Viral proteins with sequence and functional similarity to the drosophila cell death protein known as Reaper are provided. Reaper plays an important role in the apoptotic pathway. Methods using the viral proteins and nucleotides encoding such proteins are described.

Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death, by which an organism eliminates extraneous or harmful cells. Apoptosis plays a role in normal development and homeostasis, as well as in diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
Apoptosis occurs via the activation of intrinsic cell-suicide programs; activation is regulated by many different signals, both intracellular and extracellular. Various viral and metazoan apoptosis inducer genes have been identified; inhibitors of apoptosis (IAP) proteins have also been identified that act to suppress apoptosis.
At least three apoptotic activator proteins have been identified in Drosophila melanogaster: reaper (rpr), head involution defective (hid) and grim. The N-terminal sequences of these proteins are highly conserved. Avdonin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:11703 (1998). Proteins that inhibit apoptosis (IAPs) have also been identified in Drosophila. Hay et al., Cell 83:1253 (1995); Wing et al., Cell Death Differ. 5:930 (1998).
The product of the reaper gene is required for programmed cell death in Drosophila. Cell death induced by the reaper protein has been shown to be blocked by the baculovirus p35 protein, a viral product that inactivates proteases. White et al., Science 271:805 (1996).
The Drosophila Grim protein is also an activator of apoptosis, independent of Reaper. Expression of Grim RNA coincides with the onset of programmed cell death during embryonic development, and ectopic induction of grim has been show to trigger extensive apoptosis in transgenic animals and in cell culture. Similar to the Reaper protein, cell killing by grim can be blocked by coexpression of the viral p35 product. The grim gene product has been postulated to function in a parallel cell death signalling regime that activates a common set of downstream apoptotic effectors. Chen et al., Genes Dev. 10:1773-1782 (1996).
Viral infection of host cells, and replication therein, is often associated with inhibition of apoptosis to enable viral replication and the subsequent stimulation apoptosis of the host cells for viral particle release. Certain viral gene products have been shown to specifically inhibit or induce apoptosis. However, many viruses additionally encode proteins that inhibit apoptosis, prolonging the survival of infected cells and thereby aiding viral replication or viral persistence in the host.

Bunyaviridal reaper proteins and uses therefore


A method and apparatus for obtaining user information to conduct secure transactions on the Internet without having to re-enter the information multiple times is described. The method and apparatus can also provide a technique by which secured access to the data can be achieved over the Internet. A passport containing user defined information at various security levels is stored in a secure server apparatus, or passport agent, connected to computer network. A user process instructs the passport agent to release all or portions of the passport to a recipient node and forwards a key to the recipient node to unlock the passport information.

As is known in the art, there is a trend to conduct business over public computer networks. For example, a user may want to make a purchase or conduct a transaction over a public computer network such as the Internet. To do so, the user accesses the public network through a network node (e.g. a web site) and makes a purchase/transaction request with a particular vendor who is also coupled to the public network via a web site. In response to the user requests, a vendor may request user information such as user name, address, social security number, credit card number, etc.
To continue the transaction, the user responds to the vendor by entering the requested information (e.g. name, address, social security number, credit card number, etc. . . . ) at the web site and transmitting the information to the vendor. After receiving the information, the vendor then completes the transaction.
One problem with this approach, however, is that if a user wants to make additional transactions or requests, the user is often required to re-enter the same information for each request. This can lead to mistakes being made in entering the information. This is true even if the information only needs to be entered once in response to a single request. Furthermore, there may be problems maintaining particularly sensitive user information (e.g. credit card number, social security number, etc.) in secret.
For example, to access information on an Internet home page (e.g. the IBM home page on the Internet), a user must specify via a menu selection the language (e.g. English, French, German, etc. . . . ) in which the user would like to communicate. Such information must be re-entered each time the same user accesses the IBM home page.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a technique for allowing a user to specify particular information once and have the information be used each time the user accesses any site on the public network.

Method and apparatus for storing an internet user's identity and access rights to world wide web resources

International Business Machines Corporation


A system and method of controlling a compressor rack having a plurality of variable capacity components is provided. A variable capacity component is selected from the plurality of variable capacity components as a designated variable capacity component. The designated variable capacity component is operated by varying a capacity of the designated variable capacity component. Each variable capacity component of the plurality of variable capacity components, except for the designated variable capacity component, is operated at a fixed capacity corresponding to one of a maximum and a minimum capacity of the variable capacity component.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
A refrigeration system may include one or more compressors that compress refrigerant vapor. Refrigerant vapor from the compressors may be directed into a condenser coil where the vapor may be liquefied at high pressure. The high pressure liquid refrigerant may flow to an evaporator located in a refrigeration case after it is expanded by an expansion valve to a low pressure two-phase refrigerant. As the low pressure two-phase refrigerant flows through the evaporator, the refrigerant may absorb heat from the refrigeration case and boil off to a single phase low pressure vapor that may return to the compressors. The closed loop refrigeration process may then repeat.
The refrigeration system may include multiple compressors connected to multiple circuits. Each circuit may be a physically plumbed series of cases operating at similar pressures and temperatures. For example, in a grocery store, one set of cases within a circuit may be used for frozen food, while other sets may be used for meats or dairy.
The multiple compressors may be piped together in parallel using suction and discharge gas headers to form a compressor rack. The compressors may include scroll compressors, reciprocating compressors, and/or other suitable compressors. When multiple compressors are piped together in a compressor rack, an optimal control strategy is needed to activate and deactivate the compressors.

Refrigeration system and method using multiple variable capacity devices


This pharmaceutical injection device may be provided with a main body case, a pharmaceutical syringe mounting portion, a piston, a piston feed screw or the like, and a cover. At a first end, the main body case may have an injection needle mounting portion to which an injection needle is mounted. The pharmaceutical syringe mounting portion may be provided inside the main body case, and a pharmaceutical syringe may be mounted thereto. The piston may be provided movably with respect to the pharmaceutical syringe that is mounted to the pharmaceutical syringe mounting portion. The piston feed screw or the like drives the piston. The cover may be provided on the first end side of the main body case and operates to open and close the injection needle mounting portion.

A pharmaceutical injection device typically comprises a main body case having an injection needle mounting portion at a first end, a pharmaceutical syringe mounting portion provided inside the main body case, a piston provided movably with respect to a pharmaceutical syringe mounted to the pharmaceutical syringe mounting portion, and a drive mechanism for driving the piston.
That is, with a conventional pharmaceutical injection device, first the pharmaceutical syringe is mounted to the pharmaceutical syringe mounting portion, and then the injection needle is mounted to the injection needle mounting portion. After this, the injection needle pierces the skin of the patient, and then a packing inside the pharmaceutical syringe is pushed by the piston through force from the drive mechanism, which injects the pharmaceutical inside the pharmaceutical syringe through the injection needle and into the patient's body.
Sometimes a cover that covers the injection needle mounting portion is removably mounted to the main body case in order to prevent the injection needle mounting portion from becoming dirty.


The vehicle pulled snow scraper system is an adjustable width snow blade having a pivotally attached blade in which the forward-backward tilt of the blade is adjusted via the winch. The forward-backward tilt function also may raise and lower the bottom edge of the blade in relation to the ground surface. The invention has a two piece hitch receiver bar having two different diameters of tubing, with an impact spring between the tubes to absorb impacts when the blade catches an immovable object. The outside edges of the blade assembly extend outward to greatly increase the width of the snow plow blade as desired by the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of snow removal blades and more specifically relates to a vehicle pulled snow scraper system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Millions of motorists in the nation's colder regions where winter, after the first couple of major snowstorms, is less a Christmas-card scene of silent, snow swept serenity than a constant and bitter battle with the elements. Snow frequently blankets the landscape and in order for an individual get in or out of their house and go anywhere, they generally have to plow, shovel, blow, snow from the driveways and walkways. Often, after just having spent a day removing the snow from walkways and driveways, homeowners awake the next day only to find that the process needs to be repeated because of new snowfall. Snow removal can be very laborious and may be dangerous to the health of the individual.
When winter comes to the North and the West, thousands of heavy-duty, industrial-grade snowplows owned and operated by big cities, small villages, counties, municipalities, states, airports, and private firms are put into action with every significant snowfall. But while the big plows keep the roads cleared, they also cover the ends of driveways with banks of snow and these must be cleared by the homeowner. In these regions, homeowners sometimes buy expensive snow blowers or similar equipment, but most residents of snow country either pay someone else to keep their driveway plowed or shovel it themselves. Motorized equipment for removing snow is expensive and not in everyone's budget. Paying for now removal also is not always in everyone's budget, especially when snow builds up very frequently. An inexpensive device that would effortlessly remove large amounts of snow in a much shorter time is needed.
Various attempts have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems such as those found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,326 to Edward J. Ragule, U.S. Pat. No. 7,584,557 to Timothy A. Nistler, and U.S. Publication No. 2009/0249657 to Matthew Freeman. This art is representative of snow removal blades. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed.
Ideally, a snow removal blade should provide width and length adjustment and ease of use and storage, and yet, would operate reliably and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a reliable vehicle pulled snow scraper system to avoid the above-mentioned problems.


