A vertical type grain-milling machine has a perforated bran removing cylinder arranged vertically with respect to a machine frame; a main shaft which is rotatably provided within the perforated bran removing cylinder; and a milling roll and a screw roll which are in abutment with each other and which are mounted on the main shaft, the milling roll being associated with a grain discharging section and the screw roll being associated with a grain supplying section. The perforated bran removing cylinder is surrounded by an air in-take frame which has a large number of through-holes for causing in-flowing air to have a downward component of orientation. The discharging of the bran externally of the machine is enhanced and the adherence of bran onto the inner wall of the air in-take frame and the perforated bran removing cylinder is prevented.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grain-milling machine, and more particularly to a vertical type grain-milling machine in which grains are supplied from one side of a vertical bran removing cylinder for causing the grains to move up or move down while the grains are being subjected to milling action in the bran removing cylinder and the grains are discharged from the other side of the bran removing cylinder.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A conventional vertical type grain-milling machine of the kind to which the present invention relates has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid Open) No. 146137/1991 in which the inventors are the same as those in the present application. By making reference to FIG. 1, such a conventional grain-milling machine is first explained to assist the understanding of the present invention.
As seen in FIG. 1, a vertical type grain-milling machine 100 is arranged such that, within a vertical perforated bran removing cylinder 101, a vertical shaft 102 carries a screw roll 103 and an abrasive milling roll 104 together with the screw roll 103 being disposed at a lower position and the abrasive milling roll 104 at an upper position of the vertical shaft 102. Grains are supplied to the screw roll 103 via a feeding chute 105 by a screw conveyor 106 and are elevated, by the rotating action of the screw roll 103, to a milling chamber formed between the bran removing cylinder 101 and the milling roll 104. Then, the grains are subjected to the milling action produced by the rotation of the abrasive milling roll 104, and the grains thus processed are discharged externally of the machine from an outlet 109 against the resistance generated by a resisting plate 110 via an outlet chute 111. The bran which has been removed from the grains due to the milling action within the bran removing cylinder 101 is drawn by a suction fan 115 and discharged externally of the machine through a number of perforations provided in the bran removing cylinder 101.
However, there have existed certain drawbacks in the conventional vertical type grain-milling machine described above. Specifically, although the bran is sufficiently discharged at that side of a surface 101a of the bran removing cylinder 101 which is close to the suction duct 116 connected to the suction fan 115, the bran discharging action at that side of a surface 101b of the bran removing cylinder 101 which is disposed opposite to the suction duct 116 is insufficient simply because the sucking force at that side is weaker. This results in the deterioration of bran removal from grains and in the clogging of the perforations of the bran removing cylinder 101.


A method and system for monitoring crystallization of an amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin film, and a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor (TFT) by using the method and system are disclosed. The method of monitoring the crystallization of the a-Si thin film includes: irradiating light from a light source onto a monitoring a-Si thin film to anneal the monitoring a-Si thin film; annealing the monitoring a-Si thin film and concurrently measuring a Raman scattering spectrum of light scattered by the monitoring a-Si thin film at set time intervals; and calculating a crystallization characteristic value of the monitoring a-Si thin film based on the Raman scattering spectrum.

1. Field
Aspects of embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and a system for monitoring crystallization of an amorphous silicon thin film, and a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor (TFT) by using the method and/or system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a crystallization analysis method, a method of crystallizing amorphous silicon in a high temperature furnace using different annealing times and then analyzing the resultant crystallization of the amorphous silicon may be performed. However, this method is a destructive method due to the heating and crystallizing of the amorphous silicon in the furnace.
As another crystallization analysis method, a method using an analyzer such as Raman spectroscopic analysis (e.g., a Raman spectrometer) to analyze poly-crystalline silicon, an analysis method using an X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyzer, an analysis method using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), or the like may be performed. However, the above methods are difficult to use in mass production.

Method and system for monitoring crystallization of amorphous silicon thin film, and method of manufacturing thin film transistor by using the method and system


A system includes a common display, a display computer to run collaboration software connected to the common display that drives the common display, the display computer being on a first network, a first mobile device to run a sharing application and a streaming application, the first mobile device being on a second network, separate from the first network, the streaming application to convert a display of the mobile device into stream data, a control channel between the mobile device and the display computer, and a stream channel between the display computer and the mobile device. The mobile device sends stream data directly to the display computer, wherein the display computer is to display the stream data on the common display. The stream channel may be directly between the mobile device and the display computer or may be over a relay server.

Currently, devices may be shared on a same network or using a web-based device sharing meeting. Such meetings initially connect a host computer to a server in the cloud to initiate the video conference. Then the server in the cloud controls the connections for the meeting. For example, if a second user with a mobile device joins the meeting it requests to join the meeting from the server in the cloud. Once a connection between the second mobile device and the server is formed, the second mobile device may send a data stream to the server in the cloud. If it is encrypted data, the server in the cloud will decrypt the data. Any other computers that join the meeting can then access the data stream from the cloud server. The problem with this approach is that it can be very slow.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Provided are a method and an apparatus for detecting pixel defect of optical module, and a device, where the method includes: graying an image obtained by imaging a test binary image by an optical module in a darkroom environment to obtain a first grayscale image; determining a first grayscale area and a second grayscale area corresponding to two gray levels in the test binary image from the first grayscale image; determining a pixel point not matching a grayscale feature of respective grayscale region from the first grayscale area and the second grayscale area respectively as a pixel defect point; and determining the pixel defect of the optical module according to the pixel defect point. The technical solution provided in the present disclosure can detect accurately a pixel defect of an optical module which is advantageous in optimizing the processing technology of the optical module.

Nowadays, there are more and more optical modules with independent functions in the market to meet diversified market demands. These optical modules can be embedded in other devices to perform their functions, such as camera modules, projection modules, LED (short for Light Emitting Diode) optical modules, VR (short for Virtual Reality)/AR (short for Augmented Reality) optical modules and so on.
However, due to the limitation of the production process, some optical modules may have pixels that cannot work normally, and these pixels that cannot work normally are called pixel defects. In order to further optimize the performance of the optical module, it is necessary to control the size of the area of the pixel defect in the optical module. Under this demand, a method for detecting pixel defect is urgently needed.

Method and apparatus for detecting pixel defect of optical module, and device


An electrostatic painting apparatus includes a painting gun having at one end thereof a paint spray section, and a connection section detachably connectable to an external paint supply section for receiving a supply of paint from the supply section and supplying the received paint to a paint storage section that stores and supplies the supplied paint to the painting gun. The connection section is surrounded and protected by a peripheral wall, so that paint can pass by the other end of the painting gun without reaching the connection section. Consequently, the connection section can be prevented from being undesirably smeared with the paint.

