A device for fixing and electrical contacting of a facing element of an aircraft on a support structure, which is attached to an aircraft structure including a fixing device for detachable fixation of the facing element on the support structure and a contacting device for providing multiple electrical contacts between facing element leads and connecting leads on the support structure, wherein the fixing device can be placed into positive engagement by a transitory relative movement between the facing element and the support structure, and the contacting device includes at least two first contacts on the facing element and the same number of second contacts on the support structure cooperating therewith, which can be respectively brought into contact with one another electrically during the transitory relative movement, wherein the first contacts are connected with the facing element leads and the second contacts are connected with the connecting leads on the support structure.

Field
The invention relates to a device for fixing and electrical contacting a facing element of an aircraft on a support structure, which is attached to a structure of the aircraft.
Brief Discussion of Related Art
Category-defining devices are known in the prior art. Presently, interior components of an aircraft, for example facing elements, light strips, luggage racks, etc., are normally attached individually onto a support structure, which on its part in turn is disposed on a structure of the aircraft. In addition to a straight mounting system, modern interior components frequently require additional connections to a power supply line and/or data supply line, which is typically developed as part of an aircraft onboard system. The printed specification DE 10 2011 009 815 A1 publishes an aircraft interior component system, comprising an aircraft interior component, a first structure retainer, which is attached to an element of the aircraft structure, as well as a first component retainer attached to the aircraft interior component and which is complementary to the first component retainer. According to the disclosure, the aircraft interior component system is characterized in that the aircraft interior component comprises at least one supply line section that is connected with a first connection device disposed on the aircraft interior component, wherein the first connection device is configured to interact with a second connection device complementary to the first connection device to connect the supply line section of the aircraft interior component with a corresponding supply line section of the aircraft. The printed specification DE 10 2010 026 683 A1 publishes an interior component support system for use during the assembly of aircraft interior components in an aircraft, comprising a retaining system with at least one retaining element, on which a first connection device for the connection of the retaining element with a first aircraft interior component and a second connection device are disposed, wherein a structure retainer is further provided on the retaining element for attaching the retaining element to an aircraft structure. Therefore devices ensue from the cited prior art, which can be attached to an aircraft structure by means of respective retaining systems, and, at least in the printed specification DE 10 2011 009 815 A1, include supply connections that are designed for connection to an onboard supply system of an aircraft.
The interface between the aircraft supply system and the corresponding interior components is normally designed as plug-in connection, which within the scope of final assembly of the aircraft generates extra assembly expense, wherein the respective plug-in connections are frequently located in difficult to access areas, which is an aggravating factor.

Device for fixing and electrical contacting a facing element of an aircraft on a support structure


Disclosed is a screen printing apparatus for screen printing the cream solder including a squeegee assembly (30) provided with comb blade members (35) and with solder leakage prohibiting guides (36). The comb blade members partition a cream solder (52) substantially vertically with respect to a contact slide surface between the squeegee (33) and the screen (21) to prevent the cream solder from passing in fluidity on the screen (21) in a direction substantially at right angles to the sliding direction as the squeegee sweeps and as the cream solder becomes twisted between the screen and the squeegee. The solder leakage prohibiting guides (36) prevent the cream solder from leaking to outside a printing sphere determined by the squeegee width.

When mounting electronic components on a circuit substrate, in assembling an electronic circuit, a technique is used which comprises bonding a copper foil to the surface of a substrate of an insulating material, as a circuit substrate, forming a preset interconnect pattern by etching, mounting electronic components thereon, and soldering electrodes or terminals for the electronic components to lands for connection of the interconnect pattern of the circuit substrate. For connecting the electrodes of these electronic components to the lands for connection of the circuit substrate, cream solder is used.
That is, cream solder is printed and deposited at preset positions on the surface of the circuit substrate, provided with electrical interconnections, using the technique of screen printing. The electronic components are mounted in position thereon, and the circuit substrate, having the electronic components loaded thereon, is introduced into a reflow furnace. The cream solder is melted by heat in the reflow furnace, whereby the electrodes of the electronic components are soldered to the lands for connection of the circuit substrate. Thus, for the manufacture of the electronic circuit, it is necessary to provide a screen printing apparatus for applying the cream solder on the circuit substrate by the screen printing technique.
An example of such a screen printing apparatus will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. A conventional screen printing apparatus 100 includes a squeegee assembly 110, in which a squeegee 104 is mounted to a squeegee holder 101 by a squeegee retainer 106, and in which a solder leakage guide 102 is mounted on both ends of the squeegee to the squeegee holder 101. In printing a cream solder 105, a printing substrate 107 is contacted with the back surface of a screen 103 and subsequently the squeegee assembly 110 is caused to descend to compress the squeegee 104 against the screen 103. The squeegee assembly is actuated along the direction of printing to cause the squeegee 104 to slide on the screen 103, in order to print the cream solder 105, lying on the screen 103, onto the screen 103. The cream solder 105 is charged in a printing opening area in the screen 103 and printed on the printing substrate 107. It is noted that the printing opening area is an opening formed in the screen for printing the cream solder 105 on the printing substrate 107.
Since the cream solder 105 is high in viscosity, it becomes twisted between the screen 103 and the squeegee 104, as the squeegee 104 sweeps during the printing. The cream solder flows in a direction along arrow G in FIG. 1, perpendicular to the moving direction, as the cream solder is rolled along the printing direction on the printing substrate 107, with the cream solder then leaking out to outside the width of the squeegee, along the direction of an arrow H in FIG. 1, that is, to outside the printing area. The solder leakage guide 102 is provided for preventing the cream solder 105 from leaking to outside the printing area. Other measures for combating the leakage are taken, such as providing a mechanism for raking the cream solder towards the inner side on both ends of the squeegee, for reducing the amount of the cream solder 105 extruded and discharged from both ends of the squeegee during the squeegee driving, or providing an enlarged portion extending laterally from the squeegee. Examples of these measures for preventing leakage of the cream solder are disclosed in the JP Patent Laid-Open Publication JP-Hei-8-39766 (Patent publication 1) and the JP Patent Laid-Open Publication JP-2000-136678 (Patent publication 2).
As means mounted to both ends of the squeegee for prohibiting solder leakage there are known a guide for contacting the solder leakage guide 102 to the screen 103 and a guide for providing a certain clearance between the solder leakage guide 102 and the screen 103. However, as the number of printed paper sheets is increased, it can hardly be avoided that the cream solder 105 becomes twisted between the screen 103 and the squeegee 104 and extruded to outside the squeegee to leak out from the solder leakage guide 102.
Moreover, with the technique disclosed in Patent Publication 1, the squeegee itself becomes complex in structure to raise the cost. In addition, with this technique, there is a risk that, when the squeegee 104 is uplifted on the termination of printing, the solder becomes affixed, as at 108, to the inner lateral side of the solder leakage guide 102, as shown in FIG. 3, this affixed solder 108 being then clinched between the solder leakage guide 102 and the screen 103 to leak to outside the printing area, as leakage solder 109, when the squeegee 104 is lowered for the next printing. The affixed solder 108, affixed to the solder leakage guide 102, and the leakage solder 109, leaked from the guide, become oxidized and unusable with the lapse of time and hence, are discarded. This discarded solder leads to a raised production cost and a wastage of resources, while raising significant pollution problems if the processing for disposal is taken into account.


A centrifugal compressor is modified by forming a bypass between the leading edge of the compressor diffuser and a point downstream from the throat of the diffuser. The bypass may be unidirectional or bi-directional. In a bi-directional embodiment, an operable flow range of the compressor can be widened in both directions of a compressor map, i.e., extending both the surge and choke margins of a compressor at the expense of normal operating efficiencies. In a unidirectional bypass embodiment the flow range may be increased only in one direction, but there is no diminishment of efficiency of the compressor at normal operating conditions. The modification provides a simple expedient for increasing flow range without a need to redesign a compressor.

