A system for managing administration of computer services provided to users includes a computer system and an operating system running on the computer system. A server process is launched by the computer system for providing services to users. An isolated Virtual Private Server (VPS) has a set of services that perform administrative operations relating to the server process. The server process can be a webserver, a file server, an FTP server, an authentication server, a VPS, a chroot environment, a jail environment, a sand box environment, a print server and a Windows Terminal Service. The administrative operations can include collection of statistics relating to the server process; servicing of requests for management of the server process; servicing of requests for management of operating system functions; servicing of requests for computer system resource allocation; servicing of requests for computer system resource re-allocation; servicing of requests for authorization within the operating system; servicing of requests for authorization within the server process; servicing of requests that the server process is forbidden from executing; servicing of operations that potentially can cause a fault in the server process; and servicing of operations that require multiplexing of server processes. The multiplexing can be based on a network protocol addressing, or on a content of a request directed to the server process. The VPS isolation can include logical isolation of processes, physical isolation of processes, resources isolation, namespace isolation, data isolation, address isolation, fault isolation and performance isolation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to management of computer servers, and more particularly, to dedication of one or more servers for administrative functions and management of servers that handle user requests.
2. Related Art
Computer systems, such as those that run server processes, typically have a set of services (sometimes called "daemons") that are used for servicing user requests and operating system requests. These services can be dedicated to servicing requests from external anonymous users, for example, a WWW service or an anonymous FTP service. They can also be used for servicing requests from authorized users, such as FTP service and email service POP3/IMAP4 (Post Office Protocol 3/Internet Message Access Protocol (version 4).
Such services are typically launched as one or more operating system processes/threads and live within operating system space, which includes within it a common object name space. Examples of such types of objects with operating system-wide names or identifiers include process identification (PID), file names, named pipes, TCP port IDs, etc. Each service, upon request and when available, receives appropriate resources from the operating system, which it then uses to service user requests.
For management (administration) of these services, typically a system administrator is necessary, who enters appropriate operating system commands and can monitor the state of the operating system and the services. A particular case of a system administrator is an operator, who is typically allowed only a highly restricted subset of functions—for example, checking of server statistics, management of print queues, etc.
The cost of a system administrator for the owner of such a system (e.g., a data center) is often a substantial part of the total costs of ownership (TCO). Easing the burden on such a system operator and enabling a substantial commonality of his activities is an important issue in software development for data center administration.
The job of an administrator, as it relates to administrative services, often includes not just direct commands to the computer system for performance of specific actions, but also involves certain "indirect" operations. Examples of such indirect operations include assurance of an appropriate level of security, verification of system state, backing up data and creation of backup databases, provision of new servers and services, load balancing, etc. Attempts to ease the burden on the operator for providing such functions take several forms. For example, the use of Virtual Private Servers (VPSs) allows at least some commonality among the various server processes running within the computer system, and also allows commonality in their instantiation and configuration. Usually VPSs are installed with mass administration tools, for example, Virtuozzo™ VPS (available from SW-soft, Inc. of Herndon, Va., USA) has a set of special scripts, command line and Graphical User Interface utilities for such a purposes.
The problems of administration of a large set of services and servers for many users is widely known, especially to administrators of web hosting companies and data centers. Each routine operation often requires expensive manual operations and, when handling thousands of users even on single hardware box with a single operating system, each simple operation, which should be performed hundreds and thousands of times becomes very expensive. Unification and simplification of mass operations therefore can result in a significant economical benefit.
Another ever-present problem is assuring a level of safety and security of the services provided to the users. For example, authentication of users and user login verification has to occur within a safe environment. Any failures and crashes of services for one user should not affect services for other users, and should not affect overall system security.
The concept of a so-called "sandbox" is one known way of solving such a problem. For example, in the UNIX environment, it is common to place the FTP services for anonymous users within a "sand box." In that case, even if an intruder manages to gain access to that particular server and "breaks it," then his malicious activities still occur within the sand box (a secure environment), and the intruder cannot gain access to any critical system data in this fashion.
Additionally, there may be issues with execution of non-standard operations. One type of such non-standard operations is "dangerous" operations, that can result in an unpredictable state of the system. Examples include remote services reboot and remote firewall configuration operation. In the case of remote services reboot, should that process fail to reboot and re-initialize the appropriate server process properly, the only recourse available to an administrator of that particular process (for example, to a remote VPS administrator) is to request expensive manual intervention from the system administrator. In the case of remote firewall configuration, the person configuring the firewall could accidentally mis-configure it in a manner that even the administrator or operator of such a firewall is himself blocked from any further access through the firewall. This results in a server process or a VPS, that is "empty," i.e., running "normally," but is in reality useless because it is inaccessible.
Other non-standard operations include organization of services providing name-based hosting for web users, where a number of virtual web servers share the same IP address with a single logical instance of webserver.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for providing a more secure and more reliable mechanism for managing administrative functions in a multi-server environment, as well as a way to simplify mass management operations.

Dedication of administrative servers to management of server functions in a multi-server environment


The present invention discloses a sole for bowling shoes in which a slip plate is detachably attached at the front portion of a bottom face thereof and a heel part is detachably attached at the back portion of the bottom face thereof, the sole for bowling shoes comprising: a fixing plate having a protecting rim formed integrally therewith along the outside edge of each of the front and back portions of the bottom face, the fixing plate having a coupling groove formed at the inside of the protecting rim; and a separating plate fixedly attached at the slip plate and the heel part, respectively, the separating plate having a coupling protrusion formed correspondingly to the coupling groove of the fixing plate.

Bowling is a game in which a player rolls down a ball along a narrow lane towards a group of pins for the purpose of knocking down more pins than an opponent. In the game, steps are very important and therefore, beginner should initially learn the steps accurately. Generally, there are three types of steps such as three-step, four-step, and five-step types.
At this time, a player chooses such the steps as adequate to his or her physical conditions, and at his or her last step, when his or her left foot is moved forwardly and his or her weight is sent to the left foot, a sliding motion should be carried out at the left foot. On the other hand, his or her right foot that is positioned at a rear side should have a non-slip function in order to roll down the ball at a more stable posture.
Thus, there have been proposed a variety of types of bowling shoes that conform to the characteristics of bowling, and right and left soles are designed differently from each other in the shapes of the slip parts thereof such that the left sole associated with the last step can easily slips on the lane.
As shown in FIG. 1, a sole 1 for a left bowling shoe is provided with a slip plate 3 that is placed at the front portion of a bottom face 2 thereof, a heel part 4 that is placed at the back portion of the bottom face 2, and fixing means 5 like a Velcro-fastener that detachably fixes the slip plate 3 and the heel part 4 thereto in their positions. In accordance with the features of the lane, thus, the slip plate 3 and the heel part 4 are respectively exchanged for another.
According to the conventional sole 1 for bowling shoes as constructed above, the slip plate 3 and the heel part 4 are attached at the front and back portions of the bottom face 2, thereby making it difficult to attach them on the bottom face 2 in their right positions. Also, the slip plate 3 may be worn out along the outside edge thereof, thereby making the usage term substantially short, and the heel part 4 is protrudedly attached outwardly from the bottom face 2, such that it may be easily separated from the bottom face 2 when external impacts are applied thereto.
To solve the above-mentioned problems, as shown in FIG. 2, there is provided another conventional sole 1 for bowling shoes having a slip plate 3 placed at the front portion of a bottom face 2, a heel part 4 placed at the back portion of the bottom face 2, and fixing means 5 like a Velcro-fastener for detachably fixing the slip plate 3 and the heel part 4 in their positions, the sole 1 for bowling shoes including: a protecting rim 6 disposed along the outside edge of the front portion of the bottom face 2 for protecting the slip plate 3 attached at the inside thereof, the protecting rim having the same thickness as the slip plate 3; and a coupling protrusion 7 formed at the back portion of the bottom face 2 for coupling with a coupling hole 8 formed at a position of the heel part 4 corresponding to the coupling protrusion 7. Such the conventional example is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0341117.
According to the above-mentioned prior arts, however, the fixing means 5 like Velcro-fastener is used to fix the slip plate 3 and the heel part 4, such that at the time of assembling and disassembling the slip plate 3 and the heel part 4 to and from their positions, foreign substances like dust become stick to the fixing means 5, which makes the fixing force gradually weakened. Also, the fixing means 5 like Velcro-fastener should be attached not only at the front and back portions of the bottom face 2 but also at the slip plate 3 and the heel part 4 disposed at the positions corresponding to them, which makes the production costs substantially high and also causing the working efficiency to be low.


When mammal cells are administered by using a container whose surface in contact with the mammal cells is formed of a fluororesin material at least partially having a —CF3 terminal group or a container whose surface in contact with the mammal cells is formed of a fluororesin material having a total number of non-fluorinated group terminals and —CF2H group terminals in the fluororesin of 70 or less per 1×106 carbon atoms, or mammal cells are stored or cultured in such a container, the cell adhesion on the container inner surface and the cell survival rate reduction can effectively be suppressed. Therefore, by using these containers, a mammal cell-containing liquid having a high concentration and a high proportion of living cells can be administered, stored or prepared, which contributes to regenerative medicine using the mammal cell-containing liquid (suspension liquid).