The electrostatic painting is a painting method which efficiently applies paint to a vehicle body with an electrostatic attractive force produced by setting the vehicle body at zero voltage and setting the paint at negative voltage. Also, it has been known to mount a painting gun on a robot (see, for example, FIGS. 1 and 2 of Japanese PCT-Based Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. JP-A 2005-521544 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Literature 1").
FIG. 13 is a diagram explanatory of a basic construction of an electrostatic paint apparatus disclosed in Patent Literature 1. A robot 103 is disposed laterally of a conveyor 102 conveying a vehicle body 101, and a painting gun 105 is mounted on an arm 104 of the robot 103. A paint supply section 107 is provided on a building 106 so that a predetermined amount of paint is supplied from the paint supply section 107 to the painting gun 105.
After the paint is supplied to the painting gun 105, the robot 103 turns the arm 104 and ejects or sprays the paint onto the vehicle body 101 by means of the painting gun 105, as shown in FIG. 14. Namely, predetermined electrostatic painting is performed on the vehicle body 101 with the painting gun 105 separated and electrically insulated from the paint supply section 107.
If painting of a multiplicity of different colors is to be performed by use of the single painting gun 105, so-called color change is executed. Cleaning liquid is supplied from the paint supply section 107 to the painting gun 105 to clean the painting gun 105. Next, paint of a desired new color is supplied from the paint supply section 107 to the painting gun 105. Because the paint supply section 107 and the painting gun 105 can be separated from each other, a cleaning range can be selectively limited to the painting gun 105, so that the cleaning liquid can be saved and the cleaning of the painting gun 105 can be done in a short time.
As paint is ejected or sprayed from the painting gun 105 in the illustrated example of FIG. 14, a portion of the sprayed paint may drift around the painting gun 105 as uncoated paint and undesirably adhere to a connection section 108 although most of the sprayed paint runs toward the vehicle body 101. If the sprayed paint adheres to the surface of the connection section 108, the connection section 108 cannot appropriately connect to the paint supply section 107. Thus, there arises a need to clean the connection section 108 at times, so efficiency of the painting operation would decrease because the painting operation is halted temporarily during the cleaning of the connection section 108.
Further, it is necessary to make it difficult for the connection section 108 to be soiled or smeared with the uncoated paint. If the connection section 108 can be made difficult to be smeared, frequency of the cleaning operation can be lowered, and thus, decrease in the efficiency of the painting operation can be minimized.


A machine tool having an automatic tool changer including a single drive motor for rotation and lateral movement of a tool storage magazine of the automatic tool changer. The single drive motor is connected to a transmission for selectively moving the magazine between a withdrawn storage position and an advanced position whereby a selected tool holder may be brought into engagement with the spindle. A carriage frame supports the magazine on a trackway for lateral movement and a rack gear extends parallel to a trackway. A speed reducer is connected to the drive motor and has an output shaft that supports a pinion gear positioned to engage the rack and a casing that is connected to the magazine. A locking pin is mounted to the carriage frame for selected movement between a first position whereby the magazine is locked and the rotation of the output shaft causes the carriage frame and magazine to advance along the trackway and a second position whereby the output shaft is locked and the rotation of the casing causes the magazine to rotate.

Advances in manufacturing technology related to the production of metal parts have led to the development of machine tools known as machining centers. Machining centers are sophisticated milling machines that are computer numerically controlled (CNC) and are capable of performing complex milling, boring and drilling operations with great accuracy and precision. The computer control allows these machines to be highly automated and they are capable of performing several successive operations on a part completely automatically.
These machine tools include a spindle which rotates about a central axis and which can be advanced and withdrawn along this axis. The spindle carries a tool engaging fixture capable of supporting any one of a variety of cutting tools. The workpiece is secured to a movable table that can move the part relative to the tool in directions perpendicular to the central axis. The part is brought into contact with the rotating tool by moving the table and/or the spindle and is thereafter machined to the desired shape and size.
A variety of tools is available to perform the various machining operations. Such tools include reamers, taps, end mills, slab mills and drill bits. To allow successive operations using these various tools to proceed automatically, however, it is necessary to transfer individual tools between the tool engaging fixture of the spindle and a tool storage magazine containing the various tools. At the completion of one operation, the tool is disengaged from the fixture and is transferred from the fixture to the magazine. A second tool is then transferred from the magazine to the fixture and a second machining operation can proceed.
Conventional machine tools often use an automatic tool changer to transfer individual tools between the spindle and the magazine. The tool storage magazine is rotatably mounted at a position withdrawn from the spindle axis and includes a plurality of tool holders arranged thereon. The tool storage magazine is rotated until a desired tool holder occupies a transfer position and the tool in that tool holder is then transferred to the spindle. The transfer position is fixed relative to the tool changer axis so that any one of the tool holders can be moved into the transfer position by rotation of the magazine.
One type of conventional tool changer typically includes one or more rotatably mounted transfer arms for transferring tools between the spindle and the tool holder at the transfer position of the magazine. In operation, a tool is removed from the spindle by the transfer arm and is transferred to an empty tool holder at the transfer position of the magazine. The magazine is then rotated until the tool holder carrying the desired tool occupies the transfer position and the transfer arm then transfers this tool to the spindle.
Other conventional tool changers obviate the need for a separate transfer arm by mounting the tool storage magazine on a trackway for moving the magazine between a withdrawn position and an advanced position. When the magazine is moved to its advanced position, the axis of the transfer position of the tool storage magazine coincides with the central axis of the spindle. The tool engaging fixture of the spindle can be advanced and withdrawn along the central axis, as described above, to selectively engage and disengage a tool in the tool holder of the magazine.
The operation of transferring a tool begins with the magazine in the withdrawn position and an empty tool holder occupying the transfer position. The tool engaging fixture is advanced along the spindle axis from the withdrawn position to an intermediate position. The magazine is advanced along the trackway until the empty tool holder engages the tool and the fixture then disengages the tool, thereby depositing the tool in the tool holder. The fixture is withdrawn and the magazine rotates until the desired tool occupies the transfer position. The fixture is then advanced to the intermediate position, engages the desired tool, and the tool storage magazine is withdrawn. The fixture and spindle are then further advanced to the engage the workpiece.
These conventional automatic tool changers greatly increase the productivity of machine tools, however, each of the conventional tool changers requires the use of at least two separate drive sources of either rotational or linear force. For example, the first above-described conventional tool changer may use an electric motor to rotate the tool storage magazine and a separate electric motor to rotate the transfer arm. Similarly, the second above-described machine may use an electric motor to rotate the magazine and a hydraulic cylinder to translate the magazine between the withdrawn and advanced positions. Thus, both types of conventional tool changers require the use of more than one drive source.
The use of separate drive sources in machine tools to drive the automatic tool changers is costly and complex. In addition to the physical space requirements and cost of the separate drive sources, the control system necessary to coordinate the functions of the two or more drive sources is by necessity quite complex.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic tool changer for machine tools.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic tool changer for machine tools wherein only a single drive source is used.