The present invention is in the field of turbomachinery and, more particularly, centrifugal compressors.
In the field of turbomachinery, some compressor applications such as automotive turbochargers and aircraft air conditioning systems require wide stable operating flow range. Flow range in centrifugal compressors is bounded by surge conditions and choke conditions. Surge conditions develop when volume flow is too low and a discharge process is interrupted. Under surge conditions undesirable cyclical flow instability develops. Choke conditions develop when gas flow at some point in the compressor reaches sonic velocity. Under choke conditions, decreasing compressor outlet pressure does not produce increased mass flow for a given speed and inlet conditions. Thus, mass flow through a compressor is bounded by a minimum associated with surge conditions and a maximum associated with choke conditions.
Many interrelated design parameters may be used to produce a design for a compressor with desired properties. Often such designs are produced through computer generated simulations. However, as is often the case with designs having interrelated parameters, changing one design variable may adversely affect some other aspect of a compressor. Thus a compressor design for a particular application typically requires expensive iterative design trials and modeling.
After an optimized design is complete for a particular application it may be desirable to extend that design for other wider-flow range applications. Obviously, it would be advantageous to provide for a simple widening of flow range without performing a re-design. Consequently, compressor designers often seek expedients for widening a flow range of a compressor without incurring the expense of redesigning the compressor
One of the most frequently used methods to widen this flow range is to add slots or ports to a stationary shroud near a leading edge of a compressor wheel. When the compressor operates at "near surge" conditions, the ports are expected to recycle gas flow from the shroud to a compressor inlet and thus reduce the potential for surging at low flowrates. When the compressor operates at "near choke" conditions, the ports are expected to suck the flow from the compressor inlet to the shroud and thus allow increased mass flow before choke conditions develop. This ported shroud concept works well for compressors with vaneless diffusers because compressor rotating stall, which induces surging, often occurs first on the inducer, the axial portion of a wheel upstream from a diffuser. Similarly, choke conditions typically develop on the wheel in compressors with vaneless diffusers.
However, many compressor applications require a vaned diffuser because such a compressor is more efficient than one with a vaneless diffuser. In compressors with vaned diffusers, the flow instability and choke could occur first inside the diffuser (i.e., downstream of the wheel). Using a ported shroud to recycle the flow near the leading edge of a wheel of a compressor with a vaned diffuser may not improve its flow range. To the contrary, a ported shroud may actually diminish the compressor's performance.
An example of a prior art compressor with a vaned diffuser is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1 there is shown a partial cross-sectional view of a compressor designated generally by the numeral 10. The compressor may comprise a wheel 12, a diffuser 14 and a housing 18. In operation, the wheel 12 may rotate and draw a gas such as air into a shroud 20. The gas may flow in a downstream direction designated by mainstream flow lines 22. As the gas passes along the wheel 12, its absolute velocity increases. The gas then traverses across the diffuser 14 where its velocity decreases and its pressure increases. The gas then passes into the housing 18 for collection.
The diffuser 14 illustrated in the compressor 10 of FIG. 1 may be provided with vanes 14a. In that regard the diffuser 14 may be referred to as a vaned diffuser. In a typical one of the compressors 10 with one of the vaned diffusers 14, a throat 24 may develop at a region of the compressor 10 between a trailing edge 12a of the wheel 12 and trailing edge 14c of the vanes 14a of the diffuser 14. The throat 24 is a region of the compressor 10 with the least flow area in which gas flow may initially reach sonic velocity. In that context, the throat may be a region of the compressor 10 in which a "choke" condition may develop. Additionally, the throat 24 is a region in which "near choke" conditions may occur.
The compressor 10 may increase the mass of gas flow across the wheel 12 as the compressor outlet pressure decreases for a given wheel rotational speed and inlet conditions. As the mass flow increases, there may be a corresponding increase in velocity of gas flow inside the compressor. When this velocity reaches Mach 1 or sonic speed, further reducing the compressor outlet pressure by opening the outlet throttle may produce no additional mass of gas flow. This phenomenon is referred to as "choke". In a typical one of the compressors 10, the region with the least flow area of the compressor 10 at which "choke" or "near choke" conditions develop may be referred to as the throat 24.
The throat 24 may also be a region of the compressor 10 in which "surge" or "near surge" conditions initially develop. The phenomenon of "surge" may occur when the flow rate is so low that instability develops in the gas flow emerging from the wheel 12 or the diffuser 14. The phenomenon may produce cyclical surging of gas through the compressor 10 accompanied with harmful vibrational stresses
For any particular one of the compressors 10, there may be a range of mass flows that may be produced by the compressor 10. The range is bounded by the mass flow that produces choke and the mass flow that produces surge. This range is commonly referred to as "flow range".
There has been no recognition in the prior art of a simple expedient to widen the flow range of a vaned-diffuser compressor such as the prior-art compressor 10. Typically, redesign of vaned-diffuser compressors has been required to achieve a widened flow range. As can be seen, a flow range widening expedient similar to the ported shroud of a vaneless-diffuser compressor would be desirable.

Wide flow compressor with diffuser bypass


A flexible container bag having a pallet function. To the bottom part of a flexible container bag body (2), tubular soft fork pocket members (3) are fixed at two positions. The fork pocket member (3) has opposite end parts in the longitudinal direction projecting outward from the container bag body (2). Inner face materials (6, 8) are fixed to the inside of the fork pocket member (3). Each inner face material (6, 8) is formed of a woven cloth employing PP monofilament.

Heretofore, it has been generally known to manufacture a container bag having flexibility by using, for example, non-woven fabrics or sheets made of plastics, in which various kinds of cargoes are loaded in the container bag for transportation.
By the way, since the existent flexible container bags have a structure only of the function as a container, they involve a problem of requiring pallets additionally to the flexible container bag upon handling by using a forklift.
In view of the above, it has been proposed a flexible container bag in which recesses are formed on both sides at the bottom of the container bag to form a shape where only the central portion protrudes downwards and, upon transportation by the use of forks, forks of the forklift are inserted into the recessed portions on both sides of the protrusion.
Since the existent flexible container bags require no pallets they have many advantages such as easy handlability but involve a problem that the stability during storage is poor since the bottom of the container bag is not flat. Further, they also involve a problem when the container bag is transported by using the forklift that the container bag may possibly detach from a portion on the fork when the bottom of the container bag is bent since the container bag is merely placed on the fork of the forklift.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the foregoing situations and it is an object thereof to provide a flexible container bag capable of transportation with no use of a pallet by using a forklift, capable of inserting forks of a forklift into fork pockets with no troubles even in a case where heavy weight articles are contained in a container bag main body, free from the worry that the container bag main body should fall from a position on the fork during transportation by the forklift and having excellent stability during storage.
Another object of the invention is to provide a flexible container in which manufacture of fork pocket members are easy and, in addition, insertion of forks into the fork pockets is easy.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible container bag with no worry that the top end portions of protrusions of fork pocket members are not rolled into the fork pockets when the forks are inserted into the fork pockets.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible container bag capable of easily inserting forks into fork pockets even in a case where heavy weight product is fully contained in the container bag main body.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible container bag capable of keeping fork insertion ends of fork pockets always open.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible container bag capable of inserting forks easily into fork pockets and capable of opening fork insertion ends of the fork pockets by merely containing a cargo into a container bag main body.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible container bag capable of inserting forks of a forklift smoothly into fork pockets even in a state where the inside of the container bag main body is empty, or a small quantity of cargoes is contained therein, and free from the disadvantage that the fork pocket members are creased and the forks cannot be inserted.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible container bag with no worry that a container bag main body is detached from forks even in a case where a flowable cargo such as a resin is contained in the container bag main body.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible container bag capable of inserting forks smoothly into fork pockets even in a case where a cargo such as rice no more having flowability when packed is contained in a container bag main body by reducing the resistance between the fork pocket member and the fork.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible container bag free from the disadvantage that a container bag main body moves and the forks cannot be inserted even in a case where forks of a forklift are inserted into fork pockets in a state where a cargo is not contained in the container bag main body.


A phantom for use in measuring characteristics of a digital radiography imaging system has at least one substrate having a patterned foil layer. The pattern in the foil layer being defined by a plurality of apertures within which the substrate is exposed.