In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method that comprises receiving, a user request from a first system user of a plurality of system users for a communication of health data with a health information system. The health information system includes a data store that stores health data related to the plurality of system users. The method further comprises providing to the first system user health data stored by a second system user in the data store based on access approval by the second system user in response to a user request for health data associated with the second system user; analyzing health data for a first group of system users if the user request is an analysis of health data associated with the first group of system users; providing to the first system user the analyzed health data; and communicating health data associated with the first system user to a second group of system users if the user request is a request to communicate and the first system user has designated the system users of the second group of system users.

The disclosure relates to methods and systems for processing medical data, and in particular, to methods and systems for processing medical data from health care providers, payers and patients.
The healthcare system is experiencing extreme upheaval. The costs of insurance, medical care, and pharmaceuticals are escalating. The aging population is adding a severe strain to an already burdened system.
Further, both providers and payers typically have a transactional mindset for health care. Both providers and payers view medical care and payment as a series of transactions, rather than a process.
Further, there is a proliferation of dedicated personal healthcare devices, such as physical activity sensors or blood sugar meters, and smart phones and tablets have personal healthcare applications. However, these devices provide data only to the patient, either directly from the device, or to the patient's healthcare application.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating data flow in a conventional health data system 100. Conventional health data system 100 comprises a patient 108, a health information exchange/electronic health record (HIE/EHR) system 110, a health data source developer 112, an analytics developer 114, a hospital 120, a physician 122, a health data source 127, an insurance company 128, and a government entity 129.
The data communication in the conventional health data processing system 100 is via discrete communication links. Patient 108 communicates separately with health data source developer 112, hospital 120, physician 122, health data source 127, insurance company 128 and government entity 129. Hospital 120 communicates separately with HIE/EHR system 110, health data source developer 112, physician 122, insurance company 128, and government entity 129. Health data source developer 112 communicates separately with physician 122 and health data source 127. Analytics developer 114 communicates with health data source developer 112 and health data source 127. The numerous communication links increases with increasing numbers of patient 108, health data source developer 112, analytics developer 114, hospital 120, physician 122, health data source 127, insurance company 128 and government entity 129.
It is desirable to have a system that processes medical data from various sources.

Methods and apparatus for processing medical data from a plurality of users


Embodiments of determining drop weight are disclosed.

Modern printing devices, such as inkjet printers, often provide estimates to users as to how many pages can be printed with the printing device. Determining these estimates with a desired degree of accuracy using information pertaining to the weight of ink droplets ("drop weight") ejected by inkjet pens of the printing device can be difficult.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A skin massage device having a handset connected to a machine body. The handset in turn has a chamber closed by a deformable membrane which adheres to a patient's skin by virtue of a vacuum generated in the chamber by a vacuum generating device. The device also has an electronic device for producing a variable vacuum in the chamber to deform the membrane and so lift, fold, compress, and smooth the patient's skin as to perform the massage cycle set by the operator.

In devices normally used for applications of this sort, mechanical massage of the skin is performed using revolving bodies of various forms (rollers, balls), often rotated electronically, or by vibration of appropriately shaped rigid surfaces, or using variously shaped hollow bodies in which a vacuum is formed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,982, massaging is performed using a vacuum which draws a portion of the skin onto an elastomeric surface which, subjected to the action of a vibration-generating device, performs the desired massage.
The principles on which the device in U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,982 is based, however, fail to provide for effective, vigorous skin massage.
One of the characteristics of the device according to the present invention is a membrane, in particular an elastomeric membrane.
The membrane replaces the rigid bodies which, as stated, usually revolve, and which, when set in motion, produce the actual massage effect of known devices.
The membrane used in the invention may be of varying rigidity, e.g. depending on the thickness and type of elastomeric material employed, and, while providing for softer contact with the skin as compared with rigid elements of any form, has projections or recesses on its outer surface enabling it to exert significant pressure on the skin.
More specifically, the membrane in the present invention is fixed along the edge of a chamber forming part of a handset, and, in addition to lifting a portion of skin, is moved back and forth by a variable vacuum generated by a vacuum pump, and the pattern of which may be determined, for example, by opening and closing two electronically controlled solenoid valves.
The membrane also has holes by which to also transmit the vacuum to the skin, once sufficient airtight sealing is achieved by pressing the raised edge of the membrane lightly on the patient's skin. One or more folds are thus formed in the skin and kneaded by alternating suction on the membrane, which also has tissue-folding projections and recesses.
Another characteristic of the present invention is that of employing a vacuum device capable, in particular, of performing pulsating skin treatment cycles.
By virtue of various preset treatment programs, defects can therefore be treated specifically according to the degree of advancement and the area of the body involved. Effects range from remodelling, with or without weight loss, combined with improved physical appearance and skin tone, to a reduction in body dimensions. The present invention is also designed for physiotherapy and rehabilitation in the treatment of traumas and connective tissue diseases, and is also so effective in improving arterial-venous and lymphatic microcirculation as to cure lymphoedemas and poor microcirculation.
In the present invention, employing a pneumatic circuit for producing a controlled vacuum is instrumental in enabling automatic mechanical massage. In the known art, direct contact between the suction source and the skin is potentially dangerous, and may result in pain and irritation by sharp exposure of the skin tissue to the vacuum.
Interfacing the patient's body exclusively by means of the membrane, however, reduces pain caused by suction, and prevents direct contact between the skin and the vacuum chamber.
The handset can be moved manually over the tissue portion for treatment, after first coating the patient's skin with oil or other lubricating means.
As the handset slides over the skin, the tissue portion adhering to the membrane is therefore raised, folded, smoothed and compressed vigorously according to the program selected by the operator, so that the tissue is modelled and transferred in a wavelike motion, with beneficial effects at connective tissue layer level.
Revolving bodies or vibrating surfaces, such as those of known devices, also pose a serious hygiene problem, by being fixed and therefore used for different patients. Apart from the time factor involved, thorough, continual disinfection of such parts is also technically complex, by frequently involving automatic mechanical devices.
Conversely, the membrane used in the present invention is easily replaceable, and may therefore be changed for each patient.
To ensure the utmost hygiene, it is therefore proposed that the membrane be used once, and may be changed after each treatment. In other words, the membrane may be disposable and made of non-allergenic, easily disinfectable material.
Another drawback of known marketed devices is that of only performing mechanical treatment, with no regard to other equally straightforward, controllable forms of tissue treatment. Particularly interesting is the possibility of combining the effects of the massage element with those of an ultrasound device, thus exploiting, not only the purely mechanical action performed by the membrane, but also the known mechanical, thermal, chemical and cavitational effects produced by ultrasound on biological tissue.
The device according to the present invention is an electric medical device for performing in-depth, non-invasive mechanical massage, which, by the combined action of suction and the membrane with specially shaped projections, lifts and manipulates the skin and subcutaneous tissue, and is specially designed to simulate the so-called "knead-and-roll" manual massage method widely used by physiotherapists and masseurs.
The physiological effects produced by the device according to the present invention are as follows.
The tissues for treatment are "separated" by suction and immediately subjected to vigorous mechanical massage, which stimulates venous and lymphatic circulation of the treatment area, thus improving cutaneous and subcutaneous nutrition, and in particular provides for reabsorbing stagnant liquids and mobilizing subcutaneous fat. Recent findings, in fact, show that even light mechanical stress is sufficient to break down fat cells, which release triglycerides and fatty acids, and are distributed evenly over a much wider area. The main effect is that of stimulating tissue metabolism and vascularization, followed by lymph drainage and tissue purification, the latter assisted by the high degree of mobility of the fluid inside the tissue.
The device according to the present invention greatly increases subcutaneous flood flow, by the mechanical massage action being directed locally on the treatment area.
The most significant histological change induced by the mechanical massage performed by the device is the accumulation of longitudinal collagen bands in the subcutaneous tissue. This is accompanied by some deformation of the fat cells, and both the above architectural variations occur with no inflammation or repair reaction. Redistribution of the vertical force component, by longitudinal collagen bands depositing parallel to the skin surface, and breakdown of the vertical fascia fibres assist in reducing the appearance of cellulite in the treated tissue.
Ultrasound action is also extremely important, and is combined with that of the massage membrane in one embodiment of the present invention. The interaction of ultrasound with biological tissue produces various effects, as described in detail below.
Therapeutically, ultrasound provides mainly for pain relief, muscle relaxation, and fibrolytic and nutrition effects. These are due partly to the increase in temperature produced by absorption of viscosity-related heat, in turn produced by thermal conductivity and chemical absorption, and partly to mechanical micromassage of the tissue.
The increase in temperature also has a vasodilatory effect, which assists catabolite removal and supplies the tissue with nutritional substances and oxygen. Ultrasound thus improves tissue nutrition, assists in repairing damaged tissue, and accelerates resolution of inflammation processes.
Ultrasound oscillation of the tissue particles breaks up the collagen fibres of fibrous tissue. Dispersion and separation of the collagen fibres and softening of the cement are used to assist reabsorption of organized haematomas and to soften tissue; which effects, together with an overall feeling of well-being, make ultrasound ideal for the purpose in question.
Another advantage of the present invention is that, according to recent studies, ultrasound attenuation is reduced alongside an increase in skin deformation, as a result of collagen fibre redistribution. Combined with mechanical massage, ultrasound therefore provides for greater in-depth massage of the treated tissue.