A sound synthesizing apparatus includes a processor coupled to a memory. The processor configured to execute computer-executable units comprising: an information acquirer adapted to acquire synthesis information which specifies a duration and an utterance content for each unit sound; a prolongation setter adapted to set whether prolongation is permitted or inhibited for each of a plurality of phonemes corresponding to the utterance content of the each unit sound; and a sound synthesizer adapted to generate a synthesized sound corresponding to the synthesis information by connecting a plurality of sound fragments corresponding to the utterance content of the each unit sound. The sound synthesizer prolongs a sound fragment corresponding to the phoneme the prolongation of which is permitted in accordance with the duration of the unit sound.

The present disclosure relates to a technology to synthesize a sound.
A fragment connection type sound synthesizing technology has conventionally been proposed in which the duration and the utterance content (for example, lyrics) are specified for each unit of synthesis such as a musical note (hereinafter, referred to as "unit sound") and a plurality of sound fragments corresponding to the utterance content of each unit sound are interconnected to thereby generate a desired synthesized sound. According to JP-B-4265501, a sound fragment corresponding to a vowel phoneme among a plurality of phonemes corresponding to the utterance content of each unit sound is prolonged, whereby a synthesized sound which is the utterance content of each unit sound uttered over a desired duration can be generated.
There are cases where, for example, a polyphthong (a diphthong, a triphthong) consisting of a plurality of vowels coupled together is specified as the utterance content of one unit sound. As a configuration for ensuring a sufficient duration with respect to one unit sound for which a polyphthong is specified as mentioned above, for example, a configuration is considered in which the sound fragment of the first one vowel of the polyphthong is prolonged. However, with the configuration in which the object to be prolonged is fixed to the first vowel of the unit sound, there is a problem in that synthesized sounds that can be generated are limited. For example, assuming a case where an utterance content "fight" (one syllable) containing a polyphthong where a vowel phoneme /a/ and a vowel phoneme /l/ are continuous in one syllable is specified as one unit sound, although a synthesized sound "[fa:lt]" where the first phoneme /a/ of the polyphthong is prolonged can be generated, a synthesized sound "[fal:t]" where the rear phoneme /l/ is prolonged cannot be generated (the symbol ":" means prolonged sound). While a case of a polyphthong is shown as an example in the above description, when a plurality of phonemes are continuous in one syllable, a similar problem can occur irrespective of whether they are vowels or consonants. In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to generate a variety of synthesized sounds by easing such restriction when sound fragments are prolonged.


An electrolytic chlorine gas generator is coupled to the return pipe of a pool water circulating system for introducing a chlorine-hydrogen gas mixture into the pool water. A gas/liquid delivery tube connecting the generator with the return pipe is sized to have an internal volume just sufficient to hold a quantity of gas which, when under pressure, has a volume substantially equivalent to the sum of the increased internal volume of the generator when subjected to return water pressure plus the decrease in the volume of the gas trapped in the vessel due to compression when subjected to return water pressure. Depletion of electrolyte in the generator increases the volume in the generator and allows pool water to enter the generator through the gas/liquid delivery tube to replace spent electrolyte automatically when the generator is pressurized.

Pure chlorine is dangerous to handle and rarely used to chlorinate residential swimming pools. Commonly, chlorine has been introduced into swimming pool water by adding chemicals which decompose to yield chlorine. This technique, however, requires considerable labor to repetitively test the pool water and add the required chemicals.
It is becoming increasingly popular to equip swimming pool systems with devices which generate chlorine slowly at a rate comparable to that required by the pool and to generate the chlorine from chemicals which are relatively safe to handle. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,563,879, granted Feb. 16, 1971, to J. M. Richards et al. for "Electrolytic Chlorine Generator" and 4,439,295, granted Mar. 27, 1984, to J. M. Richards for "Chlorine Generating Apparatus" disclose one breed of such devices.
The Richards' generators subject a sodium chloride solution to electrolysis to generate chlorine and hydrogen gases under pressure. The resulting gases are injected into the pool water return line. Both of the Richards' generators employ a fairly complex membrane-type electrolytic structure in an attempt to separate the chlorine and hydrogen gases, mixtures of which are highly explosive. Furthermore, the electrolytic decomposition of a salt solution in the Richards' generators also produces a sodium hydroxide solution byproduct which is introduced into the pool water and which can complicate the problem of maintaining a desired pH balance in the pool.
It is also well known that chlorine gas can be generated by electrolyzing an aqueous solution containing hydrochloric acid. A swimming pool chlorinating system of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,542, granted Nov. 7, 1967, to C. F. Oldershaw et al. for "Electrolytic Chlorination and pH Control of Swimming Pool Water". Oldershaw et al. draw a solution of hydrochloric acid through an electrolytic cell where the solution is converted to a froth of chlorine, hydrogen and mild hydrochloric acid. This froth is sucked into the pool water circulating pump intake for mixing with the pool water.
The Oldershaw et al. system directs the corrosive chlorine, hydrogen, hydrochloric acid froth into the pool pump, and this is not desirable. Also, the repeated introduction of even mild hydrochloric acid may upset the pool pH balance. Oldershaw, et al. rely on a fairly complex combination of a capillary tube and a timer-controlled valve to regulate the flow of hydrochloric acid solution into the system. Also, there appears to be no special precautions in the Oldershaw et al. system for handling a potentially explosive mixture of chlorine and hydrogen.
There continues to be a need for a simple and safe chlorine generating system for use with residential swimming pools.


A mobile communication device identifies and selects a wireless local area network (WLAN) available for communications in its coverage area. Automatically, without detecting any requests made by a user via a browser application. The mobile device initiates a request (e.g. an HTTP GET request) to a predetermined server site of a communication network which is outside of the WLAN. In response to initiating the request, the mobile device receives a response message via the WLAN and identifies, from the response message, whether the request to the predetermined server site has been redirected to a redirect server site. The WLAN may be a WLAN “hotspot,” where the redirect server site is a login server. The identifying may be performed by comparing content from the response message to predetermined content of the predetermined server site. In response to identifying that the request has been redirected, the mobile device causes an indication to be produced at its user interface. Access to a communication service (such as a “push”-data service) may be subsequently expediently obtained.

