A relaxation oscillator is provided in the present invention. The relaxation oscillator includes a R-S latch, a first delay circuit and a second delay circuit. The input terminal of the first delay circuit is coupled to the Q output terminal of the R-S latch, and the output terminal of the first delay circuit is coupled to the reset terminal of the R-S latch. The input terminal of the second delay circuit is coupled to the inversion Q output terminal of the R-S latch, and the output terminal of the second delay circuit is coupled to the set terminal of the R-S latch. When the input terminal of the first delay circuit inputs a first logic voltage, after a delay time, the output terminal of the first delay circuit outputs a second logic pulse. When the input terminal of the second delay circuit inputs the first logic voltage, after the delay time, the output terminal of the second delay circuit outputs the second logic pulse.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a technology of oscillator, and more particularly to a relaxation oscillator which reduces the logic delay.
2. Related Art
With the progress of the technology, the electronic technology has been progressed from the earliest vacuum tube and transistor to the integrated circuit chip, which has the quite wide applications. Thus, the electronic products have gradually become the indispensable essentials in the life of the modern human beings. However, the oscillator is an indispensable important element in analog circuit or digital circuit. The relaxation oscillator is an important oscillator in the oscillators. The relaxation oscillator is commonly used in capacitor sensor and single-chip power integrated circuit. Comparing with the LC oscillator, the relaxation oscillator merely requires one kind of energy storage device. The advantages of the relaxation oscillator includes a wide frequency adjustment range, and a high degree of linear control. A well-designed relaxation oscillator should have high stability, wide adjustable frequency range and high linearity.
FIG. 1 illustrates a circuit diagram depicting the relaxation oscillator in the conventional art. Referring to FIG. 1, the relaxation oscillator includes a R-S flip-flop 101 by two NOR gates, a inverter 102, a NOR gate 103, a NOR gate 104, a first P-type MOSFET MP1, a second P-type MOSFET MP2, a third P-type MOSFET MP3, a fourth P-type MOSFET MP4, a first N-type MOSFET MN1, a second N-type MOSFET MN2, a third N-type MOSFET MN3, a fourth N-type MOSFET MN4, a first capacitor 105 and a second capacitor 106. The first N-type MOSFET MN1, the second N-type MOSFET MN2, the third P-type MOSFET MP3 and the fourth P-type MOSFET MP4 are used for bias (current source). In FIG. 1, the labels VBP and VBN are respectively represent the gate voltage bias of the P-type MOSFET and the gate voltage bias of the N-type MOSFET. In order to conveniently describe it, the node labels N1, N2, S3 and S4 are illustrated.
In order to describe the concept of the oscillator, it is assumed that initial logic states of the reset terminal R, the set terminal S, the Q terminal and Q bar terminal of R-S flip-flop 101 are respectively "0", "1", "1", "0". At this time, the voltage of the node S4 is logic high voltage, the voltage of the node S3 is lower than the threshold voltage of the fourth N-type MOSFET. Because the logic state of the reset terminal R is "0", and the logic state of the Q terminal is "1", the voltage of the output terminal of the NOR gate 104 is logic low voltage so that the P-type MOSFET MP2 is turned on. The capacitor 106 is rapidly charged to the logic high voltage such that the voltage of the set terminal S of the R-S flip-flop 101 becomes logic low voltage. Meanwhile, the logic states of the reset terminal R, the set terminal S, Q terminal and the Q′ terminal of the R-S flip-flop 101 are respectively changed to "0", "0", "1" "0".
Afterward, since the logic states of the set terminal S and the Q′ terminal are "0", the output terminal of the NOR gate 103 outputs logic high voltage such that the P-type MOSFET MP1 is cut off. The capacitor 105 discharges through the N-type MOSFET MN1. When the voltage of the capacitor 105 is discharged to the logic low voltage, the logic states of the reset terminal R, the set terminal S, the Q terminal and the Q′ terminal of the R-S flip-flop 101 are respectively "1", "0", "0", "1". At this time, since the logic states of the set terminal S and the Q′ terminal of the R-S flip-flop 101 are respectively "0", "1", and the logic states of the reset terminal R and the Q terminal of the R-S flip-flop 101 are respectively "1", "0", the output terminal of the NOR gate 103 and the output terminal of the NOR gate 104 are logic low voltage, the P-type MOSFETs MP1 and MP2 are turned on. Meanwhile, the capacitor 105 is rapidly charged to logic high voltage, and the logic states of the reset terminal R, the set terminal S, the Q terminal and the Q′ terminal of the R-S flip-flop 101 becomes respectively "0", "0", "0", "1".
Next, since the logic states of the reset terminal R and the Q terminal of the R-S flip-flop 101 are "0", the output terminal of the NOR gate 104 outputs a logic high voltage, the P-type MOSFET MP2 is cut off. The capacitor 106 discharges through the N-type MOSFET MN2. When the capacitor 106 is discharged to logic low voltage, the logic states of the reset terminal R, the set terminal S, Q terminal and the Q′ terminal of the R-S flip-flop 101 are respectively changed to "0", "1", "1", "0" again.
FIG. 2 illustrates the waveform depicting the operation of the relaxation oscillator in conventional art. Referring to FIG. 2, people having ordinary skill in the art can see that there is short period during which the voltage of the node N1 and the node N2 are logic low, even though the voltage waveform of the node N1 and the voltage waveform of the node N2 are in antiphase. Thus, the voltage of the node S3 does not be immediately discharge, when the voltage of the node N1 is logic low voltage, and also the voltage of the node S4 does not be immediately discharge, when the voltage of the node N2 is logic low voltage. It causes that the operational frequency of the relaxation oscillator may not be increased, that is to say, the relaxation oscillator consumes more current than other at the same operational frequency.


A power I/F unit is for outputting at least one of electric power stored in a power storage device and electric power generated by a motor generator driven by an engine to outside of a vehicle. An ECU selectively executes a first power feeding operation in which external power feeding is performed with the engine actuated and a second power feeding operation in which external power feeding is performed with the engine stopped. The ECU executes the first power feeding operation for a predetermined period from the start of external power feeding.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hybrid vehicle, and more particularly to a hybrid vehicle capable of executing external power feeding in which electric power is output from the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle.
Description of the Background Art
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2013-51772 discloses a hybrid vehicle capable of external power feeding from the vehicle to electrical equipment external to the vehicle. In this hybrid vehicle, the engine is actuated to allow the motor generator to generate power, and the generated power can be supplied to electrical equipment external to the vehicle. This hybrid vehicle is also capable of external power feeding without actuating the engine, that is, can supply only the electric power stored in a power storage device to electrical equipment external to the vehicle.
The increasing capacity of power storage devices mounted on vehicles enables external power feeding for a long time only from the power storage device without actuating the engine. However, if, after the power feeding operation without actuating the engine continues for a long time since the start of external power feeding, the external power feeding is switched to that with actuation of the engine due to reduction in state of charge (SOC) of the power storage device or other reasons, the sudden start of the engine may surprise people around the vehicle.


The apparatus is a selective radiation emitter to be used in conjunction with a photocell for thermophotovoltaic generation of electricity from heat. One embodiment of the emitter is a layer of selectively radiating rare earth oxide bonded onto a heated base metal layer by the use of an intermediate thin layer of porous metal powder. Another embodiment is an emitter of a thick metal powder layer combined with a rare earth oxide which is formed into the voids in the metal powder structure and bonded to a metal substrate which is to be heated. In this embodiment the metal powder grains are gold plated to limit their emissivity, so that emission outside the desired band of the rare earth oxide is greatly reduced.

This patent deals generally with batteries and more specifically with an emitter for a thermophoto electric generator.
Thermophotovoltaic cells are used to convert thermal energy into electrical energy by heating an emitter to a temperature at which it becomes incandescent and directing the radiation from the incandescent emitter to a photovoltaic cell. Although the energy conversion actually can take place with very simple devices, even as simple as a candle and a photocell, the practical use of such systems depends upon increasing the efficiency of the energy conversion. Very few devices are presently available which have efficiencies high enough to make them suitable for use in generating usable electrical energy.
Essentially, the problem is that most heated materials emit radiation over a very broad spectrum, and that photovoltaic cells have a very narrow band of sensitivity. Although selective filters have been used to limit the band of radiation to which the photovoltaic cell is subjected, these filters are very fragile and require flame shields when used with flame fired systems. Ideally, a selective radiator is needed which only emits radiation in the same narrow band to which the photovoltaic cell responds.
It is already known that certain rare earth oxides emit radiation in a single narrow band in the infrared spectrum when they are heated. These oxides of the rare earth elements, such as erbium, holmium, neodymium, and ytterbium, exhibit peak radiation in a narrow band, and their emittance approaches zero elsewhere, and, fortunately, their band of emission closely matches the band of sensitivity of photovoltaic cells.
However, there is considerable difficulty in heating rare earth oxides in practical devices. The heating process always involves also heating other materials in order to transfer the heat to the rare earth oxides, and these other materials and the bonds to the other materials have experienced mechanical failures due to thermal stress.