There are a number of parameters that, taken together, characterize the performance of x-ray imaging systems. For computed radiography (CR) and direct or digital radiography (DR) systems, these parameters can include spatial resolution, noise, detector efficiency, exposure response, dark image signal level, and image artifacts.
With CR and DR systems, the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the imaging system is often used to characterize the system's contrast and spatial resolution. MTF is a 2D (two-dimensional) function of spatial frequency and is usually measured for both x and y directions of the acquired image. Techniques for MTF measurement may employ a target or phantom, an angular slit, or an angular edge. A resolution target may employ a commercially available bar-target or a star-pattern target, for example. Alternately, a custom-made bar target of varying resolution, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,441 entitled "Automatic Technique for Calibrating A Storage Phosphor Reader" to Newman et al., can be used. MTF can be estimated either using a human observer to identify the blur frequency point of the target or calculating the visibility modulation. The error of the estimation depends on the orientation/resolution of the target and on subjective criteria of the observer. This assessment requires that the target be perfectly aligned in the x or y direction, and the severity of the error increases when the target resolution is close to the Nyquist frequency of the imaging system.
Still other methods use a narrow slit to measure the line spread function, followed by Fourier transformation to obtain the MTF of the imaging system in the slit transverse direction. The slit, much narrower than the sampling pitch (pixel size) of the imaging system and long enough to cover at least one pixel in the slit transverse direction, is oriented at a slight angle to the y or x direction in order to achieve super sampling for aliasing reduction. Although it can provide a MTF measurement, this method relies on a delicately made, expensive slit target. Yet another method, used with some digital radiography imaging systems, uses a sharp and straight edge target to measure the edge spread function of the imaging system. The MTF in the edge transverse direction can be obtained from the edge spread function by taking the Fourier transform of its derivative.
The noise of the imaging system determines the system low-contrast resolution as well as the x-ray detective efficiency etc. The noise characteristics can be described by the noise power spectrum (NPS) of the imaging system, which is also a 2D function of spatial frequency. To obtain the NPS, a flat image region is generally used for Fourier analysis. Because the system noise level is also x-ray exposure dependent, the NPS is often measured at a certain exposure level to facilitate comparison between imaging systems.
Detective efficiency at each point (u, v) is a secondary parameter of the imaging system that can be readily calculated from the system MTF and NPS:
      DQE              (              u        ,        v            )        ∼                    MTF        2                          (                  u          ,          v                )                    NPS                    (                  u          ,          v                )
Response accuracy, linearity, and uniformity are among the parameters for characterizing exposure response, the relationship between the output of the imaging system (image pixel values) and the incident x-ray exposure. Ideally, the exposure response or logarithmic exposure response should be linear and equal for all the pixels across the whole image. Exposure accuracy and linearity describe how accurately and linearly the output of the imaging system can track the incident x-ray exposure. Response uniformity describes the inter-pixel response variation. Each of these parameters is usually measured using the same x-ray spectrum, but at different exposure levels.
The dark image signal level determines the baseline noise of the imaging system and is independent of x-ray exposure. For a CR image, this corresponds to the signal level that would result from reading an erased phosphor screen, and for a DR image, this corresponds to the accumulated noise level before the x-ray exposure and during the readout process.
Artifacts in images are often unpredictable and may take the form of spots, lines and low-frequency modulations, either periodic or non-periodic. White and dark spot artifacts are usually caused by foreign dust/dirt residing on the image receptor or may be caused by bad pixels (within a DR detector). There are two major types of line artifacts, periodic (banding), and non-periodic (streaks). Either artifact, given enough magnitude, can result in objectionable image quality.
Other parameters for image quality that are unique to CR imaging include scan linearity and scan accuracy. For a CR imaging system, a laser beam provides raster scanning for reading the signal from the storage phosphor screen. Because there are moving optical devices, the image pixel size and the pixel aspect ratio can exhibit a degree of spatial variation. Scan accuracy gives a measure of the geometric integrity of the image.
Although there is no variable geometry related quality assurance issues for DR, since the imaging pixels are solid state elements manufactured on an evenly distributed grid, the locations of failed pixels and the individual pixel response correction are unique to DR and need to be characterized as part of the calibration process.
Because there are a number of diverse parameters to be measured for maintaining image quality in digital x-ray imaging systems, the image quality and Quality Assurance (QA) process presents a challenge for designing a quick, accurate, easy to use, and fully automatic method/procedure to conduct the measurements. In general, most of the proposed methods for QA testing rely either on visually reading image pixel values from a computer screen or on printing a test image on film and then using visual examination combined with film densitometer measurements. However, as noted in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,383 entitled "Automated And Quantitative Method For Quality Assurance Of Digital Radiography Imaging Systems" to Wang et al., existing methods are limited by the quality of the film printer and densitometer. Other methods can be relatively difficult and time-consuming.
Automated methods, such as that disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,441 entitled "Automated Technique For Calibrating A Storage Phosphor Reader" to Newman et al., often employ a patterned target or phantom. Specially made for this type of testing, the phantom is imaged in a test sequence. Then, analysis of the phantom image is performed to derive system performance parameters. These derived parameters can then be compared with corresponding pre-stored threshold values of a normal imaging system.
Radiography phantoms of various types have been disclosed. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,383 entitled "Automated and Quantitative Method for Quality Assurance of Digital Radiography Imaging Systems" to Wang et al., discloses a phantom formed from a rigid copper sheet having a pattern of milled or punched apertures. This phantom, designed for use with cassettes of various dimensions, is designed for general radiography systems having x-ray tube voltage in the 60-130 kVp range.
By comparison with general radiography systems, mammography systems operate at a lower x-ray tube voltage range. Typical x-ray tube voltage for mammography imaging is in the range of 25-35 kVp. As is well known, lower kVp x-rays are more easily attenuated than are rays in a higher range. Therefore, a phantom for a general radiography system, such as that disclosed in the '383 Wang et al. patent, is not suitable for use with the mammography system because the attenuation of the phantom is too high. Instead, a phantom designed for mammography systems must have substantial portions that are permeable to substantially lower kVp levels.
Phantoms especially designed for the lower exposure levels of mammography have been developed. For example, one known mammography phantom, the Artinis Contrast-Detail Phantom, from Artinis Medical Systems, Zetten, The Netherlands, employs an array of gold discs having increasing thicknesses and diameters. The deposited gold discs are distributed on an aluminum base and encased within a PMMA (Polymethyl methacrylate) cover. However, because this type of phantom uses precious metals deposited in dots of exacting thicknesses and diameters, it is difficult to fabricate and is very expensive.
One principle for phantom design relates to the overall response region of the imaging system detector. It is desired that the phantom be designed to show system sensitivity over the linear response region of the system under test. At the same time, such a phantom should be reasonably robust, so that it can be handled and used repeatedly for testing and calibrating the mammography system. In CR mammography imaging, the X-ray cassette that is used has a directional bias; the imaged tissue is intended to lie on the side of the cassette that is nearest to the chest wall of the patient. Thus, a phantom designed for such a system should be particularly arranged with the same directional bias to provide the optimal measurement conditions for breast tissue imaging. Lower cost solutions would be particularly advantageous.
Thus, it can be appreciated that there is a need for a phantom that is configured for the demands of the mammography system and is relatively robust and capable of supporting automated calibration of the mammography imaging apparatus.

Phantom for radiological system calibration


An identification medium is optimized for displaying visible and excitable indicia. The medium includes a substrate having a color change layer, such as a direct thermal layer, and a patterned excitable layer placed over the color change layer. The color change layer produces the visible indicia. The excitable layer produces the excitable indicia. The excitable indicia is not easily readable under ambient light but becomes more easily readable under directed radiation, i.e., UV or IR light.

The present invention generally relates to identification media and manners of displaying information thereupon. More particularly, the present invention relates to identification media, such as wristbands, labels and tags, which are optimized for simultaneously displaying visible and excitable indicia in manner where both types of indicia are readable.
Such identification medium allows for the encoding or encryption of information displayed on the medium. The excitable indicia may comprise printed letters or numbers for communicating certain identification information only when exposed to directed radiation, i.e., ultraviolet or infrared radiation. The excitable indicia may also comprise a barcode or similar device capable of communicating a large amount of information through reference to an information system.
An identification medium according to the present invention that is optimized for displaying visible and excitable indicia can find utility in a number of fields. For example, such identification media can find utility in identifying and tracking individual product-items or packages travelling through a production, manufacturing, packaging, and shipment fulfillment or distribution assembly line. Such utility is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/714,491 filed by Conlon et. al. The Conlon application describes labeling consisting of the combination of an invisible marking overlapping a visible marking. The invisible marking fluoresces under directed radiation. However, Conlon does not address the issue of radiation interference between the invisible marking and light emitted by the media material. Conlon also does not contemplate that the visible marking be made by a direct thermal layer or address the issue of such direct thermal layer typically being soluble in excitable inks.
Another application can be found in an e-pharmacy setting wherein a tote or shipping container is used for delivering prescriptions to patients or families. This is similar to the shipment fulfillment or distribution function described in the Conlon application. An identification label made according to the present invention may be applied to the tote. The identification label initially includes a UV barcode that uniquely identifies the label and the tote to which it is applied. The UV barcode is scanned by a reader and then the label is printed upon with information concerning the prescriptions that are to be placed in the tote. An information system then correlates the UV barcode with the prescription information. After the prescriptions are placed in the tote, the prescription information can be quickly checked against the contents.
Accordingly, there is a need for an identification medium that is capable of displaying both visible and excitable indicia wherein emission by the medium itself does not interfere with information emitted by the excitable indicia during a scanning operation. In addition, there is a need for such an identification medium wherein the ink that forms the excitable indicia does not dissolve or otherwise damage the layer that displays the visible indicia. The present invention satisfies these needs and provides other related advantages.

Identification medium configured for displaying visible and excitable indicia


A header plate (20) is provided for receiving the flattened tubes (14) of a heat exchanger. The header plate (20) includes a plurality of tube receiving openings (26), with each of the openings being surrounded by a flange or collar (28) that extends from a base wall (24) of the header plate (20) towards the heat exchanger core (12) to surround the exterior cross section of the associated tube (14). Each of the flanges (28) is shaped to conform to the exterior of the associated tube (14), and a blend radius R is provided at the interface between the base wall (24) and the flange (28). The blend radius R has a size that increases from a radius R1 central to the length of a long side wall (30) of the flange (28) to a radius R2 central to the length of a short side wall (32) of the flange (28).

In heat exchangers that utilize flattened tubes, it is known to provide header plates that have pierced tube receiving openings with flanges or collars surrounding the openings and conforming to the tube ends received in the openings so as to reduce the stress risers at the interfaces between the tubes and the header plate. It is also known for the flanges or collars to either extend into the fluid tank or manifold associated with the header plate or to extend away from (i.e., towards the core of the heat exchanger) the fluid tank or manifold associated with the header plate is attached. While the known designs may have proven adequate for their current applications, there is a continuous push to increase the design limits of heat exchanges in an effort to improve performance, compactness, life, etc., and because of this, there is a continuing need to improve the design of header plates and the associated heat exchangers.