Pluripotent stem cells such as embryonic stem cells (ES cells) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) are cells having limitless proliferation abilities and multipotency to diversified tissue cells. Human pluripotent stem cells are expected to be applied to regenerative medicine wherein the human pluripotent stem cells are in vitro differentiation-induced to cells having various types of functions, which are then administered to patients expected to exhibit the administration effect. Further, also somatic stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cells are expected to exhibit the therapeutic effect obtained by release of trophic factors and cytokines, and the effect of homing to damaged sites of tissues and thereafter differentiating to their constituting cells and complementing and restoring the sites, and clinical studies thereof have been attempted. In order to achieve these, it is needed that high-quality cells are stably cultured or stored in large amounts, and administered with their quality being held.
As a container for culturing floating cells, a bag-shape culturing container (bag) is devised (Patent Document 1). Such a bag consists of a polymer alloy in which a polymer mixture of a poly(ethylenebutylene)polystyrene block copolymer with a polypropylene is mixed with an ethylene acrylate copolymer, and has a feature in the point of being excellent in transparency and gas permeability. On the other hand, also bags suitable for culturing adhesive cells are devised (Patent Documents 2, 3). The bag disclosed in Patent Document 2 is the one so improved that cells easily adhere to the bag inner surface by enhancing the hydrophilicity by subjecting the surface to a corona discharge treatment. Further, the bag disclosed in Patent Document 3 consists of a synthetic resin sheet having a predetermined bending rigidity in order for the bag not to easily deform in cultivation, and has a feature in the point of being capable of preventing the peeling and death of cells generated due to deformation of the container when the bag is moved.
Further, bags on the market are known, and there are commercially available, for example, a CultiLife® Spin bag (manufactured by Takara Pac Ltd.) using an ethylene (Et)-vinyl acetate (VA) copolymer (EVA) as its material, a VueLife FEP Bag 32-C (manufactured by American Fluoroseal Corp.) using a tetrafluoroethylene (TFE)-hexafluoropropylene (HFP) copolymer (FEP) being a fluororesin as its material, and a culture bag A-1000NL (manufactured by Nipro Corp.).
Any of these bags, however, are not ones suppressing adhesion of adhesive cells on the bag inner surface and keeping or culturing cells in a floating state.
Meanwhile, it is known that when the surface of food heating and processing appliances is coated with a fluororesin film in which unstable terminal groups of a TFE-perfluoroalkylvinyl ether (PFVE) copolymer (PFA) are fluorinated to eliminate the unstable terminal groups, the stain-proofness to scorching is improved (Patent Document 4). However, the cell adhesiveness by the fluororesin whose terminal groups have been fluorinated is not known.

Container for cell administration, storage or culturing


A process and configuration are described which enable the I/O metal fingers of any high density interconnect (HDI) module to be extended over the edge of a substrate at the end of circuit fabrication, thus enabling fabrication of circuits for arrangement in three-dimensional stacks. The module includes a first dielectric layer covering one or more electrical conductors on a substrate. The first dielectric layer is ablated to expose a portion of at least one electrical conductor and a second dielectric layer is then applied over the first dielectric layer and the exposed portion of the electrical conductor except for an extremity of the conductor. A second electrical conductor is subsequently applied and patterned to cover a portion of the second dielectric layer, the extremity of the conductor, and at least a portion of one edge of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally related to a method for interconnecting integrated circuits with high volumetric efficiency and, more particularly, to a method of applying edge metallization for use in a three-dimensional module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Interconnecting high performance circuits, such as very large scale integrated circuit (VLSI) chips, presents the circuit designer with several problems. VLSI chips often have one hundred or more pins, each with a pitch of less than ten mils. That is to say, the sum of the conductor line width plus the distance between two adjacent lines is less than ten thousandths of an inch. The VLSI chips typically must be joined to a printed circuit board which has a pitch of twenty-five to fifty mils. In order to connect a VLSI chip to the circuit board, a "fan out" region of interconnecting lines must be provided. The fan out region occupies valuable space on the circuit board, and the long lead lengths contribute high inductance. Thus, the fan out design limits the high speed capability of the circuit. In multi-chip substrates, which are comprised of numerous chips mounted on the same substrate, interconnections among chips on the substrate allow high speed performance, but substantial performance loss occurs in going from the substrate to the printed circuit board. Not only is soldering several hundred pins on twenty-five mil centers a very difficult task, but in addition, thermal mismatches and hermeticity requirements affect the size of substrate which can be created practically. According to Rent's rule, the number of pins required increases in accordance with the square root of the number of gates enclosed by the circuitry. Since each pin must be hermetically sealed, the advantage of multi-chip substrates is severely limited by the unavailability of hermetic packages which can seal more than about three hundred pins.
A method of selectively interconnecting the edge contact areas of a plurality of tightly stacked substrates having integrated circuit patterns thereon is described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,946, issued May 28, 1991, which is herein incorporated by reference. Fabrication of high density interconnect (HDI) circuits for three-dimensional module formation requires the I/O (i.e., input/output) metal fingers (i.e., metallization exposed to areas outside the integrated circuit) to be extended over the edges of the substrate. Extending titanium/aluminum I/O metal fingers over the substrate edges during I/O metal patterning prior to circuit fabrication is difficult since these are sputter deposited films and thickness conformity over an edge is forty percent at best. Even if it were possible to reliably use Ti/Al, it would be difficult to protect the metal during subsequent processing because the I/O metal on the substrate edge, unlike the I/O metal on the top, is exposed. As a result, aluminum and titanium would be exposed to all wet chemical treatments normally seen during circuit fabrication. These metals are not compatible with many chemicals and would be etched away.
The use of alternate metals compatible with the wet chemical process, such as chromium/gold or TiW/gold is feasible if the gold layer is electroplated to obtain good step coverage over the edge. These metal combinations, however, are not desirable for applications in which the circuit is exposed to x-rays. Chromium/copper lines capped with electrolessly plated nickel and thinner gold might also be feasible, but the nickel and gold layers must be pinhole free. Any exposed edge metal would require isolation during sputtering steps. Additionally, current conduction from the topside metal through the vias and I/O metal fingers may cause via damage and/or copper plating on the fingers and substrate backside, shorting them together.
Finally, any scheme which places the I/O metal over the substrate edges at the beginning of the process would suffer from the possibility of being mechanically damaged during subsequent processing. Cleaning residual polymers off of the metallized substrate edges after many spray and spin coating steps during the entire process is also not trivial.

Method for extending an electrical conductor over an edge of an HDI substrate


A shutoff valve mechanism for a plastic injection molding system and process. The shutoff valve mechanism is positioned between the nozzle of the injection molding machine and the hot runner manifold. Force applied by the machine nozzle moves an inner body member in the shutoff valve mechanism and opens a valve allowing molten plastic material to flow through the valve and into the hot runner, sprue bushings, and mold cavities. A biasing mechanism, such as a plurality of spring washer members, returns the inner body member to its rest position, thereby closing the valve mechanism when the machine nozzle is retracted.

Plastic injection molding machines and systems are in common use today. The majority of plastic products and components that are in use today are made by plastic injection molding processes. In plastic injection molding systems, an injection molding machine melts plastic material and then injects the molten plastic material through a machine nozzle into a mold cavity. Typically, a hot runner manifold or system and a plurality of sprue bushings are positioned between the machine nozzle and the mold cavity. The hot runner manifolds distribute the molten plastic material from the machine nozzle through the sprue bushings and into multiple cavities in the mold or into different areas of a large cavity in a mold.
In a typical injection molding process, the molten plastic material injected into the mold cavity is allowed to cool and harden sufficiently so that it can be removed or ejected from the mold. In a typical plastic injection molding cycle, the plastic material is first injected into the mold cavity, the plastic material is allowed to cool and harden for a predetermined period of time, and then the mold is opened, allowing the molded part to be removed or ejected. Subsequently, the mold is closed and the cycle is repeated. Typically, the cycle is repeated over and over throughout a work shift or several work shifts until the requisite number of molded plastic parts are produced.
In some plastic injection molding processes, it is necessary to retract the machine nozzle from the hot runner manifold between the processing cycles. This can occur, for example, with rotary molds and stack molds. In these molding processes, when the machine nozzle is retracted, it is necessary to prevent the backflow of plastic material from the manifold which could affect subsequent processing cycles or produce substandard molded parts.
Several shutoff nozzles or mechanisms have been provided in the past in order to prevent such backflow of molten plastic material from hot runner manifolds. However, not all of the shut-off valves have been successful, and many do not have universal applications or are not able to be easily modified for different applications.