A printing system in which a plurality of terminals for creating document data with different printing protocols or character codes, the document data including a string of printing commands, are connected to a print server for printing the document data via a network. Each terminal includes a device adding an identifier indicating a printing protocol or character code of the document data to be sent to the print server. The print server includes a converter for converting the different printing protocols or character codes into a common printing protocol or a common set of character codes according to the identifier. The print server may includes a memory for storing command processing programs associated with the different printing protocols or different sets of character codes and a switcher for selecting one command processing program or one set of character codes according to the identifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system including a print server to be shared by a plurality of workstations, personal computers or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in a field of a workstation, a personal computer or the like, a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network) has been widely used. With the spread of the LAN or WAN, a print server to be shared by a plurality of terminals such as workstations, personal computers, word processors is advantageously employed for saving an introduction cost and installation space.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a conventional printing system comprising a network 10 such as a LAN or WAN, first, second and Nth terminals 11, 12 and 13 connected to the network 10 and a print server 14 connected to the network 10, the print server 14 including a server 15, a printer controller 16 and a printer engine 17. In this printing system, printing is carried out in the following. (1) Each of the terminals 11 to 13 transmits document data 18 for representing a printing content of a document to the server 15 of the print server 14 through a path 19a of the network 10. The document data 18 comprises a string of printing commands for describing the printing content such as characters, graphics, images and so forth for each page of the document. (2) The print server 14 processes the document data as follows:
(a) Firstly, the server 15 once stores the document data 18 in a printing spool file part 152 within a file 151 of the server 15.
(b) Secondly, the server 15 reads the document data out of the printing spool file portion 152 and transmits the document data to the printer controller 16 to instruct printing of the document.
(c) The printer controller 16 processes the received document data and gives an instruction for printing the document to the printer engine 17.
(d) Finally, the printer engine 17 carries out an electrophotographic printing process or a wire dot printing process according to the instruction output from the printer controller 16 to print the document on the sheets of paper.
The conventional printing systems are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication (KOKAI) Nos. 62-274331, 63-75828, 63-99644 and 63-250730.
In the conventional printing systems, since no consideration is taken (i) for sharing the print server among different kinds of terminals and (ii) for sharing the print server in case of different kinds of printing protocols used for describing the document data even when the kind of the terminals is the same, a print server is difficult to be used in common.
Conventionally, in order to overcome such problems, it is necessary to provide different print servers for dealing with the different kinds of terminals or different kinds of printing protocols, which requires much cost and gives only small performance with reference to the invested cost.
Further, in a conventional server system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication (KOKAI) No. 63-75828, printing data sent from terminals are converted into another type of data adapting to the printer type of the server system. In this case, a plurality of terminals have the same data printing format, and thus this server system can not cope with the different kinds of printers nor different kinds of printing protocols.


A helmet attachment may include a body, a connector, and a fastener. The body may have a rim and a concave inner surface configured to engage convex outer surface of a helmet. The connector may be coupled to the inner surface of the body and the connector may be configured to engage a helmet connector. The fastener may extend from the rim and be configured to engage an element coupled to the helmet.

The present invention generally relates to a helmet attachment and, more particularly, to an attachment for increasing the impact and/or ballistic protection of a helmet system.
Existing helmets offer protection against ballistic and blunt force trauma but may not offer a level of protection desired in certain scenarios. Some existing helmets offer the desired protection but are heavy or bulky. That trade-off is not always desired which may reduce use of the helmet by the intended wearer. Thus, a need exists for a helmet system that is comfortable to wear and offers the enhanced protection when needed.


A device for detecting the wetting and/or soiling of a windscreen surface, in particular in a vehicle, comprises a camera with a sensor having a plurality of light-sensitive pixels arranged as an array and adapted to be illuminated according to an illumination cycle, and having a focussing optic for a camera focus set to almost infinite. The device is further provided with a light source for illuminating a detection portion of the screen surface detectable by the camera. The light source may be switched on and off according to a predeterminable ON/OFF cycle. The ON/OFF cycle is synchronized to the illumination cycle of the camera sensor, and the wetting/soiling of the screen surface may be detected by comparing the image information from the sensor of the camera when the light source is turned on and when the light source is turned off.

For controlling the windscreen wipers in dependence on the wetting condition of a motor vehicle, windscreen sensors of various configurations are known.
In some cases detection of the wetting condition requires that the sensor gets in direct contact with the humidity, e.g. in the case of resistive or thermal sensors. Sensors which do not get in direct contact with humidity are in most cases mounted directly at the inner windscreen surface and utilize the change in the refraction index at the wetted windscreen surface (FIG. 1).
A light beam 6, in particular in the infrared range, is coupled by a sensor element 4 at a certain angle into the vehicle windscreen 1 such that the light beam 6 is reflected as completely as possible at the surface and can be received by a photo diode 4. When the surface is wetted by water drops, the refraction conditions at the surface are disturbed such that the light portion measured at the photo diode 4 varies as a function of the wetting condition.
The variation of the amplitude of the received light is evaluated for the purpose of controlling the windscreen wipers.
Such as system which offers the advantage of complete insensitivity towards foreign light is known from WO-A-95/01561.
In contrast to resistive, thermal or capacitive systems, optical rain sensors of the type described above were successful in the market. A certain restriction with regard to the mounting location is the necessity of direct optical contact with the windscreen inner surface and/or special measures to be taken for coupling the light beam in and out.
The employment of a video camera for detecting a wetting or soiling condition on the windscreen outer surface is known from DE-C-198 03 644, DE-A-197 49 331, DE-A-197 04 818, U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,024 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,561. However, these cameras of these systems exclusively serve for detecting rain drops.

Rain sensor device for detecting the wetting and/or soiling of a windscreen surface


Methods are provided for detecting the amount of one or more CAH panel analytes (i.e., pregnenolone, 17-OH pregnenolone, progesterone, 17-OH progesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), androstenedione, testosterone, deoxycorticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, and cortisol) in a sample by mass spectrometry. The methods generally involve ionizing one or more CAH panel analytes in a sample and quantifying the generated ions to determine the amount of one or more CAH panel analytes in the sample. In methods where amounts of multiple CAH panel analytes are detected, the amounts of multiple analytes are detected in the same sample injection.

The following description of the background of the invention is provided simply as an aid in understanding the invention and is not admitted to describe or constitute prior art to the invention.
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) is a family of inherited disorders affecting the adrenal glands. The most common form is 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD), which is inherited in severe or mild forms. The severe form, called Classical CAH, is usually detected in the newborn period or in early childhood. The milder form, called Non-classical CAH (NCAH), may cause symptoms at anytime from infancy through adulthood. NCAH is a much more common disorder than Classical CAH. Fortunately, CAH can be managed with medication and, with adequate care, affected individuals go on to live normal lives.
Cortisol is a steroid produced by the adrenal glands. Cortisol is used in the body to respond to physical and emotional stress, and maintain adequate energy supply and blood sugar levels.
The adrenal glands are controlled by the pituitary gland, a small pea-sized gland at the base of the brain. In health individuals, the pituitary gland releases adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) when there is insufficient cortisol present in the bloodstream. ACTH stimulates the adrenals to produce more cortisol. However, those with CAH have insufficient amounts of the enzyme 21-hydroxylase, which is needed to convert the precursor 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) into cortisol. As a result, the pituitary gland continues to sense the need for cortisol and pumps out more ACTH. This leads to an overabundance of 17-OHP, which is then converted in the adrenals into excess androgens (masculinizing steroid hormones).
As such, an individual may be diagnosed with CAH by determining the circulating levels of the affected steroid hormones. Additionally, an individual with CAH may be monitored by tracking circulating levels of these hormones.
Detection of various affected hormones, either alone (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,348,137 (Caulfield, et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,977,143 (Caulfield, et al.) describing detection of testosterone by mass spectrometric techniques; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/207,482 (Ghoshal, et al.) describing detection of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) by mass spectrometric techniques), or as part of a multi-analyte panel, have been disclosed in the art. For example, Carvalho, V., et al., Chromatogr A 2008, 872:154-61, reported a hormone panel which includes cortisol, 17-OH-progesterone, deoxycorticosterone, and 11-deoxycortisol by tandem mass spectrometry in serum; Guo, T., et al., Clinica Chimica Acta 2006, 372:76-82 reported a panel which includes cortisol, 11-deoxycortisol, androstenedione, testosterone, 17-OH-progesterone, DHEA, and progesterone in serum by HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry. Rauh, M., et al., Steroids 2006, 71:450-8, reported a panel which includes 17-OH progesterone, androstenedione, and testosterone by LC-tandem mass spectrometry for the diagnosis and monitoring of hyperandrogenic disorders. Janzen, M., et al., J. Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007, 92:2581-9, reported detection of a panel which included androstenedione, cortisol, 11-deoxycortisol, and 17-OH progesterone by tandem mass spectrometric techniques. Kushnir, M., et al., Clinical Chemistry 2006, 52:1559-67, reported detection of a panel which included derivatized forms of 11-deoxycortisol, 17-OH progesterone, 17-OH pregnenolone, and pregnenolone in blood by LC-tandem mass spectrometric techniques. Lacey, et al., Clinical Chemistry 2004, 50:621-5, and Minutti, C., et al., J. Clin Endocrinol Metab 2004, 89:3687-93, both reported detection of panels which included 17-OH progesterone, androstenedione, and cortisol by tandem mass spectrometric techniques. Shindo, N., et al., Biomedical Chromatogr 1990, 4:171-4, reported detection of a panel which included 17-OH progesterone, 11-deoxycortisol, progesterone, cortisol, testosterone, 17-OH pregnenolone and pregnenolone by plasmaspray LC-MS.

