Systems, devices, and methods for using a hot plug detect (HPD) signal to reduce turn on time of a backlight of a display are disclosed. The backlight controller may pre-charge the backlight based at least in part on receiving the HPD signal prior to receiving a BL_EN signal to turn on the backlight. The HPD signal may be a multipurpose signal used by components of a system in addition to the backlight driver. The backlight driver may turn on the pre-charged backlight immediately upon receiving the BL_EN signal. The backlight controller may maintain the pre-charge of the backlight while the device is in a sleep state to reduce the turn on time of the backlight from the sleep state. Embodiments of the HPD signal may also power down the display and backlight.

The present disclosure relates generally to a backlight assembly for an electronic display and, more particularly, to a backlight assembly having a reduced backlight turn on time.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Electronic displays, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), commonly appear in many different electronic devices, such as televisions, computers, and phones. LCDs portray images by modulating the amount of light that passes through a liquid crystal layer within pixels of varying color. A display driver for the LCD produces images on the display by adjusting the image signal supplied to each pixel across the display. The brightness of an LCD depends on the amount of light provided by a backlight assembly. As the backlight assembly provides more light, the brightness of the LCD increases.
Backlight drivers may supply driving signals to the backlight assembly to illuminate the LCD at a desired brightness level. The backlight assembly may be turned off when images are not displayed. Light sources of the backlight assembly may take time to turn on to the desired brightness level. Unfortunately, delays in turning on the backlight may delay the appearance of images on the display.


In an apparatus for obtaining an image by irradiating a charged particle beam on a specimen, a condition of the beam conditioned differently from vertical incidence as in the case of the beam being tilted is required to be adjusted. To this end, the apparatus has a controller for automatically controlling a stigmator, an objective lens and a deflector such that astigmatism is corrected, focus is adjusted and view filed shift is corrected. The controller has a selector for inhibiting at least one of the astigmatism correction, focus adjustment and FOV shift correction from being executed.

The present invention relates to a method of adjusting a beam condition for a charged particle beam and a charged particle beam apparatus and more particularly, to a method of making astigmatism correction, focus correction and FOV (field of view) shift correction when giving the beam a tilt.
In the charged particle beam apparatus represented by a scanning electron microscope, a charged particle beam is focused to a fine beam which in turn is scanned on a specimen to obtain desired information from the specimen (for example, a specimen image). In the charged particle beam apparatus as above, the resolving power becomes higher year by year and besides, recently, there is a growing need for obtaining a tilt image of a specimen by tilting a charged particle beam in relation to the specimen. This is accounted for by the fact that for acquisition of tilt images of the specimen, it is general to tilt a specimen stage but for the purpose of preventing a FOV shift at high magnification and acquiring a tilt image of the specimen more speedily, giving the charged particle beam a tilt in relation to the specimen is more rational than mechanically tilting the specimen stage.
A technique for irradiating a beam while tilting it is known as described in Patent Document 1 (JP-A-55-048610 (U.M.)) or Patent Document 2 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,832 corresponding to JP-A-02-033843), for instance. In the known technique, a charged particle beam is caused to be incident on a region which is out of axis of an objective lens and is then tilted using the focusing action (Imaging Action) of the objective lens.

Charged particle beam adjusting method and charged particle beam apparatus


With the proposed invention a method for configuring a measuring arrangement for physical, more particularly thermal conditions over a section to be measured is indicated, comprising at least one locally distributed sensor. The measuring arrangement consists of programmable modules with the minimum characteristics of acquire, edit, save, represent and signal measurement data of at least one distributed sensor. The method according to the invention consists in the fact that zone-specific data of the section to be measured are assigned to zone-specific measured quantities, and that these data are combined into data groups, and that the modules are configured with parameter sets with which editing steps of the individual modules are functionally assigned to one another. One parameter set preferably includes at least sensor-specific parameters; measuring instrument-specific parameters; organization of data and programs; organization of hardware modules; representation of the data and communication parameters.

The invention relates to a method for configuring a measuring arrangement for physical, more particularly thermal, measured quantities over a section to be measured, comprising a t least one locally distributed sensor. An associated arrangement is also claimed.
Two main types of locally distributed measuring sensors are known, those that operate electrically and others that operate optically.
By the section to be measured is meant not only a linear but also two- or three-dimensional installations of a distributed sensor. Flat (e.g. meander-shaped) or spatial installations may also be involved here, for instance wrapping of a reactor vessel.
In recent years optical measuring instruments using Raman backscatter with at least one installed optical fibre have come on the market (DE 195 25 626 A1).
A different example of an optical fibre measuring instrument for pressure is to be found in DE 38 09 957 A1. A distributed optical fibre moisture sensor is described in DE 195 30 985 C 1.
The known measuring arrangements are very specifically tailored to certain applications.
The object of the invention is to indicate a method and a corresponding arrangement for configuring a measuring arrangement for physical measured quantities over a section to be measured, comprising at least one locally distributed sensor, so that the measuring arrangement can be individually adapted with great flexibility to the physical, local and chronological circumstances of a section to be measured. Also to be thereby achieved is all-round quality of monitoring, editing and/or reproduction of the measured values.
The measuring arrangement is to be used to acquire physical measured quantities over the section to be measured, such as temperature, pressure, tension, flexure and/or their changes over time. By locally distributed sensors are meant sensors which supply section information and physical data simultaneously.
The achievement of the object is to be found in the associated independent claims. Advantageous developments of the invention are claimed in the dependent claims.

Procedure and means for configuring a measuring device


A timing method and communication apparatus therefor. The timing method, performed by a mobile communication device, includes: activating a first communication module; receiving updated information when the first communication module is active; determining and setting an expiry time for an adaptive timer based on the updated information; activating the adaptive timer to count to the determined expiry time; and activating a second communication module when the adaptive timer expires.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunication, and in particular relates to a time-to-digital converter realized by a communication apparatus and a timing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communication devices are equipped with a dual or multi-communication mode to accommodate a range of different service networks such as a wireless local area network (WLAN or WiFi) technology, Time Division Duplex or Frequency Division Duplex Long Term Evolution (TDD-LTE, FDD-LTE) technology, Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) technology, Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) technology, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) technology, Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA 2000) technology, or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) service network, allowing users to shift from network to network using a single communication device.