1. Field of the Technology
The present disclosure relates generally to techniques in a mobile communication device for use in facilitating access to communication services via a wireless local area network (WLAN) hotspot or similar environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In wireless communication networks, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs) which operate in accordance with IEEE 802.11-based standards, a mobile communication device may obtain communication services. While being mobile, the mobile device may exit and enter into new and different WLANs. The new or unknown WLAN may be a WLAN "hotspot" which provides a captive portal, where a user login or other user response will be required prior to the mobile device obtaining any useful services via the WLAN hotspot.
For a laptop computer, this operation is typically acceptable since the user often merely intends to use and "surf" the Internet, interacting with the keyboard of the laptop computer to invoke a Web browser application when desired. When the Web browser application is opened, this request is detected, which causes a request for a server site to be submitted in order to receive data of a desired website. However, this request is redirected by the WLAN hotspot for user login, after which the mobile device will obtain service, assuming the authentication is positive.
For a handheld mobile telephony device or a handheld data communication device which utilizes a "push" data service, it has been identified that such conventional operation would not be optimal. In these types of mobile devices, the Web browser application may not be the primary application of the mobile device; rather, the primary application of the mobile device may be a voice telephony application or an e-mail message delivery application. The user is not aware that user interaction is required for user login in order to obtain such service. Therefore, once connected in a new WLAN, the mobile device may merely sit "idle", without service, where the user is unaware of the lack of service. Therefore, the mobile device connected in the WLAN will not receive any voice calls or messages otherwise intended for the mobile device unless the user interacts with the Web browser application.
Accordingly, what are needed are methods and apparatus which overcome these and other related deficiencies of the prior art. Other types of networks and devices may experience the same or similar deficiencies.

Methods and apparatus for use in facilitating access to a communication service via a WLAN hotspot


A vacuum cleaning tool has a housing having a turbine chamber and a bottom plate. A working tool is rotatably supported in the housing. An air turbine for driving the working tool is arranged in the turbine chamber and has axial end faces defining a gap relative to the chamber sidewalls. A turbine chamber wall has a first intake window and at least one second intake window. The first intake window supplies a driving suction air stream to the peripheral turbine surface on a first side of a plane that extends through the turbine axis. The second intake window supplies a partial suction air stream to the turbine chamber that enters the turbine chamber on a second side of the plane extending through the turbine axis. The second intake window overlaps at least partially at least one gap and the partial suction air stream flows into the gap.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vacuum cleaning tool, in particular, for a vacuum cleaning device such as a vacuum cleaner or the like. The vacuum cleaning tool comprises a rotatingly driven working tool and has a housing with a bottom plate and a working slot formed in the bottom plate. The working tool that is rotatably supported in the housing acts through the working slot onto the surface to be cleaned on. The vacuum cleaning tool comprises an air turbine arranged in a turbine chamber of the housing and has axial end faces forming together with the sidewalls of the turbine chamber a gap, respectively. The turbine drives the working tool by means of a drive connection. In one turbine chamber wall of the turbine chamber, a first intake window for a driving suction air stream and a second intake window for a partial suction air stream are provided, wherein the driving suction air stream is supplied on one side of the rotational axis of the turbine to the peripheral turbine surface and wherein the partial suction air stream enters the turbine chamber on the opposite side of the rotational axis of the turbine.
2. Description of the Related Art
US-2002-0120999-A1 discloses a vacuum cleaning tool where the air turbine is not only loaded by a driving air stream on one side of the rotational axis of the turbine but, in addition, on the other side of the rotational axis a partial suction air stream is provided that is also directed onto the periphery of the turbine. The driving suction air stream rotates the air turbine in the rotational direction while the partial suction air stream entering the turbine chamber impacts the turbine vanes in a direction counter to the rotational direction and is designed to act in a decelerating way. In this way, the intake window for the incoming suction air stream as well as the intake window for the decelerating partial suction air stream are formed with a smaller axial width than the width of the turbine. This is supposed to prevent that portions of the suction air stream remain unused.
The intake window of the partial suction air stream is adjustable with regard to its cross-section so that the desired rotational speed of the air turbine can be adjusted. In this way, a powerful vacuum cleaning tool with rotating brush roller is provided that can be easily adjusted to the momentary application, respectively. A disadvantage is that as a result of the air turbine used for driving a certain design-related noise level will result.

Vacuum cleaning tool having an air turbine with stabilizing air stream


A semiconductor device including at least one self-aligned contact has at least one gate electrode on a bulk substrate layer of the semiconductor device. A gate cap encapsulates the at least one gate electrode. The semiconductor device further includes at least one contact separated from the at least one gate electrode via a portion of the gate cap. The at least one contact includes a metal portion that directly contacts the gate cap.

The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and more specifically, to semiconductor devices including self-aligned contacts (SACs) having a reduced contact resistance.
Semiconductor devices typically include polysilicon gates interposed between a pair of metal contacts. The evolution of semiconductor technology has resulted in decreased gate length scaling and reduced device pitch. As device pitch has decreased, a need to decrease the spacing between metal contacts and the gate electrode has become increasingly important. However, producing small spaces between the gate electrode and the adjacent metal contacts can result in short circuits and other undesirable effects.
One solution to this problem has been to form a gate electrode with self-aligned contacts. The self-aligned contact fabrication process typically includes fully encapsulating the gate electrode with an insulative material (i.e., a gate cap), subsequently forming, in the insulating material, one or more trenches including a barrier layer disposed on the trench sidewalls, and filling the trenches with a metal material to form a metal contact. Accordingly, short-circuit connections between the gate electrode and the metal contacts can be avoided. The barrier layer, however, is susceptible to the formation of one or more irregular features such as raised shoulder portions, for example, when the barrier layer encounters corners formed during the trench formation process. The irregular barrier features can pinch the metal material when filling the contact trenches, in turn causing the formation of one or more voids (e.g., air gaps) in the metal contacts. These voids increase the resistance of the metal contacts, thereby reducing the overall current throughput.