Mass spectrometry assay for congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Quest Diagnostics Investments Incorporated


As disclosed herein, a semiconductor device includes a gate and a silicon substrate having a field region and an active region. A gate dielectric layer formed on the upper surface of the active region of the silicon substrate and on a gate dielectric layer. The gate may include first and second sidewall dielectric layers sequentially formed on sidewalls of the gate, epitaxial silicon layers formed at both sides of the gate on the silicon substrate, first LDD regions formed in the silicon substrate below the second sidewall dielectric layers, second LDD regions formed at one sides of the first LDD regions below the epitaxial silicon layers, source/drain regions formed under the second LDD regions, and silicide layers formed on the gate and the source/drain regions.

As semiconductor devices have become highly integrated, the line width and spaces of the various patterns for devices has been reduced. This is especially true with regard to the design rule of the gate of transistor, which has become so highly integrated that the gate length has been shortened.
Conventionally, to reduce the delay time of the signal, low resistivity materials are widely used. In particular, there has been much research and development regarding the use of silicide material for reducing the sheet and contact resistance of the gate and source/drain of transistors.
In the conventional silicide process, firstly lightly doped drain (LDD) and source/drain regions formed on a silicon substrate and silicide reactive material such as nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), Platinum (Pt), titanium (Ti) and etc. are sputtered and annealed, for reducing the resistance of the source/drain regions and the gate, such that the sputtered material reacts with the silicon (Si) on the surface of the source/drain and gate, whereby the silicide layer is formed on the source/drain and gate.
In the conventional method, however, the silicon on the source/drain and gate is consumed for forming the silicide layer, which can cause junction leakage. That is, the silicon consumption allows the dopant to spread into the junction as the silicide layer is formed, so as to change the distribution of the junction, resulting in the junction leakage. Also, the low dopant concentration on the surface of the silicide layer caused by the spread of the dopant increases the contact resistance.
Accordingly, it is required to develop a technique for protecting the junction leakage caused by the consumption of the silicon on the source/drain and gate surfaces.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,872,039 and 5,627,097 have disclosed methods for reducing the spread region of the source/drain region by forming an epitaxial layer on the device region and forming a channel region using the epitaxial layer, respectively.

Semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating the same


The present application provides a data transmission method, device and system. The method comprises: a sending device sends a data packet to a receiving device by means of a first relay device, and receives feedback information of the receiving device on the receiving condition of the data packet by means of another communication link according to a predetermined condition. Therefore, the sending device can timely obtain the feedback information of the receiving device on the receiving condition of the data packet by means of another communication link under a predetermined condition.

In existing Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, a basic communication manner is a conventional cellular network-based communication manner, the specific form of which is described as follows. A terminal needs to establish a connection with a base station when communication is required and send data to the base station. Then after the base station interacts with a target terminal or a server through a core network, the data is sent to the target terminal or the server by a source terminal through the base station and the core network.
In LTE Release 12, a terminal direct connection technology was introduced, i.e., terminals may communicate directly by using resources allocated by a bases station. In LTE Release 13, a terminal relay technology based on the terminal direct connection technology was introduced into the terminal direction communication, i.e., the terminal may transmit data to a base station node through a terminal relay via a Sidelink (SL) interface and an interface (Uu: including DL and UL) between a generic terminal and the base station.
In future wireless communication systems, in addition to the conventional hand-held terminals, there will be increasingly various other types of terminals, including smart bracelets, wireless TVs, smart glasses, robots, watches and the like. When such smart terminals are connected with a network through a wireless relay device such as a mobile phone and the like, the similar existing terminal direct connection technology and terminal relay technology may be adopted.
However, when the generic terminal selects a wireless relay device, particularly a wireless relay device evolved by the generic terminal, due to factors such as mobility, amount of electricity, user selection and the like, link failures may occur on both an access link and a backhaul link.
The existing direct terminal-relay device methods specify to adopt signal quality of a wireless link to determine whether the relay device has relay capability. For example, when the signal quality of the backhaul link for the relay device is higher than a certain threshold (T1), the relay device has the relay capability and may perform relaying for other nodes. When the signal quality of the backhaul link for the relay device is lower than a certain threshold (T2), the relay device should stop performing relaying for other terminals. Further, when the base station determines that such relay device is no longer suitable to be a relay device, the base station may stop the relay device from continuing to relay data by releasing signaling, and the relay device may also notify the generic terminal through a corresponding signaling.
Further, the existing direct terminal-relay device may also identify a relay through high-level signaling that the relay is not allowed or available to assist a terminal node to send or receive data, such as Not Allowed or Not Available.
However, when there is a problem in the relay-related links, existing feedback approach is still performed in a hop-by-hop manner. For example, as for uplink, a base station feedbacks to a relay, and then the relay feedbacks to the terminal; and as for downlink, the terminal feeds back to the relay, and then the relay feeds back to the base station. In this case, the actual situation of the relay data transmission may be acquired in real time. For example, on the downlink, when a large amount of data arrive at the relay device while have not yet been sent to the terminal, if there occurs a problem in the backhaul link, the remaining data can only be discarded even if the remaining data can be sent by the relay device to the terminal successfully. This is because the relay device cannot confirm to the base station whether these data packets were sent successfully. On the uplink, in the similar situation, when a large amount of data from the terminal arrive at the relay device while have not yet been sent to the base station, if there occurs a problem in the access link, the remaining data can only be discarded even if the remaining data can be sent by the relay device to the base station successfully. This is because the relay device cannot confirm to the terminal whether these data packets were sent successfully.

Data transmission method, device, and system

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A plurality of origin patterns (3) containing a metal catalyst are formed over a semiconductor substrate (1). Next, an insulating film (4) covering the origin patterns (3) is formed. Next, a trench allowing at the both ends thereof the side faces of the origin patterns (3) to expose is formed. Thereafter, a wiring is formed by allowing carbon nanotubes (5) having a conductive chirality to grow in the trench. Thereafter, an insulating film covering the carbon nanotubes (5) is formed.

There are growing demands on miniaturization of semiconductor devices, and consequently also on increase in current density required for wirings. According to the International Technology Road Map for Semiconductors (2002), maximum wiring current density necessary for semiconductor devices will rise almost close to 2×106 (A/cm2) at around 2005 or thereafter, which cannot be achieved by the conventional Cu wirings or the like.
One candidate of wiring materials capable of solving this sort of problem can be exemplified by carbon nanotube. Maximum current density of wiring made of carbon nanotubes is at an order of magnitude of 109 (A/cm2), approximately 1,000 times as large as that of the Cu wirings. The electric resistance thereof is known to be observed as a quantized resistance of approximately 6 kΩ per a single carbon nanotube. Low resistance wirings can therefore be formed by increasing the number of carbon nanotubes.
The carbon nanotubes can be configured as semiconductors by controlling the chirality, and has therefore been investigated about their use as a channel of a-field effect transistor. In this sort of field effect transistor, it is generally believed that conductance per unit width is several times as large as an N-channel transistor formed in a Si substrate, and as large as approximately 10 times as large as a P-channel transistor.
As one conventional method of forming a wiring composed of carbon nanotubes, there has been known a method of growing carbon nanotubes by a thermal CVD process or a plasma CVD process, selectively from the surface of a metal catalyst such as cobalt, nickel, iron or the like.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-329723 describes a method of forming a via-plug using carbon nanotubes, by allowing the carbon nanotubes to grow on a pattern of a metal catalyst in the vertical direction by a CVD process. The publication also describes a method of forming horizontally-extending wirings, by allowing the carbon nanotubes to grow, while being applied with electric field in the horizontal direction.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-118248 describes a method of forming wirings horizontally extending as explained below. First, a line pattern of metal catalyst is formed, and a vertical growth suppressive layer is then formed thereon. Next, an opening is formed by a single process in the vertical growth suppressive layer and the line pattern. Carbon nanotubes are then grown between the patterns opposed in the opening. A description is made also on another method, in which a vertical growth suppressive layer is selectively formed, the line pattern is patterned, and the carbon nanotubes are grown thereafter.
Wolfgang Hoenlein (Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 41 (2002) pp. 4370-4374) illustrates a carbon nanotube wiring applied by a damascene process, but no description is given on a method of forming the wiring.
It is, however, difficult to control the growth direction and the length of the carbon nanotubes in the method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-329723. The method described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-118248 is in need of forming the opening by a single process in the vertical growth suppressive layer and the line pattern of metal catalyst. It is, however, difficult to etch the metal catalyst such as Co, Ni, iron and the like, and the vertical growth suppressive layer in a series of process. In particular, the difficulty grows to a considerable degree, when the metal catalyst is thick. Moreover, any attempt of etching the metal catalyst by dry etching may cause adhesion of by-products on the side wall of the opening, from where the carbon nanotubes may undesirably grow. The method of selectively forming the vertical growth suppressive layer suffers from difficulty in controlling the direction of growth of the carbon nanotubes.
In the above-described literatures, there are no descriptions about methods of growing carbon nanotubes. It is also anticipated that the structure, having the metal catalyst selectively formed in a part of individual contacts, will be complicated.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-329723
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-118248
[Non-Patent Document 1] Wolfgang Hoenlein (Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 41 (2002), pp. 4370-4374)

