively axial movement for the stick mass. Push members or stick holders that are rigidly connected to the stick mass, but which cooperate with the threaded spindle via a ball-and-socket joint are known from the prior art.
The structure of an applicator device known from the prior art requires that the rear portion be dimensioned sufficiently long, as the threaded spindle must essentially be accommodated there with a "net length" that is sufficient to convey the entire stick mass out of the applicator device in the course of use, if possible. At the end of the rotary spindle, there must also be a fixing member which cooperates with corresponding means inside the rear portion in order to prevent the threaded spindle from rotating with the front portion. The threaded spindle must also include the intermediate member described in the foregoing and the ball-and-socket joint or some other adequate means for decoupling any rotation. The addition of these sub-members results in a substantial total length of the applicator device, as can be seen, for example, from the U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,311 A and U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,197 A patents mentioned above.
One possible object of the present invention is to provide an applicator device of the kind initially specified, in which the rear portion can be designed more freely, particularly with regard to its length, than is possible in the prior art due to the length of the threaded spindle, which must suffice to convey the entire stick mass as completely as possible out of the holding member in the course of use.


Tea-based beverages prepared from functional water are described. The functional water comprises less than 200 ppm total dissolved solids and, when used to make a tea-based beverage, results in a beverage having superior flavor and appearance characteristics, even when up to 6% by weight of tea solids are present within the beverage.

Tea-based beverages are some of the most popular beverages with consumers. In fact, many studies indicate that tea-based beverages promote good health. For example, studies indicate that both green and black tea, which are derived from Camellia sinensis, comprise cancer fighting antioxidants.
Other studies indicate that people who drink one or more cups of tea per day may have half the heart attack risk than people who drink no tea.
Notwithstanding the advantages of drinking a tea-based beverage, it is not always routine to generate a consistent beverage. Particularly, the water used to make a desired tea-based beverage can have a significant impact on, among other things, the taste and appearance of the beverage.
When levels of certain ions within the water used to generate the tea-based beverage are too high or too low, the resulting beverage often tastes and looks inferior. For example, tea-based beverages made with reverse osmosis water can be bitter, sour, flat and metallic tasting. Moreover, such tea-based beverages made with conventional tap water can be weak tasting, lacking in astringency, cloudy and have hazy precipitates suspended therein.
It is of increasing interest to develop a means for generating a consistent tea-based beverage. This invention, therefore, is directed to functional water whereby the water comprises less than 200 ppm total dissolved solids. The functional water of the present invention unexpectedly can be used to make a consistent tea-based beverage with superior flavor and appearance characteristics. Particularly, the tea-based beverage made with the functional water of the present invention, surprisingly, has characteristics similar to that of beverages made with spring water which typically can have at least 35% by weight less dissolved solids than the functional water of this invention.
Additional Information
Efforts have been disclosed for making tea-based beverages. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,423,362; 6,423,361; 6,413,570; and 6,274,187, tea-based beverages are described.
Other efforts have been disclosed for making tea-based beverages. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,986, tea containing beverages with cinnamic acid are described.
Still other efforts have been disclosed for making tea-based beverages. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,576, flavoring materials for use in tea containing beverages are described.
None of the additional information above describes a functional water whereby the water has less than about 200 ppm of total dissolved solids and is suitable for use in making a superior tea-based beverage.

Unilever Bestfoods, North America, division of Conopco, Inc.


The invention provides a human multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 protein (MEND1) and polynucleotides which identify and encode MEND1. The invention also provides expression vectors, host cells, agonists, antibodies and antagonists. The invention also provides methods for treating disorders associated with expression of MEND1.