A differential antenna structure configured to connect to an electronic circuit having differential inputs and output. The antenna structure includes differential feeding points which are connected to the electronic circuit differential inputs/outputs through capacitors thus eliminating the need for baluns. The antenna structure is also configured to connect to multiple differential inputs/outputs thus eliminating the need for a separate antenna for each differential input/output included on an electronic circuit chip set. The antenna structure can include feeding arms which act as differential feeding points. The antenna can also include tongues for adjusting the capacitive part of the antenna to allow for 1 to n frequencies. The antenna can comprise multiple antenna elements in various arrangements and configurations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and particularly to the design of antennas with differential inputs and outputs.
2. Background
Certain wireless communications applications, such as those using Bluetooth and other ISM (Industrial Scientific and Medical) bands, use chipsets with differential inputs and outputs. Typically, antennas are only single-ended with a ground reference. When used together, the aforementioned antennas and chipsets are not fully compatible because the chipsets include a balanced line (one that has two conductors with equal currents in opposite directions) and the antennas an unbalanced line (one that has just one conductor and a ground).
To get around this incompatibility, baluns are often included in the design. A balun is a device that joins a balanced line to an unbalanced line. A balun is essentially a type of transformer that is used to convert an unbalanced signal to a balanced one or vice versa. Baluns isolate a transmission line and provide a balanced output.
In the case of multi-band applications, classical solutions are problematic because they require that multiple antennas be dedicated to meet the requirements of the targeted application. Especially in the case of mobile communications devices, where space is at a premium, this can be a serious hurdle to implementation. It can also be costly, because the construction of a balun is expensive, and can cost well more than the antenna itself—and at least several times the cost of capacitors.
The subject of this invention is an antenna with differential inputs and outputs that can be compatible with chipsets used in applications such as Bluetooth and ISM. Advantages of such a solution include efficiency, which is achieved by extraction of more gain from the chipset.

Low-profile, multi-frequency, differential antenna structures


A floating inflatable device which is to be able to be inflated on the surface of liquid and which for this purpose comprises inflation means including an on-board source of pressurized gas, wherein said inflation means comprise a venturi supplied by said source of pressurized gas and capable of entraining ambient air which contributes to the inflating of the device, and wherein said venturi inflation means, being mounted on a wall of said device, are protected by protective means covering them in such a way as to allow ambient air to pass freely while at the same time preventing liquid from being able to gain entry to the device to any appreciable extent.

This application claims priority to French Patent Application No. FR 01 01582 filed on Feb. 6, 2001, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates in general to improvements made to floating inflatable devices and, more specifically, although not exclusively, to those of these devices which have a large inflation volume.
Inflatable devices are inflated from a source of pressurized gas, generally consisting of one or more reservoirs or cylinders of compressed gas held on board on or in the device when the latter is self-contained.
A significant problem posed lies in the fact that the larger the size of the device, the greater its inflation volume and the more the source needs to be able to deliver a high volume of gas. This accordingly results in lengthened inflation times, something which is unacceptable when the inflatable device is an emergency device (for example a life raft) which needs to be able to be deployed as quickly as possible.
Another disadvantage due to the increase in the volume of gas needed for inflation lies in the corresponding increase in the number of gas cylinders needed for inflating the increased volumes of these large-sized devices, and therefore in the considerable increase in the weight of this equipment.
In an attempt to alleviate these last drawbacks, it would admittedly be possible to envisage the use of a gas under very high pressure which, for a given inflation volume, would allow an appreciable reduction in the number of cylinders needed, and therefore the corresponding weight. However, cylinders capable of containing a gas under very high pressure have to be mechanically very strong and, as they then have not to be excessively heavy, they have to be made of special materials. Such cylinders are therefore expensive and this solution cannot be adopted for economical reasons in the case, for example, of life preservers used at sea.
It is therefore an object of the invention to improve inflatable devices of the floating type which need to be able to be inflated on the surface of the liquid in such a way that the number of on-board cylinders intended for this inflation can be appreciably reduced in order to restrict the cost and weight of this equipment without, however, this in any way affecting the speed of inflation or the ways of packaging the device, in the deflated and folded state in a container, and without this resulting in an appreciable increase in the overall cost of the device either.
To these ends, the invention proposes a floating inflatable device which is to be able to be inflated on the surface of liquid and which for this purpose comprises inflation means including an on-board source of pressurized gas, wherein, according to the invention, said inflation means comprise a venturi supplied by said source of pressurized gas and capable of entraining ambient air which contributes to the inflating of the device, and wherein said venturi inflation means, being mounted on a wall of the said device, are protected by protective means covering them in such a way as to allow ambient air to pass freely while at the same time preventing liquid from being able to gain entry to the device to any appreciable extent.
The use of a venturi in means of inflating inflatable devices is, admittedly, already known. During inflation, the stream of pressurized gas from the source creates, at the exit of the venturi where the speed of the gas is greatly increased, a depression able to give rise to a phenomenon of ambient air being sucked in through a passage associated with the venturi. This air, entrained by the jet of gas, plays an appreciable or even predominant part in inflating the device which means that the amount of gas needed for inflating the device is greatly reduced: in this way, the desired reduction in the number of cylinders and of their weight is therefore obtained, and at the same time the rate at which the device is inflated is very appreciably increased.
However, hitherto, venturi inflation means have been used only for devices on land, or alternatively for floating devices inflated before they enter the water. By contrast, such venturi inflation means have never been employed on floating devices which are to be inflated on the surface of the liquid (the case, for example, of life rafts), because of the presence of the air passage associated with the venturi and through which the water (sea water, rain, spray) can, to a large extent, enter the interior of the device.
Furthermore, and this is a drawback which is of no lesser importance, the expansion of the gas at very high pressure during inflation is accompanied by a sharp drop in temperature leading to the formation of ice which obstructs the gas passage: inflation of the device is then interrupted. As the devices in question are, in particular, emergency devices such as life rafts, such a situation is absolutely unacceptable.
It is therefore by virtue of the additional and combined use of the protective means capable of preventing the ingress of water while at the same time allowing the circulation of ambient air that venturi inflation means can be envisaged for floating inflatable devices that need to be able to be inflated on the surface of the liquid, according to the invention.
In a preferred embodiment, it is anticipated that said protective means comprise a cowling extending over said venturi inflation means and resting on the adjacent surface of the device, and that said cowling comprises an appreciably rigid framework supporting panels respectively defining mutually offset openings and constituting at least one chicane between the outside and the venturi inflation means.
In a highly advantageous embodiment, the framework consists of pressurized inflated tubes, so that, in the situation in which the device is stored in the deflated and folded state (for example in a storage container), the framework is itself deflated and folded as is the rest of the device: this then results in no appreciable additional volume to be incorporated into the container and above all there is no rigid element likely to damage the fabric of the device.
In this case, it is advantageous for the panels to be panels of watertight fabric stretched over the framework. In a simple way, it is then possible to contrive for the panels to have a height which is shorter than that of the framework, the different thus defining said respective opening.
Also a desirable feature, the panels can be opened at least partially so as to give access to the venturi, particularly so as to allow it to be plugged at the end of inflation.
In a concrete embodiment, the framework is appreciably in the shape of a dihedron, a right-angled parallelepiped or a pyramid frustum, which leads to tubes of a simple shape which can easily inflate and which above all are simple to manufacture.
For certain applications or certain conditions of use it may be found that inflation is triggered while the device is partially or completely submerged (for example, life rafts triggered from a ship which has just gone down quickly. In order to be sure that inflation using the venturi can take place, or can at least start correctly without the ingress of water when the container is submerged, it is anticipated that the device is enclosed, in the deflated and folded state, in a watertight pouch which can be opened during inflation only when the pouch is at or above the surface of the liquid. In this case, as the inflatable device is folded up in the watertight pouch, this pouch, when inflation starts, increases in volume and drives out the water that has entered the container and thus accelerates the rising of the entity to the surface. During this phase, the venturi remains protected against any ingress of water. The container then opens only after it has reached the surface and the watertight pouch does not tear until after the container opens. During the tearing of the pouch, the means of protecting the venturi or venturis are already in place and functional.
What is more, when the device starts to inflate on the surface of the liquid, the limp fabric is level with the water surface or very slightly above it which means that the venturi, insufficiently raised, runs the risk of allowing water to enter, this being all the more true since it is necessary to wait for the entire device to have begun to take shape, and therefore to wait for a certain length of time to have elapsed, for the venturi to be raised appreciably above the water surface. To avoid this disadvantage associated with the inflation time, it is anticipated that the device comprises an interior gas-permeable buffer chamber (27) into which the venturi inflation means open, by virtue of which the buffer chamber inflates first as soon as the venturi inflation means come into operation, which means are thus raised above the liquid thereby being able to operate without the appreciable ingress of liquid. Advantageously then, the buffer chamber is equipped with at least one passage with a restriction causing the said chamber to communicate with the remainder of the interior volume of the device.
Although all the provisions of the invention can be applied to any type of floating inflatable device which needs to be able to be inflated on the surface of the liquid, a particularly advantageous application of the said provisions relates to inflatable life rafts, particularly large-sized high-capacity (for example one hundred or one hundred and fifty people) rafts which are currently under development.

Floating inflatable device, particularly an inflatable life raft, equipped with venturi inflation means


Embodiments of the disclosure provide a mirror assembly for controlling optical directions in an optical sensing system. The mirror assembly may include a substrate and a micro mirror suspended over the substrate by at least one beam. The at least one beam may be mechanically coupled to the substrate. The mirror assembly may also include an actuator configured to tilt the micro mirror with respect to the substrate. The mirror assembly may further include a position sensor configured to detect a position of the micro mirror. Moreover, the mirror assembly may include a bias voltage source electrically coupled to the substrate to bias the substrate with a bias voltage.