The posterior-form enhancement device includes a garment and two posterior-form pads. Each posterior-form pad is formed by attaching one first posterior-form piece to one second posterior-form piece. The garment is used for covering the lower body part of a person, and in its rear side has two pockets adjacent to the posteriors of wearers for placing the posterior-form pads respectively. Each first posterior-form piece includes a bag for encasing a volume of gel. The second posterior-form pieces are respectively adjacent to the first posterior-form pieces in the pockets, wherein the first posterior-form piece is near an external surface away from wearers' posteriors of while the second posterior-form piece is near an internal surface adjacent to wearers' posteriors. The shape and size of the pockets are determined by the shape and size of the posterior-form pad. The posterior-form pads can be put into or taken out of the pockets.

Generally, most men or women may not obtain the desired body shape of the standard shape, and they also pay great attention to these points. If they are subjected to have a bad shape when they are getting old or sick, they will be eager to obtain the desired shape by every possible ways.
Faces, breasts, chest, posterior, thighs or any other body part can be the targets that people are eager to improve to obtain a desired figure. Among these, it is not easy to enlarge or change the shape of posterior only through exercise or diet. Other methods, such as surgical operations, use of shaping girdles or pants, or use of inserting foam material into garment, can only obtain a limited effect. The above methods have respective defects. For example, the defects of surgical operations include the risk of failure, a long-term harm caused by defects of surgical operations, the expensive charges, and the discomfort of using shaping girdles or pants.
In view of these, the inventor of the present invention provides a posterior-form enhancement device to overcome the above defects.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method for calculating the orientation of a geologic feature with respect to the axis of a wellbore drilled through earth formations. The method uses finely detailed measurements of a selected property of the earth formations made along the wall of the wellbore. The method includes the steps of segregating the finely detailed measurements by an angle subtended with respect to an arbitrary reference on the circumference of the wellbore. The measurements are further segregated into a selected axial interval along the wellbore. For each segment, for each subtended angle, the segregated measurements are spectrally analyzed with respect to spatial frequency. Coefficients of a best fit curve are determined for the phase components of the spectrally analyzed measurements with respect to the subtended angle. The orientation of the geologic feature is calculated from the best fit curve. In the preferred embodiment a noise floor is calculated in each segment by stacking the amplitude components at each spatial frequency in each interval. For each spatial frequency, the stacked amplitude is compared to the noise floor. Only spatial frequencies having amplitudes above the noise floor are used to generate the best fit curve from their respective phase components.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of measurement of structural attitude ("dip") of earth formations. More specifically, the invention is related to methods for processing data from "imaging" well logging instruments, for calculating the structural attitudes of the earth formations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Well logging instruments used to determine the structural attitude ("dip") of earth formations are of two general types. First are the so-called "diplog" or "dipmeter" instruments which measure formation resistivity to very fine detail (high axial resolution) along the wall of a wellbore drilled through the earth formations. The resistivity is measured at three or more circumferentially spaced apart positions around the wellbore. Differences in the axial position, from one of the circumferentially spaced apart position to the others, of any changes in value of the resistivity are calculated from the measurements. The differences in the axial positions of changes in the resistivity values are used to calculate the dip of the earth formations. The assumption being made in these calculations is that changes in resistivity values correspond directly to different depositional layers of the earth formations. Representative methods for calculating dip are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,656 issued to Hepp and U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,219 issued to Clavier et al.
More recently, well logging instruments have been developed which make even more finely detailed measurements of resistivity. These more recent instruments, known in the art as "imaging" devices, make measurements which cover the circumference of the wellbore substantially continuously. The measurements of resistivity can be converted to an optical (visual) presentation where color or grey scale density corresponds to the resistivity, so that the visual presentation, or "image", of the wellbore wall can be obtained. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,759 issued to Ekstrom et al.
Another type of "imaging" instrument, known as an ultrasonic acoustic imaging instrument, uses reflectance amplitude and travel time of ultrasonic energy to generate an image of the wellbore wall. The acoustic imaging instrument has been also combined with the resistivity instrument into a single well logging tool. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,686 issued to Dory et al.
Irrespective of the type of imaging instrument used, dip calculations made from the image data are made in substantially the same manner as for the diplog instruments. It has become apparent from the visual representations made by imaging instruments that the prior art methods for calculating dip do not satisfactorily resolve dip when there are both "structural" and "stratigraphic" components to the dip in certain earth formations. The term structural dip describes the overall attitude of a particular stratigraphic unit or layer. It is generally believed that sedimentary earth formations, which are the kind most commonly measured by well logging instruments, were originally deposited horizontally. As large portions of the earth's crust underwent structural movement, the overall attitude of these layers could have been shifted from horizontal. The change in attitude results in the structural dip. Sometimes the forces which move the large sections of the earth's crust cause the sedimentary layers to bend or "fold" as well as shift from horizontal. Some components of dip can be associated with folding as well as gross overall change in attitude. Sedimentary earth formations also can have layering features related to the environment in which the sediments were deposited. These features can impart significant attitude changes within a single earth formation layer. These intra-layer attitudes are generally known as stratigraphic dip. It has proven difficult using prior art methods of dip calculation to resolve stratigraphic dip where a structural dip is also imposed on the same earth formations or where fold-related dip is superimposed on structural and stratigraphic dips.

Method for computing dip of earth formations from wellbore image data


A tobacco filter material containing fibers which have a core and a surface layer which surrounds the core, wherein the core comprises a non-esterified cellulose and the surface layer comprises a cellulose ester. The fiber may be (A) a cellulose fiber coated with a cellulose ester or (B) a fibrous cellulose derivative with its surface layer esterified by an organic acid and having an average degree of substitution of not more than 1.5. Wood pulp can be used as the cellulose fiber and the amount of the cellulose ester in the coated cellulose (A) is 0.1% by weight or more. The cellulose derivative (B) has its surface layer esterified with an organic acid and retains a non-esterified core portion. This cellulose derivative may be obtained, for example, by the non-catalytic liquid phase treatment of a cellulose fiber with an organic acid and an organic acid anhydride or halide.