Communication apparatus and a timing method thereof


Chemiluminescent heteroaryl substituted benzothiazole 1,2-dioxetane compounds capable of producing light energy when decomposed are provided. These chemiluminescent compounds are represented by the general formula: The heteroaryl substituent Y can be, for example, a pyridyl group or a benzothiazolyl group. The heteroaryl substituted benzothiazole compounds are substantially stable at room temperature. Kits including the heteroaryl substituted dioxetane compounds as well as methods for using these compounds for detecting the presence of one or more analytes in a sample are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improved chemiluminescent 1,2-dioxetane compounds. More particularly, this invention relates to improved enzymatically cleavable chemiluminescent 1,2-dioxetane compounds that contain enzymatically removable labile groups. Such labile groups prevent the molecule from decomposing to produce light, i.e., visible light or light detectable by appropriate instrumentation, until an appropriate enzyme is added to remove the labile group.
One enzyme molecule can affect the removal, through a catalytic cycle, of its complimentary labile group from thousands of enzymatically cleavable chemiluminescent 1,2-dioxetane molecules. This is a marked contrast to the situation with chemically cleavable chemiluminescent 1,2-dioxetanes, where one molecule of a chemical cleaving agent is needed to remove the complimentary labile group from each dioxetane molecule.
Enzymnatically cleavable light-producing 1,2-dioxetane compounds will usually also contain stabilizing groups, such as an adamantylidene group spiro bonded to the dioxetane ring's 3-carbon atom, that will aid in preventing the dioxetane compound from undergoing spontaneous decomposition at room temperature (about 25° C.) before the bond by which the enzymatically cleavable labile group is attached to the remainder of the molecule is intentionally cleaved. Wieringa, et al., Tetahedron Letters, 169 (1972), and McCapra, et al., J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Comm., 944 (1977). These stabilizing groups thus permit such dioxetanes to be stored for exceptionally long periods of time before use, e.g., for from about 12 months to as much as about 12 years at temperatures ranging from about 40° C. to about as much as 30° C., without undergoing substantial decomposition.
This invention further relates to the incorporation of its dioxetane molecules in art-recognized immunoassays, chemical assays and nucleic acid probe assays, and to their use as direct chemical/physical probes for studying the molecular structure or microstructures of various macromolecules, synthetic polymers, proteins, nucleic acids, catalytic antibodies, and the like, to permit an analyte (e.g. a chemical or biological substance whose presence, amount or structure is being determined) to be identified or quantified.
2. Background of the Invention
The use of 1,2-dioxetanes as chemiluminescent compounds is well established. These compounds, for example, have been used as reporters and labels in ultra sensitive assays for the detection of a variety of biological materials. By using 1,2-dioxetanes, these assays can be conducted quickly and without resort to exotic conditions or elaborate apparatus. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,931,223; 4,931,569; 4,952,707; 4,956,477; 4,978,614; 5,032,381; 5,145,772; 5,220,005; 5,225,584; 5,326,882; 5,330,900; 5,336,596; and 5,871,938. All of the foregoing are incorporated herein by reference. Other patents commonly assigned with this application have issued, and other applications are pending. Together, this wealth of patent literature addresses 1,2-dioxetanes stabilized by a typically polycyclic group, such as an adamantyl group spiro-bonded to one of the carbons of the dioxetane ring and another moiety (e.g., an aryl group) bonded to the remainder carbon of the dioxetane ring. This moiety is typically electron sensitive. Deprotection of the electron sensitive moiety results in the formation of an anion, generally an oxyanion, which is unstable and decomposes. Through decomposition, the O—O bond in the dioxetane is broken and a photon is generated. The same carbon atom to which this electron sensitive moiety is bonded may bear an alkoxy or other electron-active group.
The first of the dioxetanes of this class to be commercialized was 3-(4-methoxy-spiro(1,2-dioxetane-3,2′-tricyclo(184.108.40.206.7) decan)-4-yl)phenyl phosphate, particularly the disodium salt, generally known as AMPPD®. This compound has been commercialized by the assignee of this application, Tropix, Inc. of Bedford, Mass., as well as Lumigen, Inc. of Detroit, Mich. Superior performance of the above-described compounds can be obtained by selective substitution on the spiro-bound adamantane ring. For example, substitution at either bridgehead carbon with an electron active species, such as chlorine, has been found to improve reaction speed and signal to noise ratio (S/N). The chlorine substituted counterpart of AMPPD®, available under the trademark CSPD®, has also been widely commercialized by Tropix. "Third-generation" dioxetane compounds of similar structure, wherein the aryl moiety also bears an electron active substituent, such as chlorine, have been found to afford further improvements in performance. The 1,2-dioxetanes having aryl groups bearing phosphate moieties are available under the trademarks CDP® and CDP-Star®, both of which are registered trademarks of Tropix, Inc.
Various materials have been used to enhance the chemiluminescent emissions of 1,2-dioxetanes. These materials, commonly referred to as chemiluminescent enhancing agents, include polymeric ammonium, phosphonium or sulphonium salts such as poly[vinyl benzyl(benzyldimethyl ammonium chloride)] ("BDMQ") and other hetero polar polymers.
It has been observed, however, that chemiluminescent dioxetanes such as AMPPD® in aqueous solution and also in the present chemiluminescent enhancers, may exhibit longer than optimum periods of time to reach constant light emission characteristics. The half-life or "t1/2 " of the active chemiluminescent species is defined as the time necessary to obtain one-half of the maximum chemiluminescence intensity at constant, steady-state light emission levels. This emission half-life can vary as a function of the stability of the dioxetane oxyanion in various environments. For example, the half-life of AMPPD® at concentrations above 2×10−5 M in an aqueous solution at a pH 9.5 in the presence of BDMQ has been found to be approximately 7.5 minutes. At 4×10−3 M in the absence of BDMQ, the t1/2 of AMPPD® has been found to be approximately 30-60 minutes, while at 2×10−5 M in an aqueous solution, the t1/2 of AMPPD® has been found to be about 2.5 minutes.
Chemiluminescent intensity is typically measured after achieving steady state light emission kinetics. Statistically, approximately seven t1/2 periods are required to reach steady-light emission kinetics. While chemiluminescent intensity can be measured before achieving steady state kinetics, sophisticated thermally-controlled luminometry instrumentation must be used if one wishes to acquire precise data prior to achieving steady-state emission kinetics. Therefore, in assays such as bioassays that employ enzymatically cleavable chemiluminescent 1,2-dioxetanes as reporter molecules, it is desirable to reach steady-state light emission kinetics as quickly as possible.
Furthermore, AMPPD®, in an aqueous buffered solution both in the presence and absence of chemiluminescent enhancers such as BDMQ, exhibits higher than desirable thermal and non-enzymatically activated light emission, or "noise." Such noise can be attributed to emission from the excited state adamantanone and of the methyl m-oxybenzoate anion derived from the aromatic portion of the AMPPD® molecule. The measured noise level of AMPPD® can be as much as two orders of magnitude above the dark current in a standard luminometer. This noise can therefore limit the levels of detection and prevent the realization of ultimate sensitivity in chemiluminescent assays.
Also, various instruments for detecting chemiluminescent emission such as charge coupled device (CCD) cameras have greater detection sensitivities in the green and red wavelengths. AMPPD® and related dioxetanes typically emit in the shorter wavelengths (e.g., blue wavelengths) of the visible spectrum. Heretofore, polymeric enhancers have been used to "shift" the emission wavelength toward the green or red end of the visible spectrum. It would therefore be desirable to obtain dioxetanes which emit radiation in wavelengths closer to the green portion or toward the red end of the visible spectrum to enhance detection sensitivity.
It is therefore an object of this invention to decrease the time necessary to conduct assays, and particularly bioassays, in which enzymatically cleavable chemiluminescent 1,2-dioxetanes are used as reporter molecules.
It is also an object of this invention to provide new and improved enzymatically cleavable chemiluminescent 1,2-dioxetanes which, when used as reporter molecules in assays, and in particular bioassays, reduce the time required to complete the assay.
A further object of this invention is to provide new and improved enzymatically cleavable chemiluminescent 1,2-dioxetanes for use as substrates for enzyme-based assays, and particularly bioassays, which provide improved signal to background behavior and thus provide improved detection levels.
A further object of this invention is the provision of dioxetane whose emission wavelengths are shifted toward the green and red wavelengths.
A still further object of this invention is to provide novel intermediates useful in synthesizing these improved enzymatically cleavable 1,2-dioxetanes.
Another object of this invention is to provide methods of preparing these enzymatically cleavable chemiluminescent 1,2-dioxetanes and intermediates thereof.
These and other objects, as well as the nature, scope and utilization of this invention, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and the appended claims.

Heteroaryl substituted benzothiazole dioxetanes


Method for determining weight of an occupying item of a seat in a vehicle having a seat cushion assembly and a seat back assembly defining a contact surface adapted to be in contact with the occupying item of the seat in which a support structure is arranged underneath the seat cushion assembly to support the seat on a substrate in the vehicle. The support structure transfers a force exerted by the occupying item on the support structure to the substrate. At least one strain measuring transducer is mounted at a respective location on the support structure to provide a measurement of the strain in the support structure at the location at which it is mounted. The weight of the occupying item of the seat is determined based on the strain in the support structure measured by the strain measuring transducer(s).