Semiconductor device having reduced contact resistance

International Business Machines Corporation


In order to overcome the limitations and problems that earlier methods have experienced, a method for operating a burner used in the thermal step of a Claus process is disclosed. The burner has at least one combustion air port, at least one oxygen port, and at least one fuel port. The oxidant flow is made up of an oxygen flow of technical pure oxygen with an oxygen concentration of at least 90 vol. %, preferably at least 99 vol. %, and if necessary of a second gas flow, and it is determined whether the oxygen flow is below a pre-set minimum flow and if the oxygen flow is below a pre-set minimum flow the air flow is split into a main air flow and a side air flow and the oxygen flow is combined with the side air flow creating an oxygen-enriched side air flow which is fed to the oxygen port. A corresponding burner is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a method for operating a burner used in the thermal step of a Claus process, wherein the burner comprises at least one combustion air port, at least one oxygen port, and at least one fuel port, and wherein an air flow is fed to the combustion air port, an oxidant flow is fed to the oxygen port, and a hydrogen sulphide (H2S) containing feed gas flow is fed to the fuel port.
Sulphur recovery units based on the so-called "Modified Claus Process" produce elemental sulphur from feed gases with high concentration in H2S. In a thermal process step, the feed gas is partially combusted in a free flame reaction within a combustion chamber.
In some cases oxygen enriched air or pure oxygen is used as the primary oxidant in the thermal Claus step. Increasing the oxygen content by addition of technical oxygen combined with reduction of combustion air reduces the overall amount of oxidation gas fed into the Claus plant and cuts the amount of nitrogen ballast transported through the system.
This brings the following advantages:                pave way for increased throughput of H2S feed;        increase of temperature within the Claus furnace which in turn increases operational stability; for example by more efficient destruction of detrimental feed components like for example BTX (mixture of benzene, toluene, and the three xylene isomers) and/or ammonia (NH3);        potentially save operation costs due to less energy requirement;        minimize operational problems within the Claus unit caused by precipitation of ammonia salts.
In the prior art the following operation modes of oxygen enrichment in the Claus thermal step are known:
Low-level oxygen enrichment can be implemented without having to replace the Claus burner designed for use with process air only. This method intensifies the Claus process with only very little adjustment to existing facilities. In low-level oxygen enrichment oxygen is admixed to the process air fed up to a maximum concentration of typically 28 percent by volume.
If oxygen accounts for more than 28 percent by volume of process air, additional measures have to be taken to introduce the oxygen into the Claus process. In this so-called mid-level oxygen enrichment mode oxygen is fed into the Claus chamber by one or more separate oxygen lances up to a concentration of about 45 percent by volume.
If the operator wishes to increase the oxygen content to even higher levels other extensive alterations to the plant design and characteristics have to be done. For example the oxygen can be fed by oxygen lances combined with process characteristics like staged combustion or process gas recycle. The latter correspond to the so-called high-level oxygen enrichment mode.
The above mentioned operation modes allow to increase the oxygen content up to high enrichment levels. However, even if it is possible to achieve enrichment levels of approximately 45 percent by volume by using mid-level oxygen enrichment or high-level oxygen enrichment, both operation modes are limited as both technologies can only be run in air-only mode or at enrichment levels of more than approximately 28 percent by volume.
None of the operation modes is capable of covering enrichment levels from 21 percent by volume to approximately 45 percent by volume. Levels above approximately 28 percent by volume cannot be covered by low-level enrichment, levels between 21 percent by volume and approximately 28 percent by volume cannot be covered by mid-level enrichment.
The upper limit depends on the burner specifics. But in any case there is a gap in terms of steplessly adjustable oxygen enrichment. The reason is that the oxygen lances used in mid-level enrichment require a certain minimum gas flow in order to assure sufficient cooling of the lance material in the hot combustion chamber environment.


This invention relates to a wide aperture radio frequency data acquisition system which collects coherent samples from multiple points in a defined plane at the surface of the ground. The information collected can be processed with suitable algorithms to extract the bearing, frequency, and power spectra of the arriving radio frequency wavefront.. This system consists of an antenna system; a multi-channel receiver system incorporating mixers, filters, amplifiers, analog to digital converters, digital down converters; a digital signal processor; and a computer. The electrically short, active antennas with frequency independent response are connected to the multiple channel receiving system, one channel per antenna receiving the signal. The receiver uses two frequency conversion oscillators for coarse but accurate frequency synthesis to convert the received signal's frequency. Then, the signal is converted to a digital signal. This early conversion to a digital signal allows total intermediate frequency processing in digital mode with inherently matched filters and demodulators. The receiver is designed with low cost components to produce a very large and linear dynamic range. The digital down converter provides accurate fine tuning, bandpass filters the signal, reduces the data rate, and formats the output for extraction of amplitude and phase information from the signal.. The processing algorithm analyzes the data to determine arriving field strength, direction of arrival, elevation of arrival, frequency and power spectra of the signal. By choice of processing algorithm, the output data can be processed for either very fast information on brief signals, or thorough examination of data for fine frequency discrimination to less than one Hertz resolution.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to finding the direction from which a radio signal was transmitted by gathering data about the signal and evaluating the signal's characteristics such as the angle of arrival azimuth/elevation, frequency, modulation, and signature wherein the receiver station is capable of determining the time of travel or bearing of the received signals with respect to the station by utilizing plural receivers as shown in claim 342/444.
2. Prior Art
The prior art shows two broad categories of systems: short base line receiving arrays where an electronic commutator samples signals sequentially or dual channel receivers which sample two antennas out of a set of antennas at a time and cross correlate to measure phase/time difference of arrival. The phase of the signals indicates the angle of arrival of the radio frequency signal.
These systems typically increase the number of successive scans to improve the accuracy of the determined bearing and are usually limited to determining azimuth and elevation angles of arrival. Other systems use directional antennas that are either manually rotated or use an electronic commutator.

Wide aperature radio frequency data acquisition system

Federal Communications Commission/Compliance and Information Bureau/Equipment Development Group


It is provided a method for identifying optical aberrations. The method comprising the steps of providing at least one first optical beam and a second optical beam; creating a combined beam by at least partially superimposing the first and the second optical beam; focusing the combined beam into or through a medium and detecting radiation excited in the medium by the combined beam due to nonlinear optical effects; detecting the radiation excited in the medium by the combined beam for each one of the phase positions, the spatial positions and/or the time positions of the first beam; and identifying aberrations using signals generated by a detection device for the plurality of the phase positions, the spatial positions and/or the time positions of the first beam relative to the second beam upon the detection of the radiation excited in the medium.

The invention relates to a method for identifying optical aberrations and to an arrangement for identifying optical aberrations.
Optical aberrations restrict the properties (e.g. the resolution) of optical systems such as, e.g. confocal microscopes. For example, aberrations induced by a sample limit the imaging depth; e.g. these aberrations are the reason why confocal microscopes or two-photon microscopes cannot be used for investigating regions of a biological tissue sample beyond a certain depth.
A variety of methods for aberration correction in inhomogeneous media such as a biological tissues is known. For example, the article Ji, N., Milkie, D. E. & Betzig, E. "Adaptive optics via pupil segmentation for high-resolution imaging in biological tissues", Nature Methods 7, 141-147 (2009) discloses a pupil segmentation technique, wherein the back aperture of a microscope objective is optically conjugated onto a wavefront shaping element. The back aperture of the objective is then separated into a set of segments and the correction at each segment is calculated by finding a phase pattern on the wavefront-shaping element that maximizes a two photon signal at the imaging plane. However, this method is rather slow and the number of corrected wavefront segments is low (<50) such that its applicability for practical (e.g. biomedical) imaging is limited.