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


An electrical connector includes an insulative housing having a base portion and a tongue potion extending forwardly from the base portion. The base portion has a mounting surface for being mounted to a printed circuit board upwardly, and a lower surface opposite to the mounting surface. The tongue portion has an upper side face, and a lower side face opposite to the upper side face. The mounting surface and the upper side face essentially are lied in a planar surface. A plurality of contacts are received the insulative housing and have contact portions exposed upon the upper side face of the tongue portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an USB connector or the like, and more particularly to an electrical connector having an improved insulative housing with lower deformation through molding process.
2. Description of Related Art
At present, Universal Serial BUS (USB) is a widely used as an input/output interface adapted for many electronic devices, such as personal computer and related peripherals. Chinese Patent issue No. 2704131Y discloses an universal serial bus (USB) connector which includes an insulative housing defining a base portion and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base portion, a plurality of contacts retained in the base portion and extending on the tongue portion for mating with a receptacle connector, and a metal shell shielding the insulative housing and defining an interface with the tongue portion extending therein.
Usually, the contacts of a typical USB connector have contacting portions coupled to the tongue portion, and tail portions retained in a rear portion of the base portion and extending out of the rear portion. The base portion has a step portion extending from an upper portion thereof and being higher than the tongue portion, and a mounting space recessed below the step portion for receiving a front edge of a printed circuit board therein. While the electrical connector is mounted on the printed circuit board, the step portion presses onto an upper surface of the printed circuit board, and the tail portions are soldered onto the upper surface of the printed circuit board. However, when the insulative housing is formed through the molding process, the step portion of the insulative housing is easy deformed during molding.
Hence, an improved connector with an improved housing is desired to overcome the above problems.

Electrical connector having improved insulative housing


The present invention is mainly characterized by providing an even surface of an interlayer insulating film for insulating and isolating an upper interconnection and a lower interconnection from each other. A lower interconnection layer is provided on a semiconductor substrate, having a pattern of stepped portions. A silicon type insulating film is provided on the semiconductor substrate so as to cover the lower interconnection layer. A silicon ladder resin film is filled in recessed portions of the surface of the silicon type insulating film for making even the surface of the silicon type insulating film. An upper interconnection layer electrically connected to the lower interconnection layer through a via hole is provided on the silicon type insulating film. The silicon ladder resin film has the structural formula: ##STR1## where R.sub.1 is at least one of a phenyl group and a lower alkyl group, R.sub.2 is at least one of a hydrogen atom and a lower alkyl group, and n is an integer of 20 to 1000.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to semiconductor devices and, more particularly, relates to semiconductor devices having an even surface of an interlayer insulating film for insulating and isolating an upper layer interconnection and a lower layer interconnection from each other. The present invention further relates to a method of manufacturing such semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device having a conventional multilevel interconnection structure. Referring to FIG. 6, an element 20 is formed over a semiconductor substrate 1. An underlying insulating film 2 is formed over semiconductor substrate 1, covering element 20. Underlying insulating film 2 is formed of silicon type insulating film and has its surface made even by reflow (thermal treatment at about 900.degree. C. or above). A gate, which is part of element 20, is formed of polysilicon and has large heat resistance. Therefore, the surface of underlying insulating film 2 can be made even by the reflow. If the interconnection layer is formed of aluminum which has inferior resistance to heat, such reflow treatment can not be employed.
A lower aluminum interconnection 6 (having inferior resistance to heat) is formed on underlying insulating film 2, having a pattern of stepped portions. A lower interlayer insulating film 3 is formed over semiconductor substrate 1, covering aluminum interconnection 6. Lower interlayer insulating film 3 is a silicon oxide film and formed by chemical vapor deposition (hereinafter referred to as CVD). Lower interlayer insulating film 3 is provided for preventing a crack in a spin on glass film (SOG film) to be formed later.
An SOG film 4 is formed on lower interlayer insulating film 3 for making even the surface of lower interlayer insulating film 3. An upper interlayer insulating film 5 is formed on SOG film 4. Upper interlayer insulating film 5 is a silicon oxide film and formed by CVD.
A via hole 23 is made in lower interlayer insulating film 3, SOG film 4 and upper interlayer insulating film 5, for exposing part of the surface of lower aluminum interconnection 6.
An upper aluminum interconnection layer 22 electrically connected to lower aluminum interconnection 6 through via hole 23 is provided on upper interlayer insulating film 5.
In the conventional semiconductor device as stated above, referring to FIG. 6, the surface having the pattern of recessed portions was made even, thereby obtaining an even surface of interlayer insulating film 5 by filling the recessed portions of the pattern with SOG film 4 .
However, referring to FIG. 7, if SOG film 4 is made thick in order to increase the degree of evenness, a crack 4a is caused in SOG film 4. If crack 4a is caused in SOG film 4, a valley 5a is formed on the surface of upper interlayer insulating film 5 to be formed on SOG film 4. An aluminum interconnection layer is formed on upper interlayer insulating film 5 and then the aluminum interconnection layer is patterned under such a condition, so that residue 22a of aluminum is left in valley 5a.
Residue 22a of aluminum was a cause of a short circuit. Also, crack 4a in SOG film 4 caused a problem that the surface of upper interlayer insulating film 5 was not made even.
Accordingly, SOG film 4 could not be formed thick in the conventional semiconductor device. If SOG film 4 can not be formed thick, it causes the following problems.
Referring to FIG. 7, if the distance between aluminum interconnections 6 is long (generally 10 .mu.m above), the surface of interlayer insulating film 5 can not be evened. As a result, working accuracy of upper aluminum interconnection 22 is decreased, causing a short circuit or the like.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof


The invention provides an antigen-binding protein that specifically binds to a conformational epitope formed by domain III & IV of human epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER3) and antigen-binding proteins which compete therewith for binding, as well as fusion protein or conjugate comprising these. The invention also provides nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence encoding said antigen binding proteins, vectors comprising the nucleic acid, and cells and pharmaceuticals comprising the antigen binding protein, the fusion protein, the nucleic acid, or the vector. The invention also provides the antigen binding protein, the fusion protein or conjugate, the nucleic acid, the vector, the cell, or the pharmaceutical for use as a medicament. The invention further provides a method of inhibiting tumor growth or treating cancer, comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of the antigen binding protein, the fusion protein or conjugate, the nucleic acid, the vector, the cell, or the pharmaceutical.