A thorough description of background of the invention is found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/733,957, incorporated by reference herein. Also, all patents, patent applications, technical papers and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The use of pattern recognition, or more particularly how it is used, is important to some aspects of the instant invention. "Pattern recognition" as used herein will generally mean any system which processes a signal that is generated by an object (e.g., representative of a pattern of returned or received impulses, waves or other physical property specific to and/or characteristic of and/or representative of that object) or is modified by interacting with an object, in order to determine to which one of a set of classes that the object belongs. Such a system might determine only that the object is or is not a member of one specified class, or it might attempt to assign the object to one of a larger set of specified classes, or find that it is not a member of any of the classes in the set. The signals processed are generally a series of electrical signals coining from transducers that are sensitive to acoustic (ultrasonic) or electromagnetic radiation (e.g., visible light, infrared radiation, radar, or any other frequency), although other sources of information are frequently included.
A trainable or a trained pattern recognition system as used herein generally means a pattern recognition system which is taught to recognize various patterns constituted within signals by subjecting the system to a variety of examples. The most successful such system is the neural network. Thus, to generate the pattern recognition algorithm from returned waves, test data is first obtained which constitutes a plurality of sets of returned waves, or wave patterns, from an object (or from the space in which the object will be situated in the passenger compartment, i.e., the space above the seat) and an indication of the identity of that object, (e.g., a number of different objects are tested to obtain the unique wave patterns from each object). As such, the algorithm is generated, and stored in a computer processor, and which can later be applied to provide the identity of an object based on the wave pattern being received during use by a receiver connected to the processor and other information. For the purposes here, the identity of an object sometimes applies to not only the object itself but also to its location and/or orientation in the passenger compartment. For example, a rear facing child seat is a different object than a forward facing child seat and an out-of-position adult is a different object than a normally seated adult.
Other means of pattern recognition exist where the training is done by the researcher including Fuzzy Logic and Sensor Fusion systems.
To "identify" as used herein will generally mean to determine that the object belongs to a particular set or class. The class may be one containing, for example, all rear facing child seats, one containing all human occupants, or all human occupants not sitting in a rear facing child seat depending on the purpose of the system. In the case where a particular person is to be recognized, the set or class will contain only a single element, i.e., the person to be recognized.
To "ascertain the identity of" as used herein with reference to an object will generally mean to determine the type or nature of the object (obtain information as to what the object is), i.e., that the object is an adult, an occupied rear facing child seat, an occupied front facing child seat, an unoccupied rear facing child seat, an unoccupied front facing child seat, a child, a dog, a bag of groceries, etc.
An "object" or "occupying item" of a seat may be a living occupant such as a human or a dog, another living organism such as a plant, or an inanimate object such as a box or bag of groceries or an empty child seat.
"Out-of-position" as used for an occupant will generally mean that the occupant, either the driver or a passenger, is sufficiently close to the occupant protection apparatus (airbag) prior to deployment that he or she is likely to be more seriously injured by the deployment event itself than by the accident. It may also mean that the occupant is not positioned appropriately in order to attain the beneficial, restraining effects of the deployment of the airbag. As for the occupant being too close to the airbag, this typically occurs when the occupant's head or chest is closer than some distance such as about 5 inches from the deployment door of the airbag module. The actual distance value where airbag deployment should be suppressed depends on the design of the airbag module and is typically farther for the passenger airbag than for the driver airbag.
"Transducer" as used herein will generally mean the combination of a transmitter and a receiver. In some cases, the same device will serve both as the transmitter and receiver while in others two separate devices adjacent to each other will be used. In some cases, a transmitter is not used and in such cases transducer will mean only a receiver. Transducers include, for example, capacitive, inductive, ultrasonic, electromagnetic (antenna, CCD, CMOS arrays), weight measuring or sensing devices.
"Adaptation" as used here represents the method by which a particular occupant sensing system is designed and arranged for a particular vehicle model. It includes such things as the process by which the number, kind and location of various transducers is determined. For pattern recognition systems, it includes the process by which the pattern recognition system is taught to recognize the desired patterns. In this connection, it will usually include (1) the method of training, (2) the makeup of the databases used for training, testing and validating the particular system, or, in the case of a neural network, the particular network architecture chosen, (3) the process by which environmental influences are incorporated into the system, and (4) any process for determining the pre-processing of the data or the post processing of the results of the pattern recognition system. The above list is illustrative and not exhaustive. Basically, adaptation includes all of the steps that are undertaken to adapt transducers and other sources of information to a particular vehicle to create the system that accurately identifies and determines the location of an occupant or other object in a vehicle.

Weight measuring systems and methods for vehicles

Automotive Technologies International, Inc.


A semiconductor assembly for use with forced liquid and gas cooling. A relatively rigid nano-structure (for example, array of elongated nanowires) extends from an interior surface of a cap toward a top surface of a semiconductor chip, but, because of the rigidness and structural integrity of the nano-structure built into the cap, and of the cap itself, the nano-structure is reliably spaced apart from the top surface of the chip, which helps allow for appropriate cooling fluid flows. The cap piece and nano-structures built into the cap may be made of silicon or silicon compounds.

The present invention relates generally to the fields of liquid cooling of semiconductor chip circuitry, including phenomena such as gas-assisted evaporation of the cooling fluid, wetting of the chip surface(s) to be cooled and liquid retention by capillary force.
Gas-assisted direct liquid cooling (GADLC) integrated circuit devices (ICs) are known. GADLC ICs are shaped to define interior space having interior surfaces. At least one of the interior surfaces (herein referred to as the liquid/chip interface) at, or at least close to, the IC circuitry that, in operation, generates heat such that cooling is required, or at least helpful. The interior space may have, located within it, porous material, such as a porous membrane. Gas and coolant fluid are circulated through the interior space in order to remove heat from the vicinity of the heat-generating circuitry of the IC.
It is conventionally recognized that conventional GADLC ICs may experience "dry spots" at the liquid/chip interface. These dry spots hamper the cooling efficiency and reliability of the technology. In order to attempt to reduce dry spots, conventional GADLC IC include a membrane (as mentioned in the previous paragraph) and a support layer. The membrane and support layer are located in the interior space. This membrane and support layer are separate parts that are not integral or unitary with the material that forms the interior surfaces of the interior space. The membrane is conventionally a micro-/nano-porous membrane to maintain the coolant in the pores, and a porous support layer at the interface to keep the nano-membrane from coming in to direct contact with the chip.

Semiconductor package with structures for cooling fluid retention

International Business Machines Corporation


An active device array substrate including a substrate, an active device array, an detecting circuit, a plurality of driver chip pads, a plurality of flexible printed circuit (FPC) pads, a plurality of connection lines and an inner shorting ring is provided. The active device array and the detecting circuit are disposed on the substrate, and the detecting circuit is electrically connected to the active device array. The driver chip pads and the FPC pads are disposed on the substrate, wherein the driver chip pads are electrically connected to the active device array. The connection lines are disposed on the substrate, and each of the connection lines is respectively connected to the detecting circuit and the corresponding FPC pad. The inner shorting ring is disposed on the substrate, and the inner shorter ring is respectively electrically connected to the corresponding FPC pad and the active device array.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an active device array substrate, and more particularly, to an active device array substrate for liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
2. Description of Related Art
The rapid development of the multimedia technology in modern age is largely attributed to the progress in the semiconductor devices and display apparatuses. In terms of displays, an LCD has played a major role in the mainstream display market due to advantages of high display quality, high space utilization, low power consumption and no radiation.
A thin film transistor liquid crystal display module (TFT-LCD module) mainly comprises an LCD panel and a backlight module, wherein the LCD panel usually comprises a TFT array substrate, a color filter substrate and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the above-mentioned two substrates, while the backlight module is for providing a planar light source required by the LCD panel to enable the LCD module to display.
A TFT array substrate can be divided into a display region and a peripheral circuit region, wherein a plurality of pixel elements arranged in an array on the display region and each pixel element includes a TFT and a pixel electrode electrically connected to the TFT. In addition, a plurality of scan lines and a plurality of data lines are disposed on the peripheral circuit region and the display region, wherein the TFT of each pixel element is controlled by the corresponding scan line and data line.
Whenever completing a process of TFT array substrate, an electric testing is usually conducted on the pixel elements on the TFT array substrate to decide whether the pixel elements can properly work or not. When a pixel element is found out of order, a repair process would be started on the defected device (for example, a defected TFT or a defected pixel electrode) or the circuit.
Usually a probe is used to perform an electric testing on the peripheral circuit. In more detail, the peripheral circuit is equipped with a plurality of testing pads electrically connected to the scan lines and data lines. During testing, the probe contacts each testing pad and produces a testing signal, according to which the pixel element can be decided for order or disorder. In order to increase the testing efficiency, a probe testing apparatus based on 6-probes testing architecture was developed by Photon Dynamics Inc. (PDI). When a probe testing apparatus of the PDI is used to test a panel having chip on glass (COG) design, only six testing lines are used for connecting the TFT array to a detecting circuit. Therefore, once an electrostatic discharge (ESD) occurs, except for an inner shorting ring, there is no other transmission paths for releasing the static charges, which likely causes a damage on the circuit.