Optical sensing systems such as LiDAR systems have been widely used in autonomous driving and/or for producing high-definition maps. For example, a typical LiDAR system measures the distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light beams and measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor such as a photodetector or a photodetector array. Differences in laser light return times, wavelengths, and/or phases can then be used to construct digital three-dimensional (3D) representations of the target. Because using a narrow laser beam as the incident light can map physical features with very high resolution, a LiDAR system is particularly suitable for applications such as sensing in autonomous driving and high-definition map surveys.
The pulsed laser light beams emitted by a LiDAR system are typically directed to multiple directions to cover a field of view (FOV). Various methods can be used to control the directions of the pulsed laser light beams. Existing LiDAR systems generally use electrostatic-, piezoelectric-, or magnetic-based actuators (e.g., electrostatic actuators, piezoelectric actuators, magnetic actuators, etc.) to drive an optical component, such as a mirror, in the LiDAR systems to direct the pulsed laser light beams to the surrounding environment when the mirror is oscillating back and forth. The oscillation of the mirror can be controlled based on sensing changes in capacitance caused by the movement of the mirror. However, the accuracy of capacitance sensing is hindered by parasitic capacitance.
Embodiments of the disclosure improve the accuracy of capacitance sensing by providing a mirror assembly with a biased substate to reduce the effect of parasitic capacitance.

Capacitance sensing in a mirror assembly with a biased substrate


The disclosure pertains to methods of treating pain. In certain embodiments, the methods comprise administering to a subject a Plasma Protein Fraction (PPF) in an amount that is effective to treat pain.

The following is offered as background information only and is not admitted as prior art to the present invention.
Surgery is often associated with complications from pain, cardiopulmonary issues, infections, thromboembolic issues, and postsurgical wound healing. Additionally, it takes time for wounds to heal whether incurred from surgery itself (e.g. incisions) or incurred by accident, force, or disease and subsequently treated by a surgical procedure. Such complications are often further exacerbated by age. Additional complications may arise from the surgical stress response with subsequent demand on organ function, which are often mediated by trauma-induced endocrine metabolic changes and activation of cascades (cytokines, complement, arachidonic acid metabolites, nitric oxide, and free oxygen radicals). (Kehlet H., et al., Br. J. Anaesthesia, 78:606-17 (1997)). During surgical stress response, the sympathetic nervous system is activated. (Starkweather A, et al., Topics in Pain Management, 32(8):1-11 (2017)). There is an increase in pituitary hormone secretion, resulting in mobilization of energy through catabolism. This in turn results in salt and water retention. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion is increased, which results in an increase of norepinephrine and sympathetic activity. This causes cardiovascular responses such as tachycardia and hypertension and glucagon is released resulting in hyperglycemia. An increase in growth hormone and cortisol also results in inhibition of monocyte to macrophage differentiation. This in turn, interferes with T-cell signaling/histamine production and decreases immune cell migration. (Id.)
Current treatment for postsurgical recovery includes reduction of postoperative pain as well as multimodal interventions. (Id.) Pain management is important in many types of surgical recoveries, and acute pain is expected. (Pinto P R, J Pain Res, 10:1087-98 (2017)). Postoperative pain is associated to a greater degree with patients who undergo general surgery. (Couceiro T C, Rev Bras Anestesiol, 59(3):314-20 (2009)). Pain also plays a negative role on clinical outcome because it impairs healing and recovery. Id. Replacement of the hip and knee joints is particularly associated with pain, both chronic (from, e.g. osteoarthritis) and acute. Id. Analgesics are therefore commonly used in postoperative recovery, both during in-patient procedures and home recovery.
One type of multimodal intervention is Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS). (Starkweather A, supra). ERAS focuses on a wide spectrum of surgeries, for example, colorectal surgery, orthopedics, gynecology, urology, head and neck cancer, bladder cancer, liver disease, rectal/pelvic disease, colonic pathologies, pancreative duodenectomy, gastrectomy, and bariatric and gynecologic-oncology surgery. Id. As a multimodal strategy, it emphasizes: pre-operative techniques (counseling, fluid/carbohydrate loading; shorter period of fasting); perioperative techniques (short-acting anesthetics; normothermia; antibiotic prophylaxis; thromboembolic prophylaxis; prevention of salt/water overload; vomiting prevention); and postoperative techniques (early oral diet; exercise; non-opioid analgesia; and post-discharge support). Id.
Current therapies however have failed to eliminate postoperative morbidity and mortality. Multimodal techniques by their very nature are time and resource consuming. And there has not been any single technique or pharmaceutical treatment that can match such multimodal therapy. Because of these shortfalls, there is a need for new treatments for improving postoperative recovery.


A mirror assembly includes a mirror and a hanger assembly secured to the mirror. The hanger assembly has a hanger fitting that defines a plurality of apertures, and a locking element that is slidably coupled to the hanger fitting to be movable between a locked position and an unlocked position. The mirror assembly further includes a chassis having a plurality of support members sized and positioned to engage the plurality of apertures in the hanger fitting. When the locking element is in the locked position, the plurality of support members are prevented from disengaging the hanger fitting.

Some mirror assemblies include integrated electrical components, such as light sources, televisions, defogger assemblies, etc. The mirror assembly normally includes a mirror reversibly affixed to a chassis, wherein the chassis is suitably designed to be mounted to a wall. The electrical components are either secured within the chassis or mounted to the back of the mirror. This arrangement is a convenient space saving device as it embeds the electrical components into the existing space occupied by a mirror.
The mirror is typically secured to the chassis by a plurality of mounting brackets disposed on the chassis. The mounting brackets are adapted to engage a portion of the mirror, such as the mirror frame or a corresponding bracket attached to the rear surface of the mirror. To attach the mirror assembly to the wall, the chassis is first mounted to the wall. The mirror is then secured to the chassis with the brackets.
Mounting the mirror to the chassis in this manner has several drawbacks. For instance, it is desirable for the mirror to be demountable from the chassis to provide access to the electrical components. At the same time, it is desirable to secure the mirror to the chassis in a manner that prevents the mirror from becoming unintentionally disengaged from the chassis. It is therefore desirable to have a system for demountably coupling the mirror to the chassis and selectively locking and unlocking the mounted mirror to the chassis.


A method of determining liquid absorption of an aggregate comprises providing a shaker apparatus, a vacuum source and a container; placing a sample of the aggregate in the container; adding liquid to the container sufficient to reach a calibration mark on the container; weighing the sample and liquid; mounting the container to the shaker apparatus; connecting the vacuum source to the container; agitating the sample and liquid with the shaker apparatus; applying a vacuum to the sample and liquid with the vacuum source; after the agitation and vacuum steps, adding liquid to the container sufficient to again reach the calibration mark on the container; again weighing the sample and liquid; and subtracting the initial weight of the sample and liquid from the final weight of the sample and liquid in order to determine the liquid absorption of the aggregate.