The complex signaling network of the ErbB family members is tightly regulated in normal human tissue. However, dysregulation of ErbB family members by receptor overexpression, alteration of receptor functions by mutations or aberrant stimulation by ligands is often associated with the development and propagation of cancer. EGFR is frequently overexpressed in colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and other cancer types and EGFR overexpression has been linked to poor prognosis. HER2 is particularly associated with human breast cancer, where it is amplified and/or overexpressed in up to 30%. It has previously been shown that also HER3 is mutated in ˜11% of colon and gastric cancers which promotes oncogenic signaling in presence of HER2 (Jaiswal et al., 2013, Oncogenic ErbB3 mutations in human cancers. Cancer Cell 23, 603-617). Moreover, HER3 gained special interest due to its potent activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway which has been reported to be responsible for resistance mechanisms against ErbB targeted therapies (Holbro et al., 2003, The ErbB2/ErbB3 heterodimer functions as an oncogenic unit: ErbB2 requires ErbB3 to drive breast tumor cell proliferation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100:8933-8938). The role of HER4 in cancer development has been discussed controversially, but more and more studies have revealed that HER4 is associated with tumorigenesis especially concerning acquired resistance (Canfield et al., 2014, Receptor tyrosine kinase ErbB4 mediates acquired resistance to ErbB2 inhibitors in breast cancer cells. Cell Cycle 14: 648-655).
Oncogenic mutations have been identified in HER3, e.g. in about 11% of colon and gastric cancers (Jaiswal et al., 2013). These mutations were shown to transform colonic and breast epithelial cells in a ligand-independent manner (Jaiswal et al., 2013, Oncogenic ErbB3 mutations in human cancers. Cancer Cell 23, 603-617). Mutations in the extracellular region have been localized in domain I, II and III, with many hot spots in domain II (A232V, P262H/S, G284R, D297Y, G325R), one in domain I (V104M) and one in domain III (T355A/I) (Gaborit et al. 2015, Emerging anti-cancer antibodies and combination therapies targeting HER3/ErbB3. Hum. Vaccin. Immunother. 12: 576-592).
ErbB family members can be targeted with antibodies. They can inhibit ligand binding and/or receptor dimerization. Furthermore, antibodies can induce receptor internalization and degradation by receptor crosslinking (Friedman et al., 2005, Synergistic down-regulation of receptor tyrosine kinases by combinations of mAbs: implications for cancer therapy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102:1915-1920; Roepstorff et al., 2008, Endocytic downregulation of ErbB receptors: mechanisms and relevance in cancer. Histochem Cell Biol. 129:563-578; Moody et al., 2015, receptor crosslinking—a general method to trigger internalization and lysosomal targeting of therapeutic receptor:ligand complexes. Mol. Therapy 23:1888-1898). Additionally, antibodies containing an Fc part can mediate cancer cell killing through effector functions like antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). Antibodies can also be used as delivery system for cytotoxic agents to cancer cells. Because of its emerging role as heterodimerization partner involved in propagating tumorigenesis and the development of resistance to therapy, HER3 has become a target for antibody therapy. Various antibodies directed against HER3 have been developed (Gaborit et al. 2015, Emerging anti-cancer antibodies and combination therapies targeting HER3/ErbB3. Hum. Vaccin. Immunother. 12: 576-592; Dey et al. 2015, A critical role of HER3 in HER2-amplified and non-amplified breast cancers: function of a kinase-dead RTK. Am. J. Transl. Res. 7: 733-750; Aurisicchio et al. 2012, The promise of anti-ErbB3 monoclonals as new cancer therapeutics. Oncotarget 3, 744-758; Baselga & Swain 2009, Novel anticancer targets: revisiting ErbB2 and discovering ErbB3. Nat. Rev. Cancer 9: 463-475; Gala & Chandariapaty 2014, Molecular pathways: HER3 targeted therapy. Clin. Cancer Res. 20: 1410-1416; Kol et al. 2014, HER3, serious partner in crime: therapeutic approaches and potential biomarkers for effect of HER3-targeting. Pharmacol. Ther. 143: 1-11; Zhang et al. 2016, HER3/ErbB3, an emerging cancer therapeutic target. Acta Biochim. Biophys. Sin. 48: 39-48), several of them being either directed against domain I or III involved ligand binding, others directed against domain II and/or IV, involved in receptor dimerization. One antibody, KTN3379, was described to bind between domain II and III locking the receptor in an inactive conformation (Lee et al., 2015, Inhibition of ErbB3 by a monoclonal antibody that locks the extracellular domain in an inactive configuration. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 112: 13225-13230).
However, as the domains targeted by these antibodies may comprise one or more oncogenetic mutations, they may not be reactive against wild-type HER3, or against an oncogenic mutated HER3 which is mutated in another position than targeted by the respective antibody. There is thus, a need in the art for an antagonistic molecule which is reactive with both wild-type and mutated HER3. Furthermore, in order to inhibit ligand-independent and ligand-dependent HER3 activation, there is a need for an antagonistic molecule which binds HER3 in a way to inhibit heterodimerization as well as inhibit ligand binding.
To solve above problem, we have identified a human anti-HER3 (ErbB3) antibody, 3-43, which recognizes a unique epitope on HER3 formed by domain III and IV, which is conserved between human and mouse HER3. This antibody binds as an IgG molecule with EC50 values below 0.1 nM to HER3-expressing tumor cells, efficiently inhibits ligand-independent and ligand-dependent receptor activation and downstream signaling, and leads to rapid and efficient receptor internalization and degradation.


High Definition Induction Logging (HDIL) tools provide reliable information about the vertical and radial variations of resistivity structure in isotropic media. Focusing techniques provide quantitative information about resistivity variation and qualitative information about invasion at the well site. Coaxial alignment of transmitter-receiver arrays with the borehole prevents obtaining information about anisotropy in vertical wells, thereby greatly limiting the application of array induction tools in the characterization of reservoirs with finely laminated sand/shale sequences. A multi-component induction tool, 3DEX(trademark), enables the detection of anisotropy in laminated reservoirs. Multi-component data are invert to give an estimate of vertical and horizontal resistivity in a vertical borehole. 3DEX(trademark) may encounter difficulties in looking through an invaded zone and detecting the anisotropy in the formations. Joint inversion of HDIL and 3DEX(trademark) data enables identification of parameters of the invaded zone as well as of the anisotropic formations.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related generally to the field of interpretation of measurements made by well logging instruments for the purpose of determining the properties of earth formations. More specifically, the invention is related to methods for 2-D inversion of induction logging data obtained with transverse induction logging tools.
2. Background of the Art
Electromagnetic induction and wave propagation logging tools are commonly used for determination of electrical properties of formations surrounding a borehole. These logging tools give measurements of apparent resistivity (or conductivity) of the formation that, when properly interpreted, are diagnostic of the petrophysical properties of the formation and the fluids therein.
The physical principles of electromagnetic induction resistivity well logging are described, for example, in, H. G. Doll, Introduction to Induction Logging and Application to Logging of Wells Drilled with Oil Based Mud, Journal of Petroleum Technology, vol. 1, p.148, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Richardson Tex. (1949). Many improvements and modifications to electromagnetic induction resistivity instruments have been devised since publication of the Doll reference. Examples of such modifications and improvements can be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,517; U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,605 issued to Chandler et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,761 issued to Beard et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,761 to Beard et al. having the same assignee as the present application and the contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference, discloses an apparatus and method for digitally processing signals received by an induction logging tool having a transmitter and a plurality of receivers. An oscillating signal is provided to the transmitter, which causes eddy currents to flow in a surrounding formation. The magnitudes of the eddy currents are proportional to the conductivity of the formation. The eddy currents in turn induce voltages in the receivers. The received voltages are digitized at a sampling rate well above the maximum frequency of interest. The digitizing window is synchronized to a cycle of the oscillating current signal. Corresponding samples obtained in each cycle are cumulatively summed over a large number of such cycles. The summed samples form a stacked signal. Stacked signals generated for corresponding receiver coils are transmitted to a computer for spectral analysis. Transmitting the stacked signals and not all the individually sampled signals, reduces the amount of data that needs to be stored or transmitted. A Fourier analysis is performed of the stacked signals to derive the amplitudes of in-phase and quadrature components of the receiver voltages at the frequencies of interest. From the component amplitudes, the conductivity of the formation can be accurately derived.
A limitation to the electromagnetic induction resistivity well logging instruments such as that discussed in Beard is that they typically include transmitter coils and receiver coils wound so that the magnetic moments of these coils are substantially parallel only to the axis of the instrument. Eddy currents are induced in the earth formations from the magnetic field generated by the transmitter coil, and in the induction instruments known in the art, these eddy currents tend to flow in ground loops which are substantially perpendicular to the axis of the instrument. Voltages are then induced in the receiver coils related to the magnitude of the eddy currents. Certain earth formations, however, consist of thin layers of electrically conductive materials interleaved with thin layers of substantially non-conductive material. The response of the typical electromagnetic induction resistivity well logging instrument will be largely dependent on the conductivity of the conductive layers when the layers are substantially parallel to the flow path of the eddy currents. The substantially non-conductive layers will contribute only a small amount to the overall response of the instrument and therefore their presence will typically be masked by the presence of the conductive layers. The non-conductive layers, however, are the ones which are typically hydrocarbon-bearing and are of the most interest to the instrument user. Some earth formations which might be of commercial interest therefore may be overlooked by interpreting a well log made using the electromagnetic induction resistivity well logging instruments known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,147,496 to Strack et al. teaches the use of an induction logging tool in which at least one transmitter and at least one receiver are oriented in orthogonal directions. By operating the tool at two different frequencies, it is possible to substantially reduce the effect of invasion and to determine the orientation of the tool to the bedding planes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,883 issued to Gupta et al, (the xe2x80x9cGupta patentxe2x80x9d), the contents of which are fully incorporated here by reference, discloses a method for determination of the horizontal and vertical conductivity of anisotropic earth formations. Electromagnetic induction signals induced by induction transmitters oriented along three mutually orthogonal axes are measured. One of the mutually orthogonal axes is substantially parallel to a logging instrument axis. The electromagnetic induction signals are measured using first receivers each having a magnetic moment parallel to one of the orthogonal axes and using second receivers each having a magnetic moment perpendicular to a one of the orthogonal axes which is also perpendicular to the instrument axis. A relative angle of rotation of the perpendicular one of the orthogonal axes is calculated from the receiver signals measured perpendicular to the instrument axis. An intermediate measurement tensor is calculated by rotating magnitudes of the receiver signals through a negative of the angle of rotation. A relative angle of inclination of one of the orthogonal axes which is parallel to the axis of the instrument is calculated, from the rotated magnitudes, with respect to a direction of the vertical conductivity. The rotated magnitudes are rotated through a negative of the angle of inclination. Horizontal conductivity is calculated from the magnitudes of the receiver signals after the second step of rotation. An anisotropy parameter is calculated from the receiver signal magnitudes after the second step of rotation. Vertical conductivity is calculated from the horizontal conductivity and the anisotropy parameter.
Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/676,097 by Kriegshauser et al, the contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference, teaches a method for determining an applying shoulder bed corrections to logging measurements made with a transverse induction logging tool. Layer boundaries are determined from the measurements. These are combined with horizontal and vertical resistivities obtained by a whole space anisotropic inversion to give a layered model. Preferably, a Lanczos iterative procedure is used for the inversion. The shoulder bed correction for each layer is derived based upon a difference between a 1-D synthetic response of the model and a whole space response of the model at that layer. The shoulder bed correction is applied to the data and the inversion procedure is repeated. This procedure is repeated in an iterative manner until a difference between the shoulder bed corrected measurements at the center of each of the layers and a synthetic response to a whole space model at the center of each of the layers is below a predetermined threshold.
Kriegshauser teaches the use of a multicomponent induction logging tool in which five components of the magnetic field as shown in FIG. 1. This tool which is marketed under the name 3DEX(trademark) by Baker Hughes Inc., measures three principal components Hxx, Hyy, Hzz and two cross-components Hxy and Hxz. The measured data from 3DEX(trademark) tool are unfocused and thus inversion is necessary in interpreting the 3DEX(trademark) data.
Only a few authors have attempted to invert borehole EM logging data to resolve anisotropic formation. Gupta et al. and Kriegshauser et al. have developed various inversion methods, including whole space inversion, radial 1D inversion, and vertical 1D inversion, to resolve anisotropic formations. EM logging data, however, are subject to borehole, shoulder, and invasion effects. The drilling mud coupled with the high pressure during the drilling process can create a flushed zone around the borehole that can be as thick as several meters. The approximate correction for borehole and shoulder effects using radial 1D and vertical 1D inversions alternatively in Kriegshauser et al., works reasonably well in most cases but these approximate corrections may not lead to satisfactory solutions in complicated situations such as high resistivity contrast and thin layers.
Additionally, different tools have different vertical resolutions and they respond differently to the earth models. Separate interpretations of multi-component induction tool and HDIL data, therefore, can lead to different and sometimes inconsistent results.
There is a need for a method of consistent interpretation of HDIL and 3DEX data to obtain anisotropic resistivities of the subsurface along with anisotropic resistivities of the invaded zone. The present invention satisfies this need.
A multi-component electromagnetic logging tool is used for obtaining multi-component measurements indicative of anisotropic resistivities of the subsurface. An initial model of the subsurface, including horizontal and vertical resistivities and parameters of an invaded zone around a borehole, is defined. A forward modeling program is used to obtain expected responses of the multi-component tool based on the initial model. An iterative procedure is used to update the model and minimize an objective function related to the mismatch between the model output and the multi-component measurements. The objective function also includes a model objective function to stabilize the inversion process. The initial model for the inversion may be obtained from other measurements, such as an array logging tool.
In another embodiment of the invention, the data from the multi-component logging tool are inverted jointly with data from an array logging tool. This joint interpretation can give results superior to those obtained from the inversion of the multi-component data alone. The improvement is noticeable in estimation of the invaded zone parameters.