A composite cosmetic container has a first sleeve, a driving assembly, multiple vessels and a second sleeve. The driving assembly is mounted in the first sleeve and has a first rotating tube, multiple seats and a second rotating tube. The first rotating tube is coactively mounted in the first sleeve. The vessels are respectively mounted in the seats of the driving assembly. The second sleeve is coactively mounted on the second rotating tube of the driving assembly. The composite cosmetic container facilitates easy control of the vessels to selectively move upward and downward by the relative rotation between the first sleeve and the second sleeve. Multiple cosmetic products are respectively contained in the vessels and are easy to dispense. Accordingly, the options of the cosmetic products contained in the container are increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container, and more particularly to a composite cosmetic container that is capable of containing multiple cosmetic products and is easy to operate.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional cosmetic container has a first rotating tube, a second rotating tube, a seat and a vessel. The first rotating tube has an inner surface and two longitudinal grooves formed in the inner surface of the first rotating tube. The second rotating tube is rotatably mounted around the first rotating tube. The second rotating tube has an outer surface and two guide chutes formed through the outer surface of the second rotating tube. The seat has a body and two protrusions. The protrusions are mounted on an outer surface of the body. The protrusions are inserted into the longitudinal grooves and the guide chutes respectively. The vessel is mounted on the body. The vessel has a chamber and an outlet. The chamber is formed in the vessel to contain a cosmetic product. The outlet is formed in the vessel and is in communication with the chamber.
Users can rotate the first rotating tube, and then the first rotating tube is rotated with the second rotating tube. The protrusions of the seat are moved along the longitudinal grooves of the first rotating tube and the guide chutes of the second rotating tube, and then the seat drives the vessel to move upward or downward. When the vessel moves upward, the outlet of the vessel extends out, and the cosmetic product in the body can be dispensed easily.
The relative rotation between the first rotating tube and the second rotating tube can only drive a single vessel to move upward or downward, and the vessel only contains one cosmetic product. Therefore, the cosmetic container is not versatile in use.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a composite cosmetic container to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.


Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method, and computer program product to detect and localize non-technical losses in an energy distribution system. A computing device determines the energy consumption of a link and/or node that is associated with an energy grid. The computing device determines the mismatch between the determined energy consumption of the link and/or node and the predicted energy consumption of the link and/or node. The computing device also determines the location of unauthorized energy consumption within the energy that is associated with the mismatch.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of electric power distribution systems, and more particularly to detecting and localizing non-technical loss in electric power distribution systems. Electric power distribution is the final stage in the delivery of electricity to energy consumers. A distribution system's network carries electricity from the transmission system and delivers it to energy consumers.
Electrical power grids are interconnected networks for delivering electricity from suppliers to consumers. They consist of generating stations that produce electrical power, high-voltage transmission lines that carry power from sources to demand centers, and distribution lines that connect individual customers. Smart grids are electrical power grids that use information and communications technology to gather and act on information, such as information about the behaviors and consumers, in an automated fashion to improve the efficiency, economics, and sustainability of the production and distribution of electricity. Smart grids may use smart meters, which are electrical meters that record consumption of electric energy and communicates that information for monitoring and billing. Smart meters can provide information of when energy was consumed at each metered site.
Non-technical losses (hereinafter "NTL") are commercial losses that can not be attributed to energy being lost through the network of internal consumption. NTL may occur due to unnoticed high impedance fault, meter fault or electricity theft in the form of fraud, theft, billing irregularities and unpaid energy bills. NTL affects developing as well as developed nations. For example, estimated NTL in Mexico is 10-20%, South America 10-16%, India 20-40%, and in the United States NTL is estimated to be about 0.5-3.5%.

Non-technical loss detection and localization


A circuit that protects against ESD and avoids an excessive power voltage drop during the protection operation includes a control circuit that is connected between power terminals and outputs a control signal when a voltage between the power terminals exceeds a predetermined value due to a surge current, and an asymmetric current transfer device including a PN junction reverse-biased by the power voltage between the power terminals, that is connected in series with the output current channel of a shunt transistor. The conductivity of the shunt transistor is controlled according to the control signal.

Various types of protection circuits against Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) are known. ESD may be a discharge from an electrostatically charged human or machine to a semiconductor device, a discharge from a charged semiconductor device to earth, and the like. When the ESD occurs in a semiconductor device, a large amount of electric charge flows as a current from a terminal into the semiconductor device and the charge increases the high voltage inside the semiconductor device, which may result in a dielectric breakdown of the internal devices and a fault of the semiconductor device. Especially, in the case of a semiconductor device for automobile use, the device may be affected by an instant surge caused by an inductive load of a motor or a relay and the like, and therefore, protection of the device against ESD, while maintaining operating voltage to the vehicle components is important.
While, in the case of using a resistor-capacitor (RC) timer power clamp, and the like, as the ESD protection circuit, a shunt transistor turns on, to absorb the charge, thereby lowering the power voltage. According to this, when the operation of the protection circuit lasts for a long time, a malfunction may happen in the internal circuit caused by the drop of the power voltage, or a breakdown may happen in the shunt transistor because of the extended operation of the shunt transistor.


A device is disclosed for assisting surgical operations inside a vessel, particularly for the minimally invasive explantation and implantation of cardiac valves, comprising an operating structure adapted to be implanted within the vessel, that is adapted to be fixedly and detachably joined to the inner wall of the vessel and is provided with at least one connector and/or support structure for a further instrument required for the surgical operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for assisting surgical operations inside a vessel, particularly for the minimally invasive explantation and implantation of cardiac valves for ablation of an artic valve on the human heart by a minimally invasive surgical operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The malfunctioning of an aortic valve results in cardiac insufficiency and hence in a situation that is potentially fatal for the patient. For repair of such a defect, artificial aortic valves have been developed which are implanted as a substitute for the damaged valve in complex and risky open-heart surgery (sternotomy). The operation becomes particularly difficult when there is strong calcareous degeneration on the natural valve because painstaking attention must be paid during removal in order to ensure that calcification particles will not enter the blood circulation and cause there thromboses at other sites in the body. It is common to fasten the replacement valves which are either mere engineering products or derived from porcine valves by suturing in the place of the removed valve.
There are numerous approaches in the development of methods simplifying this complex procedure of aortic-valve replacement in terms of both the surgical technique and the discomfort and strain for the patient, aiming at a minimally invasive technique of replacement of the aortic valve. In these approaches, the operation is performed via the femoral artery or even through the groin.
In view of the very restricted possibilities of access in the aortic arch, it is inevitable to adopt complex surgical strategies, firstly for explantation of the calcified artic valve and secondly for the implantation of an artificial valve in situ. Apart from all difficulties involved in the surgical operation even though minimally invasive surgery is concerned that operates on advanced catheter technology the surgeon is required to apply a maximum of concentration and above all a steady hand, specifically because the individual steps of surgical handling are within the millimetre range and therebelow. With the minimally invasive operation being performed with a sustained natural function of the heart, it is moreover important to carry out the operation as quickly as possible in order to keep the strain on the cardiac system at a minimum, which means that an operation of this kind is performed under a certain pressure in terms of time.

Device for supporting a surgical step in a vessel, particularly for removal and implantation of heart valves


Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for random access channel (RACH) design using basis functions are provided. One method includes receiving, at an access point employing a receiver with Q antennas, a random access channel (RACH) preamble sent from a mobile unit. The receiving may comprise receiving the same RACH preamble at B different time intervals where the access point beamforms with a different beam selected from B basis function beams at each of the different time intervals.