To design an asphalt paving mix, the proper amount of asphalt binder must be added to a given amount of aggregate material to maintain the right matrix of aggregate and binder in order to produce a paving material which will yield a strong and durable road. If there is too much binder in the mix, the road will be soft and rutting will occur. If there is not enough binder in the mix, the road will be brittle and will crumble or break apart.
Aggregates used in the preparation of asphalt for road construction are tested to determine the amount of asphalt binder that will be absorbed internally into the aggregate when a batch is prepared. When binder is absorbed internally into the porous aggregate, that absorbed binder does not contribute to the effective volume of the asphalt mix. In order to account for this, additional binder must be added, which essentially disappears in the mix. The measurement of the binder absorbed by the aggregate which does not contribute to the volume of the asphalt mix is the percent absorption, by weight, of water absorbed into the aggregate to the weight of the aggregate itself ("PA").
The procedure for testing aggregate for PA is as follows. A sample of the dry aggregate is prepared to a condition where the internal voids are saturated with water, and the surface of the aggregate is dry. This condition is known as the saturated surface dry ("SSD") state. The SSD sample is then weighed. The sample is then dried completely in an oven, and weighed again (dry). The difference between the SSD and dry weights, divided by the dry weight, and multiplied by 100, yields the PA.
The current method for determining whether aggregate is at SSD is what is known as the "slump" test. In this test, a sample of aggregate is prepared with excess water so that it is wetter than the SSD state. The aggregate is placed into a metal cone, the metal cone is placed atop a non-absorbent surface of a table or bench and the aggregate is tamped down into the cone, through an opening in the tip of the cone, with a metal tamper. With aggregate pieces having water on the surface, i.e. with the aggregate sample being wetter than the SSD state, the cone of aggregate will remain standing when the metal cone is removed. The water between the particles of aggregate holds the aggregate together, due to surface tension. The SSD point is reached when there is a "slight slump" of the aggregate when the metal cone is removed. Once the aggregate sample has been initially prepared to wetter than the SSD state the aggregate is progressively agitated and subjected to warm air flowing over it, repacked into the metal cone and the metal cone removed, until this slight slump occurs. A 500 gram sample is then taken from the SSD aggregate and weighed. The 500 gram sample is then completely dried in an oven and is weighed again. The PA is then computed from the two weights.
There are a number of problems with the slump test. First, the test is subjective. The definition of a "slight slump" will vary from technician testing the aggregate to the next. In addition, while the slump test works fairly well with natural sand, for which the test was originally developed, the test does not work as well for jagged material such as crushed granite and limestone. The crushed materials have a higher angularity (jaggedness) and a higher content of fine material, which packs better in the cone, holding the packed material together better. This requires the material to dry more before exhibiting a "slight slump", making for an artificially dryer SSD point. On the other hand, a method which could actually measure the presence or absence of water on the surface of the aggregate would give a much more accurate measurement of whether the aggregate was in the SSD state or not and hence produce a much more accurate PA measurement.
Second, when the sample is at a temperature above room ambient, it will continue to lose water weight by evaporation as long as the sample remains on the table or bench. This produces an artificially low PA. Also, the time between reaching SSD and weighing the sample will not be consistent from batch to batch and technician to technician. If the sample could maintain its SSD condition/moisture content from the time that that condition is reached until the sample is weighed then the measurement would be more accurate and repeatable from batch to batch and technician to technician.
Third, as the sample is agitated and dried, the sample will begin to generate dust, which leaves the sample, and thus alters the aggregate constitution. Dust can also adversely effect mechanical parts such as bearings, motors, couplings etc. of the equipment used in the SSD/PA testing, thus contributing to premature failure of same. The dust is also a nuisance to the technicians operating the equipment. It would be desirable to somehow contain the dust generated by the sample during the SSD/PA determination.
Knowing the liquid absorption of a material is valuable for a variety of reasons. First, the liquid absorption relates to the optimum amount of time the material should be processed in the preparation of asphalt mixes and concrete mixes. Second, from the liquid absorption one can calculate the film coefficient, which relates to the Vssd, one of the parameters disclosed in the assignee's own U.S. Pat. No. 6,486,475, hereby incorporated by reference herein, which determines the SSD of the material.
Bulk specific gravity of an aggregate is defined as the weight of dry aggregate to the weight of weight having a volume equal to that of the aggregate including both its permeable and impermeable voids. Apparent specific gravity is defined as the ratio of dry aggregate to the weight of water having a volume equal to the solid volume of the aggregate excluding its permeable voids. One current method of determining the apparent specific gravity of a material sample involves soaking the material with water while manually hand agitating the material to remove air from the sample allowing water to displace the trapped air. Another current method of determining apparent specific gravity combines the step of pulling a partial vacuum on the vessel containing the specimen under test with manual hand agitation. Yet another current method has the technician pulling a vacuum on a pouch containing the sample to determine the apparent specific gravity, then puncturing the pouch under water to allow water into the sample to determine the liquid absorption. These methods are time consuming and prone to variation from one technician to the next.

Method and apparatus for determining liquid absorption of aggregate


A ribbon cassette and a printer are provided for preventing an ink ribbon from being wound or drawn to a printing-portion paper transport unit of the printer so as to satisfactorily wind and transport the ink ribbon. A convex portion is formed on a wall-portion contact surface of a first connecting member opposed to a space portion, thereby securing a gap between a wall portion of the ribbon cassette and a printing-portion paper transport unit of the printer. A top portion of the convex portion comes in contact with a driven-roller mounting plate disposed in the space portion when a ribbon cassette is mounted in a ribbon cassette mounting portion of a printer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ribbon cassette, more particularly, to a ribbon cassette and a printer that winds and transports an ink ribbon received in the ribbon cassette in a reliable manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
The known printer (line printer) having a long thermal head in which heat emitting elements are arranged along a width direction of printing paper has been used as a printing apparatus that rapidly performs a printing operation line-by-line or page-by-page on printing paper.
The printer uses a ribbon cassette in which a winding axis and a deliver axis winding the ink ribbon in both sides are separated to be rotatably disposed in the cassette case having a substantially rectangular shape. The ribbon cassette has a cassette case that forms a transport passage of an ink ribbon transported and supplied from a supplying axis to a winding axis between both axes. When the ribbon cassette is mounted, the thermal head of the printer is disposed between both axes. The thermal head is disposed such that the ink ribbon located in the transport passage is interposed therebetween, and the thermal head presses on and comes in contact with a platen so as to be ready to perform the printing operation.
Because a printer shows a tendency to decrease in size, it is necessary to decrease the size of the ribbon cassette mounted in the printer as well.
However, in the ribbon cassette, a space called a pancake receiving the ink ribbon wound between a pair of axes occupies most volume thereof. For this reason, the size of the cassette case increases, whereby it is difficult to reduce the size. Furthermore, it is difficult to reduce the size of the printer that receives the ribbon cassette as the size of the ribbon cassette decreases.
In order to decrease the size of the ribbon cassette, for example, the following ribbon cassette has been developed. The ribbon cassette includes a first receiving portion, a second receiving portion disposed at a predetermined interval from the first receiving portion, a cassette case having first and second connecting members connecting end portions of the first and second receiving portion, and a supplying axis and winding axis that are rotatably received in the supplying axis and the winding axis, respectively.
In the ribbon cassette, a first supporting portion formed of a wall portion that is bridged between the first and second connecting members is provided, and a second supporting portion is provided in the second receiving portion receiving the winding axis so as to correspond to the first supporting portion along the width direction of the ink ribbon. An example of the ribbon cassette is disclosed in JP-A-2001-205905.
In the ribbon cassette, the ink ribbon delivered from the winding axis is bent at the first supporting portion and the second supporting portion, whereby the ink ribbon is wound on the winding axis through the transport passage having a crank shape. When the ribbon cassette is mounted in the printer, the ribbon cassette is formed such that the thermal head of the printer is disposed between the first receiving portion and the wall portion, and a part of the printing-portion paper transport unit faces a space between the second receiving portion, which receives the winding axis and the wall portion. The ribbon cassette has been contrived to have a small size by reducing an unnecessary space in the cassette case. In the printer using this ribbon cassette, because the reduced space of the ribbon cassette can be effectively used, the printer may become small and thin.
In the printing-portion paper transport unit, a paper transport roller (which extends in the width direction of the ink ribbon and is rotatably supported), a driven roller (which extends in the width direction of the ink ribbon and is rotatably supported in contact with the paper transport roller), and a driven-roller mounting plate (which extends in the width direction of the ink ribbon and detachably supports the driven roller to the paper transport roller) are sequentially disposed in a height direction of the wall portion. When printing paper is interposed between the paper transport roller and the driven roller, the transport roller rotates such that the paper is supplied to a printing portion in which the thermal head is disposed or the paper is transported from the printing portion in the backward transporting direction of the transport.
However, the known paper transport roller or the driven roller is generally made of metal substances. Accordingly, while the printing paper is printed in the forward and backward direction respectively, the transported ink ribbon is drawn and wound on the paper transport roller or the driven roller due to static electricity charged to the ink ribbon, whereby the quality of printing image may be deteriorated or the ink ribbon may be cut.