Header plate for use in a heat exchanger


The present invention provides a method of treating viral infections by using antiviral substituted indolizino1,2-b!quinolinone compounds, antiviral substituted indolizino1,2-b!quinolinone compounds, and pharmaceutical compositions thereof.

Certain 1H-pyrano3',4':6,7!indolizino1,2-b!quinolinones are known to have cytotoxic and antiviral activity. Camptothecin is an example of such compounds. It is a water-insoluble, cytotoxic alkaloid produced by Camptotheca acuminata trees indigenous to China and Nothapodytes foetida trees indigenous to India. Camptothecin and its close congeners are known to inhibit eukaryotic topoisomerase I. In fact, the cytotoxic and antitumor activity of camptothecin and its close congeners results from inhibition of eukaryotic topoisomerase I (Cancer Res. 1988, 48, 1722; Molec. Pharmacol. 1988, 34, 755). Compounds that are related in structure to camptothecin but do not inhibit eukaryotic topoisomerase I are not cytotoxic to mammalian cells and have no antitumor activity (J. Med. Chem. 1988, 32, 715; Cancer Res. 1989, 49, 1465; Cancer Res. 1989, 49, 4358).
A number of investigators have shown that camptothecin possesses antiviral activity. However, although camptothecin has demonstrated antiviral activity in in vitro tissue culture systems, camptothecin and its close analogs that have a hydroxylactone moiety cannot be considered as useful in vivo antiviral agents because they undesirably inhibit mammalian topoisomerase I, as well as host cell DNA replication, and are cytotoxic to mammalian cells. Furthermore, camptothecin is not an attractive candidate for drug development as an antiviral agent because of unacceptable dose-limiting toxicity, unpredictable toxicity, and poor aqueous solubility, and/or unacceptable shelf life stability.
There is a need for new antiviral agents. Substituted indolizino1,2-b!quinolinones that lack the a-hydroxylactone moiety of camptothecin have been shown to be non-cytotoxic to mammalian cells and to lack antitumor activity (Ann. Rev. Pharmcol. Toxicol. 1977, 17, 117; J. Med. Chem. 1989, 32, 715). This is because these compounds do not contain the essential structural features required to inhibit eukaryotic topoisomerase I. However, recently we have found that certain substituted indolizino1,2-b!quinolinones lacking the a-hydroxylactone moiety do have antiviral activity but not the undesirable cytotoxicity of camptothecin. Thus, such substituted indolizino1,2-b!quinolinones are useful for treating viral infections.


A location query service is disclosed. The service provides requestors with a location of a device. The service receives a location query from a requestor, retrieves location information associated with the network user, and returns the location information to the requestor. Before returning the location information to the requestor, the service is configured, in some embodiments, to authenticate that the requestor is authorized by the network user to receive the network user's location information. Methods for providing a location query service also are disclosed.

In compliance with regulations promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), wireless networks will soon provide services that are able to determine the location of all network users. These federally mandated services, known as enhanced wireless 911 (E911) services, will require wireless telephones to provide 911 call centers, or Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), with vital information necessary to locate and identify a caller in an emergency. To comply with E911 standards, wireless network providers will track the location and identity information of all wireless callers, with the purpose of providing such information to emergency personnel when a caller dials 911 from a wireless telephone. The FCC's wireless E911 rules require certain Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) carriers to begin transmission of enhanced location and identity information in two phases. Phase I requires carriers to transmit a caller's telephone number and general location to a PSAP. Phase II requires carriers to provide more precise location information to the PSAP.
Under the FCC rules, wireless networks and the corresponding wireless handheld devices, such as cellular telephones, will provide both the identity and location of the caller to a 911 dispatcher. To provide a caller's identity, the wireless handheld device will furnish a mobile identification number (MIN), indicating in most instances the telephone number of the device. The wireless network and wireless handheld devices will provide the location of callers using a network-based location system (e.g., triangulation), global positioning systems (GPSs) within the handheld devices, or a combination of the two systems.
Although, in large part, wireless network providers will implement the location tracking systems to comply with the FCC standards, once completed, the providers will have the ability to offer other location-based services supported by the E911 infrastructure. Indeed, beyond the needs of PSAPs in emergency situations, there are many instances in which it is helpful to know the location of a network user. For example, a service dispatcher monitoring the activities of his service technicians may wish to determine the exact locations of his technicians to facilitate efficient scheduling. Although, with conventional mobile telephone networks, the dispatcher could call and ask the technician for his location, the dispatcher may prefer to ascertain the location information without interrupting the technician's activities.
Other location tracking systems provide the ability to determine a person's location without communicating with (or interrupting) the person. However, these solutions require dedicated networks and network devices. For instance, although a global positioning system can provide a person's location without contacting the person, the system requires that the party requesting the location information (referred to herein as the "requestor") have communication hardware that receives the location information from the person's GPS receiver. For example, in a typical fleet vehicle tracking system, the fleet manager must purchase and maintain a central processor that communicates with the GPS receiver in each vehicle.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Third party location query for wireless networks


