An implantable medical device electrically stimulates the heart to beat and senses electrical activity in the heart. The medical device generally includes a processor, a plurality of electrodes, and a sense amplifier. The medical device is capable of performing a variety of diagnostic tests, such as a sensing test in which a suitable sensitivity setting is computed for the sense amplifier. An external programmer is also provided to initiate the diagnostic tests. The programmer transmits a start signal to the implantable medical device and the medical device's processor initiates the diagnostic test specified by the programmer via the start signal. The implantable device is capable of completing the diagnostic test without further communication from the programmer or may initiate communication with the programmer during a refractory period in which signals from the programmer will not interfere with the diagnostic test. In the latter case, the programmer responds before the refractory period ends.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cardiac stimulating devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved protocol for a diagnostic test performed by an implantable medical device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the normal human heart, illustrated in FIG. 1, the sinus (or sinoatrial (SA)) node, which is generally located near the junction of the superior vena cava and the right atrium, constitutes the primary natural pacemaker by which rhythmic electrical excitation is developed. The cardiac impulse arising from the sinus node is transmitted to the two atrial chambers (or atria) at the right and left sides of the heart. In response to excitation from the SA node, the atria contract, pumping blood from those chambers into the respective ventricular chambers (or ventricles). The impulse is transmitted to the ventricles through the atrioventricular (AV) node, and via a conduction system comprising the bundle of His, or common bundle, the right and left bundle branches, and the Purkinje fibers. The transmitted impulse causes the ventricles to contract, the right ventricle pumping unoxygenated blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs, and the left ventricle pumping oxygenated (arterial) blood through the aorta and the lesser arteries to the body. The right atrium receives the unoxygenated (venous) blood. The blood oxygenated by the lungs is carried via the pulmonary veins to the left atrium.
This action is repeated in a rhythmic cardiac cycle in which the atrial and ventricular chambers alternately contract and pump, then relax and fill. Four one-way valves, between the atrial and ventricular chambers in the right and left sides of the heart (the tricuspid valve and the mitral valve, respectively), and at the exits of the right and left ventricles (the pulmonic and aortic valves, respectively, not shown) prevent backflow of the blood as it moves through the heart and the circulatory system.
The sinus node is spontaneously rhythmic, and the cardiac rhythm it generates is termed normal sinus rhythm ("NSR") or simply sinus rhythm. This capacity to produce spontaneous cardiac impulses is called "rhythmicity", or "automaticity." Certain other cardiac tissues possess rhythmicity and hence constitute secondary natural pacemakers, but the sinus node is the primary natural pacemaker because it spontaneously generates electrical pulses at a faster rate. The secondary pacemakers tend to be inhibited by the more rapid rate at which impulses are generated by the sinus node.
Disruption of the natural pacemaking and propagation system as a result of aging or disease is commonly treated by artificial cardiac pacing, by which rhythmic electrical discharges are applied to the heart at a desired rate from an artificial pacemaker. An artificial pacemaker (or "pacer" as it is commonly labeled) is a medical device which delivers electrical pulses to an electrode that is implanted adjacent to or in the patient's heart in order to stimulate the heart's SA node so that it will contract and beat at a desired rate. If the body's natural pacemaker performs correctly, blood is oxygenated in the lungs and efficiently pumped by the heart to the body's oxygen-demanding tissues. However, when the body's natural pacemaker malfunctions, an implantable pacemaker often is required to properly stimulate the heart. An in-depth explanation of certain cardiac physiology and pacemaker theory of operation is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,006.
Pacers today are typically designed to operate using one of three different response methodologies, namely, asynchronous (fixed rate), inhibited (stimulus generated in the absence of a specified cardiac activity), or triggered (stimulus delivered in response to a specified parameter). Broadly speaking, the inhibited pacemakers are "demand" type pacemakers, in which a pacing pulse is only generated when demanded by the heart. To determine when the heart requires pacing, demand pacemakers may sense various conditions such as heart rate, physical exertion, temperature, and the like. Moreover, pacemaker implementations range from the simple fixed rate, single chamber device that provides pacing with no sensing function, to highly complex models that provide fully automatic dual chamber pacing and sensing functions. The latter type of pacemaker is the latest in a progression toward physiologic pacing, that is, the mode of artificial pacing that most closely simulates natural pacing.
Because of the large number of options available for pacer operation, an industry convention has been established whereby specific pacer configurations are identified according to a code comprising three or four letters. A fifth coded position may be used to describe a pacemaker's ability to respond to abnormally high heart rates (referred to as tachycardia). Because most pacemakers do not provide any antitachycardia functions, the fifth coded position is not used in most commonly used pacemaker types. Thus, most common configuration codes comprise either three or four letters, as shown in Table I below. For this reason and for simplicity's sake, the fifth code position is omitted from the following table. Each code can be interpreted as follows:
TABLE I ______________________________________ Code 1 2 3 4 position Function chamber chamber response to programmability, Identified paced sensed sensing rate modulation Options 0--none 0--none 0--none 0--none Available A--atrium A--atrium T-- P--programmable V--ventricle V--ventricle triggered M--multi- D--dual D--dual I--inhibited programmable (A + V) (A + V) D--dual C-- (T + I) communicating R--rate modulating ______________________________________
For example, a DDD pacer paces both chambers (atrium or ventricle) and senses in both either chambers. Thus, a pacer in DDD mode, may pace the ventricle in response to electrical activity sensed in the atrium. A VVI pacer paces and senses in the ventricle, but its pacing can be inhibited by spontaneous electrical activation of the ventricle (i.e., the ventricle paces itself naturally). In VVIR mode, ventricular pacing is similarly inhibited upon determining that the ventricle is naturally contracting. With the VVIR mode, the pacer's pacing rate, however, in the absence of naturally occurring pacing, is modulated by the physical activity level of the patient. Pacers commonly include accelerometers to provide an indication of the patient's level of physical activity.
As illustrated in the table above, it may be desired to sense in one cardiac chamber (i.e., detect electrical activity representative of contraction of the chamber and referred to as a "sensed event") and, in response, pace (referred to as a "paced event") in the same or a different chamber. In general, most pacemakers today incorporate a sensing function to detect electrical activity at the site of one or more electrodes. The sensing circuit in the pacemaker (often referred to as the "sense" circuit) receives the electrical signals from the electrodes and determines when a physiologically significant event as occurred. Accordingly, if the heart's natural pacemaker is able to stimulate the heart to beat properly, the pacemaker's sense circuit detects the naturally occurring electrical impulses and determines that the heart does not require artificial stimulation.
Most pacemaker sense circuits incorporate an amplifier that amplifies the electrical signals received from the electrodes. Sense circuits typically also incorporate, or are coupled to, a comparator circuit that compares the magnitude of the amplified signal from an electrode to a reference signal. When the amplified signal from the electrode exceeds the amplitude of the reference signal, the pacemaker determines that a physiologically significant event has occurred. In this context, the physiologically significant events are cardiac events. It is important for a pacemaker to accurately determine when a cardiac event has occurred. This means that the pacemaker should detect a true cardiac event, but not respond to non-cardiac signals.
The sense circuit's ability to accurately determine when a cardiac significant event has occurred may be compromised because the electrodes are sensitive to various sources of electrical signals. For example, muscle tissue generates electrical signals referred to as electromyogram ("EMG") signals. These EMG signals may be picked up by the pacemaker electrodes and amplified along with the naturally occurring cardiac signals. By way of further example, electromagnetic interference (EMI) signals generated outside the patient's body may also be detected by the pacemaker's electrodes.
For a sense circuit to accurately respond to cardiac signals, the circuit's sensitivity must be set at an optimal level. That is, the sensitivity must be set high enough so that all cardiac events will be detected, but not so high that other non-cardiac related events are detected and falsely determined to have a cardiac origin. Thus, upon implantation into the body, the surgeon monitors the pacemaker and sets its sensitivity appropriately.
A physician may also monitor the pacemaker during post-operative examinations. During such an examination, the physician may determine if the sensitivity of the pacemaker's sense circuit is set correctly, or needs to be reset. Most pacemakers are capable of performing a sensitivity test that is initiated by an external programmer controlled by the physician. The programmer includes a "wand" that is positioned over the site on the chest in which the pacemaker is implanted. Using any one of a variety of wireless communication techniques, commands and data can be transmitted between the implanted pacemaker and the wand. Using the external programmer, the physician can command the pacemaker to begin a sensing test. During the test, the pacemaker's sense circuit monitors the heart's naturally occurring electrical rhythm and generates data based on the amplitude of the heart's signal relative to the internal reference signal. The programmer periodically transmits a command to the pacemaker directing the pacemaker to transmit the data to the programmer. The programmer analyses this data to compute an incremental change to the sensitivity setting and transmits the newly computed sensitivity setting back to the pacemaker. The programmer also analyzes the data provided by the pacemaker to determine if the previously transmitted sensitivity setting was optimal. Once the external programmer determines that the sensitivity of the pacemaker is at an optimal setting, the programmer terminates the sensing test. The external programmer includes sufficient data storage and processing capability to receive the sensing test data and calculate new sensitivity settings.
Unfortunately, the signals that the external programmer repeatedly transmits during the sensing test may interfere with the accuracy of the test itself. The implanted pacemaker's electrodes are sensitive to any electrical signal in the vicinity of the electrode, and thus the electrodes may pick up the command and sensitivity signals that are being transmitted to the pacemaker by the programmer. The programmer's signals combine with the heart's naturally occurring cardiac signals and are provided to the sense circuit via the electrodes. All signals impinging on the electrodes, including any control and data signals generated by the external programmer are processed by the pacemaker (and thus the programmer) during the sensing test. The programmer will compute new sensitivity values based on data that has been distorted by the programmer itself. Thus, if programmer-initiated signals are processed by the pacemaker during the sensing test, the accuracy of the test itself is detrimentally effected. In other words, the very device that is employed to initiate and control the sensing test (i.e., the external programmer) introduces errors into the test.
For these reasons, an implantable medical device is needed that can perform a sensing test without introducing errors into the test from control signals transmitted from the programmer to the pacemaker during the test. Despite the advantages such a device would provide, no such device is known to exist today.