As a tobacco filter which provides for the effective removal of harmful components of the tobacco such as tar, and insures a satisfactory smoking quality, a filter plug prepared by shaping a tow (fiber bundle) of a cellulose acetate (e.g. a cellulose acetate having an average degree of substitution of about 2.4) fiber with a plasticizer such as triacetin is known. In this filter plug, however, the biodegradability is low, and the constituent filaments have been partly fused together by the plasticizer so that when it is discarded after smoking, it takes a long time for the filter plug to disintegrate itself in the environment, thus adding to the pollution problem. Moreover, such a filter plug can hardly be completely recovered and would entail an almost prohibitive cost of recovery. Disposal of filter plugs by incinerating involves large outputs of combustion heat which detract considerably from the serviceable life of the incinerator.
Meanwhile, a tobacco filter made of a sheet-form or creped paper manufactured from a wood pulp and a tobacco filter made from a regenerated cellulose fiber are also known. Compared with a filter plug comprising a tow (fiber bundle) of a cellulose acetate fiber, these filters are meritorious in biodegradability and slightly more wet-disintegratable (wet-disintegrative) and, thus, of somewhat lower pollution potential. However, in these filters, not only are the aroma (taste) and palatability of tobacco smoke sacrificed but also the efficiency of selective elimination of phenols which is essential to tobacco filters is not acceptable when compared with the cellulose acetate filter. Moreover, the firmness or hardness of these filters is lower than that of the cellulose acetate filter on a give pressure loss basis. Furthermore, such material in the form of a sheet manufactured from a wood pulp has a low bulkiness, and hence imparting a higher bulkiness to the material in order to decrease the pressure loss causes fuzz or scuffing and low moldability.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 45468/1978 (JP-A-53-45468) corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 730,039, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,192,838 and 4,283,186 discloses a filter material comprising a nonwoven sheet containing 5 to 35% by weight of cellulose ester fibrils with a large surface area and 65 to 95% by weight of cellulose ester short staples. Furthermore, this prior art literature mentions that a wood pulp may be incorporated in this mixture of cellulose ester fibrils and cellulose ester short staples. However, because cellulose esters can hardly be processed into fine fibrils, a special technique is required for providing the fibrils with a large surface area. Moreover, the disintegratability and biodegradability of this filter material are not sufficiently high so that the risk of pollution is substantial.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 141185/1980 (JP-A-55-141185) discloses a filter material comprising a composite sheet-like entity manufactured by sealing or adhering a sheet-like entity comprising mainly wood pulp fibers, and a sheet-like entity comprising a tow of cellulose ester derivative fibers. However, in such filter material, although somewhat improved aroma and palatability of tobacco smoke can be obtained, the molding of the sheet-like entity and the sealing or adhering of the both sheets are conducted with the use of a plasticizer such as triacetin so that the fibers and the sheets are fused to each other and fail to provide a sufficient wet disintegratability.
Furthermore, a tobacco filter material in a sheet form is occasionally subjected to creping or other processing during molding or shaping processes, and such tobacco filter material is required to retain a high dry strength during the processing or dry handling but, then, its wet disintegratability is low. By the same token, a sheet material providing for a high degree of wet disintegratability shows only a low strength even in dry handling condition.
Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 227939/1993 (JP-A-5-227939) discloses a cigarette filter made of a biodegradable aliphatic polyester with fine pores for alleviating the pollution burden on the environment. This filter provides somewhat enhanced biodegradability. The aroma and palatability of tobacco smoke in such filter are, however, sacrificed in comparison with the cellulose acetate filter plug.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 72900/1977 (JP-A-52-72900) discloses a tobacco filter comprising an aggregate of fibrous acetylated cellulose having an average degree of acetylation in the range of 10 to 50%. This literature mentions that the fibrous acetylated cellulose is obtained by acetylating a cellulose fiber such as pulp with the use of a catalyst for acetylation such as sulfuric acid. However, the fiber obtained by such technique is not sufficient in the biodegradability yet is excellent in the aroma and palatability of tobacco smoke.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 1944/1969 (JP-B-44-1944) discloses a tobacco filter which is produced by adding a solution containing a hydrophobic polymer to a paper by means of impregnation or spraying and shaping the resultant paper into a rod-shape in order to improve the firmness and elasticity (springiness) of paper filters. The smoking quality of such tobacco filter may probably be improved. However, since the constituent fibers or other component of the paper are adhered or coated due to the addition of the hydrophobic polymer, the wet disintegratability of the filter is remarkably sacrificed.
Thus, excellent characteristics for a tobacco filter such as good smoking quality, the high elimination efficiency of harmful components and the high dry strength, and high biodegradability and/or wet disintegratability can hardly be reconciled in a conventional tobacco filter.

Tobacco filter material and a method for producing the same


The present invention relates to home plates for ball fields, such as softball and baseball fields. Embodiments of the invention provide a double-sided home plate. Double-sided home plates according to embodiments can comprise a support base with two opposing recesses each shaped to receive a home plate insert, with a home plate insert fixed in each recess. Also provided is an improved home plate comprising two identical sides so when one side is worn due to use all that is required is to invert the home plate to expose a new surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to equipment for baseball and softball fields. More particularly, embodiments of the invention provide a double-sided home plate configured with an upper home plate and an opposing lower home plate, such that a first home plate can be used and then replaced by flipping the device over to reveal a second playing surface for use.
2. Description of Related Art
The home plate is one of the most recognized parts of a baseball and softball field, with the area surrounding home plate being the main focus of every ball game. Compared with the other bases, 1st, 2nd and 3rd base, the home plate is set into the ground such that its top surface is level with the ground. The overall pentagonal shape also aides in its uniqueness. Every batter that "steps up to the plate" hopes to ultimately cross it by scoring a run, while every catcher crouches behind the home plate to receive each pitch of the game. Home plates are also commonly used in bullpens.
Since the area of the home plate, including the batter's box, is constantly in contact with players during use, it is important to provide a home plate that is sufficiently durable to withstand the constant contact of players on the ball field. As with any object exposed to constant wear, home plates need constant replacement. The consistent exposure to the elements and to the rough interaction with baseball and softball cleats causes the surface of the home plate to wear and degrade over time. In response, home plates have evolved and have been developed in attempts to provide a safe, durable surface that is easy to replace or change when home plates become too worn for use.
When baseball first began, the home plate was comprised of stone or wood to mark the 4th and final base. However, players soon realized that falling or sliding on such a surface had a high risk of injury. Rubber soon replaced stone and wood and is largely the material still used in most home plates today. While the material of the home plate has not changed much over recent years, there have been many attempts at improving how the home plate is secured in the ground and providing a surface that can quickly be changed.
To ensure the home plate does not come loose during a game, and remains in place for several games, an anchoring system for the home plate can be used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,557 entitled "Baseball Base and Anchor," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes an anchor that is placed and secured in the ground and connects to the anchor plate on the underside of the home plate. Though home plates secured in this way provide a stable structure, to reposition or adjust the base, the user must also reposition and adjust the anchor. Additionally, when a base needs replacing, the entire base, with the anchor plate, typically needs to be replaced. This provides a home plate that is not efficient or cost-effective to replace.
In anchoring systems the plate is typically relatively thin. To provide a more efficient means of adjusting and removing the home plate, plates have been developed with a substantial thickness so that the clay or dirt packed around the base is enough to secure it in place without an anchor. While a home plate without an anchor makes the base easier to remove, it still does not solve the problem of needing to replace the entire base once it shows signs of wear.
Some home plates provide a means of replacing just the surface of the home plate, as opposed to the entire base, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,648,432 entitled "Home Plate with Up-Tight Bevel," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This design provides a home plate in which the top plate is removable from the base and is secured with the base by anchor posts. Though the top plate is removable for easy replacement, the anchoring system used to secure the top plate with the rest of the base comprises many pieces that can be lost or damaged over time, especially in an environment constantly exposed to the elements and impact forces from contact with players.
Additional home plates provide a base comprised of a single rubber construction providing an easy to remove and install home plate. Even further, some plates provide a means of replacing only the top plate so that the rest of the base can remain in the ground at all times. Such home plates do not require anchors as the top plate just sits in the rest of the base. Although these plates can provide an efficient means of replacing home base, over time dirt or clay will get under the top plate and between the top plate and its base, thereby creating an undesirable "unsafe" and/or uneven surface.
Additional efforts in the development of bases for baseball are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,138,273; 3,508,747; 3,572,705; 4,266,768; 4,448,414; 4,531,733; 4,591,154; and U.S. Patent Application Nos. 20080194361; 20090124436; 20100210382; and 20100279802, which are each incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Despite the attempts to make a home plate that is easy to install and replace and yet is durable and long lasting, the prior art has failed to provide a home plate with such characteristics. There is still a need for a home plate with a durable and long lasting base, wherein the home plate is configured to be installed in the ground and a first playing surface used, then removed and flipped over once the first playing surface is worn to provide a second, unused playing surface for use.