2-D inversion of multi-component induction logging data to resolve anisotropic resistivity structure


The present invention provides a method for producing a toner including preparing an emulsified dispersion which contains emulsion particles by emulsifying or dispersing an oil phase containing at least a pigment and any one of a binder resin and a binder resin precursor in an aqueous medium, and granulating toner base particles by converging the emulsified dispersion, wherein the Casson yield value of the single oil phase before being emulsified or dispersed in the aqueous medium is 0.5 Pa to 20 Pa; and the temperature Tn of the emulsified dispersion in the preparation of the emulsified dispersion, the temperature Ts of the emulsified dispersion in the granulation of the toner base particles, and the glass transition temperature Tg of the toner base particles satisfy the relation Tn<Ts<Tg.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner to be used for formation of images based on an electrostatic photographic process such as for copiers, facsimiles, and printers. The present invention also relates to a method for producing the toner and an image forming method using the toner.
2. Disclosure of the Related Art
An electrophotographic image forming method includes a transferring step for transferring an image onto the surface of an image transferring member, a fixing step for fixing a toner image on the surface of the image transferer, and a cleaning step for removing a residual toner remaining on the surface of the image bearing member after the transferring process,
In recent years, forming of higher-quality images is increasingly required. In particular, to achieve formation of highly fine color images, researches aimed at making toner particles have smaller particle diameters and forming toner particles in a spherical shape have been under way. Making toner particles having smaller particle diameters allows improving dot-reproductivity, and forming toner particles in a spherical shape allows improving developing property and transferring property of toner. Since it is very difficult to produce a spherically shaped toner having smaller particle diameters by kneading and pulverizing method, polymerized toners produced by suspension polymerization method, emulsion polymerization method, or dispersion polymerization method are being employed.
However, when a spherically-shaped toner having small particle diameters is used, it raises the following problems during cleaning of a residual toner remaining on an image bearing member.
Conventionally, as a unit for removing a residual toner remaining on an image bearing member after a transferring process, blade cleaning system has been used because of its simple structure and excellence in removing ability of a residual toner. A cleaning blade system removes a toner while sliding on and rubbing the surface of an image bearing member, however, the edge portions of the cleaning blade are deformed due to frictional resistance to the image bearing member. Therefore, a microscopic clearance is induced between the cleaning blade and the image bearing member because the smaller toner particle diameter, the easier the toner particles enter the clearance. The nearer to a spherical shape the entered toner has, the smaller the rolling frictional force is. Thus, the entered toner particles start to roll in the clearance between the image bearing member and the cleaning blade and slip through the cleaning blade, thereby resulting in cleaning failures.
Then, a proposal is presented to address troubles concerning cleaning ability of a residual toner while improving the developing property and transferring property of a toner by controlling the shape of the toner such that the toner has a somewhat different shape from a spherical shape.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 11-060739 discloses a method in which in the process where a plurality of primary particles were associated with and fused to each other in a solution containing primary particles having thermal adhesiveness and at least one solvent to thereby produce secondary particles, the required agitation power per unit volume is varied according to the average toner particle diameter of particles. However, associating completely solid primary particles with each other, not associating oil droplets with each other, needs raising the temperature of the components to make the primary particles thermally fused to each other. Therefore, the method has problems with low-productivity and widening a particle size distribution.
Japanese patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 06-282105 discloses a method for producing toner particles for developing electrostatically charged images which includes adding inorganic oxide fine particles to a color resin dispersion in which resin fine particles containing at least a pigment are dispersed in an aqueous medium to flocculate color resin fine particles, heating the color resin dispersion to fusion-bond the flocculated color resin particles, thereby forming associated particles. However, the method needs raising the to temperature of the color resin dispersion to the glass transition temperature or more to associate primary particles with each other, and thus it is difficult to control the particle size distribution.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2005-049858 discloses a method for producing a toner containing toner resin particles which contain a resin (a) and a filler (b), in which toner resin particles have a volume average particle diameter of 3 μm to 10 μm, and a shape factor (SF-2) of 110 to 300; each of the toner resin particles has an outer shell layer (S) containing at least a part of the filler (b); and the outer shell layer (S) has a thickness of 0.01 μm or more and a half or less of the maximum inscribed circle radius of the cross-sectional surface of the particles. However, the toner production method has problems that the shape of toner cannot be sufficiently controlled, and toner particles may be formed in a spherical shape.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2005-070680 discloses an apparatus for producing a toner for electrophotographic image formation, which is provided with a continuous emulsifying apparatus and is used for a method in which a toner composition containing at least a resin, a colorant, and a releasing agent is dissolved or dispersed in an organic solvent and the solution or dispersion is continuously emulsified in an aqueous medium. The toner production apparatus is provided with a unit which allows varying the accumulation volume of emulsified portions
In such a process for forming toner particles to have a somewhat different shape from a spherical shape, when particles after being subjected to an emulsification process are unevenly and indefinitely shaped, the level of how the shearing force is applied to the toner particles is uneven in the process of forming of toner particles to have a somewhat different shape from a spherical shape, Thus, the obtained toner particles differently shaped from spherically shaped toner particles are also unevenly formed. When the shape of toner particles differently shaped from spherically shaped toner particles is uneven, the cohesion force between toner particles is reduced in a fixing process. This adversely affects fixing of image to cause an increase in lower limit fixing temperature of the toner.