Method and arrangement for identifying optical aberrations


A concentration measuring apparatus includes an enzyme electrode which accelerates an oxidation reaction or a reduction reaction of a test substance in a liquid and outputs an electrical signal corresponding to a quantity of the test substance therefrom due to the reaction. The enzyme electrode is supplied with a reviving voltage for removing interfering substances on the enzyme electrode not only prior to concentration measuring but also according to a predetermined time interval. The reviving voltage has a polarity which is the reverse of the voltage used for concentration measurement.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for maintaining the activity of an enzyme electrode, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for maintaining an enzyme electrode in activated condition while it is provided in a concentration measuring apparatus for measuring the concentration of a test substance in a test solution based upon an oxidation reaction or a reduction reaction of the test substance in a surfacial region of the enzyme electrode.
It is known that a physiologically active substance is capable of selectively detecting a very complicated organic compound, a protein or the like with high sensitivity. With attention directed to this characteristic, research has been made in various biosensors.
A typical biosensor (hereinafter referred to as an enzyme electrode) having an electrode unit and a physiologically active substance fixed thereon is proposed. The enzyme electrode is used for detecting the existence of a test substance, the relative or active quantity of the test substance and the like based on an electrical signal output from the electrode unit corresponding to the biological reaction of the test substance, under the condition that a predetermined forward bias is applied to the electrode unit. For example, the electrode unit generally has a working electrode made of platinum having high activity and a counter electrode made of silver having a high stability. When glucose as the test substance in the test solution is to be measured, the enzyme electrode generally has an arrangement wherein a hydrogen peroxide penetration membrane, an enzyme-immobilized membrane including glucose oxidase as a physiologically active substance, and a diffusions-limiting membrane are laminated in this order. When the enzyme electrode is employed, glucose is oxidized in the presence of glucose oxidase so as to generate gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Then the generated hydrogen peroxide reaches the surface of the electrode unit through a hydrogen peroxide penetration membrane. The electrode unit outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the quantity of hydrogen peroxide that reaches it. The relative or active quantity of glucose in test solution is detected based on the electrical signal. In this case, when the activity of the platinum electrode is lowered, the level of the electrical signal is remarkably lowered. When the platinum electrode is kept as it is for a long time period, an oxidized layer which interferes with electrical signals is formed on the platinum electrode so as to lower the activity of the platinum electrode.
The same disadvantages as above arise for an enzyme electrode which is used for measuring a concentration of a test substance other than glucose.
It is proposed that a reviving voltage, which has a polarity which is reverse with respect to the polarity of a voltage for concentration measurement, is applied to the electrode unit so as to remove the oxidized layer on the electrode unit thereby to enable a concentration measurement with high sensitivity.
A disadvantage arises in that the oxidized layer cannot be perfectly removed even when the reviving voltage is applied to the electrode unit due to an increase in the thickness of the oxidized layer on the electrode unit. The increase in thickness is determined based on lengthening of the time interval between concentration measurements. In this case, when concentration measurements are carried out with a relatively short time interval, the thickness of the oxidized layer which remains after the revising voltage is applied to the electrode unit is gradually decreased at every concentration measurement so as to improve the activity of the electrode unit. As a result, drift appears in the output electrical signals so as to lower the accuracy in the concentration measurement (see FIG. 9).
To reduce the disadvantage above-mentioned, it is necessary that the reviving voltage is raised or the time period for applying the reviving voltage is lengthened. This causes an increase in the quantity of the generated substance, i.e. hydrogen, hydrogen ions and the like, which is generated on the electrode unit by applying the reviving voltage so as to increase the diffusion current which is caused by the generated substance generated. As a result, the necessary time period for the decreasing of the diffusion current to a predetermined threshold value is reduced. The disadvantage arises that the time period is lengthened between performing the reviving operation for the electrode unit to when it is possible to start a measuring operation for a test substance.
The same disadvantages as above arise for an enzyme electrode having a reference electrode in addition to the working electrode and the counter electrode.

Apparatus for maintaining the activity of an enzyme electrode


A cable assembly (100) includes a cover (8) defining an outer cavity (822), a shielding cage (7) defining an inner cavity (712) and being mounted into the outer cavity, an inner board (20) assembled in said inner cavity, and a cable (5) assembled onto the inner board. The inner board includes a top surface (38), a bottom surface (37) and two side surfaces (31). The side surface has a first ground pad (310) adapted to connect with the shielding cage, the bottom surface has a second ground pad (33) adapted to connect with the cable, and the top surface has a third ground pad (343) adapted to connect with the cable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable assembly, and more particularly to a cable assembly having an improved printed circuit board mounted therein.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known to provide a metal cage in an electrical connector for reducing EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) emissions. U.S. Pat. No. 8,002,572, issued to Lu et al. on Aug. 23, 2011, discloses a cable end connector having an internal PCB (Printed Circuit Board), a metal cage, and a cable soldered onto the PCB. The cable has a number of ground wires soldered to the PCB. Another prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 7,286,372, issued to Aronson et al. on Oct. 23, 2007, discloses a housing formed by top and bottom housing portions and an internal PCB in the housing portions. A conductive band or strip is formed around the surface, and in connection with electrical bias, of the PCB to further facilitate reliable electrical connection between the top housing portion and the bias and between the bottom housing portion and the bias. This conductive band or strip is particularly useful in establishing a reliable electrical connection with springs or foam EMI gaskets that can be used with the top and bottom housing portions.
Hence, a cable assembly having an improved grounding structure in its internal PCB is desired.

Cable assembly having an improved circuit board


Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems receive data describing a first software component used by a software product and vulnerability data describing a vulnerability in the first software component. A vulnerability score is calculated for the software product based upon the vulnerability data for the first software component. The vulnerability score is recalculated for the software product based upon receiving an updated status of the vulnerability in the first software component from bug tracking software, a waiver of the vulnerability of a software component, the addition of another software component, or another update to the software product or component(s). The task of remediation of the vulnerability in the first software component can be assigned to a user and tracked. A user interface is provided to enable users to monitor the vulnerabilities of software products or components.

A software vulnerability is a weakness in a software component or product that allows an attacker to use the software component or product in a manner that was not intended, e.g., to reduce a processing system's ability to secure data and expose confidential information. Software developers often build software products using software components that are tracked for vulnerabilities by third-party agencies such as the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, which maintains the National Vulnerability Database, a repository of standards-based vulnerability management data and enables vulnerability management, security measures, and compliance.
When a software developer determines that a software component that he has used in a software product contains a vulnerability, he may choose to fix or remediate the vulnerability by patching the software component, using an updated revision of the component, or making other changes to the software component or product to lessen or remove the vulnerability.

Device and method for remediating vulnerabilities


The present invention concerns a shutoff apparatus that can be controlled In either front or side mode, consisting of a minimum number of parts and resulting in a simple, economical, mechanically dependable, and compact unit. The shutoff apparatus (1) includes a rotating control element (20) in the shape a star with four branches (22), provided with a profiled extremity (25) and connected to the control rod (5) oriented toward one of the other of the two control axes (A, B) corresponding to front and lateral control modes, respectively. The present invention has a transmission element (30) connected to movable contacts (7) and equipped with inclined ramps transforming rotational movement by the control element (20) on one or the other of the two control axes (A, B) into translational movement by the movable contacts (7) between the released and engaged positions, and conversely.