A wiring board including an insulating board formed such that an inner insulating layer is laminated under a front insulating layer, a pair of semiconductor element connection pads for a signal, formed on the front insulating layer, and a pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors formed on the inner insulating layer, having connection ends connected to the pair of pads for the signal under the pair of pads through via holes, and having parallel extending portions extending to an outer peripheral portion from the connection ends on the inner insulating layer in parallel to each other, where a part from the connection end to one part of the parallel extending portion has a width smaller than a width of a residual part, and length equal to or less than one-sixteenth of a wavelength of a signal transmitting in the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wiring board for mounting a semiconductor element.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a wiring board for mounting a semiconductor element, a wiring board having a multilayer structure formed by a buildup technique is used (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-259390). A conventional example of this wiring board is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. As shown in FIG. 10, a conventional wiring board 200 is formed such that a buildup portion 32 is laminated on each of upper and lower surfaces of a core board 31.
The core board 31 includes a core insulating plate 34 having a plurality of through holes 33, and a core wiring conductor 35 adhered to an inside of the through hole 33 and upper and lower surfaces of the core insulating plate 34. The core insulating plate 34 is formed of a fiber-reinforced resin plate provided by impregnating glass cloth with a thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin.
The buildup portion 32 is formed by alternately laminating a buildup insulating layer 37 having a plurality of via holes 36, and a buildup wiring conductor 38 adhered to an inside of the via hole 36 and a surface of the buildup insulating layer 37, on each of the upper and lower surfaces of the core board 31. The buildup insulating layer 37 is formed of a filler containing resin layer in which an inorganic insulating filler composed of silicon oxide is dispersed in a thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin.
A solder resist layer 39 is adhered to a surface of the buildup portion 32 laminated on each of the upper and lower surfaces of the core board 31, in order to protect the buildup wiring conductor 38 provided in each of the uppermost and lowermost layers. The solder resist layer 39 is made of thermosetting resin such as acrylic-modified epoxy resin.
A mounting portion 32A for mounting a semiconductor element 53 is provided in a center of an upper surface of the buildup portion 32 on an upper surface side. The mounting portion 32A is a rectangular region having a size corresponding to the semiconductor element 53. In general, each side of the mounting portion 32A is parallel to an outer peripheral side of the wiring board 200. A plurality of semiconductor element connection pads 40 each formed of the buildup wiring conductor 38 adhered onto an uppermost buildup insulating layer 37 on the upper surface side are formed in the mounting portion 32A. Several hundreds to several thousands of the semiconductor element connection pads 40 are arranged in a shape of a lattice.
A plurality of external connection pads 41 each formed of the buildup wiring conductor 38 adhered to a lower surface of a lowermost buildup insulating layer 37 on a lower layer side are formed on a lower surface of the buildup portion 32 on a lower surface side. Several hundreds to several thousands of the external connection pads 41 are arranged in a shape of a lattice. The semiconductor element connection pad 40 and the external connection pad 41 corresponding to each other are electrically connected through the buildup wiring conductor 38 and the core wiring conductor 35.
By the way, as for the current semiconductor element, high-speed and high-capacity transmission are remarkably increased. In tandem with it, a wiring board for mounting the semiconductor element is required to be configured such that an electric loss is low at the time of high-frequency transmission. Therefore, as for the wiring board having a transmission path to transmit a high frequency signal, the wiring board has differential lines as the transmission paths for the high frequency signal in many cases. The differential lines are provided such that two transmission lines are adjacently provided side by side with a predetermined distance provided between them. When the signals having opposite phases are transmitted in the transmission lines, the transmission loss can be reduced at the time of the high frequency transmission.
The differential lines will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG. 11 is a top view of the wiring board 200 shown in FIG. 10, and mainly shows a couple of differential lines. Referring to FIG. 11, an outline of the wiring board 200 and the semiconductor element connection pads 40 are shown by solid lines, and a pair of wiring conductors 42P and 42P and a pair of external connection pads 41P and 41P for configuring the differential lines in an inside part and a lower surface of the wiring board 200 are shown by dotted lines. The semiconductor element mounting portion 32A is shown by two-dot chain line. FIG. 12 is a perspective view only showing the differential lines extracted from FIG. 11.
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the semiconductor element connection pads 40 have a pair of connection pads 40P and 40P for the differential lines. The pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P is adjacently arranged. The external connection pads 41 have the pair of external connection pads 41P and 41P corresponding to the pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P, respectively. The pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P is electrically connected to the pair of external connection pads 41P and 41P, through the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P provided in the buildup wiring conductor 38 on the upper surface side.
The pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P extend from circular first lands 42B positioned below the corresponding pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P, to circular second lands 42C positioned above the pair of external connection pads 41P and 41P. The pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P is electrically connected to the first lands 42B in the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P through via holes 36 positioned just under the pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P. The pair of external connection pads 41P and 41P is electrically connected to the second lands 42C in the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P through the through holes 33 and the plurality of via holes 36 provided above the pair of external connection pads 41P and 41P. The pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P has parallel extending portions 42A which extend in parallel to each other, except for the vicinity of connection ends to the pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P (the first lands 42B and connection portions 42D), and the vicinity of connection ends to the pair of external connection pads 41P and 41P (the second lands 42C and connection portions 42E). As for the parallel extending portion 42A, a width of the strip-shaped wiring conductor and a distance between the adjacent strip-shaped wiring conductors are adjusted so that a characteristic impedance of the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P shows 100Ω, for example.
FIG. 13 is a partial perspective view showing only an extracted part of the core wiring conductor 35 and the plurality of buildup wiring conductors 38 on the upper surface side.
A ground or power supply conductor G1 is arranged in the uppermost buildup wiring conductor 38 positioned on the upper surface side of the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P, so as to be opposed to a region of the same layer as the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P, except for the connection end to the pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P, in the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P and its vicinity. Ground or power supply conductor G2 is arranged in the buildup wiring conductor 38 serving as the same layer as the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P, so as to surround the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P with a predetermined distance provided between them. Ground or power supply conductors G3 to G5 are arranged in the buildup wiring conductor 38 and the core wiring conductor 35 provided below the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P so as to be opposed to the region of the same layer as the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P, except for the connection end to the pair of external connection pads 41P and 41P, in the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P and its vicinity. An oval opening 55 is formed in the ground or power supply conductors G3 to G5 so as to surround the via holes 36 and the through holes 33 which connect the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P to the pair of external connection pads 41P and 41P, with a predetermined distance provided between them. As for the differential lines, a line width of the strip-shaped wiring conductor and a distance between the adjacent strip-shaped wiring conductors in the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P, and a distance from the ground or power supply conductor G1 to G5 are adjusted so that a characteristic impedance of the pair of strip-shaped wiring conductors 42P and 42P shows about 100Ω, for example.
According to the wiring board 200, an electrode 54 of a semiconductor element 53 is connected to the semiconductor element connection pad 40 through a solder so that the semiconductor element 53 is mounted on the wiring board 200, and the pair of external connection pads 41 and 41 is connected to a wiring conductor of an external electric circuit board through a solder. As a result, the semiconductor element 53 mounted on the wiring board 200 is electrically connected to the external electric circuit board through the wiring board 200.
The conventional wiring board 200 is designed so that the characteristic impedance in the path from the pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P to the pair of external connection pads 41P and 41P shows a value close to 100Ω, for example. However, in the case where the capacitive component is added to the electrodes 54 of the semiconductor element 53 connected to the pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P, there is a problem that a reflection loss or transmission loss of the high frequency signal is increased between the electrodes 54 of the semiconductor element 53 and the pair of semiconductor element connection pads 40P and 40P.

Wiring board for mounting a semiconductor element


Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for determining a coordinated multi-point transmission/reception CoMP coordination set, which can increase an interference suppression gain during CoMP. The method includes: receiving, by a first cell, CoMP resource block information of a second cell sent by the second cell, where the CoMP resource block information of the second cell indicates a CoMP resource block of the second cell; obtaining, by the first cell, a CoMP coordination set of each CoMP resource block of the first cell according to CoMP resource blocks of the first cell and the CoMP resource blocks of the second cell; and determining, by the first cell, that a union set of CoMP coordination sets of all the CoMP resource blocks of the first cell is a CoMP coordination set of the first cell.

CoMP (Coordinated Multi-point Transmission/reception, coordinated multi-point transmission/reception) is one of key technologies of LTE-A (Long Term Evolution-Advanced, Long Term Evolution-Advanced), and is used to expand high data rate coverage, increase the average system throughput, and improve the performance for cell edge users.
The CoMP technology is a technology in which a UE (User Equipment, user equipment) can simultaneously receive signals from a serving cell and a coordination cell or a UE send signals to a serving cell and a coordination cell, which is equivalent to increasing a quantity of antennas of a transmit end or a receive end, so as to improve the communication performance by inputting and outputting signals through a plurality of paths.
The key to implementing coordinated multi-point transmission/reception lies in selection of a coordination cell, that is, selection of a CoMP coordination set of a UE.
In the prior art, a CoMP coordination set may be determined according to a difference between a strength value of a signal of a serving cell received by a user in the serving cell and a strength value of a signal of another cell except the serving cell received by the user or a difference between a path loss from a user in a serving cell to the serving cell and a path loss from the user to another cell except the serving cell. Specifically, the determining a CoMP coordination set according a difference between a strength value of a signal of a serving cell received by a user in the serving cell and a strength value of a signal of another cell except the serving cell received by the user is described. Referring to FIG. 1, three neighboring cells Sector 0, Sector 1, and Sector 2 are included. If the cells Sector 0, Sector 1, and Sector 2 include users UE0, UE1, and UE2, respectively. Sector 0 obtains strength of a signal of Sector 0 received by UE0 and strength of signals of Sector 1 and Sector 2 received by UE0. Assuming that a difference between the strength of the signal received from Sector 0 and the strength of the signal received from Sector 1 is smaller than a preset threshold, there is a high possibility that UE0 is located in a boundary area of Sector 0, and the cell Sector 0 performs coordinated multi-point transmission/reception for UE0; therefore, it can be determined that UE0 is a CoMP user of Sector 0, and it can be determined that Sector 1 is a coordination cell of UE0 and is used for performing coordinated multi-point transmission/reception for UE0. Assuming that a difference between the strength of the signal received from Sector 0 and the strength of the signal received from Sector 2 is greater than the preset threshold, the neighboring cell Sector 2 may not be preliminarily selected as a coordination cell of UE0. Therefore, in this scenario, a CoMP coordination set of UE0 includes the coordination cell Sector 1. Correspondingly, Sector 1 and Sector 2 also use the same method to determine CoMP users within respective coverage areas and CoMP coordination sets of the CoMP users.
Therefore, a user performing CoMP in a serving cell is referred to as a CoMP user in the serving cell.
However, in the prior art, it is determined, only based on the consideration of signal enhancement, that a cell causing great interference to a CoMP user is a coordination cell of the CoMP user. In such a selection manner, a factor of interference is not taken into consideration. In practice, interference of a serving cell is generally greatly different from interference of another cell; therefore, a user and a coordination set that are selected according to a difference between strength values of signals of the serving cell and another cell are generally not a user and a coordination set which help achieve a great gain during CoMP, which reduces the effect of CoMP.