Toner, toner production method, and image forming method


A method and apparatus for detecting drowsiness and awakening the user. The load on a piezo-ceramic eye blinking detection unit changes upon blinking activity resulting in an electrical output. This electrical output is then processed and compared to a predetermined time interval for blinking. An alarm is sounded if the processed electrical output is less than the predetermined time interval.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to the field of sleep prevention, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for detecting and awakening a person who is becoming drowsy.
2. Background Art
The maintenance of a state of wakefulness while performing various tasks is needed for a range of reasons varying from safety to efficient performance and beyond. In order to decrease the possibility of accidents, alertness while operating vehicles, such as automobiles or heavy machinery, must be maintained. Additionally, reading and studying require wakefulness.
There are several devices described in the prior art which detect drowsiness and awaken the user upon its detection. While many base their determinations on eyelid motion and a predetermined blink frequency, for various reasons they have caused discomfort for the user. For example, several patents require a "feeler" element which maintains contact with the user's eyelid (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,143, entitled "Sleep Awakening Device For Driver Of Motor Vehicles," to Cooper). Others shine beams of light either into the user's eye or across the line of vision such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,186, entitled "Method And Apparatus For Fatigue Detection," to Ludmirsky, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,531, entitled "Drowsiness Detecting Apparatus," to Anbergen.
Not all prior art devices determine drowsiness based on eyelid motion; there are several which monitor head inclination. These seem to be particularly designed for operators of vehicles. They are mounted in different ways: On the headrest (U.S. Pat. No. 3,903,514, entitled "Stay Awake Alarm," to Mazzola); in a collar (U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,354, entitled "Snooze Alert Device," to Colvin); or in a cap (U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,092, entitled "Cap With Sleep Posture Alarm," to Streb, et al.). U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,347, entitled "Drowsiness Alarm System For A Vehicle," to Seko, et al., bases its determination on changes in the angle of the steering wheel. Still another, U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,877, entitled "Waking Degree Maintaining Apparatus," to Kishi, teaches correlating brain waves to reaction time.


A valve actuation mechanism for an internal combustion engine includes rockers moved by a camshaft, each rocker being adapted to exert a valve opening force on at least a portion of a valve opening actuator of each cylinder, via an activation piston, housed in a bore of the rocker and movable with respect to the rocker under action of a fluid pressure raise in a chamber fluidly connected to the bore, from a first position to a second position with respect to the rocker, in which a cam follower of the rocker is adapted to read at least one auxiliary valve lift sector of a cam of the camshaft so as to perform an engine operating function. Each rocker includes a check valve adapted to control the fluid pressure raise in the chamber. The valve actuation mechanism includes, for each rocker, a stopper fast with a housing of the engine and adapted to exert, on a member of the rocker, a force for opening a valve independent from the check valve, adapted to release fluid from the chamber when the piston has to be moved from its second position to its first position.

The invention concerns a valve actuation mechanism for an internal combustion engine on an automotive vehicle. The invention also concerns an automotive vehicle, such as a truck, equipped with such a valve actuation mechanism.
Automotive vehicles, such as trucks, often rely on an engine brake function to slow down in order, for example, to reduce wear of the friction brake pads and to prevent overheating of the friction brakes, particularly on downward slopes. It is known to perform engine brake by acting on the amount of gas present in the cylinders of the engine in two distinct phases. In a first phase, when the pistons are near a bottom dead center, one injects exhaust gases into the chambers of the cylinders so as to slow down the pistons when they move towards their high level. This is done by slightly opening at least a valve connected to an exhaust manifold, while exhaust gases are prevented to be expelled from the exhaust pipe and thereby at a certain pressure above atmospheric pressure. In the second phase, the gases which are compressed by the piston are expelled from the chamber of the cylinder when the piston is at or near its top dead center position in order to prevent an acceleration of the piston under effect of volumic expansion of compressed gas. This is done by slightly opening a valve so as to expel gases from the cylinder. In most cases, the valve (or valves) which is (are) opened for the engine brake function is (are) a main exhaust valve. An engine brake system is described in document WO 9009514.
To perform these engine brake valves movements, also called engine brake valves lifts, the engine comprises, for each cylinder, a rocker acting, on the valves to open and close them. The rocker is acted upon by a rotating cam which has at least one lift sector to cause the lifting (opening) of the valve. If the valve is also an exhaust or an intake valve, the corresponding cam will comprise a main valve lift sector and one or several auxiliary valve lift sectors (also called main valve lift bump and auxiliary valve lift bump) When engine brake is needed, a cam follower surface of the rocker is moved in close contact with a cam of a camshaft moving the rocker so that the brake movements of the valve are obtained, when the cam follower interacts with the auxiliary valve lift sectors. In normal operating conditions of the engine, the valves should not perform these movements and the roller of the rocker is kept slightly remote from the cam so that the cam follower does not interact with the auxiliary valve lift sectors. The distance or clearance between the roller and the cam ensures that only the larger main lift sector on the cam, dedicated to the main exhaust event, causes an opening of the exhaust valve, but not one or several smaller auxiliary lift sectors dedicated to the engine brake function. This clearance is suppressed when engine brake is needed, by moving an activation piston of the rocker to make a close contact between the roller and the cam, so that engine brake dedicated lift sectors on the cam also cause an opening of the valve. An engine brake system having such valve actuation mechanism is described in WO-91/08381
In the case of a system where two valves are to be actuated, the piston can be in contact with the valves through a valve bridge.
When the engine brake valve opening(s) have been performed, a reset function is preferably to be performed. In other words, the activation piston needs to be moved towards its initial position in order to ensure that the valves are closed early enough in order to prevent extended valve lift overlap.
Engine brake systems generally comprise a control valve to direct pressurized control fluid pressure in a chamber adjacent to the piston to move the activation piston from its initial position to its engine brake actuation position. The control valve controls whether or not the engine brake function is activated. This control valve lets pressurized, control fluid flow, at a pressure of for example 2 to 5 bars, towards each rocker as long as the engine brake function is needed, which typically lasts several seconds or tens of seconds during which the engine and the cam shaft may perform several hundreds or thousands of complete revolutions. In some systems, a check valve is provided to prevent any fluid, flow out of the chamber, in some known systems, such as the one described in WO-91/08381, the check valve can nevertheless be forced to an open position, allowing the control fluid to escape the chamber when the engine brake is not needed. This is achieved when no control pressure is sent to the control valve. In known systems, there is only one control valve for several cylinders, so that it is not possible to use the control valve to empty the chamber to allow retraction of the piston, if such retraction is needed for a period of time inferior to one revolution of the camshaft.
It is known, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,730, to act on the check valve thanks to a stopper which is fixed to a housing, of the engine, so as to open the check valve and release fluid pressure in the chamber so that the piston may move towards its initial position, retracted. This technical solution does not insure a satisfying reliability.
It is desirable to provide a new valve actuation mechanism in which, when a specific operation function of the engine must be activated, the activation piston can be reset to its first position in a more efficient and reliable way than in the prior art.
To this end, an aspect of the invention concerns a valve actuation mechanism for an internal combustion engine on an automotive vehicle, comprising rockers moved by a camshaft, each rocker being adapted to exert a valve opening force on at least a portion of a valve opening actuator of each cylinder, via an activation piston, housed in a bore of the rocker, and movable with respect to the rocker under action of a fluid pressure raise in a chamber fluidly connected to the bore, from a first position to a second position, in which a cam follower of the rocker reads at least one auxiliary valve lift sector of a cam of the camshaft so as to perform an engine operation function, each rocker comprising a check valve adapted to control the fluid pressure raise in said chamber. This valve actuation mechanism is characterized in that it comprises, for each rocker, a stopper fast with a housing of the engine and adapted to exert, on a member of the rocker, a force for opening a valve independent from the check valve, adapted to reduce fluid pressure in the chamber, when the piston has to be moved from its second position to its first position.
Thanks to an aspect of the invention, the actuation piston is allowed to retract back to its first position by releasing the control fluid pressure in the chamber thanks to a valve independent from the check valve, and by a mechanical part acting directly on said valve independently for each rocker. This improves the reliability of the valve actuation mechanism.
According to fluffier aspect for the invention which are advantageous but not compulsory, such a valve actuation mechanism may incorporate one or several, of the following features:                The valve adapted to release fluid pressure from the chamber is a discharge valve adapted to allow fluid flow from the chamber to the outside of the rocker, wherein the piston comprises        a first element housed in the bore and movable in translation with respect to the rocker,        and a valve member housed in a portion of the first element and movable in translation with respect to the first element along a longitudinal axis of the piston, whereas the discharge valve is formed by a cooperation between the first element and the valve member, and wherein the force of the stopper is exerted on the first element.        The valve member is movable with respect to the first element between a first position, corresponding to a in the closed position of the discharge valve, in which a planar annular surface of the valve member is kept in abutment against a stop of the first element, and a pin of the valve member closes a passageway between the chamber and the hollow portion outside of the rocker.        A traction spring exerts a force between the valve member and the first element, tending to keep the discharge valve in its closed position.        The force exerted by the stopper on the first element is superior to the force exerted by the traction sprung.        In the closed position of a discharge valve, a planar annular surface of the valve member is kept in abutment against a stop of the first element.        In the opened position of the discharge valve, the valve member is offset with respect to the first element so that fluid can circulate between the chamber and the outside of the rocker.        The valve member comprises a contact surface adapted to exert the valve opening force on the valve opening actuator.        The valve member comprises at least one bleed passage adapted to allow passage of fluid from the hollow portion of the first element to the outside of the piston.        The valve member is housed in a hollow portion of the first element.        The valve adapted to reduce fluid pressure in the chamber is a reset valve, adapted to allow fluid flow from the chamber to the outside of the rocker, housed in a portion of the rocker distinct from the actuation piston, and wherein the force of the stopper is exerted on the reset valve        The reset valve comprises a ball spring-biased against a seat formed by a surface of the rocker, extending around a bleed passage connecting the chamber to the outside of the rocker, by a compression spring, and wherein the ball cooperates with the pin.        The force exerted by the stopper on the pin is superior to a force exerted by the compression spring on the ball.        The force exerted by the stopper on the member is variable.        The stopper comprises a main spring adapted, when deformed, to exert a compression force on a pushrod which is in contact with the movable member.        It is an exhaust valve actuation mechanism.        The activation piston activates an exhaust gases recirculation function when it is in its second position.        The activation piston activates an engine brake function when it is in its second position.        It is an intake valve actuation mechanism.
The invention also concerns an automotive vehicle, such as a truck, comprising a valve actuation mechanism as mentioned here-above.