Such shutoff apparatuses are commonly called switches, fusible switches, reverse switches, commutators, reverse commutators, etc., and they are designed to distribute energy throughout electrical installations or to supply industrial equipment, machine tools, etc., with alternating low voltage, in particular, for example, 380 V., with current ranging from several tens to several hundreds of amps.
Depending upon the electrical installation, the configuration of the electrical control panels and installation options, these shutoff apparatuses are manually controlled using a manipulation device that may consist of a rotating handle placed either on the front, called a "front handle," or on the side, called a "side handle," or even a pivoting lever generally placed on the front. These shutoff apparatuses may be controlled automatically, depending upon the situation, by a motor associated with the front or side control rod.
Depending upon whether front or side control is used, the transmission mechanism differs. Generally speaking, with front control, this transmission mechanism comprises a cam system for transforming the rotational movement of the handle, which is transmitted to the control rod, into translational movement by the movable contacts. With lateral control, this transmission mechanism is completed by a drive belt. In another mode currently used, the transmission mechanism is coupled with a rapid actuation device which, independent of the rotation speed of the handle or the pivoting of the lever, accelerates release and/or engagement as needed.
Consequently, there is a need to design different shutoff apparatuses as a function of both the range of current and the control mode (front or side). This means that for the same range of current, one shutoff apparatus is manufactured in several versions depending upon whether it is controlled from the front or the side. Certain manufacturers have proposed shutoff apparatuses called polyvalent apparatuses that are designed for adaptation to both front and side controls. However, these polyvalent shutoff apparatuses have complex, heavy transmission mechanisms with a large number of pieces and are not mechanically reliable, particularly in terms of longevity. Moreover, this affects the size of these pieces of equipment.

Front or side controlled electrical shutoff apparatus


Aspects of the disclosure relate to generating outputs using a digital personal assistant computing control platform and machine learning. A computing platform may receive, from a digital personal assistant computing device, a first voice command input. The computing platform may then determine, via machine learning algorithms, an identifier output indicating a user associated with the first voice command input and a location output indicating a geographic location associated with the user. The computing platform may determine, via a stored calendar, an availability output indicating availability associated with the user. Based on the identifier output, the location output, and the availability output, a charitable opportunity output indicating a charitable opportunity may be determined by the computing platform and may be transmitted to a computing device associated with the charitable opportunity. Acceptance of the opportunity may be received and the computing platform may update the stored calendar to include the charitable opportunity.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to processing systems. In particular, aspects of the disclosure relate to processing systems having a machine learning engine and machine learning datasets to generate altruistic recommendations or outputs that may be provided via a digital assistant system.
Computing devices receive data associated with characteristics of a user and the user's surroundings. Digital assistants are often used by people to process or distill data, provide information or recommendations, and the like. Users may not be aware of how to best fit charity or other altruistic endeavors into their daily lives. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to control the computing devices with regard to data collection and output, and to aggregate the data to determine charitable or altruistic opportunity recommendations or outputs and provide those recommendations via a digital assistant. This may increase the amount of time users may devote to charity.

Processing system having a machine learning engine for providing an output via a digital assistant system


Polymers can be prepared in solution by continuously distilling solvent from a solution of diacid prepolymers.

Recently, much research has been done on implantable or injectable drug delivery systems comprising biodegradable polymers and a pharmaceutically active agent. Ideally these systems provide for the controlled release of the active agent while the polymer carrier degrades to non-toxic, soluble monomers, thereby obviating the need for surgical removal of the device. Of these biodegradable polymers, polyanhydrides are particularly attractive because they demonstrate a near zero-order drug release and degrade relatively rapidly in vivo to highly biocompatible monomeric diacids. High molecular weight polyanhydrides are especially useful for biomedical applications because of their superior physicochemical and mechanical properties including film forming properties and relatively high tensile strength.
High molecular weight polyanhydrides are typically prepared by melt polycondensation in which a mixture of the individually prepared prepolymers are heated at a temperature of about 150-220.degree. C. under a vacuum of about 10.sup.-4 to 1 mm Hg until a polymer having the desired properties is obtained (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,724; and Domb, A. J. and Maniar, M. J. Poly. Sci: Part A, 1993, 31, 1975). However, the extension of the melt polycondensation method to the pilot plant or commercial production presents a number of problems. The reaction time and temperature necessary for the reaction appear to be dependent on the scale of the reaction, thereby making it difficult to predict reaction conditions. Deviations from the reported reaction conditions may result in polymers having undesirable properties. In addition, the high temperature of the reaction, mixing of the thick molten mass during melt polycondensation, and high vacuum requirement are undesirable. Isolation of the product produced by melt polymerization may be difficult and unsafe.
Moreover, polyanhydrides produced by melt poycondensation techniques which are to be used in implant devices may have higher than desired levels of carboxylic acid anhydride.
It would be beneficial if an alternative to melt polycondensation eliminated problems associated with the use of polyanhydrides made by melt polycondensafion.

Process for the preparation of polyanhydrides


A secondary cooling method and a secondary cooling device for a casting product casted in a continuous casting machine, the continuous casting machine including, in a secondary cooling zone below a mold, a plurality of pairs of support rolls that support the casting product from both sides of the casting product in a thickness direction, a cooling device being disposed between support rolls adjacent to each other along a casting direction of the continuous casting machine, the cooling device including a coolant pipe that supplies a coolant, and a coolant guide plate with a flat plate shape for spreading the coolant on the casting product, the coolant guide plate being disposed parallel to and spaced in a perpendicular direction from a surface of the casting product.

In continuous casting in the iron and steel industry, conventionally, spray-type cooling has been widely performed as a method for secondary cooling of a casting product. In this secondary cooling method, spray nozzles are arranged between support rolls that convey a casting product, and cooling water is put into a spray form and sprayed on the surface of the casting product for cooling.
Spray-type cooling has a problem of overcooling due to so-called dripping water and standing water. Dripping water is, in a sectional roll serving as a support roll for a casting product, cooling water that falls to the downstream side from a bearing, which does not come into contact with the casting product. Standing water is cooling water that stays in a space surrounded by a roll circumferential surface and a casting product surface. When cooling water jetted from the spray nozzles interferes with dripping water or standing water, the interference portion is subjected to overcooling, which makes cooling ununiform in a width direction of the casting product.
Hence, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a secondary cooling method that improves cooling uniformity by suppressing overcooling due to dripping water and standing water, by appropriately adjusting an arrangement of spray nozzles and an amount of cooling water in accordance with occurrence spots of the dripping water and standing water.
Moreover, in the case of a spray type, water is splattered by jetting water to a hot casting product, and jetted water is not efficiently used, which limits cooling performance. Therefore, in order to raise casting speed to improve productivity in the future, it is necessary to significantly increase an amount of supplied water or increase a secondary cooling zone by extending a machine length of a continuous casting machine. In other words, current continuous casting machines are not adaptable, and a significant improvement in heat transfer coefficient in secondary cooling is desired for faster continuous casting.
Conventionally, in order to reduce temperature unevenness in secondary cooling for uniform cooling, for example, Patent Literature 2 discloses a secondary cooling method that performs cooling with surface temperature of a casting product held in a film boiling region, and describes disposing a perforated plate between rolls and ejecting cooling water.
In addition, as a method for improving cooling performance of secondary cooling, for example, Patent Literature 3 discloses a cooling grid facility using a wear plate.
In addition, for example, Patent Literature 4 discloses a secondary cooling method for a continuous casting product that enhances cooling performance by cooling a casting product by using water film flow.
In addition, for example, Patent Literature 5 discloses a secondary cooling method for a continuous casting product that enhances cooling performance by forming a continuous bed with water film flow between a guide plate and a casting product and cooling the casting product.