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) refers to a communications network including base stations, or Node Bs, and for example radio network controllers (RNC). UTRAN allows for connectivity between the user equipment (UE) and the core network. The RNC provides control functionalities for one or more Node Bs. The RNC and its corresponding Node Bs are called the Radio Network Subsystem (RNS). In case of E-UTRAN (enhanced UTRAN), no RNC exists and most of the RNC functionalities are contained in the enhanced Node B (eNodeB or eNB).
Long Term Evolution (LTE) or E-UTRAN refers to improvements of the UMTS through improved efficiency and services, lower costs, and use of new spectrum opportunities. In particular, LTE is a 3GPP standard that provides for uplink peak rates of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) and downlink peak rates of at least 100 Mbps. LTE supports scalable carrier bandwidths from 20 MHz down to 1.4 MHz and supports both Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) and Time Division Duplexing (TDD).
As mentioned above, LTE may also improve spectral efficiency in networks, allowing carriers to provide more data and voice services over a given bandwidth. Therefore, LTE is designed to fulfill the needs for high-speed data and media transport in addition to high-capacity voice support. Advantages of LTE include, for example, high throughput, low latency, FDD and TDD support in the same platform, an improved end-user experience, and a simple architecture resulting in low operating costs.
Certain releases of 3GPP LTE (e.g., LTE Rel-11, LTE Rel-12, LTE Rel-13, LTE Rel-14) are targeted towards international mobile telecommunications advanced (IMT-A) systems, referred to herein for convenience simply as LTE-Advanced (LTE-A).
LTE-A is directed toward extending and optimizing the 3GPP LTE radio access technologies. A goal of LTE-A is to provide significantly enhanced services by means of higher data rates and lower latency with reduced cost. LTE-A is a more optimized radio system fulfilling the international telecommunication union-radio (ITU-R) requirements for IMT-Advanced while keeping the backward compatibility. One of the key features of LTE-A is carrier aggregation, which allows for increasing the data rates through aggregation of two or more LTE carriers.
Furthermore, a global bandwidth shortage facing wireless carriers has motivated the consideration of the underutilized millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency spectrum for future broadband cellular communication networks. mmWave (or extremely high frequency) generally refers to the frequency range between 30 and 300 gigahertz (GHz). This is the highest radio frequency band in practical use today. Radio waves in this band have wavelengths from ten to one millimeter, giving it the name millimeter band or millimeter wave.
The amount of wireless data might increase one thousand fold over the next ten years. Essential elements in solving this challenge include obtaining more spectrum, having smaller cell sizes, and using improved technologies enabling more bits/s/Hz. An important element in obtaining more spectrum is to move to higher frequencies, above 6 GHz. For fifth generation wireless systems (5G), an access architecture for deployment of cellular radio equipment employing mmWave radio spectrum has been proposed. In addition to extending cellular service into the mmWave band, dynamic spectrum access is an important technique to improve spectrum utilization.

Random access channel using basis functions


A process for the fed batch production of a sophorolipid composition is described, in which culturing takes place of at least one Candida bombicola strain in a culture medium incorporating a sugar and a nitrogen source and said cultured strain is exposed in a reaction zone to a supply of an appropriate substrate under adequate aeration, temperature and pH conditions and at least once the following sequence is performed: a) the strain is continuously supplied with substrate at a supply rate in the reaction zone between 0.01 and 4 grams per hour and per liter of initial reaction volume and for a supply time such that the residual substrate concentration in the reaction zone is maintained at a value at the most equal to 18 grams per liter of initial reaction volume during said supply time; and b) the sophorolipid composition produced is recovered; the process being characterized in that the substrate essentially consists of at least one animal oil, at least one vegetable and/or at least one ester of said oil, said oils and said ester incorporating an aliphatic linear chain with 10 to 24 carbon atoms.

The invention relates to a process for the production with continuous supply or fed batch of a sophorolipid composition, incorporating a major part of at least partly acetylated acids and the thus obtained sophorolipid composition.
It is stated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,205,150 and 3,312,684 that a quantity of sophorolipids was produced by a fermentation process using a culture of Torulopsis bombicola, a strain presently classified as Candida bombicola. The prior art is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,445,337 and in Journal of the American Oil Chemistry Society, vol.65, no.9, September 1988, pp.1460-1466.
French patent application 2670798 also describes a process for the production of sophorolipids by fermentation with continuous supply or fed batch of esters of fatty acids or oils.
The sophorolipids obtained are considered as being a mixture of compounds represented by formulas (1) and (2), formula (1) representing the acid form and formula (2) the lactone form: ##STR1##
In these formulas, R.sup.1 represents hydrogen or an acetyl group and R.sup.2 hydrogen or an alkyl radical having 1 to 9 carbon atoms, when R.sup.3 is a saturated hydrocarbon radical with 7 to 16 carbon atoms, or R.sup.2 represents hydrogen or a methyl group, when R.sup.3 is an unsaturated hydrocarbon radical with 13 to 17 carbon atoms.
Hitherto the preparation processes for products describe numerous homologues and the separation of one of the main forms (acid or lactone) e.g. requires extractions by alcohol (EP-B-209783), which are both long and expensive. Moreover, extraction by a specific solvent does not always give good results, because the solubility of all the homologues in a solvent can differ significantly, which affects the quality of the products obtained.
In addition, methanolysis reactions in the presence of an acid catalyst do not give better results and what is frequently obtained is a mixture of deacetylated esters or acids. The prior art (U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,166) also points out that it is extremely difficult to prepare by fermentation a desired product having a given homologue ratio.
Finally, it is known that the acetyl bonds in sophorolipids are chemically unstable and are very easily hydrolyzed by heating or prolonged storage close to neutrality or even at ambient temperature under slightly alkaline conditions, which leads to the obtaining of the completely deacetylated acid form. It is therefore extremely difficult by fermentation or chemistry to obtain a single product and a fortiori an acetylated product.
Moreover, in petroleum applications e.g. linked with the assisted recovery of petroleum, it is necessary to be able to create water-in-oil emulsions and therefore to be able to have emulsifying products which are more hydrophobic than hydrophilic, which cannot be the case of deacetylated acid products.
Therefore there is a demand in the industry for products having a fatty acid function and a saccharide structure with acetylated functions masking the very hydrophilic hydroxyl groups, particularly on products obtained by fermentation and incorporating a saccharide structure such as sophorose.

Production of sophorolipid acetate acids from oils or esters


To display a real image forming apparatus together with job information about printing jobs accumulated in this image forming apparatus. A mobile terminal acquires an identification number of an image-captured image forming apparatus by image recognition processing of image data. Further, mobile terminal generates a screen layout corresponding to a detection location of image forming apparatus obtained from the image data. Further, mobile terminal transmits, to a server, an inquiry request for address information, including the identification number. Server has address information about each image forming apparatus. When server receives the inquiry request for address information, it identifies image forming apparatus corresponding to the identification number, and transmits an IP address of identified image forming apparatus to mobile terminal. Mobile terminal uses the acquired IP address to acquire job information about printing jobs from image forming apparatus, synthesizing the job information with the image data for display.

The present disclosure relates to an image forming system which includes a mobile terminal, an image forming apparatus, and a server, and an image forming apparatus, and particularly to an image forming system which is capable of confirming a job information about an image forming apparatus, and an image forming apparatus.
With an image forming apparatus, such as a printer, an MFP (Multifunctional Peripheral), or the like, when printing jobs are charged, the printing jobs are normally executed in sequence in the order of having been loaded. The printing jobs which have been loaded are accumulated in a storage part in the inside of the image forming apparatus until the turn of being executed comes. What amount of printing jobs is accumulated in the image forming apparatus can be confirmed by displaying information about the printing jobs which have been accumulated.
Incidentally, there have been proposed various types of techniques for displaying the accumulated data. For example, there has been proposed a technique which arranges the data stored in the storage part on a three-dimensional coordinate space in accordance with the date of preparation and the category, and displays it in the display part.

Image forming system and image forming apparatus to display together with job information about printing jobs


In reagent reaction experiments using microplates, a desired period of time can be set for determining the time to introduce a reaction stop solution after introduction of a reagent. The set time is measured starting from the introduction of the reagent and the reaction stop solution is introduced immediately after expiration of the set time. A control device for an automatic liquid handling system having the above-described reaction time managing feature is also provided with a self-diagnosing function that is capable of determining whether scheduled processes are executable or not during the time set before execution of the processes and informing an operator of the results of determination.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the control device for an automatic liquid handling system that manages reaction time of reagent or enzymes that are used in drug metabolic experiments.
2. Description of Related Art
In the development of new drugs, drug metabolic experiments are frequently carried out, and each experiment is involved with a large amount of work. It is therefore essential to reduce mistakes caused by human error. To this end, human operations tend to be replaced by automatic mechanical operations.
It is important to manage a reagent reaction time in drug metabolic experiments. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-83650 discloses an automatic test apparatus used in conducting metabolic experiments. The apparatus includes a three-dimensionally movable robot having a tip end on which a single dispensing probe is mounted. With this apparatus, a solution of specimen is dripped into a reaction stop solution stored in a vial after expiration of a predetermined period of time during which reaction occurs. This period of time is specifically determined depending on the specimen subject to the experiment. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-83650 discloses setting an enzyme reaction time to be 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 120 minutes as examples. Selection of the reaction time is carried out by a program installed in a control device.
The above-described apparatus is disadvantageous in that with a single dispensing probe, a number of experiments cannot be performed at high speed. To resolve the disadvantage, recent tendency is to use microplates having wells formed in an n-by-m matrix instead of vials. The use of microplates reduces costs and the quantity of reagent. In an automatic liquid handling system using the microplates, a large number of processings involved in a drug metabolic experiment can be performed at high speed.
However, accurate and reliable experiment cannot be performed with the automatic liquid handling system using the microplates. Despite the fact that a small quantity of reagent shortens a reaction time, reaction time in different rows of the wells on the microplate varies due to variation in robot operation time, time needed for attaching and detaching the dispensing tips to and from the robot, and a work time needed for an operator to temporarily stop the robot to supplement the reagent. The above-described disadvantages are particularly fatal in the case where a desired reaction time is short or a reagent reaction time expires during the robot is executing another process.
Further problem arises such that when the system is restarted due to occurrence of operational errors or accidental power down of the system, execution of the outstanding process may be finished before or after expiration of a desired reaction time. In such cases, the results of experiment are not available and so the experiment per se is vain.