Method and apparatus for determining coordinated multi-point transmission/reception coordination set


The present invention relates to the discovery of a transdermal delivery system that can deliver high molecular weight pharmaceuticals and cosmetic agents to skin cells. A novel transdermal delivery system with therapeutic and cosmetic application and methods of use of the foregoing is disclosed.

The skin provides a protective barrier against foreign materials and infection. In mammals this is accomplished by forming a highly insoluble protein and lipid structure on the surface of the comeocytes termed the cornified envelope (CE). (Downing et al., Dermatology in General Medicine, Fitzpatrick, et al., eds., pp. 210-221 (1993), Ponec, M., The Keratinocyte Handbook, Leigh, et al., eds., pp. 351-363 (1994)). The CE is composed of polar lipids, such as ceramides, sterols, and fatty acids, and a complicated network of cross-linked proteins; however, the cytoplasm of stratum corneum cells remains polar and aqueous. The CE is extremely thin (10 microns) but provides a substantial barrier. Because of the accessibility and large area of the skin, it has long been considered a promising route for the administration of drugs, whether dermal, regional, or systemic effects are desired.
A topical route of drug administration is sometimes desirable because the risks and inconvenience of parenteral treatment can be avoided; the variable absorption and metabolism associated with oral treatment can be circumvented; drug administration can be continuous, thereby permitting the use of pharmacologically active agents with short biological half-lives; the gastrointestinal irritation associated with many compounds can be avoided; and cutaneous manifestations of diseases can be treated more effectively than by systemic approaches.
Most transdermal delivery systems achieve epidermal penetration by using a skin penetration enhancing vehicle. Such compounds or mixtures of compounds are known in the art as "penetration enhancers" or "skin enhancers". While many of the skin enhancers in the literature enhance transdermal absorption, several possess certain drawbacks in that (i) some are regarded as toxic; (ii) some irritate the skin; (iii) some have a thinning effect on the skin after prolonged use; (iv) some change the intactness of the skin structure resulting in a change in the diffusability of the drug; and (v) all are incapable of delivering high molecular weight pharmaceuticals and cosmetic agents. Clearly there remains a need for safe and effective transdermal delivery systems that can administer a wide-range of pharmaceuticals and cosmetic agents.

Mixture for transdermal delivery of low and high molecular weight compounds


Certain embodiments of the present invention include methods, systems, and computer readable media for real-time structure suppression in ultrasonically scanned volumes. A method includes receiving a plurality of datasets, each of said plurality of datasets representative of an ultrasonically scanned volume. The method further includes automatically applying in real-time a suppression filter to said plurality of datasets to form a plurality of filtered datasets, wherein at least two of said plurality of filtered datasets are sequenceable to form a data stream.

The present application relates generally to ultrasonic imaging systems. In particular, the present application relates to methods and systems for suppressing structure in real-time across sequential scanned volumes.
Conventional ultrasonic systems are capable of acquiring data representative of a scanned volume, and processing and displaying the acquired data as an image. The acquired data may have three-dimensional ("3D") information corresponding to the scanned volume. Similarly, the image may appear 3D based on information in the acquired data. Over a period of time, an ultrasonic system may acquire a sequence of 3D datasets, which may be processed and displayed as a sequence of 3D images. Alternate names for a sequence of acquired 3D datasets or images include dynamic 3D data and four-dimensional ("4D") data. Conventional ultrasonic systems may also include a feature to suppress a portion of acquired data or images. For example, the Voluson 730 by General Electric allows a user to suppress a portion of a 3D scanned volume using the "MagiCut" feature. This feature is detailed extensively in the V730 Expert BT04 Basic User Manual, G.E Part Number KTI 105 927-100. MagiCut allows a user to suppress a volume by selecting an area from an ultrasonic image.
As described in V730 Expert BT04 Basic User Manual, six suppression methods are available with MagiCut. These different methods can be used in different cases depending on the user's goals. The first suppression method is "Inside Contour": With this suppression method the part of the image within the contour (drawn freehand) is suppressed. If a contour is left open, the program automatically closes the contour with a straight line from the ending point to the starting point. The second suppression method is "Outside Contour": All parts of the image that lie outside of the contour (drawn freehand) are suppressed. If a contour is left open, the program automatically closes the contour with a straight line from the ending point to the starting point. The third suppression method is "Inside Box": While holding down the right mouse button, move the mouse in a diagonal fashion from the beginning cut point to the end cut point in order to create a box. The part of the image inside the box is suppressed. The fourth suppression method is "Outside Box": Using the same way of drawing as with "Inside Box," draw a box. All parts of the image that lie outside the box are suppressed. The fifth and sixth suppression methods are "Small Eraser" and "Big Eraser": Hold down the right mouse button and move across the image. Any area touched by the mouse cursor will be suppressed. MagiCut also allows the user to define a cut depth, so that the entire volume depth may be suppressed, or only a portion of the volume depth may be suppressed. In addition to the methods of cutting available with MagiCut, various other image editing techniques are widely known to accomplish volume suppression.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example of 3D volume suppression. An unsuppressed 3D image 10 and a 3D image with volume suppression 12 are shown side-by-side. The unsuppressed image 10 shows legs of a fetus and additional tissue and matter. The image with volume suppression 12 includes the legs 14, and a suppressed volume 16. Note that a 3D image contains information corresponding to three dimensions, and thus appears three-dimensional, although it may be displayed on a substantially two-dimensional display.
FIG. 3 illustrates another example of 3D volume suppression. FIG. 3 shows two images 18, 20 side-by-side. For reference, a depth axis 19 is shown in each image 18, 20. On the left is an ultrasonic image with full-depth suppression 18. In this type of volume suppression, a selected area is suppressed through the full depth of the image. On the right is an ultrasonic image with partial-depth suppression 20. In partial-depth volume suppression, a selected area is suppressed to a depth that is less than the full depth of the image.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a conventional ultrasonic imaging system with 3D imaging and structure suppression. An ultrasonic imaging system 100 includes a transmitter 134 that drives a transducer 132. The transducer 132 emits ultrasonic signals into a volume of interest 130. Some of the emitted signals are backscattered from the volume of interest 130 to the transducer 132. A receiver 136 receives the backscattered signal. The backscattered signal may be representative of a portion of the volume of interest 130. The receiver 136 communicates with a memory 138 to store ultrasonically gathered data representative of the volume of interest 130. The ultrasonically gathered data may contain information corresponding to a variety of coordinate systems. For example, the data may contain information corresponding to a topical coordinate system. The transmitter 134, transducer 132, and receiver 136 may influence the coordinate mapping that corresponds to the ultrasonically gathered data.
It may be practical to convert the ultrasonically gathered data into a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. To accomplish this conversion, the ultrasonically gathered data may be processed by a volume scan converter 140. The 3D dataset may be stored in memory 142. A suppression structure generator 146 retrieves the 3D dataset from memory 142. A user 144 interacts with a suppression structure generator 146. Using image editing techniques, the user 144 may select a structure for suppression with the suppression structure generator 146. The suppression structure generator 146 may store a 3D dataset with structure suppression in memory 142. The volume rendering processor 148 may then retrieve the dataset and transform the dataset into a viewable image. A video processor 150 and display 152 may display a viewable image to the user.
While conventional ultrasonic imaging systems conveniently facilitate volume suppression in a single 3D scanned image, it is much more difficult and time consuming to accomplish volume suppression in multiple 3D images or 4D images with such systems. One way to accomplish 4D suppression (i.e. suppression in a sequence of 3D volumes) is for a user to select a volume for suppression on a 3D scanned image, and to open a subsequent 3D image and repeat the process of selecting a volume for suppression. Such a procedure is memory intensive, time consuming, and inconvenient. Additionally, manual intervention on a frame-by-frame basis removes the possibility of providing real-time suppression of structure in 4D ultrasonic images.
Thus there is a need for methods and systems to suppress structure in 4D ultrasonic data without repeated user intervention. There is a need for methods and systems to suppress structure in 4D ultrasonic data in real-time. There is also a need to implement such systems and methods efficiently and inexpensively.