Diagnostic test protocol in an implantable medical device


Disclosed is a rotary USB interface device, which includes: a USB module (110), a PCB, a rotary shaft (130) connecting the USB module and the PCB, a conductive layer (140) connected with the rotary shaft, and an insulation layer (150) provided between a grounding layer (160) on the PCB and the conductive layer. The USB module contains a first ground wire, which forms a first grounding path of the USB module, together with the rotary shaft and the conductive layer. The grounding layer on the PCB forms a second grounding path. The first grounding path is separated from the second grounding path by virtue of the insulation layer, i.e. the grounding path of the PCB is separated from the grounding path of the USB module. Thus, an open circuit voltage is formed, the voltage difference is maintained stable, the overall device obtains a stable grounding signal, the grounding performance is enhanced and the transmitting/receiving performance of the device is improved.

During designing of a rotary USB interface data card, one of the essential factors for determining of low frequency indices of OTA (Over The Air) is to ensure good performance of the rotary USB interface. The connection ability of a wireless device to a network and the effect of a wireless device user on radiation and reception performance can be verified by an OTA test, and the OTA indices contain TRP (Total Radiated Power) and TIS (Total Isotropic Sensitivity). TRP evaluates radiation performance of the wireless device, and a greater TRP value indicates a better radiation performance of the wireless device. TIS evaluates reception performance of the wireless device, and a smaller TIS value indicates a better reception performance of the wireless device.
FIG. 1 is a 3D exterior view of a conventional rotary USB interface data card, in which the USB part can rotate about the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) part.
FIG. 2 is a top view of a rotary USB interface data card with a conventional grounding manner. FIG. 3 is a side view of the data card shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a 3D schematic view of the data card shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, including a partial enlarged view of a rotary part. With reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, a grounding path of the data card mainly includes a ground wire 20 in the USB 10, a rotary shaft 30 in contact with the ground wire 20, a spring tab or presser tab 40 in contact with the rotary shaft 30, a ground wire 50 in a FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) board or a cable, and an exposed copper covering grounding region 60 on a PCB 70 in connection with the spring tab or presser tab 40.
Generally speaking, the width of the ground wire 20 of the USB 10 and the width of the ground wire 50 in the FPC or cable are controlled by the size of the overall structure of the data card, and the rotary shaft 30, the spring tab or presser tab 40 and the copper covering grounding region 60 are connected with each other in generally a point contact manner, which lower the grounding performance of the data card. When OTA test is performed on the rotary USB interface data card in the relevant art, it is found that its TRP/TIS indices are relatively poor in the case of 800 MHz and 900 MHz. It can be seen that the grounding performance of the rotary USB interface data card directly affects the OTA low frequency indices of the antenna 80.
To enhance the grounding performance of the rotary USB interface data card, the structure of the rotary USB interface data card may be improved. FIG. 5 is a top view of an improved rotary USB interface data card in the relevant art, FIG. 6 is a side view of the data card shown in FIG. 5.
From the structure of the data card shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 where the grounding manner is improved, it can be seen that:
The improved rotary USB interface data card shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 introduces a shield cover 90, a conductive foam 102, a data card housing 103, and a conductive paint layer 101 sprayed on part of the data card housing 103, besides those components shown in FIG. 2. There exists in the improved data card a large connection area between the spring tab or presser tab 40 and the shield cover 90 via the conductive paint layer 101 and the conductive foam 102, forming a grounding loop, which somewhat improves the grounding effect of the data card itself, but the improved effect is not enough for the desired grounding performance of the data card. The OTA indices of the data card remain relatively poor and also the transmitting/receiving performance is not satisfactory. Furthermore, there still exists some defects in such a data card structure: on the one hand, the use of the conductive paint layer and the conductive foam increase the production cost of the data card; on the other hand, the introduction of the extra components results in complication of production process of the data card.

Rotary USB interface device with capacitive coupling


Fibrin binding peptides disclosed include (a) peptides having the amino acid sequence of a human Blood Coagulation Factor XIIIA fragment (i.e., NKLIVRRGQSFYVQIDFSRPYDPRRDLFRVEYVIGRYPQENKGTYIPVPIVSELQSGKWGAKIVMREDR SVRLSIQSSPKCIVGKFRMYVAVWTPYGVLRTSRNPETDTYILFNPWCEDDAVYLDNEKEREEYVLNDIGVIFY GEVNDIKTRSWSYGQF-R', where R, is --CONH.sub.2 or --NH.sub.2); (b) peptides which are fragments of the foregoing Factor XIIIA fragment and which retain the capability thereof of binding to fibrin; and (c) peptides which bind to fibrin, which have the amino acid sequence of any of the foregoing peptides, and which have additional amino acid residues attached to the N-terminal end and/or the C-terminal end thereof.. The peptides are useful for localizing blood clots in vivo, inhibiting fibrin stabilization, and promoting thrombolysis.

Plasma Factor XIII is an essential molecule for normal hemostasis in man. When deficiencies of Factor XIII occur or inhibitors are present they are always associated with severe, life-threatening, bleeding. This provides strong evidence that Factor XIII plays a vital role in maintaining the stability of blood clots, or the "hemostatic plug."
Plasma Factor XIII is composed of two a-chains and two b-chains which are noncovalently associated. See generally J. McDonagh, in Hemostasis and Thrombosis, 289-300 (R. Colman et al. eds. 1987). Conversion of plasma Factor XIII to its active transglutaminase form, Factor XIIIa, occurs in two steps. In the first step, thrombin cleaves a 4,000 dalton peptide from each of the a-chains with the formation of an inactive intermediate (a.sub.2 b.sub.2). T. Takagi and R. Doolittle, 13 Biochemistry 750 (1974). In the next step, calcium causes the b-chains to dissociate and the active site cysteines on the thrombin-cleaved a-chains are exposed, producing Factor XIIIa (a.sub.2). C. Curtis et al., 13 Biochemistry 13774 (1974).
During blood clotting, Factor XIIIa catalyzes the formation of intermolecular .tau.-glutamyl-.epsilon.-lysyl bonds between .tau.-chains and .epsilon.-chains of polymerizing fibrin monomers. Covalently modified fibrin is mechanically stronger and more resistant to lysis by plasmin when compared to noncrosslinked fibrin. See L. Shen and L. Lorand, 71 J. Clin. Invest. 1336 (1983); Y. Sakata and N. Aoki, 65 J. Clin. Invest. 290 (1980).
The complete amino acid sequence of the a-chain was published based on protein sequence analysis and analysis of the cDNA sequence. See N. Takahashi et al., 83 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 8019 (1986); U. Grundman et al., 83 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 8024 (1986); A. Ichinose et al., 25 Biochemistry 6900 (1986). The entire intron and exon structure of the Factor XIII a-chain gene was recently published. A. Ichinose et al., 85 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 5829 (1988). While little is known about how the structure of this protein relates to its function, we have found that cleavage of the activation and inactivation peptides releases a monomeric 51 kD fibrin binding peptide. See C. Greenberg et al., 256 Biochem. J. 1013 (1988).
The a-chain of plasma Factor XIII has 9 free sulfhydryl groups, one of which is in the active site of Factor XIIIa, and no disulfide bonds. The active site has sequence homology to calpains and guinea pig liver transglutaminase. See K. Ikura et al., 27 Biochemistry 2898. Tissue transglutaminases were responsible for the earliest clotting mechanisms. R. Myherman and J. Bruner-Lorand, 19 Meth. Enzymol. 765 (1970). Guinea pig liver transglutaminase is one of the more extensively studied tissue transglutaminases. Guinea pig liver transglutaminase was recently cloned and was found to share several homologous domains with Factor XIII a-chains. See K. Ikura et al., 27 Biochemistry 2898 (1988). We found that the two proteins shared homologous fibrin binding domains. See K. Achyuthan et al., J. Biol. Chem. 263, 14296 (1988). We detected six homologous regions when we compared the sequence of Factor XIII and the guinea pig liver transglutaminase See K. Achyuthan et al., in Fibrinogen 3: Biochemistry, Biological Functions, Gene Regulation and Expression, 165-69 (M. Mosesson et al. eds. 1988).
The present invention is based on our ongoing research into the structure and function of Factor XIIIa.