Television service denial apparatus comprises a microprocessor controller for controlling the generation of a control signal waveform. The control signal toggles a program denial device between first and second conditions. The program denial device, responsive to the control signal waveform, only periodically outputs a television signal spectrum to which a sophisticated television receiver be a device having only 20 dB of signal isolation. In one embodiment, the program denial device comprises a signal modulator for modulating an incoming television signal spectrum including one continuous wave carrier channel having no superimposed video. A character generator, responsive to the microprocessor, generates a control signal waveform for controlling the operation of the signal modulator. Consequently, while all television channels are obfuscated by the signal modulator during a period of service denial, the continuous wave carrier is modulated with a message signal for delivering a message to the subscriber on the continuous wave carrier channel indicating why service is disconnected.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to the field of cable television systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for selectively denying service in such systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At a headend of a cable television system, a scrambler is normally provided to encode premium television channels. The applied scrambling precludes reception by an unauthorized converter/decoder at a connected premises. Data representing channels or tiers of programming are addressably transmitted to a particular converter/decoder and stored in an authorization memory. As a result of the addressed transmission, a subsequently transmitted program is authorized in that the decoder portion of the converter/decoder will be selectively enabled to decode the scrambled premium channel or program.
Several varieties of scrambling techniques are applied today. Each manufacturer has its own scheme which may be incompatible with others. Nevertheless, most popular scrambling systems today are based on sync suppression, in which the sync information is hidden from the television receiver's sync separator, usually by moving it to a level occupied by picture information (moving the sync tip to an equivalent picture level of 40 IRE units is common). Some systems modulate the picture carrier with a sine wave phased to suppress the horizontal blanking interval. Most systems today switch to the suppressed level at the beginning of the blanking interval and switch out at the end. Most though not all suppress the vertical blanking interval. Some systems dynamically invert the video, either on a line-by line or a field-by-field basis. This must be done carefully to avoid artifacts caused by inverting and reinverting around different levels, and by differential gain and phase of the system. Synchronization is restored either by the provision of synchronous amplitude modulated pulses on the sound carrier, digital information placed in the vertical interval or phase modulation on the picture carrier.
The provision of one scrambler per premium channel at the headend and the inclusion of a descrambler in each converter/decoder at the premises of the television receiver is particularly expensive. Furthermore, providing the converter/decoder on premises has turned out to be a great temptation to service pirates who imaginatively seek ways to receive premium channels. As a result, cable television equipment manufacturers have entered into a veritable war with such pirates resulting in complicated service authorization protocols in some instances involving multiple layers of encryption by both in-band and out-of-band data transmission further increasing the costs of the converter/decoder.
The cable industry has begun to look for new technology and to take a second look at technology developed in the early stages of development of cable television, such as the application of negative and positive traps and more recent techniques such as interdiction.
Negative trap technology is viewed by many manufacturers as a viable alternative to sync suppression scrambling methods. A negative trap is basically a narrow band reject filter. Traps are located at the drop to a subscriber's dwelling and attenuate a significant portion of a premium television channel rendering that channel unusable by the subscriber.
In the conventional embodiment, negative traps are made using L-C filter techniques. The result is a notch with finite quality Q and finite shape factor. In the case of a single channel negative trap, the center of the notch is usually located at the picture carrier frequency of the channel to be removed. This technique, sometimes called a static negative trap, requires attenuation at the picture carrier of at least 60 dB to be effective.
Negative trap systems have several advantages that make them attractive for cable television applications. One primary advantage is the ability to deliver a broadband cable television spectrum to the subscriber's converter/decoder. Conventional sync suppression systems utilize descrambling set-top converter/decoders which deliver inherently narrowband signals. Negative traps are usually mounted outside the subscriber's home (typically at the tap) and thereby minimize the exposure associated with placing hardware inside the subscriber's dwelling. Finally, some cable television operators view the negative trap as a more secure means of subscriber control than is sync suppression, as picture reconstruction is viewed as substantially more difficult.
However, the negative trap system requires hardware in locations where no revenue is generated for the cable television system. Moreover, negative traps have several severe practical limitations. L-C band reject filters have Q and shape factor limitations. Quality factors Q for L-C filters may be limited to around 30. This means that for a negative trap located at channel 8 (picture carrier at 181.25 MHz) the 3 dB bandwidth of a negative trap is typically 6 MHz (or the bandwidth of a baseband television channel). This trap would result in significant deterioration of the lower adjacent channel. Then the television receiver tuned to the lower adjacent channel, rather than having to content with a 15 dB picture-to-sound ratio, may have to contend with a sound carrier reduced an additional 6 dB or so. Frequency stability as a function of time and temperature is also a significant concern. Many cable television system operators have instituted a regular negative trap change-out program based on the assumption that after a certain period of time and temperature cycling, frequency drift will render negative traps useless.
Positive trap systems also utilize a narrow band-rejection notch filter. However, unlike negative trap systems which are used to attenuate or trap a premium channel transmission, the notch filter is used to restore the premium television channel. In this scenario, an interfering signal is placed inside the premium television channel at the cable television headend. This interfering signal is then removed at the subscriber's dwelling by use of the notch filter. Ideally this notch filter removes only the interference without removing a significant amount of television information.
Parallel to developments of different types of trapping or jamming systems, the cable industry has also evidenced a requirement to move a converter or descrambler outside of a subscriber's home to a location which is more secure from signal piracy. This concept is not new; for example, an addressable tap system was developed by Scientific Atlanta in 1983 or 1984 in which an off-premises "tap", addressed by a headband control system, gates a premium channel into the subscriber's premises. However, such products did not prove to be viable alternatives to inside-the-home signal descrambler/converters.
Another scrambling system proposed by Scientific Atlanta involved a technique of intentionally dropping a field of video signal on occasion such that an unauthorized recipient would not be able to view a properly synchronized image. Depending on how fast the subscriber's television receiver may restore synch, the image would appear to flash on and off.
A relatively recent technique for premium channel control is the interdiction system, so-called because of the introduction of an interfering signal at the subscriber's location. Most embodiments consist of a pole-mounted enclosure located outside the subscriber's premises designed to serve four or more subscribers. This enclosure contains at least one microprocessor controlled oscillator and switch control electronics to secure several television channels. Control is accomplished by injecting an interfering or jamming signal into unauthorized channels from this pole-mounted enclosure.
For efficiency's sake, it is known to utilize one oscillator to jam several premium television channels. This technique not only reduces the amount of hardware required, but also maximizes the system flexibility. The oscillator output jamming signal frequency is periodically moved from channel to channel. Consequently, the oscillator is frequency agile and hops from jamming one premium channel frequency to the next.
One such system is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,481 in which a single frequency agile oscillator provides a hopping gain-controlled jamming signal output to four high frequency electronic switches. In this known system, each switch is associated with one subscriber drop. Under microprocessor control and depending on which subscribers are authorized to receive transmitted premium programming, the microprocessor selectively gates the jamming signal output of the single oscillator via the switches into the path of the incoming broadband television signal to each subscriber. Consequently, an unauthorized subscriber upon tuning to a premium channel will receive the premium channel on which a jamming signal at approximately the same frequency has been superimposed.
In the known system, it is indicated that sixteen channels may be jammed by a single voltage controlled frequency agile oscillator. With respect to one premium channel, this translates to a situation in which the jamming signal can only be present one sixteenth of the time or an approximately 6% jamming interval. The rate of hopping is also indicated at 100 bursts per second of jamming signal at a particular frequency, or a 100 hertz hopping rate. Consequently, the effectiveness of the jamming signal is questionable.
It is important that an interdiction system jamming signal frequency be placed as close as possible to the picture carrier frequency. Otherwise, adjacent channel artifacts or incomplete jamming will result. In the known system, the jamming signal is intentionally placed below the video carrier and consequently approximate to an adjacent channel producing adjacent channel artifacts.
To overcome the difficulties of such prior art interdiction systems and in accordance with parent applications U.S. Ser. Nos. 166,302 and 279,619, and concurrently filed applications referenced above and incorporated herein by reference, an improved interdiction system is described. For example, cost reduction is achieved for each subscriber unit or common circuitry associated with several subscriber unit as, for example, is provided by FIG. 2 of U.S. application Ser. No. 166,302.
In most if not all of these systems for scrambling or jamming CATV channels, situations arise when it is appropriate to deny service to a particular subscriber or even deny service generally to all subscribers. The more obvious occasions for a service disconnect are the subscriber's failure to pay for service or in response to the request of a subscriber who no longer desires service. Other occasions may relate to emergency conditions such as those caused by weather, national defense or act of God.
Typically, a disconnect command is transmitted to a subscriber decoder, converter, jammer or interdiction device over a special carrier or is imbedded in the vertical blanking interval of a transmitted video carrier. Upon receipt, the subscriber unit decodes the command, determines the command is to be performed by the particular unit and executes the command. The command is executed, for example, by turning off power to signal conversion apparatus, by operating a subscriber disconnect relay or switch or by turning off power to amplifier circuits or by other techniques known in the art.
Generally it is a principle of design of any such subscriber disconnect arrangements that as much as sixty or seventy dB of isolation be provided by the isolating device. For example, when power is turned off to signal conversion apparatus, there should only be a highly limited amplitude of signal passed to the subscriber. This is equally true for disconnect relays, powered down amplifiers, or any other known disconnect techniques. Providing such a great amount of isolation may be expensive as it may require additional equipment, circuits, or special control to accomplish.
Thus there exists a problem with present disconnect arrangements in their difficulty of achieving adequate isolation with an economical device. When service is disconnected, it is desirable to reduce the signal level reaching the subscriber's television receiver so that, under worst case conditions, the subscriber's television receiver will not receive a viewable image, no matter how sophisticated the receiver. These worst case conditions include simultaneously encountering a television receiver having excellent noise rejection performance, a low noise preamplifier installed in the subscriber's home wiring, the subscriber's being connected to a short drop cable having low attenuation, and a CATV distribution network providing a relatively high power level radio frequency input signal to the subscriber's premises. Under these conditions, it is difficult to provide an economical switch with adequate isolation which can guarantee that an unviewable image will be received.


A method for scintillation counting and a scintillation counter exploiting a coincidence technique, in which the coincidence resolving time is flexible and can be automatically adjusted to fit the scintillation characteristics of each sample separately. This is accomplished by measuring during a short initial period the pulse length of the scintillation pulses, and adjusting the coincidence resolving time of the coincidence analyzer before the actual counting of the sample.