Real-time structure suppression in ultrasonically scanned volumes


A semiconductor device includes a substrate, an insulation film formed above the substrate and containing silicon-fluorine bonds, and a titanium-based metal wiring layer formed on the insulation film, the titanium-based metal wiring layer containing fluorine which is diffused from the insulation film and has a fluorine concentration of less than 1.times.10.sup.20 atoms/cm.sup.3.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a titanium-based metal wiring layer on an insulation film and, more particularly, to a semiconductor device having improved adhesion properties between the wiring layer and the insulation film and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the higher integration for integrated circuits, and demands for high-speed operations, suppression of wiring capacitance in an integrated circuit has become a serious problem. When the wiring interval is on an order of submicrons, the capacitance between interconnections abruptly increases to prolong the propagation delay of a signal. Particularly, in a high-speed logic circuit used for a CPU and the like, wiring on a chip is multi-layered. Extensive studies have been made for demanding an insulation film having a low dielectric constant suitable for an integrated circuit chip.
As a conventional insulation film for an integrated circuit, a silicon oxide film (SiO.sub.2) is widely used. The dielectric constant of a silicon oxide film formed by general CVD is about 4.2 to 5.0. To decrease this dielectric constant to substantially half, an organic polymer (a dielectric constant of 2.0 to 3.1) is known. The organic polymer, however, has problems of insufficient thermal stability and difficult patterning.
Recently, it is examined to form an insulation film (a dielectric constant of 3.0 to 3.6) containing Si-F bonds by adding fluorine (F) into a silicon oxide film and to decrease the dielectric constant of the insulation film. An insulation film containing Si-F bonds is a material which receives attention for its excellent burying properties in a multi-layered interconnection. By trapping fluorine into an oxide film, an insulation film having a low dielectric constant can be realized. This is reported in, e.g., "Reduction of Wiring Capacitance with New Low Dielectric SiOF Interlayer Film for High Speed/Low Power Sub-half Micron CMOS" (J. Ida et al., 1994 Symposium on VLSI (p. 59)). This reports that the propagation delay time (tpd) of a 0.35-fm CMOS 2NAND gate was improved 13% in an interconnection with an insulation film (a dielectric constant of 3.6) containing Si-F bonds in comparison with an interconnection with a normal CVD oxide film (a dielectric constant of 4.3).
In this manner, an insulation film containing Si-F bonds has a low dielectric constant and an effect of decreasing wiring capacitance. On the other hand, this insulation film has a drawback of insufficient adhesion properties with a refractory metal wiring layer to cause peel-off of the wiring layer. The situation will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing a semiconductor device having a two-layered interconnection formed on its surface. More specifically, a semiconductor element (not shown) is formed on the surface of a silicon substrate 111, and its entire upper surface is covered with a first insulation film 112 consisting of silicon oxide. A wiring underlayer 113a consisting of titanium (Ti) is formed on the surface of the first insulation film 112. A main wiring layer 113b made of Cu, Al-Si-Cu, or the like is stacked on the wiring underlayer 113a, and these stacked layers form a first metal interconnection 113. By adopting the two-layered structure in this manner, the mechanical strength with respect to disconnection and the like can be enhanced without increasing the electrical resistance of an interlayer. This first wiring layer is connected to the semiconductor element (not shown) formed on the substrate 111 through a via conductor (not shown).
A second insulation film 115 of silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) containing Si-F bonds is formed on the entire surface of the first metal interconnection 113. Via holes are partially formed on the first metal interconnection 113, and plugs 116 made of tungsten (W) are buried in these via holes. A second wiring underlayer 117a of titanium (Ti) and a second main wiring layer 117b of Cu, Al-Si-Cu, or the like are stacked on this second insulation film 115 to form a second metal interconnection 117. A third insulation film 119 consisting of silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) is formed on this structure.
In the semiconductor device manufactured in this manner, the second metal interconnection 117 on the surface may peel off from the second insulation layer 115 due to a residual thermal stress generated in the wiring layer and a mechanical impact during bonding. It is considered that this peel-off is caused by poor adhesion properties between the insulation layer 115 containing Si-F bonds and the titanium wiring underlayer 117a.
As described above, in the semiconductor device having an insulation film containing Si-F bonds and a titanium wiring layer, the adhesion properties at the interface between the titanium wiring layer and the insulation film are degraded. Consequently, the metal wiring film is caused to peel off due to a thermal stress generated in the metal wiring film and a mechanical stress during bonding.

Semiconductor device with improved adhesion between titanium-based metal wiring layer and insulation film


Computer apparatus and method replicates a book in screen views of a video display unit. A book representation is formed of a multiplicity of entities positioned in a series and successively overlapping each other. Data of only non-overlapped entities or portions thereof are viewable. Processor means changes display of the series such that desired entities are displayed non-overlapped in a respective position in the series. Each entity succeeding the desired entity in the series overlaps a respective succeeding entity, if any, and each entity preceding the desired entity in the series overlaps a respective preceding entity, if any, to display the desired entity non-overlapped in the series. Screen view position of viewable data in the series thus changes as a function of entity providing the data and corresponding serial position of the entity. A processor procedure adjusts position of user definable tabs coupled to entities to maximize viewability of tabs. Page numbers and other markers are employed to provide indications of the positions of the entities in the series. Alternatively, entities nearest the non-overlapped entity are less overlapped by neighboring entities than entities farther away from the non-overlapped entity are overlapped by respective neighboring entities.

In a data processing system, a digital processor executes various programs and produces output to program designated destinations, such as a memory file, video display or printer to name a few. In an interactive program, output is continuously generated and displayed on a video display for user viewing during program execution. Various icons and interface graphics are employed in output screen views for increased intuitiveness and ease of use.
One example of commonly used interface graphics is the case of a multiplicity of items displayed in a screen view. The interface graphics and user interface therewith enable the user to combine the items into a collection and to represent the collection by an icon. The user is then able to act on the collection of items together by acting on the icon instead of acting on each item individually one at a time. Generally, the icon does not preclude the user from acting on individual items as desired. Thus, the interface graphics and icons provide a certain amount of user friendliness in the handling of plural items in a data processing system.
One disadvantage of commonly used icons and interface graphics involves the two-dimensional geometry of such elements in a screen view of a video display. For example, a folder icon holding a one page document typically appears to be the same shape and size as a folder icon holding several multi-page documents. That is, the folder icon does not show thickness and hence, volume of contents until "opened" or otherwise acted upon by the user. More recently, some icons have been made to appear three-dimensional so as to provide a general indication that a number of items are associated with the icon.
Another disadvantage of commonly used interface graphics and icons involves the functionality thereof. In particular, where an icon represents an everyday office object, such as a folder, address book or calendar, the functionality of the icon should mirror that of the corresponding object to truly provide user friendliness. Typically, some functions of an icon mirror that of the corresponding object while other functions of the icon are dictated by protocol of the data processing system and/or consistency with other system operations. To satisfy this mixture of competing interests, user friendliness is often compromised.
Thus, there is a need for improved interface graphics and icons in data processing systems.

Computer apparatus and method for graphical flip book


A printhead reservoir assembly has at least one reservoir to hold ink. The assembly includes an outlet plate having siphon vents to allow air to exit an ink path, a manifold plate having at least one manifold to channel ink and manifold outlets to corresponding to the siphon vents, a jet stack having an array of jets to transfer ink out of the printhead reservoir assembly to a printing substrate and jet stack outlets corresponding to the siphon vents, and a circuit board between the jet stack and the manifold plate to operate the jet stack, the circuit board having outlets corresponding to the siphon vents.

Solid ink printers use ink in solid form, melt it and then transfer it in liquid form to a printhead. During power cycles, the ink will change phases from solid to liquid to solid, etc., and this generally occurs multiple times during its residence in the printer. This freeze/thaw cycle leaves air bubbles in the system that the system needs to purge, as air bubbles can cause the jets to fail.
Purging generally involves using air pressure to 'clear' the ink lines and conduits and results in both air and waste ink leaving the system. The volume of air leaving the system corresponds to the volume of ink leaving the system. In current applications, the systems generally purge the air through the jets or nozzles used to transfer the ink from the reservoirs to the printing substrate at the 'downstream' end of the ink path. The largest air bubbles that lie the farthest upstream typically require the largest volumes of ink to purge the bubbles since all of the ink in front of the air bubbles must be purged to clear the air bubble even with perfect efficiency. This results in a large volume of waste ink.
As printers move towards a more compact architecture, the removal of bubbles becomes even more inefficient.


A sample cutter includes a base plate for supporting a corrugated sample to be cut, and a pair of guide rails connected to the base plate. The pair of guide rails enable the corrugated sample to be positioned for cutting. The sample cutter also includes a slide rail connected to the base plate, and a cutting assembly connected to the slide rail. The cutting assembly is capable of moving along a length of the slide rail. The cutting assembly includes a pair of cutting blades that are capable of being spaced apart at a plurality of widths with respect to each other, and cutting the corrugated sample based on the plurality of widths.