A boot for attachment on both of the opposite ends of a staple remover to cover the proximal end portions of the upper and lower opposing jaw members aft of the hinge point and/or the teeth on the distal end portions of the jaw members. The boot includes a resilient, cushioned base having an outer main face defining a pressure application surface and an opposite inner face structured to engage the proximal ends of the jaw members. A collar having an elastic memory extends from the base, in surrounding relation to the inner face, to define an open ended cavity sized and configured for snug fitted receipt of the proximal and/or distal end zones of the jaw members therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective cover for attachment to a staple remover to cover either the hinged end zones of the opposing jaw members in order to further provide a comfortable means for exerting pressure on the proximal end of the staple remover or the distal teeth to protect the user from injury when the staple remover is not being used.
2. Description of the Related Art
Staple removers typically include a pair of opposing jaw members each including distal ends with inwardly directed opposing teeth and proximal end zones pivotally attached at a common hinge. Handle means are provided on each of the jaw members for squeezing the jaw members closed so that the opposing teeth converge towards each other.
When removing a staple that is deeply embedded within an object, wherein the crown of the staple is tight against the surface of the object, it is necessary to press the outer bearing surfaces of the teeth of the staple remover against the surface of the object prior to squeezing the jaws closed in order to assure that the teeth slide between the crown and the object's surface. In this instance, there are two separate forces being applied to the staple remover by the user's hands. Specifically, the user must exert a force against the proximal end of the staple remover, so that the outer bearing surfaces are pressed against the object's surface. Simultaneously, the user must apply a squeezing force on the opposite jaw members to close the opposing teeth.
The various staple removers known in the related art fail to provide a comfortable means on the proximal end for exerting a force thereon with one's hands or fingers. In fact, most staple removers expose the metal edges of the jaw members at the proximal end. While these edges are typically rounded, they still tend to cut into the skin on the fingers and palms when pressing the staple remover against an object to remove a tightly embedded staple therefrom. Furthermore, the user's skin can become pinched between the overlapping end zones of the jaw members which move relative to one another as the jaw members are squeezed closed.
Moreover, when staple removers are not in use, their jaws remain open, exposing the sharp pointed ends of the teeth. This presents a hazard to many users of such devices, especially when reaching blindly into a desk drawer cluttered with objects, wherein it is necessary to feel around and grasp various items to identify any particular one needed at that time. This typically results in punctured finger tips when a person's fingers are inadvertently pressed against the points of the staple remover teeth.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the related art for a protective cover device in the form of a boot adapted for fitted attachment on both the proximal end zone of virtually any staple remover of the type described above, wherein the boot includes a resilient, cushioned base which seats against the proximal end of the staple remover to provide a comfortable pressure application surface.


A focus detecting apparatus capable of changing a focus detecting region in a photographing image field by the use of a set of focus detecting optical systems and a pair of sensor light receiving portions is provided with a focus detecting optical system for setting the focus detecting region on the predetermined focal plane of a phototaking optical system, directing a light beam from an object passed through the focus detecting region to photoelectric converting means fixed at a predetermined location, and forming an object image, region changing means provided in the optical path from the focus detecting region to the photoelectric converting means for changing the focus detecting region on the predetermined focal plane, and calculating means for calculating the focus adjusted state of the phototaking optical system in the focus detecting region after changed by the region changing means, on the basis of the output signal of the photoelectric converting means.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a focus detecting apparatus in which a focus detecting region can be changed.
2. Related Background Art
A focus detecting apparatus having a plurality of focus detecting regions in a photographing image field is known (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 63-11906).
In a focus detecting apparatus of this kind, a plurality of focus detecting regions are set in a range corresponding to a photographing image field on a predetermined focal plane, and a plurality of focus detecting optical systems and a plurality of pairs of sensor light receiving portions are provided corresponding to the respective focus detecting regions.
By the focus detecting optical system corresponding to each focus detecting region, a light beam from an object passed through each resion is directed to the pair of sensor light receiving portions corresponding to each region, and on the basis of the output signals of those sensor light receiving portions, the focus adjusted state of a phototaking optical system in each focus detecting region is detected.
However, the above-described focus detecting apparatus suffers from the following problems:
(1) A focus detecting module comprising a plurality of focus detecting optical systems and a plurality of pairs of sensor light receiving portions must be provided correspondingly to a plurality of focus detecting regions and therefore, the cost of the apparatus becomes high.
(2) Since installation space for the large focus detecting module must be secured, the downsizing of the apparatus is difficult.
(3) The plurality of focus detecting regions are fixed in their positional relation with the corresponding focus detecting optical systems and the pairs of sensor light receiving portions and the positions of the focus detecting regions cannot be arbitrarily changed.
(4) It is necessary to dispose the focus detecting regions in suitably spaced apart relationship with one another so that the plurality of focus detecting optical systems and the plurality of pairs of sensor light receiving portions may not interfere with one another, and the focus detecting regions cannot be set at arbitrary positions.
In order to solve such problems, in a focus detecting apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2-217811, a light beam passed through a phototaking optical system is reflected by a sub-mirror in a camera body and is directed to a focus detecting module provided at the bottom of the camera body and also, the angle of the sub-mirror is varied to thereby change the focus detecting region.
Again in this focus detecting apparatus, however, the above-noted problems are not completely solved, but there are the following problems:
(1) The position and angle, in the direction of the optical axis, of the focus detecting module with respect to a predetermined focal plane deviate due to a change in the angle of the sub-mirror and therefore, focus detection accuracy is reduced.
(2) In the method of changing the angle of the sub-mirror, the focus detecting region can be changed only in the longitudinal direction of the photographing image field.
(3) When the focus detecting region is changed by changing the angle of the sub-mirror, it is necessary to set the angle of the sub-mirror within such a range that the positional relation of the focus detecting module to the predetermined focal plane does not greatly deviate, and the position of the focus detecting region cannot be greatly changed.
Now, it is conceivable to move a focus detecting module itself comprising a focus detecting optical system and a pair of sensor light receiving portions in a plane parallel to a predetermined focal plane to thereby change the focus detecting region.
However, this method would suffer from the following problems:
(1) It is difficult to move the focus detecting module exactly in a plane parallel to the predetermined focal plane and if the position deviates in the direction of the optical axis of a phototaking optical system, the amount of the deviation will provide a focus detection error.
(2) It is necessary to secure a space in which the entire focus detecting module is moved and moreover, a driving mechanism must be provided and thus, the apparatus becomes bulky.
(3) Each time the sensor light receiving portions are moved with the movement of the focus detecting module, stress is applied to a wiring material connected to the sensor light receiving portions and therefore, the connecting portions may come off or the wiring material may be cut.

Focus detecting apparatus with gaze detection and focus area changing


A nonvolatile memory device includes an insulating pattern extending in a first direction, a conductive pattern on the insulating pattern, and an electrode structure extending in the first direction. The electrode structure is adjacent the insulating pattern and conductive pattern, and includes an alternating pattern of gate electrodes and interlayer insulating films. A protection film adjacent a side surface of the electrode structure has a shorter length in the first direction than a length of the electrode structure.

1. Field
One or more embodiments herein relate to a nonvolatile memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor memory devices are storage devices implemented using a semiconductor material such as silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and indium phosphide (InP).
Memory devices of this type may be classified as volatile or nonvolatile. In a volatile memory device, data is lost when power is turned off. Examples of this kind of device include an SRAM (Static RAM), a DRAM (Dynamic RAM), and a SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM). In a nonvolatile memory device, data is retained when power is turned off. Examples of this kind of device include a flash memory device, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable ROM), an EPROM (Electrically Programmable ROM), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM), and a resistive memory (for example, a PRAM (Phase-change RAM), a FRAM (Ferroelectric RAM), and a RRAM (Resistive RAM)).
In order to satisfy performance and price requirements, many consumer products use nonvolatile memory devices. However, these devices have drawbacks. For example, conventional nonvolatile devices have a two-dimensional or plane-type configuration which is limited in terms of storage capacity and, more particularly, the number of memory cells that exist per unit area. To overcome these drawbacks, three-dimensional memory devices have been proposed. However, the initial designs of these devices have proven to be inadequate in a number of respects.

Nonvolatile memory device and method for fabricating the same


A suture anchor inserter assembly includes a manually engageable handle and a shaft which extends axially outward from the handle. The shaft includes an inner member which is fixedly connected with the handle and an outer member which is retractable into the handle. An anchor is received in a chamber formed at the outer end of the shaft. A suture extends through a passage in the shaft, a passage in the handle and along an outer side of the shaft. The suture is tensioned to press the anchor into the chamber in the handle. A retainer assembly is manually operable to release the outer member for axial movement relative to the inner member. The handle advantageously has a triangular cross-sectional configuration.

The present invention relates to an improved suture anchor inserter assembly and method of using the suture anchor inserter assembly to position a suture anchor in either soft or hard body tissue.
Surgeons utilize suture anchor inserter assemblies to position suture anchors in either soft body tissue or hard body tissue. Suture anchor inserter assemblies for positioning suture anchors in soft or hard body tissue are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,403,348 and 5,464,426. During the positioning of a suture anchor relative to body tissue, it is important that the suture anchor inserter assembly be constructed in such a manner as to facilitate accurate positioning of the suture anchor. Once the suture anchor has been accurately positioned relative to the body tissue, the suture anchor inserter assembly should be easily utilized to move the suture anchor into the body tissue.