In automated design, a useful insertion of a delay buffer or an increase in the delay time of the critical path could not been prevented. When inserting a logic element between two certain points on the circuit, substitution of other paths passing through the relevant insertion position is considered and the insertion position of the logic element is determined finally.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a design method used for a logical design of a semiconductor integrated circuit and to a design apparatus using this methods
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in a storage element for taking in an input signal at a changing point of a synchronous signal (hereinafter referred to as "clock" and holding a value of signal (hereinafter referred to as "flip-flop"), there is a possibility that a misoperation takes place when an input signal changes in a period before and after the changing point. Accordingly, in the flip-flop, the period for forbidding a change in input signal is defined for a period before and after the clock changing point as shown in FIG. 1. A period immediately before the clock changing point is called setup time and a period immediately after the clock changing point is called hold time.
Here, the circuit of FIG. 2 is taken as an example, and the case of data transfer between two storage elements will be considered. In FIGS. 2, the registers R0 and R1 represent D flip-flops, respectively. Hereinafter, the registers are represented as flip-flops. In addition, symbols D, CK and Q denote a data input pin, a clock input pin and a data output pin of the D flip-flop, respectively. Furthermore, symbol "Tpd" denotes the time taken from the input of data inputted to the data input pin of the register R0 after a change of the clock CK until the output to the data output pin Q after held in the flip-flop R0. And, symbol "Tdata" denotes the time taken after the data output pin Q of the flip-flop R0 underwent to a predetermined operation until data reaches the data input pin D of the flip-flop R1.
Meanwhile, to hold a correct value on the side of the flip-flop R1 so as to change at the same timing, all clocks under an ideal working environment must satisfy the following equation: EQU Tpd+Tdata>Thold (1)
However, on an actual clock network, there is a delay originating from the influence of wiring or buffering and the length of delay differs with the respective flip-flops, so that the difference occurs in the arrival time of individual clocks. This occurrence is called "clock skew".
In FIG. 2, the clock skews of the flip-flop R0 and the flip-flop R1 are designated as a symbol of triangle (delay). This time is denoted by "Tck".
On consideration of this clock skew, the above equation (1) can be rewritten as the following equation: EQU Tpd+Tdata>Thold+Tck (2)
This equation (2) represents that the hold time "Thold" of data have to be taken longer for the clock skew when there is a clock skew.
In this way, the equation (2) must be satisfied in order that data are transferred correctly between flip-flops. For this, these are several "clock skew countermeasures".
First of all, one is to reduce the hold time "Thold", another is to increase "Tpd", and another is to reduce "Tck", the other is to increase "Tdata".
Here, the first and second countermeasures, i.e., the countermeasures to reduce the hold time "Thold" and to increase the "Tpd", are characteristics intrinsic to a flip-flop and it is difficult for a designer to control them. However, if several flip-flops different in these characteristics are provided on the side of a semiconductor designer, for example, the circuit designer can approximately control these characteristics by selection of those flip-flops.
With the third countermeasure, i.e., one to reduce the clock skew, the greater the number of flip-flops is, the more difficult becomes the equal distribution of all flip-flops. As one means to achieve the third countermeasure, there is a method of self-loop connection by using a flip-flop of multi-bit configuration. However, since the bit configuration of a multi-bit flip-flop is limited in kind, selection of the most suitable combination, which group of flip-flops is allotted to the multi-bit flip-flop, is generally difficult.
The fourth countermeasure is to increase the length of delay without change in the logic between any pair of flip-flops The most simple countermeasure is achieved by inserting a non-inversional buffer. Generally, this method is often used because of being executable easier than other methods.
However, with a method or inserting a buffer between the flip-flops like the fourth countermeasure, the insertion position may becomes an issue, An effective insertion position will be thought over using a circuit example of FIGS. 3A to 3C. Here, FIG. 3A is the original circuit diagram before the insertion of a delay buffer, where the outputs of the flip-flops R0 and R1 are individually connected through the logic element U0 to the input of a flip-flop R2.
Here, because of a small delay in the logic element U0, it is assumed that a hold time violation to input from any of the flip-flops R0 and R1 takes place in the flip-flop R2.
In this case, there are two methods for inserting a delay-compensating buffer to assure the hold time.
One is a method for inserting delay buffers directly after the outputs of the flip-flops R0 and R1 as shown in FIG. 3B. This enables the hold time of both paths to be assured. At this time, two buffers are needed.
The other is a method for inserting a delay buffer directly before the input of the flip-flop R2 as shown in FIG. 3C. This method also enables the hold time of both paths to be assured, and one buffer is enough.
From a consideration of this result alone, it may be regarded as advisable to insert a delay buffer directly before a flip-flop, but such a connection is not always good. In the circuit example of FIGS. 4A to 4C, it is rather effective to insert a delay buffer directly after the output of the flip-flop R0. That is, FIG. 4A is the original circuit diagram before the insertion of the delay buffer, and the output of the flip-flop R0 is connected to the individual input of the flip-flop R1 and the flip-flop R2 FIG. 4B is the circuit diagram with a delay buffer inserted directly before the individual input of the flip-flop R1 and flip-flop R2 in order to assure the hold time. FIG. 4C is the circuit diagram with a delay buffer inserted directly after the output of the flip-flop R0. That is, when compensating the hold time by insertion of a delay buffer, there are several insertion positions to obtain the same effect and the number of required buffers differs depending on the position of insertion.
In an actual design, since the problems mentioned in the above examples arise in combination, it is generally difficult to find the most appropriate positions of insertion by manual operation.
By using the circuit example of FIGS. 5A to 5C, for example, it will be thought over which influence is exerted upon other paths by inserting a delay buffer into a certain path. FIG. 5A shows the original circuit before the insertion of a delay buffer.
Here, after passing through the partial circuit designated with hatched lines in FIG. 5A, the output from the flip-flop R0 is connected to the input of the flip-flop R2 via a logic element U0. Incidentally, the length of delay in this partial circuit is assumed to be large enough to satisfy the hold time. In addition, the output of the flip-flop R1 is connected to the input of the flip-flop R2 via only the logic element U0 alone.
In this example, it is assumed that a hold time violation to input from the flip-flop R1 takes place in the flip-flop R2.
Here, to assure the hold time, it will be considered to insert a delay buffer for the delay-compensation.
First, as shown in FIG. 5B, the case of inserting a buffer directly before the flip-flop R2 will be considered.
Such a connection assures the hold time required for transmission of data from the flip-flop R1 to the flip-flop R2, however at the same time it also lengthens the delay time in the path leading from the flip-flop R0 through the partial circuit designated with hatched lines and the logic element U0 to the flip-flop R2.
If this path is a critical path (i.e., the longest-delay path in the circuit), the possibility of setup time violation comes to appear by contrary. The increase in the delay time of the critical path is a serious problem, because of signifying a decrease in the operating speed of the circuit.
With this example, as shown in FIG. 5C, it becomes the mast desirable connection to insert directly after the flip-flop R1, Furthermore, in the example shown in FIG. 6, there is a path branching from the output of the flip-flop R1, passing through a sufficiently delayed partial circuit and reaching the flip-flop R3, in addition to the example of FIGS. 5A to 5C.
Accordingly, insertion of a delay buffer directly after the output of the flip-flop R1 leads to an increase in the delay of the path from the flip-flop R1 to the flip-flop R3.
Thus, with this circuit, the most desirable position of insertion is existed between a branch J0 and the logic circuit U0.
As mentioned above, it is very difficult to decide the insertion point of a delay buffer to be inserted for the compensation of a hold time violation. At present this operation relies on manpower, but in recent years it has become impossible with a rapid increase in the scale of circuit.

Method and apparatus for the design of a circuit


A semiconductor wafer has an edge region with no defects larger than or equal to 0.3 μm. The wafers are produced by a process, comprising (a) providing a semiconductor wafer having a rounded and etched edge; (b) polishing the edge of the semiconductor wafer, in which step the semiconductor wafer, which is held on a centrally rotating chuck and projects beyond the chuck and at least one polishing drum which is inclined by a specific angle with respect to the chuck, rotates centrally and is covered with a polishing cloth, are moved toward one another and pressed onto one another under a specific contact pressure with a polishing abrasive being supplied continuously; (c) cleaning the semiconductor wafer; (d) inspecting an edge region of the semiconductor wafer using an inspection unit; and (e) further processing the semiconductor wafer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a semiconductor wafer having improved edge region quality, and to a process for producing such a semiconductor wafer.
2. Background Art
The quality demands imposed on the edge of a semiconductor wafer are ever increasing, in particular for large semiconductor wafer diameters (diameter≧300 mm). In particular, the edge of the semiconductor wafer should, as far as possible, be free of contamination and have a low roughness. Moreover, it should be able to withstand high mechanical stresses during handling.
The untreated edge of a semiconductor wafer which has been processed from a single crystal has a relatively rough and uneven surface. Spalling often occurs under mechanical loading, and consequently the wafer represents a source of contaminating particles. It is therefore customary to regrind the edge in order thereby to eliminate spalling and damage in the crystal and to provide it with a specific profile.
Suitable grinding equipment is known from the prior art. It is customary for the semiconductor wafer to be fixed on a rotating table and for its edge to be moved against the rotating working surface of a machining tool. The machining tools used are generally in the form of disks which are secured to a spindle and have circumferential surfaces serving as working surfaces for machining the edge of the semiconductor wafer. The material-removing abrasive grain is usually securely anchored in the working surfaces of the machining tools. These machining tools are suitable for providing the semiconductor wafer with a rounded edge. It is usual for a certain minimum roughness to remain on the edge surface after the edge rounding.
In a subsequent machining step, the edge of the semiconductor wafer, which has been ground and treated with an etching medium, is usually polished. For example, the edge of a centrally rotating semiconductor wafer may be pressed against a centrally rotating polishing drum with a defined force (contact pressure). U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,105 discloses an edge polishing process of this type, in which the polishing drum consists of an aluminum alloy covered with a polishing cloth. The semiconductor wafer is usually fixed on a flat wafer holder, known as a chuck. The edge of the semiconductor wafer projects beyond the chuck so that it is freely accessible to the polishing drum.
For process monitoring, after edge polishing, it is customary to perform a visual check of the edges of representative samples of the semiconductor wafers under a microscope. This visual check is for particles, roughness and defects on the edge of the semiconductor wafer. In particular, the edge of the semiconductor wafer is examined for light reflections which are caused by any unevenness. However, such visual checks are unreliable and do not allow a uniform edge quality to be ensured for all semiconductor wafers processed. Furthermore, the visual check is unsuitable for completely and reliably detecting small defects in the edge region of a semiconductor wafer so as to draw conclusions as to possible defective processing procedures.
Furthermore, there are available inspection appliances which only allow inspection of the semiconductor wafer as far as the wafer edge to a peripheral exclusion zone of 3 mm. Most known inspection appliances cannot be used to examine the entire edge region, i.e. both the edge of the semiconductor wafer and the peripheral exclusion zone. By way of example, EP 1348947 A1 discloses an inspection apparatus which can be used to inspect the edge of the semiconductor wafer but not the entire edge region, while DE 10352936 A1 describes an inspection apparatus which allows automatic detection of defects above a certain size in the entire edge region including the peripheral exclusion zone of the semiconductor wafer.