Control device for automatic liquid handling system


A cryosurgical probe and method for treating cancer by cryosurgically destroying cancer cells by way of an ice ball formed at the distal end of the cryosurgical probe being located in proximity to the cancerous tissue to be treated. The probe is surrounded by a thermally insulating sheath. By varying the length and thickness of the thermally insulating sheath as well as the length of the unsheathed distal tip of the probe, the size and shape of the ice ball produced by the cryosurgical probe can be controllably tailored to correspond to the size, shape and location of the cancerous tissue so as to localize the cryogenic effect. Alternatively, the size and shape of the ice ball can be controlled by surrounding the cryosurgical probe with a heated sheath having a heating element and a temperature sensor to detect the temperature to which the sheath is heated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cryosurgical probe and method for treating cancer by cryosurgically destroying the cancer cells. The probe is surrounded by a thermally insulating and/or heated sheath having particular dimensions so as to produce an ice ball having a corresponding size and shape that are tailored to the size, shape and location of the cancerous tissue.
2. Background Art
Cryosurgical devices have been known for use in destroying cancerous cells in a localized tissue area of a patient undergoing treatment. Early cryosurgical devices used gases or liquid nitrogen to generate extremely low temperatures to kill cancerous cells. The gaseous system typically relied on the Jewel-Thompson principal to produce a cryogenic effect, and the liquid system was based directly upon the thermal characteristics of the liquid nitrogen. Such early devices were used solely for the surface treatment of pathologic lesions but not to penetrate human tissue. These early devices are characterized by relatively low pressure (e.g. about 6 psi) and interchangeable tips to provide a desired result. Consequently, the early cryosurgical devices had limited cryogenic capacity and correspondingly limited application.
More recent cryosurgical devices are either of higher pressure (e.g. about 80 psi) liquid nitrogen systems or high pressure (e.g. 2,800 psi) argon gas systems. Such devices are typically characterized by a closed end probe in which the cryogen circulates to the probe tip. The probe tips are adapted to penetrate the patient's tissue (e.g. the prostate, liver, breast and brain) in which the cancerous cells reside. However, these recent cryosurgical probes cannot be easily modified to accept tip changes without significantly effecting the probe performance. Likewise, the cost to redesign a probe to accept different tips is expensive and often leads to operating characteristics that may not be suitable for all applications (i.e. the cryogenic effect could be severely compromised).
For example, a significant problem that is faced in prostate surgery is that the size and shape of the prostate gland varies from one patient to the next. If the ice ball that is generated by the cryogenic effect is too long, there is the risk that the neighboring sphincter will also be frozen resulting in the possibility of incontinence. If the patient's prostate is cylindrical rather than ellipsoid, the ice ball may not adequately conform to the prostate shape, whereby to introduce a risk of incomplete freezing of the cancerous cells in the prostate gland or freezing beyond the prostate and into the bladder or rectum resulting in the possibility of a urethral-rectal fistula. What is more, the round and/or tear drop shaped ice ball that is usually produced by the conventional cryoprobe does not fit well within the generally tubular seminal vesicle that is attached to the prostate which may lead to an unsuccessful procedure or other complications.
Therefore, what is needed is a cryosurgical probe that is quickly, easily and inexpensively adapted to vary the size and shape of an ice ball during cryosurgery depending upon the location and type of tissue to be treated so as to confine the cryogenic effect to a localized cancerous area and thereby avoid the risks that are associated with conventional cryoprobes.

Cryosurgical probe having insulating and heated sheaths


Methods to manufacture integrated circuits are described. Nanocrystalline diamond is used as a hard mask in place of amorphous carbon. Provided is a method of processing a substrate in which nanocrystalline diamond is used as a hard mask, wherein processing methods result in a smooth surface. The method involves two processing parts. Two separate nanocrystalline diamond recipes are combined—the first and second recipes are cycled to achieve a nanocrystalline diamond hard mask having high hardness, high modulus, and a smooth surface. In other embodiments, the first recipe is followed by an inert gas plasma smoothening process and then the first recipe is cycled to achieve a high hardness, a high modulus, and a smooth surface.

As the semiconductor industry introduces new generations of integrated circuits (ICs) having higher performance and greater functionality, the density of the elements that form those ICs is increased, while the dimensions, size, and spacing between the individual components or elements are reduced. While in the past such reductions were limited only by the ability to define the structures using photo lithography, device geometries having dimensions measured in μm or nm have created new limiting factors, such as the conductivity of the metallic elements, the dielectric constant of the insulating material(s) used between the elements, or challenges in 3D NAND or DRAM processes. These limitations may benefit by more durable and higher hardness hard masks.
The direct way to reduce cost per bit and increase chip density in 3D NAND is by adding more layers. One of the critical steps in 3D NAND technology is slit etch prior to silicon nitride (SiN) recess for metal contact deposition. As the number of tiers increase in each technology node, to control the slit etch profile (uniform etching from top to bottom), the thickness of the hard mask has to be proportionally increased to withstand high aspect etch profiles. Traditionally, a very high-quality hard mask film, which has high etch selectivity, unparalleled hardness, and high density is used. Current hard mask films include pure or doped plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) amorphous carbon (aC:H) based films due to high hardness and modulus, film transparency, and ease in removing after slit etching. PECVD amorphous carbon hard mask films, however, have problems with delamination/peeling at bevel (major issue in downstream etch process), becoming more opaque with thicker films (photo alignment issue), and poor morphology, leading to pillar striations, one sided bow, and pillar twisting.
Nanocrystalline diamond is known as a high hardness material which can be used as a hard mask in semiconductor device processing. Nanocrystalline diamond hard mask films, while having high hardness and modulus, have high surface roughness. Accordingly, there is a need for hard masks that have high hardness and modulus, but that have low surface roughness.

Tribological properties of diamond films


A method of managing execution threads launched by processes being executed in a computer unit having at least one calculation core connected to a shared memory. The method includes the steps of:                using a zone of the shared memory that is accessible to all of the processes and execution threads for the purpose of managing calculation tokens;        when a thread seeks to execute, that thread verifies that a calculation token is available;        if a calculation token is available, the thread allocates the calculation token to itself by updating the shared memory and it continues its execution, and then releases the calculation token at the end of its execution; and        each execution thread has a priority index allocated thereto, and each thread having a task that is being executed is caused periodically to verify that a thread has not been put on standby that has a priority index higher than its own, and where appropriate, causing the thread that is executing to stop executing and release the corresponding calculation token.

The present invention relates to a method of managing execution threads launched by computer processes within a computer unit. The invention also provides a computer unit for performing the method.
A computer unit, such as the central processor unit of a personal computer, of a server, or of a workstation, generally has at least one calculation core connected to a memory containing an operating system (O.S.) and applications.
The execution of an instance of one of these applications gives rise to a process being executed within the unit. Each process may give rise to one or more threads being executed, which threads share the memory of the parent process. For simplification purposes, the term "thread" is used herein to describe code portions that can be executed concurrently, regardless of whether they are the code of processes, or the code of threads created by processes.
High-performance computer units have increasing numbers of calculation cores enabling threads to be executed in parallel. The scheduling of various threads that can make use of the performance of a plurality of cores and the launching of tasks that have different priorities and durations is an operation that is relatively complex, and difficult to calculate and incorporate for the purpose of optimizing both computation streams and response times. In order to retain some control over execution durations and management of priorities, it is generally necessary to have recourse to a so-called "real time" scheduling program. This gives rise to a loss of flexibility in the operation of the computer unit and is expensive to develop.
Certain fields require high levels of computation power, such as for example processing information in databases of very large size, and it is common practice to use computer systems that group together a plurality of multi-core computer units, each of which has access to a portion of the database. In such fields, it can be understood that optimizing the load on the calculation cores with each computer unit serves to reduce the number of computer units needed by the computer system and thus to reduce the cost of the system. Reducing the costs of a system is thus a major target.