Suture anchor inserter assembly and method


A method for detecting the quality of a semiconductor device using a static current that flows in a state wherein internal elements are fixed, the semiconductor device has internal elements, such as MISFETs and complementary MISFETs in particular. By using a pattern group that controls the state of nodes of the internal elements or ON/OFF and other states of MISFETs that comprise the internal elements, as a test pattern group used for this inspection, faults involving long range reliability in addition to degenerate faults and those faults detected using conventional fault simulation may be detected. In the inspection method based on static current, observability of faults at output terminals need not be taken into consideration, so that the number of patterns in the test pattern group used for inspection may be less and may be easily created.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for inspecting the quality of a semiconductor device which has circuits containing MISFETs and functional cells. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with inspecting semiconductor device quality based on measurement of static current in the semiconductor device, and a method for producing a semiconductor device inspected by the method of the present invention.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lately, as semiconductor devices have become highly integrated and have a high degree of functionality, it has become very difficult to carry out tests for determining the quality of the semiconductor devices. For example, while defects on circuits may be relatively easily detected on a printed board in which the circuits are highly integrated since it is possible to carry out a test using endpoints such as individual ICs and resistors, in addition to I/O terminals, to confirm function, the inside of a semiconductor device like an LSI (large scale integration) circuit, which is highly integrated, is wholly a "black box" and the internal operation of an LSI circuit can only be observed through external terminals. However, the function or operation of such circuits still need to be confirmed and it needs to be determined whether they are good or bad, since equipment having a defective LSI circuit will not perform in accordance with its intended design function. Accordingly, it has become an important issue not only for users but also for circuit designers and semiconductor device producers, as to how to accurately inspect a single LSI circuit.
In order to confirm that such a semiconductor device is accurately designed and is produced without defects, the circuit designer creates function test patterns using logical simulations. The function test patterns do not always have a high fault-detection rate, so the designer has to devise various test circuit structures or add test patterns. It is possible to create test patterns that can inspect all combinations of inputs and all internal states to confirm the function of an LSI circuit. However, given a device with n inputs and m internal registers, 2.sup.n+m test patterns are required to inspect the device based on the aforementioned method. Therefore, it requires an enormous number of test patterns even for a device only having 10 inputs and 10 internal registers.
Experience has shown that the cost of creating test patterns having a high fault-detection rate is proportional to from the square to the cube of the number of gates. Furthermore, it is not easy to create test patterns having a high fault-detection rate for a highly functional and large integrated scale type of semiconductor device. To this end, several easy-to-test designs in which testing is taken into consideration during the designing stage have been proposed, and semiconductor devices are being designed based on these easy-to-test designs.
Problems in facilitating the tests are roughly divided into two categories: controllability and observability. Controllability relates to how gates within the circuit can be driven during the inspection process, where it is desirable to be able to turn all of the gates ON/OFF in order to detect an abnormality in the circuit. Observability relates to how to observe the abnormality in the operation of the gates. That is, it means that a fault in the gates cannot be detected as a fault unless it is transmitted to an observation point. In order to accurately carry out inspection of the semiconductor device, test patterns and circuit design that satisfy both controllability and observability are necessary.
One of the methods adopted for highly integrated semiconductor devices among such settings for facilitating testing is a scan-pass method as shown in FIG. 26. This method allows division of circuits structured within a semiconductor device into several combinational circuits C1, C2, and C3 by separating them from normal connections during inspection. The combination circuits C1, C2, and C3 are then driven and inspected one by one. Although this method requires many flip-flops F.sub.l to F.sub.m for dividing and inspecting the circuits, the controllability and observability of the test patterns may be enhanced since the control and observation points are increased in response to the added number of flip-flops, F.sub.l to F.sub.m, in addition to j inputs I.sub.l to I.sub.j and n outputs O.sub.l to O.sub.n. Furthermore, a test pattern group used for inspecting the semiconductor device for which such a design technique has been adopted, is a set of patterns, that allow observation of a fault, selected from a test pattern group automatically created and selected based on an algorithm D and a random number method through fault simulations, to enhance the fault detection rate.
To increase the number of observation points, a cross-check method that connects the outputs of all gates to terminals for testing has also been proposed. The use of this method allows an improved fault-detection rate, however, it has the disadvantage that the number of gates, and the area of the semiconductor device, are increased due to additional circuits like flip-flops and terminals. While miniaturization of semiconductor devices is being promoted by highly integrating and providing a high degree of functionality to semiconductor devices, the circuits necessary for inspecting those devices are being increased and the area occupied by the additional circuits is also being increased within the device.
There is also another disadvantage in that the production cost of the semiconductor device is increased by installing such additional circuits. There is still another disadvantage in that operation of the device cannot be confirmed by an inspection carried out under a state different from a state of the circuit actually used, since the inspection is carried out using additional circuits.
Accordingly, in light of the aforementioned disadvantages, an object of the present invention is to realize a method and a system that allow effective inspection of a fault on circuits formed on the semiconductor device in a relatively short time. It is a further object of the present invention to suppress the increase in area of the semiconductor device due to additional circuits and to allow inspection of the semiconductor device in real operation.

Method for inspecting semiconductor devices


A system for registration of color separation images on a photoconductor belt in an imaging system operates to detect a position of the photoconductor belt using an opening which may be scribed through the belt opaque layer. The registration system detects the position with the same laser scanner used for forming latent images on the photoconductor belt. The registration system includes a belt steering control system that steers the photoconductor belt based on the detected position to reduce deviation of the belt from a continuous transport path. The registration system also may include a scan control system that, based on the detected position, controls the modulation of laser beams scanned to form latent images on the photoconductor belt. By controlling belt steering and laser beam scanning, the registration system maintains the image quality of a final multi-color image upon transfer of registered color separation images to an output substrate.

In a multi-color electrophotographic imaging system, latent images are formed in an imaging region of a moving photoconductor. Each of the latent images is representative of one of a plurality of different color separation images. The color separation images together define an overall multi-color image. The color separation images may define, for example, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black components that, upon subtractive combination on output media, produce a visible representation of the multi-color image. Prior to an imaging cycle, a uniform charge is applied to the surface of the photoconductor. Each of the latent images is formed by scanning a modulated laser beam across the moving photoconductor to selectively discharge the photoconductor in an image-wise pattern. Appropriately colored developers are applied to the photoconductor after each latent image is formed to develop the latent images. The resulting color separation images ultimately are transferred to the output media to form the multi-color image.
In some electrophotographic imaging systems, the latent images are formed and developed on top of one another in a common imaging region of the photoconductor. The latent images can be formed and developed in multiple passes of the photoconductor around a continuous transport path. Alternatively, the latent images can be formed and developed in a single pass of the photoconductor around the continuous transport path. A single-pass system enables multi-color images to be assembled at extremely high speeds. An example of an electrophotographic imaging system configured to assemble a multi-color image in a single pass of a photoconductor is disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/537,296 to Kellie et al., filed Sep. 29, 1995, and entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A MULTI-COLORED IMAGE IN AN ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC SYSTEM".
In an electrophotographic imaging system as described above, the latent images must be formed in precise registration with one another to produce a high quality image. In systems incorporating a photoconductor belt, precise registration can be difficult due to deviation of the belt from the transport path in a direction perpendicular to the transport path. Specifically, the photoconductor belt can undergo side-to-side movement during travel. The imaging region in which the latent images are formed is fixed relative to the edge of the photoconductor belt. However, the scanning beam used to form each latent image in the imaging region is fixed relative to a start-of-scan coordinate. The side-to-side movement of the photoconductor belt, known as belt walking, can cause movement of the imaging region relative to the start-of-scan coordinate. As a result, misregistration can occur between different scan lines and between different latent images. This misregistration can significantly degrade image quality. In particular, the misregistration can produce visible artifacts in the final multi-color image upon transfer of the misregistered color separation images to the output media.

System for registration of color separation images on a photoconductor belt


A slip form assembly includes a lifting pole extending in a longitudinal direction and an inner form slidably coupled to the lifting pole and extending in a lengthwise direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction between a first end and a second end. The first end is configured for end-to-end contact with an adjacent end of an adjacent inner form. An outer form is slidably coupled to the lifting pole opposite the inner form and defines a cavity for casting a portion of a wall therebetween. The outer form extends parallel to the inner form between a first end and a second end. The first end of the outer form is configured for end-to-end contact with an adjacent end of an adjacent outer form. The inner form and outer form are moveable along the lifting pole longitudinally relative to the respective ends of the adjacent inner form and outer form.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to construction systems and, more particularly, to slip form assemblies for use in slip form construction systems.
At least some known construction systems typically involve precast forms used for forming concrete. For example, at least some known construction systems utilize "tilt-up panels", which generally utilize using wood forms, rebar and concrete. The "tilt-up panels" are shaped to match the desired design shape of an exterior wall of a building and may be either built at a work site or precast prior to arriving at the work site. During construction, concrete is poured into the tilt-up panels, with the panels oriented in a "face-down" position (i.e., such that the walls are oriented horizontally). After the concrete is cast and hardened in the forms, the walls are tilted into a vertical orientation (e.g., via a lifting crane) and set on foundational footings to form an exterior structure of a building. As a result, at least some known construction systems are generally costly to implement and are sensitive to surrounding weather when erecting the tilt-up panels.
Furthermore, at least some known construction systems utilize forms for pouring and casting the concrete walls in the vertical orientation. For example, at least some known construction systems utilize form panels positioned on both sides of a poured wall and surrounding a perimeter of the wall. Such form systems generally require high lifting capacity to uniformly lift the forms and, for example, additional work platforms coupled to the forms, about the entire perimeter of a building during construction. As a result, at least some known construction systems are generally cost prohibitive to implement in the construction of small to midsize structures (e.g., 60 feet and below).
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a construction system that allows for simpler and less costly construction of concrete walls for a structure.