Semiconductor wafer and process for producing a semiconductor wafer


A mounting assembly and method for locating and assembling parts with a tight press fit uses an intentional design interference between two mating parts. Because of the interference fit, material is "crushed" or compressed when one mating part, such as a button frame, is forced upon the other mating part, such as a cabinet, and a tight fit is created. The interference fit is provided between first and second bosses and first and second mating holes, respectively, on opposite sides of each of the first and second bosses along a respective first axis, but not along a second axis that extends between the first and second bosses. Thus, a greater design tolerance is permitted in a direction between the first and second bosses and between the first and second mating holes, respectively. A third assembly part, such as a light guide, can be sandwiched between the first and second mating parts. The mounting assembly according to the invention reduces production costs and complexity involved with conventional assembly methods that use glue, screws, or other conventional fastening arrangements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a mounting assembly and assembly method and, more specifically, to a mounting assembly and assembly method for connecting two mating parts of an assembly together with a tight press fit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Common methods for connecting parts in the assembly of consumer and non-consumer electronics, computers, home appliances, and the like, include fastening the parts using glue, screws or clips. Other methods for securing such an assembly include the use of a dowel or a post to expand material upon joining two parts to form a secure connection.
A significant drawback of these conventional methods is the complexity and increased production costs involved in using fastening aids such as glue, screws or clips in the assembly.
Another significant drawback in the conventional methods is that if any of the individual mating parts of the assembly are slightly irregular or formed outside of dimensional tolerance, the mating parts may no longer be able to be connected. A common example of this often arises when a screw hole of one mating piece is not aligned with the receiving screw hole of the corresponding mating piece. As a result of even a slight variation in the production of either mating piece, connection can be made difficult, if not impossible.
Therefore, there is a need for a connection method that reduces both the production time and costs associated with the assembly process. There is also a need for a mounting assembly that allows for a greater tolerance in manufacturing variations of the individual mating parts.

Mounting assembly and method for locating and assembling parts with a tight press fit


The invention, in one aspect, relates to radiolabeled compounds. The invention also relates to radiolabeled liposomes and methods of making and using thereof. The invention also relates to kits for preparing radiolabeled liposomes.

Liposomes are of considerable interest because of their value as carriers for diagnostic agents, particularly radiopharmaceuticals for tracer and imaging studies. There are many advantages of using liposomes as carriers of therapeutic radionuclides. Some advantages include (1) the biocompatibility of liposomes; (2) liposome particles of varying sizes with a uniform population size range can readily be achieved by using extrusion techniques; (3) the surface of liposomes can be modified with different kinds of functional groups; (4) the distribution of liposomes can be functional and micro-targeted; and (5) the mechanism of radioisotope diffusion from liposomes can be monitored, which is helpful in delivering a uniform dose distribution in the tumor tissues.
Radionuclides have been widely used as a non-invasive method for studying the distribution of drugs in vivo. However, attempts at labeling liposomes with radionuclides as imaging agents have produced variable results. Many radionuclides weakly bind to liposomes, causing radionuclide leaching from the liposome and resulting in inaccurate biodistribution data. Furthermore, the entrapment of water-soluble radionuclides within the liposome during manufacturing is relatively inefficient.
Thus, what is lacking in the art is radiolabeled compounds that can be used to produce stable radiolabeled liposomes. The invention satisfies this need and provides compounds containing a radionuclide that can be used in the formation of stable, radiolabeled liposomes that contain high amounts of a radionuclide.

Radiolabeled compounds and liposomes and their method of making and using same

The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System


For the production of linear monocarboxylic acid esters with 6 to 26 carbon atoms vegetable oils or animal oils, which may or may not be neutral, are reacted with monoalcohols having a low molecular weight, for example 1 to 5 carbon atoms, in the presence of a catalyst that is selected from among zinc oxide, mixtures of zinc oxide and aluminum oxide, and the zinc aluminates that correspond to the formula: EQU ZnAl.sub.2 O.sub.4, x ZnO, y Al.sub.2 O.sub.3. (with x and y each being in the range of 0-2) and having more particularly a spinel type structure, thereby enabling the direct production in one or more stages, of an ester that can be used as a fuel or combustible and a pure glycerine.

The esters of fatty substances are currently used in many applications as diesel fuels, household fuels, ecological solvents, basic compounds for the production of sulfonates of fatty alcohols, amides, ester dimers, etc.
In the case of diesel fuel, which today constitutes a large application for esters of fatty substances, a certain number of quite varied specifications have been established. The ester should not contain heavy compounds (triglycerides), few diglycerides and sterol esters, few monoglycerides, for example, less than 5%, few free fatty acids that can be corrosive, and little free glycerine, for example less than 0.2%, no strong acid or metal traces at all. This means that there is a specific protocol for obtaining the desired purity.
In the case of household fuel, it is clear that all these specifications are not always useful and are even sometimes counter-productive, but with the market for household fuel and that for gas oil often being merged, the specifications for household fuel resemble those of gas oil because in France, for example, household fuel can be used in farm tractors and construction-site equipment.
When an ester is produced from oil and monoalcohol, it automatically forms, depending on the nature of the oil that is employed at the beginning, 10 to 15% of a secondary product, which is glycerine. This glycerine is sold at a high price for varied purposes, but only when it is of high purity. The latter is obtained after purification steps that are carried out in specialized vacuum distillation units.
In short, most of the commercial processes for producing esters lead quite readily to raw products (esters and glycerine) which, however, have to be purified extensively by various treatments which ultimately raise the cost of the transformation.
Also, in the production of methyl esters of fatty substances from refined oils and dry alcohol, while simple alkaline derivatives, such as sodium, soda, or potassium alcoholates, are now used as catalysts, under rather mild conditions (temperature of 50 to 80.degree. C. and atmospheric pressure), as indicated in numerous patents or publications, for example, in JAOCS 61, 343-348 (1984), a pure product that can be used as fuel and a glycerine within specification can be obtained only after numerous stages.
If, for example, the most widely used alkaline catalysts are considered, traces of alkaline compounds are found both in the glycerine and in the ester, and it is necessary to remove them by washing the ester fraction and drying it. In the glycerine phase, it is necessary to neutralize the soaps and the alcoholates that are present, filter the salts that are formed, evaporate the glycerine after having eliminated the water, barring running the diluted glycerine over ion-exchange resins, before the salt-free glycerine is concentrated. Finally, it is always necessary to evaporate excess alcohol and often to distill it to keep this evaporation, mainly when it is carried out in the ester phase, from causing the ester that is present to react with the partially dissolved glycerine, which would lead to the formation of monoglycerides.
In short, to achieve the specifications that are desired for the glycerine and the ester, it is necessary to resort to so many stages that only large scale operation are economically viable.

Process for the production of esters from vegetable oils or animal oils alcohols


There is disclosed a lightweight pallet base of unitary, one piece construction fabricated of a stiff foldable sheet material such as corrugated cardboard. In one aspect the pallet comprises a central platform having foldable corner and side flaps attached to the central platform. The corner flaps and a portion of the side edge flaps adjacent the corners are folded and interlocked to form corner support members. The central portion of the side edge support members are folded to form side edge supports located midway between the corners of the platform. The support members are of one piece construction with the central platform with the pallet being assembled from a die cut blank. Different embodiments of the unitary pallet use the foldable side edge flaps located adjacent the corner flaps in different ways to reinforce the corner support members. In another aspect a load bearing pallet tray is secured to the unitary pallet base which provides a combination having improved beam strength.

The need for lightweight, economical and recyclable pallets is well known. Lightweight pallets of corrugated cardboard are known with one type being disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,325 and another disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,074. These references disclose corrugated cardboard pallets having intersecting stringers and runners forming a platform with the stringers and runners separately constructed of multi-layered panels which are relatively expensive to produce. United Kingdom Patent No. 955,035 discloses a pallet having a paperboard load carrying platform and corner supports comprising cylindrical cores attached to the platform by strips engaging the cores and passing through slots in the corner of the platform which are secured to the top surface of the platform. A drawback to this type of pallet and other related prior art pallets is that the support members separately attached to the central platform are prone to being knocked off by e.g. the forks of a fork lift truck or all the weight of the pallet bearing down on one of the supports during movement of the pallet. Another drawback with pallets formed of different materials is that the pallets have to be disassembled and sorted prior to being recycled which increases the costs of recycling.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a pallet fabricated of a light, foldable material having a central load carrying platform and support members attached thereto of one piece or unitary construction to give an economical, lightweight and readily recyclable pallet.

Container Corporation International Ltd.