Scintillation counting of soft beta-emitters like tritium and carbon-14 is a very common analytical technique in life sciences. The aim of this technique is to accurately determine the activity of one or several radioactive isotopes dissolved in a special scintillation liquid held in a transparent vial. The scintillation counter can normally count several hundreds of vials (samples) in an automatic manner without attendance.
The standard scintillation counter comprises a detector compartment for sequentially holding each sample at a time. Normally the detector comprises two photomultiplier (pm) tubes simultaneously converting photon pulses that are emitted from the sample into electrical pulses. The pm tubes normally work according to the coincidence technique. In this technique, the electrical pulses from both tubes are fed into an electronic circuit, called the coincidence analyzer, which passes pulses on to pulse height analyzers and scalers only if there is a pulse in both of the two photomultiplier tubas within a certain time period, called the coincidence resolving time. The function of the coincidence analyzer can shortly be described as follows: assume that a scintillation pulse causes an analog output pulse at the output of one of the two pm tubes. At a certain time, the analog output pulse exceeds a certain threshold and sets a logic signal that will prevail for a finite time period, equal to the coincidence resolving time. Normally, the coincidence resolving time is quite short, typically in the order of about 15 ns. If during the coincidence resolving time an analog output pulse from the other pm tube triggers the coincidence analyzer, the analyzer sets its output gate signal to indicate a coincidence pulse. This output gate signal causes the analog pulse height analyzer to accept the two analog pulses from the two pm tubes. Normally the two analog pulses are summed before further analysis by pulse height analyzers and scalers or a multichannel analyzer.
A radioactive disintegration is a fast phenomenon in itself, but the process, in which the disintegration energy is transformed into photons, may extend over a considerable time period, e.g. up to a few microseconds. The characteristics of this scintillation pulse, the intensity and its decay rate, depends on the scintillation medium. In most media, the decay consists of two parts: the prompt part, which is the major part, and the slow, or delayed part. The prompt part, which originates from the lower excited singlet states immediately formed at the disintegration, is so short and instant that most of the photons can be observed during the first 20 ns after the disintegration. A typical scintillation pulse is shown in FIG. 1. The slow part, which is dependent on the formation of higher excited and ionized states, may extend over a considerable time period and photons in this part may not be noticed by the coincidence analyzer. This fact is of no concern when the total number of photons is high, as in that case there be many photons in the prompt part and a high probability that both pm tubes will receive photons within the coincidence resolving time. But if only a few photons are emitted, the first photon has a high probability to occur within the prompt part, and the next may occur much later, or within the slow part, after the coincidence resolving time. In this case the coincidence analyzer will not accept this pulse. Thus, if the coincidence resolving time is short in comparison to the decay rate of the slow part, there is a certain chance that a disintegration resulting in only two or three detected photons will not cause a coincidence condition. This situation arises typically with low energy isotopes like tritium in certain scintillation media. In scintillation counting this may cause two undesirable effects: 1) the counting efficiency is unnecessarily reduced and 2) the pulse height spectrum is distorted as a result of a proportion of pulses with low pulse heights being missed. A similar problem has been reported by Wonderly and Quint (S. W. Wonderly and J. F. Quint, PCT WO 89/02089) when measuring solid scintillators of a certain type. Wonderly and Quint suggested that the coincidence resolving time should be longer than usual when measuring solid scintillators of the type described in the patent.
In scintillation counting, quenching of the scintillation light is a very important factor to consider. Quenching in the samples means that the number of emitted photons is decreased. The counting efficiency, defined as the ratio between the detected pulse rate to the disintegration rate, is dependent of the degree of quenching. Usually the degree of quenching and the counting efficiency has to be determined for each sample separately. As the position of the scintillation spectrum on the pulse height scale also is dependent on the degree of quenching, one can use this measure as a quench index proportional to the quench level. By the use of an empirical calibration curve (quench curve), the counting efficiency is computed from the determined quench index. The mean pulse height (MPH) is an often used measure for the position of the scintillation spectrum as this is relatively easy to compute. If the coincidence resolving time is short, then the shape of the spectrum, and also the mean pulse height will depend on the intensity and the decay rate of the delayed part. The higher the intensity and the slower the decay rate of the delayed part, the more pulses will be lost in the low amplitude region of the spectrum--causing the counting efficiency to decrease and MPH to increase. FIG. 2 portrays the general influence of the coincidence resolving time on the shape of a tritium spectrum. As a result of this effect, a quench curve based on standards prepared with a solvent having an insignificant delayed part can not be used for quench correction of samples prepared with a solvent having a significant delayed part. As an example, FIG. 3 shows four quench curves prepared with standards based on toluene, xylene, pseudocumene and di-isopropyl-naphthalene. These quench curves were measured in a normal scintillation counter with the coincidence resolving time equal to 15 ns.
Not only the solvent is important in this respect. Also the quenching agent has an effect on the decay rate of the delayed part. This effect is demonstrated in FIG. 4, which shows the quench curves for standards based on toluene, but with two different quenchers: carbon tetrachloride and acetone.
The two FIGS. 3 and 4 demonstrate a general problem in scintillation counting: the composition of the quench curve standards has to be exactly the same as for the samples. This is not always possible to accomplish. In most cases, only one quench curve is generated and used with all sorts of samples, causing systematical errors of more or less unknown magnitude in the computed radioactivity. It is possible to decrease the systematical error by increasing the coincidence resolving time. FIG. 5 shows quench curves for the same samples as used in FIG. 3, but now the coincidence resolving time was increased to above 250 ns. FIG. 6 shows quench curves for the same samples as used in FIG. 4, but now the coincidence resolving time was increased to above 70 ns.
When measuring liquid samples containing low energy isotopes like tritium it is generally necessary that the coincidence resolving time is kept as short as possible in order to reduce the risk for random coincidences between single photon events from thermal noise of pm tubes or chemiluminescence in the sample. Therefore, it is not an acceptable solution to have the coincidence resolving time always excessively long, e.g. 300 ns. A much better solution is to have the instrument automatically adjusting the coincidence resolving time according to the pulse lengths of each sample separately. This can be accomplished by measuring a value for a parameter that is proportional to the shape or length of the scintillation pulse and applying an empirical rule to adjust the coincidence resolving time.

Method for scintillation counting and a scintillation counter with adjustable coincidence resolving time


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an IM system and method. The method includes: receiving and storing a request message from a browser device, which comprises a browser device ID and a media information ID, configuring a request message ID for the request message, recording a first corresponding relationship between the browser device ID, the media information ID and the request message ID; receiving a request message request from a media information pushing device, finding the request message according to the media information ID in the request message request, sending the request message to the media information pushing device; receiving and storing a feedback message obtained by the media information pushing device according to the request message, recording a second corresponding relationship between a feedback message ID and the request message ID; receiving a feedback message request from the browser device, finding the feedback message according to the browser device ID and sending the feedback message to the browser device.

Field of the Invention
The present application relates to an Instant Messaging (IM) technology field, and more particularly, to an IM system and method.
Description of the Related Art
The Internet has become media best satisfying people's requirements and most important medium of customers due to its real time and interactivity. Medium information (such as advertisements) may be pushed to the customers via the network. Due to rapid speed and ease-to-propagation of the Internet media, more and more people choose obtaining the media information online.

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


A method for manufacturing a metal-clad laminate sheet including forming a laminate sheet having the thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film and the metal foil bonded together; and providing the laminate sheet with a heat treatment which satisfies conditions (1) and (2) below: (1) a heat treatment temperature ranges between 1° C. inclusive and 50° C. exclusive higher than a melting point of the thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film. (2) a time for the heat treatment ranges from one second to 10 minutes.

Conventional metal-clad laminate sheets including thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film excel in low moisture absorbency, heat resistance, chemical resistance, and electrical properties derived from thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film, as well as in dimensional stability. Thanks to such features, the metal-clad laminate sheets are used as a material for circuit boards including flexible wiring boards and circuit boards for mounting semiconductors.
Of these metal-clad laminate sheets, for example, a proposed metal-clad laminate sheet includes thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film, and a metal foil (surface roughness: 2 μm to 4 μm) bonded to at least one surface of the thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film. A method for manufacturing the metal-clad laminate sheet includes, for example, thermocompression-bonding the thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film and the metal foil together between heating rolls with the thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film kept under tension to obtain a laminate sheet, and heat-treating the laminate sheet at or above the melting point of the thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film. Here, the thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film has a predetermined orientation of molecules. Since such a metal-clad laminate sheet includes a metal foil having great surface roughness, the provided metal-clad laminate sheet may have high peel strength between the metal foil and the thermoplastic liquid crystal polymer film. (See, for example, PATENT DOCUMENT1.)

Metal-clad laminate sheet manufacturing method, and metal-clad laminate sheet using the same


To manufacture in high productivity a semiconductor device capable of securely achieving element isolation by a trench-type element isolation and capable of effectively preventing potentials of adjacent elements from affecting other nodes, a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device includes: a step of forming a first layer on a substrate; a step of forming a trench by etching the first layer and the substrate; a step of thermally oxidizing an inner wall of the trench; a step of depositing a first conductive film having a film thickness equal to or larger than one half of the trench width of the trench on the substrate including the trench; a step of removing a first conductive film from the first layer by a CMP method and keeping the first conductive film left in only the trench; a step of anisotropically etching the first conductive film within the trench to adjust the height of the conductive film to become lower than the height of the surface of the substrate; a step of depositing an insulating film on the first conductive film by the CVD method to embed the upper part of the first conductive film within the trench; a step of flattening the insulating film by the CMP method; and a step of removing the first layer.

In a semiconductor integrated circuit, to control individual elements in a completely independent state by avoiding electrical interference between the elements during the operation, an element isolation structure having an element isolation region needs to be formed. As one of methods of forming such an element isolation region, trench isolation is widely known, and various improved methods have been devised.
The trench isolation method is a method of forming a trench on a substrate and filling the trench with an insulator. Because a bird's beak hardly occurs, this method can be an effective element isolation method in miniaturizing a semiconductor integrated circuit. On the other hand, it is pointed out that along the miniaturization of elements, potentials of adjacent elements affect other nodes via an embedded oxide film. To cope with this problem, a method of embedding a conductive film into the trench has been proposed.
A conventional semiconductor device and a conventional manufacturing method having a conductive film embedded in the trenches are explained with reference to FIG. 39 to FIG. 44. As shown in FIG. 39 and FIG. 40, in the conventional semiconductor device, a polysilicon film 104 is filled in a trench 102 formed in a semiconductor substrate 101, via a silicon oxide film 103. A cap oxide film 111 is formed on the polysilicon film 104 inside the trench 102. A gate electrode 107 is formed in an active region of an element via a gate insulating film 106, and a source/drain diffusion layer 108 is formed via a channel region beneath the gate electrode 107. A sidewall 115 is formed on a side surface of the gate electrode 107.
The conventional method of manufacturing a semiconductor device is explained next. A silicon oxide film 109 and a silicon nitride film 110 are formed in this order on the semiconductor substrate 101. The silicon nitride film 110 and the silicon oxide film 109 are patterned, using a photoengraved pattern as a mask formed by a photoengraving technique and a dry etching technique, to form the trench 102 on the semiconductor substrate 101 as shown in FIG. 40.
After the trench 102 is formed, the surface of the inner wall of the trench 102 is thermal oxidized to remove the inner wall of the trench 102, that is, damaged parts of the inner surface and a bottom surface. The silicon oxide film 103 is formed on the inner wall of the trench 102 as shown in FIG. 41. Further, the polysilicon film 104 doped with phosphor is deposited on the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate 101 according to a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) method. A part of the polysilicon film 104 on the silicon nitride film 110 and in the trench 102 is removed by the anisotropic etching as shown in FIG. 42.
The polysilicon film 104 in the trench 102 is oxidized by thermal oxidation to form the cap oxide film 111 as shown in FIG. 43. The silicon nitride film 110 is removed, and the silicon oxide film 109 is removed to complete a trench-type element isolation structure as shown in FIG. 44. Thereafter, a well region, a channel cut region, and a channel impurity layer to control a threshold voltage are formed by the ion implantation method, following the known MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) formation process. The gate insulating film 106 is formed on the semiconductor substrate 101, and the gate electrode 107 is formed on the gate insulating film 106. The source/drain diffusion layer 108 is formed by the ion implantation method, and the sidewall 115 is formed to complete the semiconductor device as shown in FIG. 39.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-232248
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-148418