Slip form construction systems and methods for use


A composite reinforced roof is formed by applying to a roof deck a preformed membrane which has a tacky lower layer formed from rubberized asphalt. The second layer of the preformed membrane is a reinforcing mesh material embedded in the surface of the rubberized asphalt. This is applied to a roof deck and subsequently overcoated with a molten coating of rubberized asphalt. The self-adherent rubberized asphalt membrane prevents formation of bubbles and pinholes in the molten rubberized asphalt layer. This is particularly beneficial when the roof deck surface is lightweight structural concrete which releases gas when heated.

There are a number of different roof systems used to protect commercial buildings. These can include membrane roofs which are good for particularly large, uninterrupted surfaces, and composite or built-up roofs. Composite or built-up roofs are particularly useful to cover roof surfaces requiring a significant amount of detail work.
Originally, built-up roofs were simply a layer of tar paper overcoated with a layer of tar and ballast. More recently, reinforced rubberized asphalt composite roofing has been employed. This roofing system generally includes primer, then a first layer of molten rubberized asphalt applied onto a roof deck. A fabric, typically non-woven polyester, is then laid over the initial layer of molten rubberized asphalt. This is overcoated with a second layer of rubberized asphalt. Rubberized asphalt itself is a blend of asphalt and thermoplastic polymer. This remains flexible even at low temperatures, i.e., -20.degree. F. Further, it exhibits better elongation than asphalt.
Built up waterproofing systems are relatively labor-intensive. The application of two coatings of rubberized asphalt and the proper placement of the reinforcing mesh significantly increases labor costs.
This system is also difficult to apply to surfaces with high air or moisture contents. For example, lightweight structural concrete surfaces do not accept this asphalt coating particularly well. Either the first or the second layer can form pockets or bubbles and pinholes can also form.

Reinforced waterproofing system for porous decks


A new deep frying and serving implement for efficiently deep frying foods and being utilized as a serving tray. The inventive device includes a planar platter portion having a generally rectangular configuration defined by opposed long side walls and opposed short end walls. The platter portion includes an upper surface and a lower surface. A plurality of stainless steel rods extend outwardly of the lower surface of the planar platter portion. The plurality of stainless steel rods each have pointed free ends and spiraled threads extending upwardly from the pointed free ends.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cooking implements and more particularly pertains to a new deep frying and serving implement for efficiently deep frying foods and being utilized as a serving tray.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of cooking implements is known in the prior art. More specifically, cooking implements heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art cooking implements include U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,196 to Cheatham; U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,768 to Jay; U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,979 to Coroneos; U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,582 to Nersesian; U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,451 to Moir et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 261,092 to Menard.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new deep frying and serving implement. The inventive device includes a planar platter portion having a generally rectangular configuration defined by opposed long side walls and opposed short end walls. The platter portion includes an upper surface and a lower surface. A plurality of stainless steel rods extend outwardly of the lower surface of the planar platter portion. The plurality of stainless steel rods each have pointed free ends and spiraled threads extending upwardly from the pointed free ends.
In these respects, the deep frying and serving implement according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of efficiently deep frying foods and being utilized as a serving tray.


When receiving a hello packet, a node registers information on a control header of the hello packet in a work table. The information on the control header of the hello packet includes a plurality of sets of an address, a destination, and ΣPav of a node. The node stores information, in which a set of an address, a destination, and ΣPav of the own node from the own node to the destination is added to the information on the control header, in the control header of the hello packet and transmits the hello packet. These processes are performed by each node included in an ad-hoc network.

In recent years, the ad-hoc network in which a plurality of wireless communication terminals are connected to each other in an autonomous distributed manner has been studied. Hereinafter, a wireless communication apparatus is simply referred to as a node. In the ad-hoc network, no access point is installed and each node transmits packets having been received from an adjacent node to a destination by relaying the packets based on communication path information.
Each node transmits information on a received signal strength indication (RSSI) by transmitting and receiving a hello packet and retains a sum value of the RSSI from the own node to a destination for each path. The RSSI indicates a signal strength. For example, the RSSI is converted into an evaluation value of a wireless link quality and used. A sum value of the evaluation values of wireless link qualities from the own node to a destination is referred to as ΣPav. When a plurality of paths destined for the destination are present, the node selects a path with a higher transmission quality with reference to ΣPav corresponding to the paths and transmits packets.
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary technology of the related art. As illustrated in FIG. 16, an ad-hoc network includes a gateway (GW) 5 and nodes 10a, 10b, and 10c. Two kinds of paths, path A and path B, are present as the paths destined from the node 10c to the GW 5. When the node 10c transmits packets to the destination GW, the node 10c compares ΣPav of path A to ΣPav of path B, selects the path with a better communication quality, and transmits the packets. For example, when path A has the better communication quality, the node 10c transmits the packets to the node 10a. Then, the node 10a transmits the packets to the GW 5. An example of the related art is Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-235719.
The above-mentioned technology of the related art has a problem that information, such as the number of hops, a link RSSI, a topology, and the like, used to construct the paths is not efficiently collected.
Information on the number of hops, the link RSSI, the topology, and the like is used in order to save the bandwidth when the paths are constructed in the ad-hoc network. In the technology of the related art, when each piece of information is collected, each node separately transmits operation data. Therefore, the traffics increase in the ad-hoc network. Further, to obtain information on the topology, the node adds local information to the operation data when the node transmits the operation data. Therefore, the amount of data regarding the operation data increases, and thus the amount of traffic further increases.

Wireless communication apparatus, a computer-readable recording medium and wireless communication method


A new Lobelia plant particularly distinguished by its slightly upright, mounded, and semi-compact form, vigorous plant habit, dense and free branching, short internodes, large, light blue colored flowers and tolerance to heat is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of lobelia, botanically known as Lobelia erinus, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Tech Helitbule'. The new cultivar originated from a hybridization made in January 2002 in Andijk, The Netherlands. The female parent was 'LOB03-114-1', a light blue proprietary lobelia line (unpatented), while the male parent was 'LOB02-14-2', a blue proprietary lobelia line (unpatented).
The seeds produced by the pollination were sown in March 2003. A single plant selection was chosen for further evaluation and for asexual propagation in July 2003.
The new cultivar was created in 2002 and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by vegetative cuttings and tissue culture in Gilroy, Calif., and Andijk, The Netherlands over a three and a half year period. The plant has also been trialed at Gilroy, Calif., Andijk, The Netherlands and Hillscheid, Germany. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this cultivar have been applied for with the European Union on Nov. 13, 2006.


Gate structures of CMOS device and the method for manufacturing the same are provided. A substrate having an NMOS region, a PMOS region, and a work function modulation layer disposed on the NMOS region and the PMOS region is provided. A nitrogen doping process is performed to dope nitrogen into a portion of the work function modulation layer disposed on the PMOS region so as to form an N-rich work function modulation layer disposed on the PMOS region. A nonmetallic conductive layer is formed blanketly covering the work function modulation layer and the N-rich work function modulation layer. A portion of the nonmetallic conductive layer, the work function modulation layer, and the N-rich work function modulation layer is removed to form a first gate in the NMOS region and a second gate in the PMOS region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to gate structures of a CMOS device and a method for manufacturing the same, and particularly to a method to increase the work function of a work function modulation layer of the gate structure of the CMOS device by means of nitrogen doping process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the development of semiconductor technology and the increasing density of the devices, the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices having characteristic of low energy consumption is broadly used in the integrated circuits.
Conventional polysilicon gate structure having a gate dielectric layer of SiO2, and a conductive layer of polysilicon and WSi encounters a problem of size reduction during the tendency of miniaturizing the size of the device having the conventional polysilicon gate. Several materials are developed to be used in the gate structure, such as the dual work function metals, which are used to replace the conventional polysilicon layer in the gate structure. Conventional gate structures of the CMOS device have a work function metal for the gate structure of the NMOS device and another work function metal for the PMOS device. During the process of forming the conventional gate structures of the CMOS device, tantalum layer for the PMOS device is blanketly deposited. A portion of the tantalum layer disposed on the NMOS device is removed, and a ruthenium layer for the NMOS device is blanketly deposited. Then, the ruthenium layer disposed on the PMOS is removed. Accordingly, the formation of the conventional gate structures of the CMOS requires at least two deposition processes and two removing processes for forming a corresponding work function metal on the PMOS device or the NMOS device. Therefore, the manufacturing process for forming the gate structures of the CMOS device is complicated.
Therefore, the semiconductor technology is developed to simplify the manufacturing process for forming the gate structures of the CMOS device and to form the gate structures with high performance.