Wermer's syndrome or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is characterized by the neoplastic transformation of parathyroid, pituitary, adrenal, gastric endocrine, and pancreatic islet cells. The gene associated with MEN1, which is inherited as an autosomal dominant, is believed to be a tumor suppressor. Normally tumor suppressors play an important role in the regulation of cell growth; however, in heterozygous individuals, when the normal copy of the gene is mutated through an error in DNA replication, tumor development results.
The MEN1 locus (OMIM * 131100) has been mapped to a minimal interval on chromosome 11q13 bounded centromerically by PYGM (Emmert-Buck M. R. et al. (1996) Science 274:998) and telomerically by D11S4936. The genomic sequence as reconstructed from inserts in YAC, BAC, PAC, and P1 clones consists of 10 exons which encode a 2.8 kb transcript. The sequence mu was assembled from 44 different ESTs in NCBI dbEST and from shotgun sequence assemblies. Northern blots using a 1.9 kb contig of the human sequences showed expression in all tissues tested (pancreas, adrenal medulla, thyroid, small intestine, stomach, spleen, prostate, ovary, in colon and in leukocytes. Five frameshift mutations, three nonsense mutations, two deletions, and two missense alterations in this sequence have been identified (Chandrasekharappa, S. C. et al. (1997) Science 276:404-407).
MEN1 syndrome is known to evolve and worsen over a 30 to 40-year period during which cellular mutations increase and the efficiency of the cellular machinery and its their ability to repair chromosomal lesions decreases. The syndrome begins with transformation of a single cell to hyperplasia and progresses through adenomatous or carcinomatous changes. It is known that the neoplastic process, especially hormone production in one gland or organ, may affect progression and manifestation of MEN1 and associated syndromes in another gland or organ.
Neoplasia of the pancreatic islets is common to 80% of MEN1 patients and tends to occur in parallel with parathyroid problems. The excess hormones commonly produced by pancreatic islet cell are pancreatic polypeptide, gastrin, insulin, vasoactive intestinal peptide, glucagon, and somatostatin. Other peptides such as adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), calcitonin gene products, neurotensin, and gastric inhibitory peptide, may be produced by MEN1 tumors depending on the stage of the disease. Since some MEN1 neoplasms develop malignant features and metastasize to other organs, aggressive screening and surgical intervention at an early stage are very important.
Syndromes associated with neoplasia of the pancreatic islets include Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, Verner-Morrison syndrome, insulinoma, and glucagonoma. Zollinger-Ellison syndrome is characterized by increased gastric acid production, recurrent peptic ulcers, diarrhea, and esophagitis. Verner-Morrison syndrome appears to be associated with the overproduction of vasoactive intestinal peptide and manifests as watery diarrhea, hypokalemia, hypochlorhydria, hypercalcemia, and systemic acidosis. Insulinomas overproduce insulin and cause symptoms such as nervousness, sweating, palpitations, excessive hunger or weight gain, seizures, and loss of consciousness in the fasting state. Glucagonoma is characterized by symptoms such as hyperglycemia, skin rash, anorexia, glossitis, anemia, depression, diarrhea, and venous thrombosis.
Multicentric pituitary tumors occur in over 50% of mutant MEN1 gene carriers. These tumors may cause galactorrhea-amenorrhea syndrome, acromegaly due to excessive growth hormone or GHRH production, or Cushing's disease attributable to excess amounts of ACTH or CRH. MEN1 also manifests as metastasizing carcinoid tumors of the gastrointestinal system. These tumors commonly result from lesions in stomach or duodenal endocrine cells or originate in the thymus or lung. The carcinoid tumors may or may not be locally invasive, and commonly produce serotonin, calcitonin, or CRH.
The discovery of a new human multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 protein and the polynucleotides encoding it satisfies a need in the art by providing new compositions which are useful in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of multiple endocrine neoplasia.

Polynucleotide sequence encoding human multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 protein


A overlapping device of a color video printer for overlapping arbitrary two-field video signals on a single screen is disclosed. In this device, one field video signal between the selected two-field video signals is used with its original density and the video signal corresponding to the other field is used as a background screen by controlling the color density of the video signal by changing the digital value of the video signal by the shift register, thereby giving a perspective representation.