Semiconductor device and its manufacturing method


A seat belt pretensioner includes a pretensioner main body disposed at a side of a seat cushion, a moving member connected to an end of a seat belt, a wire for connecting the pretensioner main body with the moving member, and a containing cover for covering the moving member and the wire. The pretensioner main body generates a tension force by reacting with a deceleration of a vehicle exceeding a constant value, the pretensioner main body. The wire transmits the tension force therethrough to the seat belt to pull the seat belt into the pretensioner main body. The containing cover includes a lower portion attached to the pretensioner main body and an upper portion having a through port for allowing the end of seat belt to pass therethrough.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cover structure of a seat belt pretensioner configured to connect a seat belt to a pretensioner main body by a connecting member of a wire or the like and cover the connecting member by a containing cover.
2. Background Art
There is known a seat belt pretensioner for constraining a passenger by pulling a seat belt in order to protect the passenger in rapid deceleration of a vehicle or the like. There is a seat belt pretensioner configured to protect a wire connecting a seat belt to a pretensioner main body against dust by covering the wire by a cover in a bellows-like shape (refer to, for example, JP-A-2001-225722 (pages 3 through 4, FIG. 2)).
Meanwhile, there is a seat belt pretensioner which does not use a cover in a bellows-like shape as a cover for protection (refer to, for example, JP-A-8-164821 (pages 4 through 5, FIG. 1)).
A detailed explanation will be given of JP-A-2001-225722, mentioned above, in reference to the following drawings.
FIGS. 11A and 11B are side views showing a seat belt pretensioner of a related art, FIG. 11A shows a state before crushing a cover in a bellows-like shape, and FIG. 11B shows a state of crushing the cover in the bellows-like shape.
A seat belt pretensioner 100 is arranged at a side of a seat cushion (not illustrated), the seat belt pretensioner 100 is connected with a buckle 102 via a wire 101 and the wire 101 is covered by a cover 103 in a bellows-like shape.
According to the seat belt pretensioner 100, a tension force is generated at the seat belt pretensioner 100 by being made to react with a deceleration degree of a vehicle in a state of connecting a tongue 105 of a seat belt 104 to the buckle 102.
The buckle 102 is moved down by pulling the wire 101 in an arrow mark direction by the tension force of the seat belt pretensioner 100 and the tongue 105 is moved down integrally with the buckle 102.
The passenger is constrained by the seat belt 104 by pulling the seat belt 104 by moving down the tongue 105.
Meanwhile, according to the seat belt pretensioner 100, the cover 103 in the bellows-like shape is crushed as shown by FIG. 11B by moving down the buckle by pulling the wire 101 by a moving amount L1 from a normal portion p1 to a constraining portion p2. A length in crushing the cover 103 in the bellows-like shape, that is, a minimum length is designated by notation L2.
By using the cover 103 in the bellows-like shape in this way, even when the cover 103 is crushed, a length of the cover 103 remains by the amount of L2.
Therefore, a total length L3 of the cover 103 in normal time becomes a length configured by adding the moving amount L1 of the buckle 102 and the minimum length L2 of the cover 103. Thereby, the length of the cover 103 in normal time is prolonged and the buckle 102 and the tongue 105 are arranged at comparatively high positions.
Therefore, there is a concern that the buckle 102 and the tongue 105 are projected to an upper side of the seat cushion. When the buckle 102 and the tongue 105 are projected to the upper side of the seat cushion, the buckle 102 and the tongue 105 touch the passenger in a state in which the passenger is seated on a seat and seat comfort cannot be maintained excellently.
In addition thereto, when the seat belt pretensioner 100 of this type is attached to a side of a center pillar, for example, the seat belt pretensioner 100 is disposed at a vicinity of a reclining operating lever of a seat back.
Therefore, when the buckle 102 and the tongue 105 are projected to the upper side of the seat cushion, the seat belt pretensioner constitutes a hindrance against operation of the reclining operating lever.
Next, a detailed explanation will be given of a seat belt pretensioner of JP-A-8-164821 in reference to FIG. 12.
FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a seat belt pretensioner of a related art, showing a seat belt pretensioner which does not use a cover in a bellows-like shape.
A seat belt pretensioner 110 is provided with a constituent member of a pretensioner at inside of a casing 111 substantially in a V-like shape and a cover 114 is formed by containing a single cover member 113 in an opening space 112 formed by the casing 111.
The seat belt pretensioner 110 is for pulling a buckle 116 into a containing portion 117 at inside of the single cover member 113 by pulling a wire 115 in an arrow mark direction.
The single cover member 113 is provided with a lip portion 118 at a front end thereof and the containing portion 117 is closed by bringing the lip portion 118 into contact with an outer periphery of the buckle 116 to thereby prevent dust or the like from invading inside of the containing portion 117.
According to the seat belt pretensioner 110, since a cover in a bellows-like shape is not used, a total length of the cover 114 can be shortened by restraining the length of the cover 114 only to an amount of moving the buckle 116.
However, the cover 114 only closes the containing portion 117 by bringing the lip portion 118 of the single cover member 113 into contact with the outer periphery of the buckle 116 and therefore, when a tongue (not illustrated) is inserted into the buckle 116 for constraining a passenger by a seat belt, the buckle 116 is inclined to the cover 114 and the lip portion 118 is separated from the buckle 116.
Whereby, there is a concern that the containing portion 117 is opened and dust or the like invades the containing portion 117.
In addition thereto, the cover 114 of the seat belt pretensioner 110 needs to form the lip portion 118 at the single cover member 113 in order to form the opening space 112 by utilizing a portion of the casing 111, contain the single cover member 113 in the opening space 112 and close the containing portion 117 of the single cover member 113.
Therefore, the constituent members of the cover 114 are increased, which constitutes a hindrance against a reduction in cost.

Cover structure of seat belt pretensioner


A computerized payment disbursement system and method are provided. One embodiment of the method of the present invention includes storing in a computer database user-defined payment disbursement criteria associated with a plurality of types of disbursement transactions. At least one payment disbursement request corresponding to one of the plurality of types is received. At least one payment disbursement is generated based upon the criteria and the request by automatically determining which of the plurality of types corresponds to the request and automatically selecting from the storage means the disbursement criteria associated with that disbursement type.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a computerized disbursement system and method, and more specifically, to a computerized system and method for automatically effectuating at least one payment disbursement based upon user-defined disbursement criteria stored in a database and at least one disbursement request.
2. Brief Description of Related Prior Art
Computerized financial data processing and accounting systems are well known in the art. Typically, such systems permit the user to effectuate disbursements by e.g., printing checks and making payments via electronic funds transfers (EFT), monitor and balance bank accounts, and/or perform automated auditing and billing functions.
One prior art financial data processing system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,945 to Thompson et al. The system disclosed in this patent automatically debits or credits multiple bank account records and accounts receivable records based upon customer payments. The system prepares integrated documents including an invoice and a check using a laser printer. Issuance of the document is based upon database tables with information including customer name and address, financial institution and account number, payee name and address, billing amount, accounts receivable account number, etc. Such data may be input manually or from other databases. The document is sent to the customer being invoiced, who fills out various sections of the front portion of the check, signs it, and returns it to the invoicer for cashing. The system also permits payment by EFT rather than check, via e.g., credit card, automated clearing house, automatic teller machine, etc. Access to database information may be protected by requiring entry of a password and/or security code information. The system also generates various accounting reports based upon the customer database information.
Another such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,285 to Horst et al. The patent discloses a check dispensing system for issuing checks from a terminal. The system includes an identification card reader for identifying an account number from which to draw funds for the check and a handwriting transducer from inputting identification data to determine whether the user is authorized to issue checks from the account number. The system also includes a keypad for inputting the desired amount of the check and bank data system for evaluating the current balance of the account and whether there are sufficient funds to issue the check for the amount requested. The system evaluates whether the signature provided via the transducer matches with an authorized signature on file and/or requests other authentication data, e.g., palm print, identification number, etc. If the system accepts the user's request to issue the check, the user then is prompted to input a payee code number to identify to whom the check is to be made payable. A printer prints the check.
Another prior art financial data processing system is provided by Intuit Corporation's QUICKEN 5.TM. financial management computer program. The QUICKEN 5.TM. program tracks user checking, savings, credit card, investment, and loan accounts. It also performs basic budgeting, financial planning, and audit report generating functions. It also includes check disbursement (from pre-printed check stock) and electronic bill paying functions.
Yet another prior art financial data processing system is provided by Bottomline Technologies, Inc., the assignee of the subject application, by the company's LASERCHECK.RTM. computer program. The company's LASERCHECK.RTM. computer program comprises a standalone check writing system which permits a user to produce a completed check on blank paper using MICR information. The company's LASERCHECK.RTM. computer program also performs basic accounting report generating functions and security while eliminating typing or handwritten checks.
Unfortunately, none of the aforesaid prior art permits fully automated payment disbursement according to user-predefined criteria, such as, disbursement financial account (e.g., bank or investment account number and type of account) and manner of payment (e.g., whether disbursement is to be made by hard-copy magnetic Ink Character Recognizable (MICR) negotiable instrument or by EFT) for different types of disbursements to be made (e.g., payments to suppliers, rebates, taxes, etc.), and individual disbursement requests (e.g., including such information as disbursement amount, intended payee, etc.). Additionally, none of the aforesaid prior art provides fully automated diagnostic means for monitoring whether the system is functioning properly and for preventing improper disbursements from taking place.
Other examples of prior art financial data processing systems and methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,829 to Anderson and U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,055 to Brown. These systems and methods also suffer from the aforesaid and/or other disadvantages of the aforesaid prior art.