Gate structures of CMOS device and method for manufacturing the same


A method is disclosed for controlling the elution rate of a stainproofing agent from treated fibriform or corded materials, prior to immersion in seawater, which method comprises treating the fibriform or corded material with a composition which comprises 4,5-dichloro-2-n-octylisothiazoline-3-one, a homo- or copolymer or a (poly)oxyethylene (meth)acrylate ester, one or more of a dialkylpolysulfide, polybutene, xylene/formaldehyde polycondensate and a nine-carbon aromatic hydrocarbon/formaldehyde polycondensate, and an organic solvent. The treated material is also disclosed.

Fishing nets for cultivation, fixed nets, materials such as ropes supporting them, nets for preventing jellyfishes, etc., from invading into an inlet of seawater for cooling, and screens for preventing sea pollution used under such as coast constructions are soaked in the sea for a long term and thus impregnated with seawater for a long term. Because thus stained by adhesive sea organisms, there are problems arise such as blockade of the mesh of a net, infectious disease or parasitical disease of various fishes caused by decreased seawater inflow, and damage or decreased buoyancy of the materials caused by increased weight of the net.
To prevent the net from being stained by adhesive sea organisms, currently a sea stainproofing treatment agent containing an organic tin compound, for example, TBT (tributyl tin compound) as an active ingredient, has been widely used. Use of it, however, is being controlled due to suspicion of accumulation of the active ingredient in environment.
On the other hand, as a stainproofing treatment agent not containing the organic tin compound, (a) Japanese Patent Publication No. 43962/1987 discloses use of a dialkylsulfide compound as an active ingredient and (b) Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 38306/1985 discloses a stainproofing agent for fishing nets containing tetraalkylthiuramdisulfide, dialkylpolysulfide, and 2-(thiocyanomethylthio)benzothiazole, etc., as active ingredients.
Furthermore, besides the above prior art, the present inventors suggest (c) a stainproofing agent for fishing nets containing a copolymer having specific hydrophilicity and thiocyanoalkylthiobenzoheterozole in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 178562/1989.
Effective stainproofing cannot be obtained with only the dialkylsulfide compound disclosed in the above (a), and although tetraalkylthiuramdisulfide, dialkylpolysulfide and 2-(thiocyanomethylthio)benzothiazole disclosed in the above (b) have sufficient stainproofing for a short term, use of them alone does not allow active ingredients to elute in a sufficient amount from a treatment agent for fishing nets for a long term. Furthermore, it was found that only the copolymer having specific hydrophilicity and thiocyanoalkylthiobenzoheterozole suggested in the above (c) by the present inventors, are obviously not adequate to keep stainproofing in effect for a long term.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling the elution rate of a stainproofing agent eluting from fibriform or corded materials, which are treated with a sea stainproofing treatment agent, necessarily and sufficiently for a long term.

Method for controlling elution rate of agent


Methods of transferring a plurality of plant somatic embryos to germination medium are provided.

Modern silviculture often requires the planting of large numbers of genetically identical plants that have been selected to have advantageous properties. Production of new plants by sexual reproduction, which yields botanic seeds, is usually not feasible. Asexual propagation, via the culturing of somatic or zygotic embryos, has been shown for some species to yield large numbers of genetically identical embryos, each having the capacity to develop into a normal plant.
Somatic cloning is the process of creating genetically identical plants from plant tissue other than male and female gametes. In one approach to somatic cloning, plant tissue is cultured in an initiation medium that includes hormones, such as auxins and/or cytokinins, to initiate formation of embryogenic tissue, such as an embryogenic suspensor mass, that is capable of developing into somatic embryos. An embryogenic suspensor mass, or ESM, has the appearance of a whitish translucent mucilaginous mass and contains a plurality of early stage embryogenic tissue. The embryogenic tissue is further cultured in a multiplication medium that promotes multiplication and mass production of the embryogenic tissue. The embryogenic tissue is then cultured in a development medium that promotes development and maturation of cotyledonary somatic embryos that can, for example, subsequently be placed on germination medium to produce germinants, which in turn can be transferred to soil for further growth. Alternatively, the cotyledonary somatic embryos can be placed within manufactured seeds and sown in soil where they germinate to yield seedlings. Manufactured seeds are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,564,224; 5,687,504; 5,701,699; and 6,119,395.
The typical somatic embryogenesis process is laborious and inefficient. For example, one of the more labor intensive and subjective steps in the embryogenesis process is the selective harvesting of individual embryos suitable for germination from development medium. At the end of the development period, the embryos may be present in a number of stages of maturity and development. Those that are most likely to successfully germinate into normal plants are preferentially selected using a number of visually evaluated screening criteria. Typically, a skilled technician evaluates the morphological features of each embryo, such as the embryo's size, shape (e.g., axial symmetry), cotyledon development, surface texture, color, and the like, and manually plucks desirable embryos with a pair of tweezers and transfers the selected embryos to germination medium. This is a highly skilled yet tedious job that is time consuming and expensive. Further, it poses a major production bottleneck when the ultimate desired output can be in the thousands of plants.
Automated methods for the harvesting of plant cotyledonary embryos from development medium have been developed, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,530,197. At the end of the development phase, the embryos are typically attached to or imbedded in the embryogenic suspensor mass. It is important for subsequent normal germination to separate the embryos from the suspensor mass and from other embryos to yield individual embryos. This can be accomplished by a separation step in which plant embryos are physically separated from each other and the underlying embryogenic suspensor mass before further processing such as, for example, placement onto germination medium.
Separation can be accomplished by washing embryos off of a development medium using aqueous liquid, and then passing the embryos through a porous material, such as a sieve. During sieving, the embryos may be further sprayed with aqueous liquid to facilitate removal and washing away of any undesirable material, such as undersized embryos, tissues, and residual embryonal suspensor mass, through the holes of the porous material, and to sort the embryos according to size. Sorting according to size can be accomplished by using porous materials with various pore sizes. The mesh opening sizes of the sieve(s) can be selected so as to capture the desired sized embryos. The mesh opening sizes may vary in the range from about 500 microns to about 2400 microns. By adjusting the mesh opening size/shape of the one or more sieves, only those embryos within a desirable size/shape range are selected, resulting in a population comprising mostly of a plurality of individual embryos separated from each other and substantially free of suspensor tissue.
Although automated methods have been developed for removing embryos from development medium, and sorting the embryos according to size, technicians are still relied on to select those embryos having characteristics that improve the probability that the selected embryos will successfully germinate into plants; and then to hand-pluck the embryos from the porous material, and transfer the embryos to germination medium. The selection process is highly subjective, and the transferring of embryos to germination medium by hand remains a tedious, laborious, and ergonomically challenging process.
Efforts have been made to use instrumental image analysis for embryo selection to supplement or replace the visual evaluation performed by technicians. For example, an elaborate and complex classification method is disclosed in U.S. Publication No. 2007/0269096, which describes the classification of plant embryos by the application of classification algorithms to digitized images of plant embryos, and absorption, transmittance, or reflectance spectra of the embryos, to determine which embryos are likely to develop into germinants. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,610,155 describes using image and spectral data from known quality embryos to develop a classification model, using a classification algorithm, such as logistic regression (LR) analysis, to classify embryos as (i) embryos that likely will not germinate; (ii) embryos that may germinate with extra care; and (iii) embryos that will germinate with minimal care. The classification model is then applied to image and/or spectral data acquired from a plant embryo of unknown quality to determine the likelihood the embryo will develop into a germinant. Although determining the germination potential of embryos by classification modeling is a more objective process than selection of embryos by technicians, such methods involve the use of expensive instrumentation to collect the required images and data on each embryo, as well as extensive studies of embryos of known quality to develop the modeling system.
Thus, there exists a need for methods of transferring embryos en masse to germination medium that simplify the process, eliminate the step of determining germination potential of individual embryos, reduce the risk of contamination of the embryos, reduce labor and technician fatigue, reduce the risk of worker injury, and increase the production rate to achieve commercial scale.
The present disclosure describes methods of transferring plant somatic embryos en masse to germination medium.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods of transferring plant embryos to germination medium


The present invention is directed to a chucking system to modulate substrates so as to properly shape and position the same with respect to a wafer upon which a pattern is to be formed with the substrate. The chucking system includes a chuck body having first and second opposed sides. A side surface extends therebetween. The first side includes first and second spaced-apart recesses defining first and second spaced-apart support regions. The first support region cinctures the second support region and the first and second recesses. The second support region cinctures the second recess, with a portion of the body in superimposition with the second recess being transparent to radiation having a predetermined wavelength. The second side and the side surface define exterior surfaces. The body includes throughways placing the first and second recesses in fluid communication with one of the exterior surfaces.