Method for managing the threads of execution in a computer unit, and computer unit configured to implement said method

Abstract: A computer unit for performing the method.


According to an exemplary embodiment, a stacked half-bridge package includes a control transistor having a control drain for connection to a high voltage input, a control source coupled to an output terminal, and a control gate for being driven by a driver IC. The stacked half-bridge package further includes a sync transistor having a sync drain for connection to the output terminal, a sync source coupled to a low voltage input, and a sync gate for being driven by the driver IC. The control and sync transistors are stacked on opposite sides of a common conductive leadframe with the common conductive leadframe electrically and mechanically coupling the control source with the sync drain. The common conductive leadframe thereby serves as the output terminal.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/866,744 filed on Apr. 19, 2013, which is itself a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/278,695 filed Oct. 21, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,426,952. Application Ser. No. 13/278,695 in turn claims the benefit of and priority to a provisional application titled "Stacked Packaging Architecture with Reduced Form Factor and Increased Current Density with Application to Power Transistor Packaging," Ser. No. 61/461,110 filed on Jan. 14, 2011. The disclosures in the above-identified patent applications are hereby incorporated fully by reference into the present application.
Moreover, application Ser. No. 11/986,848, filed on Nov. 27, 2007, titled "DC/DC Converter Including a Depletion Mode Power Switch," now U.S. Pat. No. 7,902,809; and pending applications Ser. No. 12/928,102, filed on Dec. 3, 2010, titled "DC/DC Converter with Depletion-Mode III-Nitride Switches," and Ser. No. 12/927,341, filed on Nov. 12, 2010, titled "Semiconductor Package with Metal Straps," are hereby incorporated fully by reference into the present application.


A liquid dispensing device includes a storage container and dome pump mechanism attached thereto for metered dispensing. A one-way valve is employed to pull liquid from the storage container into the dome for metering. An exit passageway serves as an output valve. Each time the dome pump housing is depressed, a substantially equal volume of fluid is dispensed from the container. To prevent accidental dispensing, the one-way valve in the dome pump remains normally open and unsealed to allow backflow of liquid back into the storage container pouch when pressure is placed on the dome. The user squeezes the dome and base plate together to seal the one-way valve to urge liquid out through the exit port for actual dispensing. The dome pump is integrally formed with a top portion of the exit pathway. Optionally, the base plate and bottom portion of the exit pathway are also integrally formed to facilitate manufacture and reduce costs of the pump while improving performance thereof.

This invention relates generally to dispensing devices and packages. More specifically, the present invention relates to metering devices that can controllably dispense fluid media from a source of fluid media, such as a liquid.
Various types of fluid material and media are employed for different purposes through commerce and industry. For example, there are various products in the personal care, home care, air care, transportation care, and food industries that require some type of dispensing of a fluid material from a source of such material. When this material is sold in commerce, it must be contained and stored in some type of container. When that product is used, it must be dispensed from its storage container to a location for use.
In the prior art, there are many different types of dispensers for delivering fluid material. For example, a flexible container body with a nozzle tip is commonly provided for such a purpose. An application of such use is for the dispensing of ketchup where the container body is squeezed by the user to urge the fluid material out from the nozzle tip accurately to a desired location. The amount of fluid delivered is determined by the how much the user squeezed the container body. However, this yields erratic results where more or less fluid material is delivered on each successive squeeze of the container body. Also, the container must be held upright to avoid leakage because no valves are employed.
In another example of a prior art dispensing device, a flexible container holds a volume of fluid material to be delivered. A single one-way check valve is provided as an exit port from the flexible container. When the flexible body is squeezed, the material is urged out under pressure through the valve.
There has also been a desire to not only dispense the fluid material but also to help apply them, such as to a surface. In the prior art, squeezable container bodies have been equipped with some type of applicator head for this purposes. For example, in the personal care industry, body wash devices commonly include some type of squeezable container body and an abrasive applicator material, such as a fabric or foam, applied thereon. Thus, when the fluid material is present outside the container body, the applicator assists in spreading the material on the body of the user by spreading the fluid for more even distribution thereof. Applicators are particularly useful for even distribution in personal care industry, such as for the application of shoe polish, to ensure a quality, even and smooth coat.
There have been attempts in the prior art to provide a dispenser that can easily deliver fluid material to an applicator positioned about a container body. These prior art devices employ, for example, spring-loaded buttons that open up an exit port in the main container body to permit flow to an outer applicator material layer. This is in contrast to requiring the user to squeeze the entire body of the container. However, these devices are incapable of delivering a substantially equal dose of fluid at each dispensing operation because they simply open up the container body and permit the fluid to flow to the applicator material by gravity. As a result, the fluid material must exit at a lower side of the container. Therefore, it is not possible to dispense fluid on more than one side of the container or in a direction opposite to that of gravity. To dispense fluid material without concern for gravity, squeezable container bodies must be employed in the prior art that have all of the disadvantages, as described above.
There is a general desire to be able to attach a metering device to any location and in any fashion to a package, vessel or pouch that contains the material to be dispensed so that the pumped material is directed toward a desired location. For example, it may be desirable to locate the pumping metering device on the top of the device and to provide exit tubing or conduit through the body of the pouch or vessel so that the material exits on the opposing side of the pouch or vessel. Cleaning sponges, for example, are well suited for this configuration where the metering pumping mechanism is located on the top of the sponge while the metering material exits on the opposing side of the sponge, namely, the opposite surface that mates with the surface to be cleaned.
Also, there is a desire to configure a metering pumping mechanism that includes the metering pump and the exit port on the exterior of the surface of the pouch or vessel that contains the material to be dispensed. In certain environments, such as stand-up gusseted pouches, printed vessels, reclosable zipper pouches, pouches with tear notches and punch holes have a need for an improved metering dispensing system.
There is also a particular need in the prior art for a dispensing device that is capable of preventing inadvertent or accidental dispensing of liquid. There is a need for a dispenser that requires the user to manipulate the dispenser in a specific way in order to successfully dispense liquid therefrom. There is also a need for a dispenser construction that can remain substantially free of leaks and unwanted dispensing when not in use.

Metering dispensing system with improved valving to prevent accidental dispensing of liquid therefrom


A method for providing improved sequential read performance in a storage controller is provided. In response to the storage controller receiving a host read request from a host computer, the method includes identifying, by the storage controller, a largest burst length of a plurality of burst lengths in a memory of the storage controller, and determining a maximum number of consecutive times between bursts having a value less than a predetermined value. A burst includes a consecutive group of sequential host read requests from the same host computer. The method also includes multiplying the largest burst length of the plurality of burst lengths by the maximum number of consecutive times between bursts having a value less than the predetermined value to obtain an effective burst length and reading into a storage controller cache memory at least the effective burst length of data from storage devices coupled to the storage controller.

The need to store digital files, documents, pictures, images and other data continues to increase rapidly. In connection with the electronic storage of data, systems incorporating one or more data storage controllers have been devised. Storage controllers receive data read and write requests from host computers and control one or more physical storage devices to beneficially store or provide the requested data from/to the host computers.
Storage controllers generally buffer read and write data requests, often converting the host data read and write requests into RAID or storage device read or write requests. Many storage controllers store read and write data in cache memories included as part of the storage controllers. Cache memories are small compared to external storage devices such as hard drives, and generally orders of magnitude faster. However, cache memory costs significantly more per byte than storage devices, and therefore cache memory size is correspondingly small in order to be cost effective. The need is always present for cache memories to operate as efficiently as possible in order for overall storage controller performance to be maximized to all interconnected host computers.
Many storage controllers have separate areas of memory dedicated to read cache and write cache. If requested data is in the read cache when a host computer requests the data that is a "cache hit". If requested data is not in the read cache when a host computer requests the data that is a "cache miss". In the case of a read cache, it is advantageous for a cache memory to store data before a host computer requests the data. In this way, the requested data can be provided at faster cache memory speeds instead of slower storage device speeds. In order for a read cache to contain data before a host computer requests the data, it is necessary for the storage controller to predict in advance which data is likely to be requested, and perform a read ahead operation to read the data from storage devices and store the data in the read cache. Read ahead operations are desirable since they improve the ratio of cache hits to cache misses.