This invention relates to a composition comprising nano-structured metal oxide particles (particularly, zirconia) and at least one stabilizing agent, a method to produce the composition, and a method to produce the thermally stable nano-structured particles. The method to produce the nano-structured particles comprises first preparing a base solution and a nanoparticle precursor solution, then combining these solutions at a final pH 7 or greater to precipitate a colloidal hydrous oxide. The colloidal hydrous oxide is then treated with at least one silicate, phosphate, or aluminum phosphate stabilizing agent and dried. These nano-structured particle products have high thermal stability and are particularly advantageous in applications as catalysts or catalyst supports that operate at high temperatures.

When developing a catalyst, two of the parameters that are most important are the size of the particles that comprise the catalytic material and the thermal stability of those particles. Particle size is important because it relates to surface area, and increasing the surface area can increase efficiency; larger surface areas will provide more places at which the catalytic material may come into contact with substances to be catalyzed. Thermal stability is important, because for many catalytic reactions, a high temperature process is either required or advantageous for better yield, and in order for a catalyst to be effective, the catalyst itself must be stable at those temperatures.
Unfortunately, known technologies for developing particles for use in catalyst applications suffer from being unable to produce particles that have both sufficiently high surface area to mass ratios and sufficiently high thermal stability. For example, porous and mesoporous zirconia products with desirable surface area to mass ratios have been employed in catalysis applications. However, under presently existing technologies, the highly porous structure of those products renders the particles less than optimally efficient during high temperature treatment. According to other known methods, one may produce particles with high thermal stability, but those particles have unacceptable surface area to mass ratios.
Thus, there remains a need to develop compositions comprised of thermally stable nanoparticles that have high surface area to mass ratios. The present invention provides a solution.

Nano-structured particles with high thermal stability


An integrated circuit (IC) may include a set of instruction list engines (ILEs) that execute in parallel, where each ILE stores a subset of a set of instructions for processing a header of a frame, and where each ILE generates an ILE result based on executing the subset of the set of instructions. The IC may include a circuit to determine a result of parsing the header of the frame based on merging ILE results generated by the set of ILEs.

A frame may refer to a data transmission unit and may be used to communicate data in a network from a source node to a destination node. A frame may include a header and a payload. The header may include data that is used to route or forward the frame in the network from the source node to the destination node. The payload may include data that is desired to be communicated from the source node to the destination node.

Frame parser executing subsets of instructions in parallel for processing a frame header


The present invention provides a pharmaceutical combination comprising the EP4 antagonist of Formula (R)-4-(1-(6-(4-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl)-6-azaspiro[2.5]octane-5-carboxamido)cyclopropyl)-benzoic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof and at least one immune checkpoint inhibitor, preferably the sodium salt of (R)-4-(1-(6-(4-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl)-6-azaspiro[2.5]octane-5-carboxamido)cyclopropyl) benzoic acid. A polymorphic form A of sodium salt of (R)-4-(1-(6-(4-(trifluoromethyl) benzyl)-6-azaspiro[2.5]octane-5-carboxamido)cyclopropyl)benzoate characterized by a powder XRD spectrum with peaks at values of the angle 2θ+0.2° of 4.3, 5.0, 5.8, 6.4, 7.1, 8.3, 8.7, 12.8, 15.3, 15.9 is also described. The combination and the polymorphic form A are described for use in the treatment of tumours.

Cancer is a major threat to global public health and it is still a leading cause of death worldwide. Therefore, despite recent advances in therapy, there is an urgent medical need for the development of more effective therapeutic treatments.
Immuno-oncology is an innovative area of research that aims at harnessing the patient's immune system to fight cancer. One of the most promising approach to prevent suppression of anti-cancer immunity is the blockade of immune checkpoints, i.e. molecular pathways evolved to prevent T-cell-mediated autoimmunity, but that tumours can also exploit to their advantage. In tumours, the expression of these proteins is deregulated. For this reason, a significant line of research has focused on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) to block the inhibitory receptors expressed on T cells, such as cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4) and programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) or their corresponding ligands expressed on tumour cells, such as programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1). (Alsaab, H. O. et al. Front. Pharmacol. 8, 1-15 (2017)).
Different anti-cancer drugs focused on anti CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors are now approved by the FDA. These include monoclonal antibodies against PD-1 and CTLA-4, such as pembrolizumab, nivolumab, durvalumab, tremelimumab and ipilimumab. Cancer immunotherapy by blockade of immune checkpoint molecules has proved remarkable clinical efficacy across multiple cancer types, furthermore clinical trials of immune checkpoint immunotherapy have shown good results even for advanced metastatic cancers. (Alsaab, H. O. et al. Front. Pharmacol. 8, 1-15 (2017)).
Despite an unquestionable success, not all patients are responsive, probably because cancer can find other ways to escape immune surveillance. These limitations have pushed clinicians toward new antitumoral agents or new therapies that are more efficacious against immune surveillance

Pharmaceutical combination of an EP4 antagonist and immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of tumours


The object of a snap fastener closure is to couple a male part with a female part (20) as easily as possible, but so that it is difficult to uncouple them. The female part (20) comprises a push plate (30) which is movable longitudinally in a housing (23) and forks into two plate legs in the interior of the housing. The two plate legs are formed of two portions (31, 32) which are profiled differently with respect to the closing head (12) of the male part, one of these portions (31) serving to lock and the other portion (32) serving to release the closing head (12). In order to achieve easy coupling, it is proposed that the portion (31) acting to lock is provided at the free ends of the two plate legs so that they can spread apart elastically. Then, by inserting the closing head (12) of the male part, an automatic coupling in is made possible between the two plate legs. This portion (31) thus becomes the coupling portion. One plate leg is provided with a bent lengthening (36) which acts as a spring on the push plate (30) and, by its coupling portion (31), holds the push plate (30) in alignment with an entrance hole for the closing head (12) in the housing (23).

A snap fastener closure is a type of attachment system that has a multiple-part socket part or female part with a housing for the male part, which housing has an insertion hole. A push plate made of resilient or elastic material is arranged in this housing. This push plate is forked and is guided by its two plate legs into a shared channel of the housing. The plate legs are divided into portions which differ from one another in extent, and the plate legs have a lock portion where the plate leg is smaller than a closing head of the male part. This characterizes the lock portion of the push plate. However, this lock portion also allows an elastic expanding or spreading movement and is therefore also a coupling portion to enable the closing head of the male part to be inserted through the insertion hole in the housing. The push plate is acted upon by a spring and can be pushed in until there is a large distance between the plate legs at the insertion hole and makes it possible for the male part to be pulled out axially.
In the known snap fastener closure of this kind (CH 442 833 A), the two plate legs have the same length and are supported by their ends at the two sides of an angled projection in the housing. When the push plate is pressed into the housing, the two leg ends slide at the sides of the angle which are inclined relative to one another in a mirror-inverted manner and the two plate legs spread apart in the lock portion until the closing head of the coupled in male part, behind which closing head the plate legs engage, can be removed from the housing of the female part. The two plate legs are connected in the transition to the shared actuating end by a circular arc which increases the overall width of the push plate and improves the spreading elasticity of the leg ends. This widened transition limits the pushing out of the push plate and requires a correspondingly widened channel in the housing.
Because the overall width of the push plate is not uniform, a multiple-part housing is required. Therefore, in order to produce the female part, an expensive individual production of two housing parts and a complicated, time-consuming assembly is required. Although the distance between the two plate legs in the arc-shaped transition is widened, this region cannot be made use of for uncoupling the male part because, when pressing in, the push plate is moved axially to such a limited extent that the male part still remains in the effective lock portion for coupling. In this snap fastener closure, the spreading elasticity used between the two plate legs is the same as that which, together with the angular projection, generates the push-out force. The plate legs are accordingly under a constant force acting in the spread-out direction, which force can lead to material fatigue over the course of time. However, reduced elasticity threatens the dependability of the engagement of the male part in the female part.