The field of invention relates generally to lithography systems. More particularly, the present invention is directed to reducing undesirable pattern variations during imprint lithography processes.
Micro-fabrication involves the fabrication of very small structures, e.g., having features on the order of micro-meters or smaller. One area in which micro-fabrication has had a sizeable impact is in the processing of integrated circuits. As the semiconductor processing industry continues to strive for larger production yields while increasing the circuits per unit area formed on a substrate, micro-fabrication becomes increasingly important. Micro-fabrication provides greater process control while allowing increased reduction of the minimum feature dimension of the structures formed. Other areas of development in which micro-fabrication have been employed include biotechnology, optical technology, mechanical systems and the like.
An exemplary micro-fabrication technique is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,960 to Willson et al. Willson et al. disclose a method of forming a relief image in a structure. The method includes providing a substrate having a transfer layer. The transfer layer is covered with a polymerizable fluid composition. A mold makes mechanical contact with the polymerizable fluid. The mold includes a relief structure, and the polymerizable fluid composition fills the relief structure. The polymerizable fluid composition is then subjected to conditions to solidify and polymerize the same, forming a solidified polymeric material on the transfer layer that contains a relief structure complimentary to that of the mold. The mold is then separated from the solid polymeric material such that a replica of the relief structure in the mold is formed in the solidified polymeric material. The transfer layer and the solidified polymeric material are subjected to an environment to selectively etch the transfer layer relative to the solidified polymeric material such that a relief image is formed in the transfer layer. The time required and the minimum feature dimension provided by this technique is dependent upon, inter alia, the composition of the polymerizable material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,905 to Chou discloses a lithographic method and apparatus for creating ultra-fine (sub-36 nm) patterns in a thin film coated on a substrate in which a mold having at least one protruding feature is pressed into a thin film carried on a substrate. The protruding feature in the mold creates a recess in the thin film. The mold is removed from the film. The thin film then is processed such that the thin film in the recess is removed exposing the underlying substrate. Thus, patterns in the mold are replaced in the thin film, completing the lithography. The patterns in the thin film will be, in subsequent processes, reproduced in the substrate or in another material which is added onto the substrate.
Yet another imprint lithography technique is disclosed by Chou et al. in Ultrafast and Direct Imprint of Nanostructures in Silicon, Nature, Col. 417, pp. 835–837, June 2002, which is referred to as a laser assisted direct imprinting (LADI) process. In this process a region of a substrate is made flowable, e.g., liquefied, by heating the region with the laser. After the region has reached a desired viscosity, a mold, having a pattern thereon, is placed in contact with the region. The flowable region conforms to the profile of the pattern and is then cooled, solidifying the pattern into the substrate. An important consideration when forming patterns in this manner is to maintain control of the mold. In this fashion, undesirable variations in the pattern resulting from, inter alia, undesired deformation of the mold may be avoided. For example, in-plane distortion can cause line width variations, as well as pattern placement errors. Out-of-plane distortion can cause loss of focus in optical lithography resulting in varying the thickness of underlying residual layers. This may make difficult both line width control and etch transfer.
It is desired, therefore, to provide improved techniques for holding the mold so as to properly position the same with respect to the substrate upon which a pattern is to be formed.

Imprint lithography substrate processing tool for modulating shapes of substrates


A load electric current evaluating device includes a load electric current calculating section for calculating a load electric current flowing through a predetermined part of electric wiring including a load part, a protecting part for the load part, an electric wire and an electric power source at the normal time; a storing section for storing load part information showing electric characteristics of the load part and protecting part information showing electric characteristics and a rated value of the protecting part; an information reading section for reading the load part information and the protecting part information from the storing section; an evaluation reference providing section for making an evaluation reference for evaluating adaptability of the load electric current flowing through the predetermined part at the normal time with reference to the load part information and the protecting part information; an evaluating section for evaluating the adaptability of the calculated load electric current on the basis of the evaluation reference; and an output section for outputting an evaluation result provided by the evaluating section.

In recent years, the developing period of an automobile tends to be more and more shortened. In accordance with this tendency, the developing period of an electric mounting device mounted to the automobile also tends to be shortened. Many techniques for simulating the electric wiring including the load part, the electric wire, a switching device and the electric power source are proposed from such a present situation. For example, JP-A-2002-24314 shows a device in which plural electric parts are selectively arranged on an input screen, and names and formats of these electric parts are inputted and predetermined desirable electric wiring is performed, and protecting part fusion and wiring smoking at a short-circuiting time in this electric wiring are then simulated.
However, in accordance with the above relating simulator, the electric wiring at the short-circuiting time is evaluated, but no evaluation of the electric wiring at the normal time occupying a large portion of an operating time is particularly made. Further, in the evaluation of the electric wiring of the vehicle, its evaluation reference should be changed in accordance with a maker name of the vehicle mounting this electric wiring, the kind of the protecting part, an arranging place of the protecting part, or the kind of the vehicle mounting the electric wiring, and the state of a switching device. However, no consideration is taken until these points in the above relating simulator. Accordingly, a simulator able to accurately make such a characteristic evaluation of the electric wiring of the vehicle is eagerly desired.

Load current evaluation device, load current evaluation method, and recording medium containing load current evaluation program


Methods and apparatus suitable for cutting food product. The apparatus includes an annular-shaped cutting head and an impeller coaxially mounted within the cutting head for rotation about an axis of the cutting head in a rotational direction relative to the cutting head. The cutting head has lower and upper structural members, circumferentially-spaced support segments between the lower and upper structural members, and at least one knife assembly located at a perimeter of the cutting head adjacent a corresponding one of the support segments. The knife assembly includes a holder having a slot, a knife partially received within the slot, and tensioning means for inducing a longitudinal tension in the knife.

The present invention generally relates to methods and equipment for cutting food products. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatuses equipped with at least one knife suitable for cutting food product slices, wherein the knife is tensioned so as to be sufficiently rigid to slice a food product, for example, a potato.
Various types of equipment are known for slicing, shredding and granulating food products, such as vegetable, fruit, dairy, and meat products. A widely used line of machines for this purpose is commercially available from Urschel Laboratories, Inc., under the name Urschel Model CC®, an embodiment of which is represented in FIG. 1. The Model CC® machine line provides versions of centrifugal-type slicers capable of producing uniform slices, strip cuts, shreds and granulations of a wide variety of food products at high production capacities.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of an impeller 10 and cutting head 12, respectively, of types that can be used in the Model CC® machine of FIG. 1. In operation, the impeller 10 is coaxially mounted within the cutting head 12, which is generally annular-shaped with cutting knives 14 mounted on its perimeter. The impeller 10 rotates within the cutting head 12, while the latter remains stationary. Each knife 14 projects radially inward toward the impeller 10 in a direction generally opposite the direction of rotation of the impeller 10, and defines a cutting edge at its radially innermost extremity. As represented in FIG. 2, the impeller 10 has generally radially-oriented paddles 16 with faces that engage and direct food products (e.g., potatoes) radially outward against the knives 14 of the cutting head 12 as the impeller 10 rotates.
FIG. 1 schematically represents the cutting head 12 mounted on a support ring 28 above a gear box 30. A housing 32 contains a shaft coupled to the gear box 30, through which the impeller 10 (not shown) is driven within the cutting wheel 12. Further descriptions pertaining to the construction and operation of Model CC® machines are contained in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,694,824 and 6,968,765, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The cutting head 12 shown in FIG. 3 comprises a lower support ring 18, an upper support ring 20, and circumferentially-spaced support segments (shoes) 22. The knives 14 of the cutting head 12 are individually secured with clamping assemblies 26 to the shoes 22. Each clamping assembly 26 includes a knife holder 26A mounted to the radially inward-facing side of a shoe 22, and a clamp 26B mounted on the radially outward-facing side of a shoe 22 to secure the knife 14 to the knife holder 26A. The shoes 22 are represented as being secured with bolts 25 to the support rings 18 and 20. The shoes 22 are equipped with coaxial pivot pins (not shown) that engage holes in the support rings 18 and 20. By pivoting on its pins, the orientation of a shoe 22 can be adjusted to alter the radial location of the cutting edge of its knife 14 with respect to the axis of the cutting head 12, thereby controlling the thickness of the sliced food product. As an example, adjustment can be achieved with an adjusting screw and/or pin 24 located circumferentially behind the pivot pins. FIG. 3 further shows optional gate insert strips 23 mounted to each shoe 22, which the food product crosses prior to encountering the knife 14 mounted to the succeeding shoe 22.
The knives 14 shown in FIG. 3 are depicted as having straight cutting edges for producing flat slices, though other shapes are also used to produce sliced and shredded products. For example, the knives 14 can have cutting edges that define a periodic pattern of peaks and valleys when viewed edgewise. The periodic pattern can be characterized by sharp peaks and valleys, or a more corrugated or sinusoidal shape characterized by more rounded peaks and valleys when viewed edgewise. If the peaks and valleys of each knife 14 are aligned with those of the preceding knife 14, slices are produced in which each peak on one surface of a slice corresponds to a valley on the opposite surface of the slice, such that the slices are substantially uniform in thickness but have a cross-sectional shape that is characterized by sharp peaks and valleys (AV-slices@) or a more corrugated or sinusoidal shape (crinkle slices), collectively referred to herein as periodic shapes. Alternatively, shredded food product can be produced if each peak of each knife 14 is aligned with a valley of the preceding knife 14, and waffle/lattice-cut food product can be produced by intentionally making off-axis alignment cuts with a periodic-shaped knife, for example, by cross-cutting a food product at two different angles, typically ninety degrees apart. Whether a sliced, shredded or waffle-cut product is desired will depend on the intended use of the product.
Equipment currently available for cutting food product, such as those represented in FIGS. 1-3, are well suited for producing slices of a wide variety of food products. Even so, further improvements are desirable, particularly if capable of improving the quality of a food product. For example, it is often desirable to reduce levels of surface cracking, through-slice cracking, and surface roughness of sliced, shredded, and waffle-cut food products. As a particular example, if a sliced, shredded, or waffle-cut food product is intended for chips, for example, potato chips, surface cracks can undesirably lead to increased oil consumption, damaged starch cells, yield loss (starch does not stay in the chip), etc.