Method and apparatus for efficient cache read ahead


A system and method for providing a reusable connection handle to managed connections within transactions, or other scoping mechanisms, preferably in a Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) software architecture on a computer platform. The system and method further allows for multiple connection handles to share the same managed connection within, but not outside of, the confines of the scoping mechanism. The connection handle is selectively disassociated from a managed connection whereby the connection handle enters a disassociated state, and then is selectively reassociated with a managed connection within the software architecture when desired.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer systems and software. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method of providing a reusable connection handle for connections, which operate within a particular sharing scope, preferably within a Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) software environment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) is a software standard for developing multitier enterprise applications. The J2EE architecture has a client tier, middle tier, and back-end tier. The client tier supports a variety of client types, and the middle tier supports client services and business logic through Web and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) containers in the middle tier. The back-end tier includes the enterprise information systems (EIS) in the EIS tier and many standard APIs for accessing databases. One of skill in the art can accordingly alter the objects and components resident on the several tiers. "Containers" are standardized runtime environments that provide services to components on the platform. All containers provide runtime support for responding to client requests and returning results to clients. The containers also provide APIs to support user session management. One of the APIs provided in the J2EE platform is the Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) which is the API for accessing information in enterprise name and directory services.
Resident within the J2EE architecture is the "resource adapter" that plays a central role in the integration and connectivity between an EIS and an application server and serves as the point of contact between application components, application servers and enterprise information systems. A resource adapter and other components, must communicate with one another based on the well-defined "contract" defined by the J2EE Connector Architecture. To enable seamless integration with an application server, a resource adapter abides by system-level contracts defined by the connector architecture. These contracts exist between the application server and the EIS, and are implemented through the resource adapter. The contracts specify how a system external to the J2EE platform integrates with it by supporting basic functions handled by the J2EE container. There are three major contracts: the "connection management contract" which allows applications to connect to an EIS, and enables the application server to utilize pooling; the "transaction management contract" which allows an application server to manage and perform transactional access across one to many EIS resource managers; and the "security contract" which provides support for secure access to the EIS.
On a J2EE platform, a "ManagedConnection" interface provides an application-level connection handle from the EIS to the resource adapter's ManagedConnection instance. The interface also provides methods, such as "cleanup," to reinitialize the instance and free resources after communication ceases. The instance does not close the connection, however, as such function is required by the application server so connection pooling can be utilized. Thus, a Connection Manager's (CM) job, within a Web Application Server, is to acquire, on behalf of users, connections to various backend resource managers (RMs), such as DB2, involve the resource manager in the server's transactions, and manage the connection life cycle, which includes pooling the connection and resources for reuse. In addition, the Java 2 Connector (J2C) architecture specification defines two characteristics of how connections can be rendered by the CM to the user: shareable and non-shareable. Also, within the J2C Architecture, the CM interacts with the Resource Adapter to create and destroy connections and receive notifications about life cycle events regarding the usage of that connection. The CM requests that the RA create a ManagedConnection (MC) that the CM manages. From the managed connection the CM obtains a "connection," or "handle" to the connection, which the CM then hands back to the requesting user. When users request non-shareable connections within the J2EE platform, the CM ensures that only one handle is handed out for a specific MC. And for shareable connections, more than one handle for a specific MC can be allocated by the CM and several users can share that MC. The sharing ability of connections allows the J2EE platform to have excellent performance and utilization of system resources.
The J2C specification also permits users to hold connection handles across multiple sharing scopes (i.e., multiple transactions) because the users should be able to iteratively access the resources in the same manner without having to obtain a new connection handle. In the case of shareable connections, it is very desirable to only allow sharing within a well-defined sharing scope. As an example, when multiple handles are used within the same transaction, the handle can share a single MC (assuming the usage properties are the same). Consequently when a sharing scope ends, it is insured that the handle is no longer associated with the managed connections to avoid unnecessary allocation of resources and to avoid future uses of the handles in different sharing scopes while being associated with the same MC. However, the system must also insure that the next time the user requires use of the handle the user holds, the handle is associated to an appropriate MC in a transparent fashion. A problem accordingly arises in that it is difficult to properly reassociate handles with managed connections when the sharing boundary ends.
The J2C specification however provides no means by which a handle can be "disassociated" when the sharing boundary, such as a transaction, goes out of scope. The J2C connection handle only has one active state and must be associated with a MC. If the handle is not associated with an MC it is in an invalid state and is no longer usable. In. the prior art, if nothing special is done, when the sharing scope/transaction ends, a cleanup method is called on the MC and the MC is returned to the free pool. The cleanup call forces all handles associated with that MC into an invalid state, thus the next time the user tries to use that handle, the user will get an exception.
To avoid this, in the existing architecture, the handle associated with a MC is "parked" before the cleanup call is made, thus keeping the handles valid. In operation, when a connection handle is first assigned to a user, it is in a state such that it is associated with a MC. The MC provides a method, called "associateConnection( )" which allows a connection handle that is associated with a MC to be associated with a new MC. "Parking" refers to the process by which the application server gets a connection specifically to allow handles, which are currently not actively being used, to be associated with it, or a "parking connection." At some time before the end of the sharing scope, and thus before the cleanup method is called on the MC, all handles must be "parked" against the "parking connection" via the MC's associateConnection method. Then when the cleanup method is called on the MC there are no longer any handles associated with it and no handles become invalid. Before the user of the handle may desire to use the handle again, the handle will have to be moved off of the parking MC and on to an MC appropriate for the current sharing scope the user is entering, i.e. a "reassociation" occurs. Unfortunately, significant performance overhead is possible because a component may hold multiple handles. When a method is requested to run on the component, the container does not know if any or all of the handles will actually be used, thus the container must reassociate all handles even if they are not used. Furthermore, when the method ends, if the end of the method also corresponds to the end of the sharing scope, or the sharing scope ends, the container must then park all handles the component holds, even if those handles were not used.
Summarizing the prior art system on a J2EE platform, just prior to the end of a sharing scope of a transaction, the user's handle is reassociated to a "parking" connection to keep the connection handle valid and thus transferable on the platform. Then the MC cleanup method is called and the ManagedConnection is put back in the free pool. Next, prior to a method call on the user's component (the component holding the connection handle(s)), because the user might require the use of one of its connection handle(s), the call on the component is intercepted (during preinvocation processing) and the handle is reassociated off of the parked connection and onto a valid connection for the current sharing scope.
The prior art solution provides several problems in operation due to its significant performance overhead. One problem occurs since all connections are used within a component, such as an Enterprise Java Bean (EJB), and an entity (called a "container") that manages the life cycle of these components and intercepts all calls to the components use up significant system resources in managing connection handle association. In the prior art system, when a sharing boundary for a resource ends, any handle to connections involved in that sharing boundary will need to be "parked" to a different MC such that the current MC with which the handle is associated is able to have the cleanup method called without invalidating the associated handle(s) before the MC is placed into the free connection pool. This explicit protocol must be used because a shareable connection cannot be used outside of a sharing boundary, otherwise if two components share a connection in a sharing boundary after the boundary ends without parking the handle, both components could become involved in two different sharing boundaries which is an invalid operation. And if the MC is not timely released back to the free connection pool when the component is not using it, all of the available connections in the pool can become allocated with some users unable to acquire free managed connections.
Moreover, the ability to park connection handles requires that the container track information about the handles a particular component is using. Every time a method is called on a component, any handles that component contains will have to be put in a useable state, i.e. reassociated with a real connection in any currently active transaction, whether or not that method uses the handle. The prior art system thus requires significant overhead both in terms of tracking the handle information per component, and in retrieving a connection(s) when the connection was not before needed. Furthermore, if a component has more than one handle and a method is called within the scope of a global transaction, the connections are required to become part of a distributed, two-phase commit transaction, which has even greater associated performance overhead on the system even if neither of the handles is used. Therefore, the prior art system and method to manage connection handles through parking has unsatisfactory overhead demands.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a software architecture within the J2EE platform, or like software platform, that allows the reassociation of handles without needing to park the handles and utilize significant system resources. Such system and method should minimize the possibility of causing an invalid transaction on the system from improperly maintaining the scope of a handle across a sharing boundary. It is to the provision of such an improved software architecture that the present invention is primarily directed.

Software architecture for providing a connection handle association