Corrugated cardboard is commonly used in the manufacture of shipping cartons with a wide variety of uses. In the manufacture of corrugated cartons, it is customary to determine the compression strength of the corrugated carton by edge crush testing of precision cut samples that are typically of square or rectangular dimensions. The square or rectangular samples are designed to be subjected to several different tests, including an edgewise compression test that should be performed precisely parallel to a direction of internal flutes of the samples or precisely normal to a flute direction. To be able to produce reproducible test results on similarly constructed corrugated samples, it is necessary that the square or rectangular samples be uniformly and precisely cut so that two of the sample edges are precisely parallel to the flutes, and the other two sample edges are precisely normal to the flutes.
The samples may be cut by hand, such as with a razor, knife, or saw, or may be formed with a die. However, such methods are unreliable since the cut, and the precision of the cut, varies with the manual skill of the cutter. If a resulting cut is not square (e.g., the edges are not parallel or the cut edge is beveled), it is difficult to conduct a reliable crush test.
Some corrugated sample cutters provide more precise cuts than the aforementioned methods. Such cutters may include a base plate and a pair of cutting blades that are slidably mounted to the base plate with a slide block and rail system for cutting movement in a direction parallel to a first guide rail. Second guide rails are spaced from each other by a predetermined distance to allow a sample to be simultaneously cut by the pair of cutting blades. After cutting the sample a first time, the sample may include first and second cut edges, and the sample may be rotated ninety degrees and positioned between the pair of second guide rails. The pair of cutting blades may be moved along a cutting path a second time to complete the cutting of the sample into a precise square.
However, such corrugated sample cutters only include a parallel, fixed-width pair of cutting blades that cannot be adjusted. Thus, such sample cutters can only form corrugated samples with the parallel, fixed widths. Furthermore, tools are required to remove the blades of such corrugated sample cutters, which is time consuming and cumbersome.


A brushless permanent magnet DC motor for use in a traction drive system has power density and high efficiency. The motor includes a multiple turn, fast insertion, double wave winding which does not have distinct interconnection wires between the coils (the interconnections are part of the coils), and the end turns are distributed on both sides of the stator core so as to minimize the size of the end turns. The housing is part of the stator and has integral, radially extending, circumferentially spaced cooling fins so that there is no thermal gap, or thermal contact, resistance between separate housing and stator components. The motor includes bearings mounting a shaft of the rotor of the motor, and structures for positively maintaining the bearings concentric with the stator to provide optimized service life. A stator assembly, per se, having novel windings may be utilized in other motors, and a novel method of winding a stator that is simple yet achieves the desired results of efficiency and minimized cost, are also provided.

Brushless permanent DC motors are becoming increasingly popular, including for traction drive systems, that is for vehicles, such as golf carts, electric scooters, electric motorcycles, electric cars, slab crabs, electric outboard motors for boats, etc. In such an environment, high power density and high efficiency are the primary performance needs.
In order to achieve high power density and high efficiency for such applications, it is critical that an effective winding configuration of the stator coils, and an efficient cooling mechanism, are provided. Since traction drive applications are high power applications, the number of turns per stator slot is low and the percentage of resistance of the interconnections between the coils compared with total winding resistance is high if conventional lap winding configurations are used. Thus, conventional lap winding configurations increase copper losses, and reduce motor efficiency.
Conventional wave windings do not have the same interconnection resistance problems that lap windings do, but have large end turn problems. Because the end turns in conventional wave windings are not symmetrically distributed on both sides of the stator core there is an increase in the volume and weight of the motor, and reduced power density. The wave winding used in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,592,731, 5,832,859 and 5,319,844 does not have the same problems as the conventional wave windings do, but is much more difficult to wind because one has to insert windings into slots one turn at a time.
The vast majority of conventional electric machines, including brushless permanent magnet DC motors, are housed inside of a motor housing. Typically, there is a set of cooling fins attached to the outside diameter of the housing. This conventional construction has several drawbacks, however. One drawback is that there is a contact thermal resistance between the stator and the motor housing. Another is a higher cost than desirable; because the machining of the distinct housing and stator housing assemblies is difficult because there are multiple components.
According to the present invention a brushless magnetic DC motor, and a stator assembly (and method of production thereof) for such motors, are provided which have a number of advantages compared to the prior art described above. The novel winding configuration according to the invention has no distinct interconnection wires between coils, and has much smaller end turns than conventional wave windings, resulting in higher power density and higher efficiency. The motor according to the invention also has a motor housing, cooling fins, and shroud (if provided) which are part of the stator, resulting in a reduced cost of construction, and enhanced cooling since there is no thermal gap, or thermal contact, resistance between a distinct housing and stator.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a brushless permanent magnet DC motor is provided comprising the following components: A stator having first and second sides. A rotor containing permanent magnets and radially spaced with respect to the stator to cooperate with the stator. A housing containing the stator and rotor. A stator winding having a plurality of coils, and end turns. And the end turns of the winding distributed on both the first and second sides of the stator, and the coils of the winding being unconnected to each other by distinct interconnection wires (that is the interconnections between the coils are part of the coils).
Preferably the windings comprises copper wires having a size between 26-32 AWG (i.e. about 0.0161-0.0079 inches in diameter), and the windings are impregnated with varnish to isolate the copper wires. However, no varnish is provided on machined surfaces. The stator has slots, and preferably the motor is a multiple (e.g. three) phase motor having multiple (e.g. four) coils, and the windings comprises one or more (e.g. four) turns per slot for each coil. The windings typically include lead wires, and the motor further comprises lacing cord lacing the end turns and the lead wires.
Preferably the stator includes the housing and integral, radially extending, circumferentially spaced cooling fins, so that there is no thermal gap, or thermal contact, resistance between distinct housing and stator components. Typically the rotor comprises a central shaft and a fan may be connected to the shaft for forcing air between the cooling fins to effectively receive heat transferred from the cooling fins, and carry the transferred heat away from the motor.
The motor also includes end caps having bearings mounting the shaft for relatively friction-free rotation with respect to the stator. Also, in order to provide optimized service life, means are provided for positively maintaining the bearings concentric with the stator. While any conventional structure may be utilized for positively maintaining the bearings concentric with the stator, preferably such means comprise the outside of the stator locating the radial position of the end caps; or when positioning rings are connected to the end caps then the positively positioning means may comprise fasteners extending between some of the spaced cooling fins and the positioning rings to connect the end caps together so that the fasteners locate the radial position of the end caps.
The motor according to the invention is typically adapted to be mounted in a vehicle for powering the vehicle.
According to another aspect of the present invention a brushless permanent magnet DC motor is provided comprising the following components: A stator having first and second sides. A rotor containing permanent magnets and radially spaced with respect to the stator to cooperate with the stator. A housing containing the stator and rotor. A stator winding having a plurality of coils, and end turns. And wherein the housing is part of the stator, and the stator/housing has integral, radially extending, circumferentially spaced cooling fins, so that there is no thermal gap, or thermal contact, resistance between distinct housing and stator components. The details of the housing, rotor, and the like preferably are as described above.
The invention also relates to a stator assembly for a brushless permanent magnet DC motor. The stator assembly comprises the following components: A stator having first and second sides. A stator winding having a plurality of coils, and end turns. And the end turns of the winding distributed on both the first and second sides of the stator, and the coils of the winding being unconnected to each other by distinct interconnection wires, interconnections between the coils comprising part of the coils. The details of the windings are preferably as described above.
The invention also relates to a method of winding a stator for a brushless permanent magnet DC motor, the stator having first and second ends, a given thickness, and slots. The method comprises the steps of: (a) Preparing a wire bundle from multiple small size copper wires by laying out a wire having a length L for one branch of a phase, and forming a circle from the wire, the circle having a diameter of L/(N.pi.), where N is the number of turns per half slot. (b) Placing the wire in the form of the circle in one of the slots of the stator with so that some of the wire of the circle is on each side of the stator with a given winding span. (c) Using the same pattern, placing all the wire of the bundle, formed into circles, into slots so that the end turns of the windings are on both said first and second sides of the stator. And (d) repeating steps (a)-(c) for the winding coils of one or more other phases so that there are no distinct interconnection wires between coils, interconnections between the coils comprising part of the coils.
In one preferred form of the invention the slots include slots 1 through 12 (a different number can be provided), and each phase coil includes first and second leads. In this situation steps (a) through (c) are practiced so that the first lead of the first phase coil is in slot 1, and the second lead of the first phase coil is in slot 10. For the second and third phase coils, the first lead of the second coil is in slot 2 and the second lead of the second coil in slot 11, and the first lead of the third coil is in slot 3, and the second lead of the third coil in slot 12. Typically steps (a) through (d) are practiced using varnished copper wire of the size between 26-32 AWG.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel winding configuration, and a motor and stator assembly constructed thereby, and a motor structure with enhanced cooling and lower cost than conventional motors for traction drive systems. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention, and from the appended claims.

Method of making brushless DC permanent magnet stator windings