An imaging module includes: a support substrate that includes a first surface, a second surface on an opposite side of the first surface, and a first mounting terminal disposed on the first surface; a planar light emitter including a light-emitting face, and a light-emitter terminal disposed on the first surface of the support substrate and connected to the first mounting terminal; and a solid-state image sensing device disposed adjacent to the planar light emitter and that includes a light-incident surface that has a quadrangular shape in plan view and that captures an image of an imaging object that is irradiated with light emitted from the light-emitting face.

Conventionally, an endoscope including a light guide fiber for illumination is known (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). The endoscope includes a sheath surrounding a lens provided as the distal end thereof, and a light guide fiber provided between the sheath and the lens. Light guided by the light guide fiber is emitted from the distal end of the endoscope.


A developing device has: a developer housing chamber in which developer is housed; a developer holding member holding developer by magnetic force; a partitioning wall having an overlapping region that, in a transparent plan view, is positioned upward of the developer holding member and overlaps the developer holding member in an up/down direction; and an opening portion formed in the overlapping region of the partitioning wall. The partitioning wall is a portion of a separating wall of the developer housing chamber, and is provided between the developer housing chamber and the developer holding member.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a developing device and an image forming device.
2. Related Art
In electrophotographic image forming devices, image formation is carried out by a latent image being formed on a photoreceptor or the like, and the latent image being made visible by a developer. The developer is housed within a developing device, and is conveyed toward the latent image due to rotation of a developing roller. When a two-component developer formed from toner and carrier is used as the developer, a developing roller is used that contains therein a magnetic roller at which plural magnetic poles are formed in advance. The developing roller draws the carrier to the outer peripheral surface and holds it thereat by magnetic force, and conveys the toner that is charged by friction with the carrier.
As an example of a developing device using a two-component developer, there is a structure in which the developer is stored in a developer storing chamber before the developing device is used.
As another example of a developing device using a two-component developer, there is a structure in which an opening portion is provided in a wall that partitions a developing chamber and a developer housing chamber, at a thin layer formation region on the periphery of a developing roller.

Developing device and image forming device


Provided is an all-optical gain-clamped fiber amplifier, comprising transmission and isolation means for periodically transmitting an optical signal or reflecting amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) back to a gain medium. The transmission and isolation means can be embodied by an optical interleaver or a number of optical fiber Bragg gratings. Accordingly, an optical signal can be amplified across the entire C-band, and an ASE reflector-based gain-clamped fiber amplifier having a wider dynamic range than conventional amplifiers can be implemented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fiber amplifier that amplifies an input optical signal in an optical communication system, and more specifically, to an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) reflector-based gain-clamped fiber amplifier that maintain a certain gain characteristic even when the intensity of the input optical signal varies.
2. Discussion of Related Art
An optical amplifier, such as a semiconductor optical amplifier and a fiber amplifier, which is an optical device that amplifies an input optical signal, is necessary for compensating for optical loss during transmission through optical fiber or various optical devices used in the field of optical transmission and networking.
However, communication quality in an optical network is not good due to the drawback that the degree of amplification of the conventional optical amplifier varies according to the intensity of the input optical signal. Thus, a gain-clamped fiber amplifier has been developed to solve this problem.
An all-optical gain-clamped fiber amplifier in which a gain is optically clamped using a laser cavity does not have a complicated signal process for clamping the gain. Laser oscillation occurs when a loss and a gain generated from the cavity are the same, and once oscillating, amplitude of population inversion of a gain medium is clamped. The gain of the fiber amplifier is proportional to the amplitude of the population inversion and a length of the gain medium, so that when the laser oscillation occurs, the gain of the amplifier is clamped. When an optical signal is input to the fiber amplifier in which the gain is clamped with the laser oscillation, even if the input optical signal is weak, the gain remains constant regardless of the intensity of the optical signal, and if the intensity of the input optical signal grows stronger, the laser oscillation is paused and the gain-clamped characteristic of the fiber amplifier disappears.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the conventional gain-clamped fiber amplifier using laser oscillation.
An optical fiber is used as a gain medium 1, and a pump light is supplied from a laser diode (LD) 3 through a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) coupler 2. Using the coupler 4 at input and output stages, an optical attenuator (ATT) 5, an optical isolator (ISO) 6, and a transmission type optical filter (BPF) 7 constitute a ring cavity. The transmission type optical filter 7 adjusts a wavelength at which the laser oscillation occurs, the optical isolator 6 causes oscillation in the ring cavity to occur only in one direction, and the optical attenuator 5 adjusts the gain of the amplifier by controlling optical loss in the cavity.
In the fiber amplifier shown in FIG. 1, the intensity of the input optical signal and the intensity of the laser optical signal generated therein have a complementary relationship. In other words, when the intensity of the input optical signal is small, the intensity of the laser oscillated light is large, and as the intensity of the input optical signal grows larger, the intensity of the laser oscillated light grows smaller. Thus, even when the intensity of the input optical signal changes, the amplification ratio remains substantially constant. Here, when the intensity of the input optical signal grows to a certain level, the laser stops oscillating and the gain thereof decreases like a common fiber amplifier.
However, in the gain-clamped fiber amplifier using the laser cavity described above, when the intensity of the input optical signal varies, the intensity of the optical signal temporarily fluctuates due to a relaxation oscillation in the laser cavity. Such a temporary fluctuation in optical signal intensity has an effect on a bit error rate (BER) of transmitted data. In addition, a frequency of the relaxation oscillation depends on the gain medium and the length of the cavity, thereby making it difficult to fabricate the fiber amplifier and limiting an optical signal transmission rate and processing speed.
To solve this problem caused by the laser cavity, the gain-clamped fiber amplifier using an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) reflector that causes ASE to be incident back upon the gain medium, rather than the laser cavity, has been developed.
The greater the intensity of the optical signal input for amplification, the lesser the intensity of the ASE. Further, the intensity of the ASE reflected by the reflector is proportional to the intensity of the ASE. In other words, when the intensity of the input optical signal is small, the intensity of the ASE becomes so large that the intensity of the ASE reflected by the reflector becomes large, while when the intensity of the input optical signal is large, the intensity of the ASE becomes so small that the intensity of the ASE reflected by the reflector becomes small. Consequently, the input optical signal and the reflected ASE are amplified in the gain medium, in which each contributes to the gain. Here, the intensity changes of two beams are opposite to each other, the gain remains almost the same until the intensity of the input optical signal grows to a certain level, and when the intensity of the input optical signal increases further, the gain of the amplifier is reduced. For convenience, when the clamped gain is lowered by 1 dB, the intensity of the input optical signal is defined as a dynamic range.
An ASE reflector gain-clamped Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) using a reflector in which a mirror is coupled to a 1530 nm CWDM (Coarse WDM) is disclosed in Joon Tae Ahn, et al., "All-Optical Gain-Clamped EDFA With Improved Noise Figure and Freedom From Relaxation Oscillation", IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 84-86, 2004. 1. In this amplifier, the stronger the reflected ASE, the wider the dynamic range. Thus, to obtain a strong reflected ASE, a wavelength of 1531 nm, at which the ASE is the strongest, was included, and 1530 nm CWDM having a transmission wavelength band of 1521 to 1539 nm was used to reflect the wavelength as wide as possible. An input optical signal having a wavelength of 1550 nm was used and the gain was measured, so that the gain-clamped characteristic could be obtained and the dynamic range was about 12 dBm. In addition, with respect to the switching characteristic according to the change of the input optical signal, the relaxation oscillation observed in the conventional laser oscillated gain-clamped fiber amplifier was not seen. However, this amplifier has a drawback in that the 1530 to 1540 nm wavelength portion of the Conventional band (C-band) defined as 1530 to 1565 nm is not amplified due to the 1530 nm CWDM used for the wide dynamic range.

Amplified spontaneous emission reflector-based gain-clamped fiber amplifier

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Methods of operating a robotic breaker-racking apparatus are provided. A method of operating a robotic breaker-racking apparatus includes controlling a motor to drive the robotic breaker-racking apparatus to a first circuit breaker. The method includes accessing the first circuit breaker via remote or autonomous control of the robotic breaker-racking apparatus. Moreover, the method includes visually inspecting, via a camera of the robotic breaker-racking apparatus, a first relay of the first circuit breaker and/or a second relay of a second circuit breaker. Related robotic breaker-racking apparatuses are also provided.

The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for circuit-breaker racking. Human operators of electric utility generating stations and substations, which support electricity distribution, are susceptible to injury or death due to problems with electrical equipment. For example, a substation may include a plurality of industrial circuit breakers, which are devices for interrupting electric current and are typically contained in a cubicle-type housing. The breakers may be connected to a heavy conductor, known as a bus, and a line via a set of disconnects.
Many large, high-voltage industrial circuit breakers (e.g., up to 13 kilovolts (kV)) can be "racked" in or out, or can have a position tested for maintenance. As an example, when such a breaker is open, the operator may use a rotary crank or lever to move the breaker forward so that it disconnects from the bus and line. When a human operator racks the breaker by disconnecting the breaker from a bus, the operator may be exposed to an arc flash, which is a violent, luminous discharge between electric conductors that can result in serious injury or death.

Methods and apparatuses for robotic breaker racking