The present invention relates to an overlapping device of a color video printer, and more particularly to an overlapping device which can give a perspective representation by reducing the color density of one field screen and overlapping it as a background screen with the other field screen in arbitrary desired two-field video screen.
Generally, when a video screen is printed in a color video printer (hereinafter referred to as CVP), the received video signals include video signals corresponding to a first field and those corresponding to a second field. The first and second field video signals are input and printed through a printer or displayed through a color television monitor as one frame. Accordingly, since the color densities in the first and second fields are the same, the screen difference between fields and the perspective representation cannot be controlled.
Meanwhile, in an image processing method applied to a CVP, a recording method of a CVP is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Sho 61-240769. This method bas a picture-in-picture (hereinafter referred to as PIP) function for recording other information (such as character information) within a predesignated part of screen region. Another color-controlling device of a CVP is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 1-198886, in which a video signal input from a signal input source is stored. Then, color control of the stored input video signal is performed using an output signal of a test pattern generating means.
However, the inventions disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Sho 61-240769 and Hei 1-199996 do not show that the perspective representation can be given by discriminating the color densities of arbitrary two-field video signals and overlapping them on one screen.

Overlapping device of a color video printer


A receiver of block coded speech signals receives signals transmitted by means of discontinuous transmission and estimates the acceptable or unacceptable nature of the blocks received. A volume control device commands reduction of the volume in the case of reception of unacceptable blocks. A detector, on the basis of the results of the estimate, determines if the signals received are signals transmitted using discontinuous transmission. The volume is restored in the case of such detection.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention is generally concerned with digital systems for transmitting speech signals, in particular mobile radio systems, in which a bit rate reducing code is used by the transmitter and a corresponding decoder is used by the receiver.
The present invention is more particularly concerned with systems of this kind in which said bit rate reducing code is a so-called block code which, in the manner that is known in itself, extracts representative parameters of speech signals in time intervals of specified duration (typically 20 ms) during which the characteristics of the speech signals can be regarded as stable, and transmits these parameters, rather than the signals themselves, in the form of entities called blocks or speech frames.
The present invention is even more particularly concerned with systems of this kind in which the receiver estimates the acceptable or unacceptable nature of the blocks received, a received block being deemed to be unacceptable if its transmission quality (as determined at the receiver by methods known in themselves) is deemed to be insufficient, for example.
2. Description of the prior art
Document WO 94/29849 describes replacing blocks deemed to be unacceptable with blocks obtained by interpolation of these blocks with previous blocks deemed to be acceptable and simultaneously reducing the volume, the volume being reduced to zero after a certain time if the blocks continue to be unacceptable.
A particular aim of the present invention is to provide a volume control device for a receiver of block coded speech signals adapted to receive signals transmitted using the discontinuous transmission (DTX) technique.
A particular aim gf the present invention is to provide a volume control device for a receiver of block coded speech signals that can function equally well whether or not the discontinuous transmission technique is used to transmit to the receiver.
The discontinuous transmission technique is intended in particular to reduce the level of interference in a cellular system such as the GSM system, for example. In the absence of voice activity, no information is transmitted (this is equivalent to the transmission of "empty" blocks in the description that follows) apart from "comfort" noise intended to prevent the receiver deciding that communication has been cut off. The bit rate of this noise is very much lower than that of speech information.
In a mobile radio system such as the GSM system, for example, the blocks corresponding to the comfort noise are transmitted in particular frames called silence description (SID) frames within a multiframe structure, the other frames of the multiframe being "empty" blocks (the terms "frame" and "multiframe" refer here to a time-division multiplex structure used for transmission in a system of this kind).
For more information on the discontinuous transmission technique reference may be made to "The GSM System for Mobile Communications" by Michel MOULY and Marie-Bernadette PAUTET (ISBN 2-9507190-0-7).
The "empty" blocks corresponding to frames other than the SID frames are deemed to be unacceptable blocks and are replaced, by extrapolation, with the comfort noise conveyed in the preceding SID frames. However, a problem arises with a receiver of the above-mentioned type, i e. a receiver in which the volume is reduced, possibly to zero, in the event of unacceptable blocks, namely that listener comfort is not optimized because the reproduction of the comfort noise is not optimized.
The present invention avoids this drawback.

Volume control device for receiver of block coded speech signals