Valve actuation mechanism and automotive vehicle comprising such a valve actuation mechanism


A database is created for accounting purposes, which can be used to prepare financial statements according to various statutory accounting principles. According to one method, document data records are saved from posting documents to a document database. The document data records include a document header and a data part. The data part includes entries for at least two items each of which comprises a posting amount and an account assigned thereto. Calculation of totals from one or more posting amounts of the document data records are saved for the accounts assigned thereto. The totals are saved to totals entries of a totals table.

I. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to database systems and related methods. More particularly, the invention relates to computer-implemented systems and methods for creating a database for accounting purposes, such as for preparing financial statements according to various statutory accounting principles.
II. Background Information
Typically, company reports of a corporate group are based on business transactions, each of which are recorded in a document. For example, a business transaction may be an incoming supplier invoice or the withdrawal of goods from stores for production purposes. Large corporate groups incur thousands or hundreds of thousands of such business transactions each month. To facilitate the preparation of a company report within an acceptable time period, totals referred to as totals records are updated in addition to the documents for each account of an enterprise. The totals are saved to totals entries of a totals table and reflect the totals of posting amounts of a posting account, e.g., for a posting period. The individual business transactions are recorded (manually or automatically) via a document entering process, which may be centralized, and are saved as document data records to a document database. In this context, document data records are referred to as single item entries.
Today, many corporate groups must comply with a plurality of statutory accounting principles when preparing and publishing their annual financial statements. For example, a German group listed on a U.S. stock exchange must submit a financial statement under US-GAAP and/or IAS as well as under HGB. It is possible that further financial statements are necessary, for example for subsidiaries in Asian countries, according to local rules. In concrete terms, this means that a plurality of annual financial statements must be prepared and published at the same time. However, the annual financial statements are based on different statutory accounting principles. At the end of a fiscal year, balance-sheet items must, for example, be valued according to the strict lowest cost or market principle for a financial statement under HGB and according to the market price on the reporting date for a financial statement under US-GAAP.
For that reason, it is the task of the accounting department of a corporate group to prepare all data that is relevant to accounting according to different statutory accounting principles. To date, there have been the following fundamental software solutions to comply with these requirements:
Parallel Accounting
The user creates additional accounts (parallel accounts). In this case, accounting entries are made in a common account if they are identical for all statutory accounting principles or they are made in a specific account for each statutory accounting principle if they differ as to the statutory accounting principle used. For the purpose of the annual financial statement, both the common accounts and the accounts for the specific statutory accounting principle are valued for all statutory accounting principles.
As a consequence of this procedure, the number of all accounts to be managed may become very large and, thus, hard to cope with for the bookkeeper. This occurs when a relatively large number of accounting entries differ for various statutory accounting principles. If reporting requires more than two statutory accounting principles, this method is very complex and work-intensive.
Additional General Ledgers with Separate Data-Keeping
By way of example, the SAP R/3 Enterprise system provides an FI-SL (special ledger) application having the character of a toolbox. This application allows the customer to create his or her own general ledgers for additional reports according to statutory accounting principles in separate tables. Posting operations that are only relevant to one of these additional reports must then be entered and posted for the appropriate general ledger via a separate document entering process. As a consequence, this process creates general ledgers that are not directly integrated in central accounting and must, therefore, be matched to each other, this requiring a great amount of work.
According to the state of the art, a corporate group can prepare its financial statements only with the use of data processing systems if related efforts are to be justifiable. The accounting of an internationally active group requires entry and valuation of many millions of posting operations. The individual posting items are saved to databases. The data volume has to be kept as small as possible. Further, the option of an efficient check of individual posting items for auditing purposes must be provided for, and adjustment entries must be included in all group financial statements to be prepared according to the various statutory accounting principles. The matching of data for financial statements according to different statutory accounting principles is particularly work-intensive and represents a possible source of errors.
If an invoice, for whatever reason, is changed after it has already been entered, it must be ensured that this change is taken into consideration in all accounts, journals and general ledgers in which the invoice was entered according to the various statutory accounting principles. As a result, the architecture of an accounting database must meet high requirements to cope with millions of posting operations.
Therefore, a technical solution is needed for preparing financial statements with less effort according to different statutory accounting principles on the basis of a database structure. In addition, various financial statements should have access to matching data.

Systems and methods for creating a database for accounting purposes


Corrosion resistant electrodes are formed of brass that has been doped with phosphorus. The electrodes are formed of brass that contains about 100 ppm to about 1,000 ppm of phosphorus, and the brass has no visible microporosity at a magnification of 400×. The brass may be cartridge brass that contains about 30 weight percent of zinc and the balance copper. Corrosion resistant electrodes also may be formed by subjecting brass to severe plastic deformation to increase the resistance of the brass to plasma corrosion. The corrosion resistant electrodes can be used in laser systems to generate laser light.

Pulsed laser light is used in a number of applications, e.g., in integrated circuit photolithography to expose photoresist on wafers by passing the light through a mask. This pulsed laser light can be generated using a gas discharge medium in a chamber by providing gas discharge between a pair of electrodes at very high voltages in very short electrical discharges in the gas discharge medium.
If the gas discharge medium contains fluorine, e.g., in an ArF laser system, then a fluorine-containing plasma will be generated between the pair of electrodes during operation. Fluorine-containing plasmas are highly corrosive to metals. Consequently, the electrodes will corrode over time during operation of the chamber. If the corrosion product either vaporizes or flakes off of the electrodes, then the situation is tolerable because steps can be taken to deal with the problems caused by this type of corrosion of the electrodes. What sometimes happens, however, is that localized buildups of the metal fluoride corrosion product form at various spots over the surfaces of the electrodes, predominantly on the surface of the anode because fluorine tends to follow the flow of current from the cathode to the anode. This localized buildup of the metal fluoride corrosion product is sometimes referred to as the formation of a "reef layer" or "reefing" due to the similarity in appearance of the corrosion spots to coral reefs. The spots at which reefing occurs on an electrode stick up into the plasma more so than the rest of the surface of the electrode. As such, reefing can cause arcing to occur in the plasma.
Arcing in the plasma is undesirable because it robs the laser chamber of energy because energy goes into the arc discharge rather than into to the laser cavity. Thus, when a significant amount of arcing occurs in the plasma, the electrodes must be replaced to keep the laser chamber operating efficiently. As such, reefing shortens the lifetime during which electrodes can be used effectively in a laser chamber.
It is in this context that embodiments arise.

Corrosion resistant electrodes for laser chambers


The invention relates to a process for the preparation of ionic liquids of general formula (cation)(R′—O—SO3). The process includes the step of treating the compound of formula (cation)(R—O—SO3) with an alcohol, or mixture of different alcohols, of the formula R′—OH optionally in the presence of a catalyst to form the desired ionic liquid and the by-product R—OH, which is optionally removed during the reaction or after completion of the reaction. The compound of formula (cation)(R—O—SO3) can be prepared by alkylating a tertiary or aromatic amine with a dialkylsulfate.

Ionic liquids with alkyl sulfates and functionalized alkyl sulfates are of considerable technical importance as halogen-free solvents, extractants and heat transfer media. While ionic liquids with methyl and ethyl sulfate anions are known to be readily available by alkylating an imidazole, pyridine, amine or phosphane with dimethyl sulfate or diethyl sulfate (P. Wasserscheid, C. Hilgers, EP-A-1 182 196), the preparation of all other representatives has been very complicated by the known method and frequently results in more or less contaminated products.
In the preparation of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium octyl sulfate, according to the prior art, the chloride salt of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium cation is reacted with sodium octyl sulfate with precipitation or extraction of sodium chloride (P. Wasserscheid, R. van Hal, A. Bösmann, Green Chem. 2002, 4(4), 400-404). In principle, this metathesis reaction is also suitable for the preparation of other ionic liquids with alkyl sulfate and functionalized alkyl sulfate ions, though the separation of the alkali metal halide requires tedious extraction and filtration steps. Further, even when working with absolute solvents, contaminants containing halide and/or alkali metal ions are found in the ionic liquid product.

Process for the preparation of ionic liquids with alkyl sulfate and functionalized alkyl sulfate anions