It is an object of the present invention to provide a floor silencer that has good transport efficiency due to an ability to be transported in a flat state, and can be assembled to a floor panel of a vehicle by folding along a band-like concave portion. The floor silencer is used with a first surface side in contact with a floor carpet, and a second surface side in contact with the floor panel of the vehicle. The floor silencer also has the band-like concave portion and can be folded along the band-like concave portion. The floor silencer is transported in a flat state and not folded during transport, and is used folded along the band-like concave portion during assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floor silencer. More specifically, the present invention relates to a floor silencer that is used interposed between a floor carpet and a body panel of a vehicle, and has a foldable and band-like concave portion, wherein the floor silencer is capable of transport in a flat state and capable of assembly to a floor panel of the vehicle through folding along the band-like concave portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 13, related art uses a member in which a floor carpet 2 and a sound insulation material 4 made from non-woven fabric or the like are integrally joined as a vehicular floor material. Further, a floor panel 3 of the vehicle comes to have many members disposed thereon and a complicated shape. Therefore, in order to achieve a flat carpet surface and a sufficient cushioning property, a bulk material 5 is used in combination interposed between the sound insulation material 4 and the floor panel 3. The bulk material 5 employs a member (see Patent Document 1 for an example) that is made from integrally bonding chips of a resin foam body such as polyurethane foam using a binder made from resin fiber. In addition to its bulk function, the bulk material 5 also has sound insulating, cushioning, and other properties.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2001-60091
As noted above, the bulk material 5 and the member formed by joining the floor carpet 2 and the sound insulation material 4 are all made as separate bodies, after which these are transported from their respective production sites and integrally assembled to the floor panel 3 at the time of vehicle manufacture. Accordingly, the floor surface of the vehicle is made flat and the floor material also has sound insulating, cushioning, and other properties. However, the member formed by joining the floor carpet 2 and the sound insulation material 4 has a complicated shape that follows the floor panel and a considerable thickness, which result in low transport efficiency. Furthermore, if the joined sound insulation material 4 is made by laminating a plurality of non-woven fabrics, this leads to an increased number of components. Such a sound insulation material 4 consequently lowers the production efficiency of the floor carpet.
Hence, development of a floor silencer was undertaken that separates the sound insulation material from the floor carpet and instead integrally forms the sound insulation material with the bulk material. Thus, a process for joining the sound insulation material to the floor carpet is no longer required and results in improved transport efficiency of the floor carpet. Furthermore, since the sound insulation material and the bulk material overlap in terms of required functions, such as sound insulating, cushioning, and other properties, both can function the same as in the past even while using the same material and being integrally formed as a floor silencer. In related art, a plurality of bulk material is respectively disposed at required locations. However, this lowers the transport efficiency of the bulk material and also leads to poor workability during assembly. Using an integrally molded part of the same material can achieve a significant reduction in the overall number of floor material components, as well as greatly improve transport efficiency and assembly workability.
However, a conventional floor silencer made from integrating sound insulation material and bulk material has a complicated and three-dimensional shape that follows the floor panel as a necessity, even though this lowers transport efficiency.


A fuel heating system for fuel usable in a turbine engine. The fuel heating system may include at least one fuel heating chamber in communication with an exhaust stack of a turbine engine. The fuel heating chamber may be configured to allow exhaust gases to flow through the at least one fuel heating chamber. The fuel heating system may also include at least one conduit positioned in the fuel heating chamber. The conduit may be configured to receive fuel from a fuel source at a first temperature, allow the fuel to flow through the conduit, and exhaust the fuel at a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature.

It is known that in thermal power turbine engines, complete combustion of fuel is desired. In addition, it has further been determined that the efficiency of a turbine engine may be increased by heating fuel before the fuel is ignited in a turbine engine. Numerous heating systems have been created to heat fuel before ignition. However, many of these conventional heating systems place a load on the turbine engines to which they are attached, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the turbine engines. Thus, a need exists for an efficient fuel heating system for turbine engines.


A honeycomb regenerator for recovering waste heat from exhaust gas, comprises a stacked assembly including at least one first honeycomb body and at least one second honeycomb body stacked thereon, the first honeycomb body being formed of an anti-corrosive material, and the at least one second honeycomb body being formed of a material having a main phase of cordierite. The stacked assembly has an inlet for hot gas and an inlet for cold gas, such that the cold gas flows along a direction opposite the hot gas. Further, the at least one second honeycomb body is provided downstream of the at least one first honeycomb body along a gas flow direction of the hot gas. Accordingly, the at least one first honeycomb body receives the hot gas during flow thereof, while the at least one second honeycomb body receives the cold gas during flow thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a honeycomb regenerator for recovering a waste heat in an exhaust gas by passing the exhaust gas and gas to be heated alternately therethrough, which is constructed by stacking a plurality of honeycomb structural bodies each having a rectangular shape in such a manner that flow passages constructed by through-holes are aligned in one direction, and especially relates to the honeycomb regenerator used in a corrosive atmosphere.
2. Related Art Statement
In combustion heating furnaces used in industry such as a blast furnaces, an aluminum melting furnace, a glass melting furnaces or the like, a regenerator used for improving a heat efficiency, in which a firing air is pre-heated by utilizing waste heat of an exhaust gas, has been known. As such regenerators, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 58-26036 (JP-A-58-26036) discloses a regenerator utilizing ceramic balls, and also Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4-251190 (JP-A-4-251190) discloses a regenerator utilizing honeycomb structural bodies.
In the known regenerator mentioned above, at first an exhaust gas having a high temperature is brought into contact with the ceramic balls or the honeycomb structural bodies to store a waste heat of the exhaust gas in the regenerator, and then a gas to be heated having a low temperature is brought into contact with the thus pre-heated regenerator to heat the gas to be heated, thereby utilizing the waste heat in the exhaust gas effectively.
Among the known regenerators mentioned above, in the case of using the ceramic balls, since a contact area between the ceramic balls and the exhaust gas is small due to a large gas-flowing resistivity of the ceramic balls, it is not possible to perform a heat exchanging operation effectively. Therefore, there occurs a drawback such that it is necessary to make a dimension of the regenerator large.
Contrary to this, in the case of using the honeycomb structural bodies, since a geometrically specific surface thereof is large as compared with a volume thereof, it is possible to perform the heat exchanging operation effectively even by a compact body. However, in an actual industrial furnace, since use is made of a natural gas, a light oil, a heavy oil or the like as a fuel, a corrosive gas such as SOx, NOx or the like is generated. Moreover, in the aluminum melting furnace, the exhaust gas includes an alkali metal component or the like. Therefore, a catalyst carrier made of cordierite used for purifying the exhaust gas of an automobile as disclosed in JP-A-4-251190 has a drawback on anti-corrosive properties.
Further, in order to improve the anti-corrosive properties, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-23950 discloses a regenerator utilizing alumina. In this case, since the entire honeycomb body is made of an alumina and an alumina has a high thermal expansion coefficient, there occurs a problem such that the regenerator is fractured due to a thermal shock if a heat cycle having a large temperature difference is applied thereto.


A portable terminal displays data received from the exterior or internally generated on its screen in an upright direction. The portable terminal includes a video processor, a display with the screen, a sensor, and a controller. The video processor converts data into a displayable format according to characteristics and size of the screen so the data can be displayed on the screen. The data displayed on the screen is converted according to the characteristics and size of the screen. The sensor has a sensing device for sensing rotation of the screen, and generates a sensing signal according to a rotating direction of the screen. The controller determines a rotating direction of the screen according to the sensing signal, and controls the video processor to convert a format of the data in an opposite direction of the determined rotating direction in order to display the data in an upright direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a display apparatus adopted to all kinds of portable communication terminals, including a cellular phone, a digital phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a hand-held phone and a notebook computer, and a data display method using the same, and in particular, to a portable terminal capable of displaying data considering a rotating direction of a display module, and a data displaying method using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a portable terminal refers to a portable apparatus capable of providing a radio communication service to a user through radio communication with a base station. Such portable terminals have been generalized to people of all ages and both sexes all over the world, and are becoming necessities of life. The portable terminal essentially includes a mouthpiece/earpiece unit for exchanging audio signals with the other party, a data input/output unit, and an antenna device.
In the past, the portable terminal was simply used for a voice call. However, with the development of a communication technology, an improved portable terminal can transmit and receive text messages, and support a chatting function, a game function, etc. In addition, the improved portable terminal can access the Internet, and adopts a color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) module instead of a black and white LCD module.
Typically, a microphone is used as a mouthpiece unit, and a speaker is used as an earpiece unit. In addition, keypad, touch screen and voice recognition device are used as data input units, and an LCD module is used as a data output unit.
A general LCD module displays input data so that a user can visually perceive the displayed data. The latest high-performance LCD module visually displays various data, such as text, graphics, animations, icons, still pictures and moving pictures, on its standardized screen, so that the user can perceive the displayed information.
However, the LCD modules that are utilized to provide screens for a portable terminal form screens having different widths and different lengths. Therefore, data and other information is displayed to a user on a standard size screen that is provided with a particular portable terminal model. In addition, the user, although he or she wishes to see the data on a wide screen, can only see the information displayed on the LCD module in a normal direction, since width and length are fixed in accordance with the size of the standard screen. For example, if a display module of the portable terminal is rotated, e.g. by about 90° or 180°, the displayed data is also rotated by the same degree. Therefore, the user has a difficulty in seeing the displayed data.

Portable terminal capable of displaying data in an upright direction regardless of rotation of screen and method therefore