Secondary cooling method and secondary cooling device for casting product in continuous casting


An enclosure which can be sterile for performing surgical procedures and a method for its use is disclosed that protects medical personnel from being infected by the patient and the patient from being infected by the surgical environment. The enclosure consists of a tent defining an isolated cavity and having flexible sides at least portions of which are transparent with connected gloves for accessing tools contained within the isolated cavity, an adhesive assembly for securing the enclosure to a patient and a support structure for supporting the tent. The surgeon can operate on a patient by making an incision through the enclosure, the adhesive assembly and the patient's skin. The incision and, consequently, the patient's body fluids, are all contained within the isolated cavity defined by the enclosure. Since the enclosure is collapsible and inexpensive, the entire structure can be disposed of after the surgery. Moreover, the enclosure can be quite small depending on the nature of the procedure. Thus, the use of the invention greatly reduces the amount of sterilizing procedures and their attendant costs required before and after a surgery is performed.

The safe and effective performance of surgical procedures has always required that special precautions be taken to ensure the sterility of the operating environment. These precautions have traditionally focused on protecting the patient from infection because during surgery their natural protective barrier, their skin, is violated to enable the operation. However, in recent years there has been great concern about the risks surgical procedures pose to the physicians and nurses who perform them. The spread of highly contagious and potentially deadly viruses such as the HIV virus has made surgical procedures more and more dangerous. Thus, the concern with sterility in the surgical environment has taken on a new twist. Now the medical profession needs to protect both patients and medical personnel from infection during an operation.
This dual concern has resulted in more and more drastic precautions. For instance, entire operating rooms and all the surgical equipment they contain must now be extensively sterilized between every use. Further, it now costs $180 just to drape a patient in sterile sheets for an operation. Since time-consuming and expensive steps such as these must now be taken just to prepare an operating room for a single surgical procedure, it is plain that these increased precautions have contributed to rising health care costs and helped fuel the health care crisis this country faces.


A method for producing a composite material having a carbon nanotube array, includes the steps of: (a) providing the carbon nanotube array, the carbon nanotube array has a first end surface and a second end surface opposite to the first end surface; (b) providing a first board and a second board, fixing the first end surface of the carbon nanotube array on the first board, fixing the second end surface of the carbon nanotube array on the second board; (c) packaging the first board and the second board to form an apparatus having an entrance; (d) providing a liquid polymer precursor, applying the liquid polymer precursor from the entrance to the apparatus until the liquid polymer precursor submerge carbon nanotube array; and (e) solidifying the liquid polymer precursor.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to methods for producing composite materials and, particularly, to a method for producing a composite material including a carbon nanotube array.
2. Description of Related Art
Since the report of their discovery in 1991 by Iijima, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been extensively studied for their structural, physical chemical, mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical properties. Many potential technological applications have been proposed including using CNTs in hydrogen storage, nanoelectronic devices, field emission displays (FED), field emission microscopy (FEM), chemical sensors, and so on. CNTs are desirable, at least in part, due to their unique electrical and mechanical properties. Currently, the study of carbon nanotube/polymer composite materials is gaining significant attention. Such nanotube-reinforced composite materials have broad applications because of their good antistatic performance, microwave absorbing capability, electromagnetic shielding ability, and so on.
CNT arrays having a plurality of aligned CNTs have excellent mechanical strength and good heat conductivity or heat diffusivity, as such they have been used to produce heat conductive materials and reinforced composite materials. However, during the process of making the composite material having a CNT array, the structure of the CNT array is often destroyed. Thus, the composite material having a CNT array may not achieve the desired effects.
What is needed, therefore, is a method for making a composite material having a CNT array without destroying the original structure of the CNT array.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate at least one preferred embodiment of the present method, in one form, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any manner.

Method for making composite material having carbon nanotube array


A transceiver (10) includes a transmitter (16) that receives a digital data stream from a digital signal processor (18) to delay lines (20, 30). The delay lines (20, 30) provide an address to a ROM look-up table (40). Another input of the look-up table (40) receives a signal that selects protocols such as TDMA, CDMA, and GSM. A multi-accumulator fractional-N synthesizer (48) receives phase derivative coefficients and a DAC (46) receives amplitude modulation coefficients from the look-up table (40) based on the selected protocol. The analog output signals from the DAC (46) and the synthesizer (48) are received by a variable gain amplifier (54) that generates an RF amplitude and frequency modulated output signal for transmission from the transmitter (16).

The present invention relates, in general, to digital transceivers and, more particularly, to a digital transmitter using a fractional-N frequency synthesizer.
Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) frequency synthesis is a well known technique for generating one of many related signals from a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO). In a PLL, an output signal from the VCO is coupled to a programmable frequency divider which divides by a selected integer number. A phase detector compares the frequency divided signal to a reference signal and any difference in phase between the frequency divided signal and the reference signal is output from the phase detector, coupled through a loop filter, and applied to the VCO. The VCO provides an output signal that changes in frequency such that the phase error between the frequency divided signal and the reference signal is minimized.
In order to overcome the limitations of the output frequency step size being constrained to be equal to the reference signal frequency, a fractional-N synthesizer having programmable frequency dividers capable of dividing by non-integers has been developed. Output frequency step sizes which are fractions of the reference signal frequency are obtained while maintaining a high reference frequency and wide loop bandwidth. A transmitter that includes a fractional-N synthesizer has been used to provide a phase modulation signal for Global System for Mobil communications (GSM). However, other communications protocols such as Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) require amplitude modulation in addition to the phase modulation.
Hence, a need exists for a transmitter capable of operating over a wide frequency band, while providing an RF modulated output signal having both amplitude modulation and phase modulation.

Digital transmitter circuit and method of operation


A heat pipe structure is incorporated directly into the metal baseplate of a circuit card thereby eliminating thermal contact resistance between the baseplate and the heat pipe assembly. Components are mounted on a copper circuit layer bonded to a dielectric layer in a first portion of the baseplate with a second portion of the baseplate/heat pipe assembly extending into a heat sink/cold plate condensing area for removal of heat generated in the component portion.

Some electronic circuits generate an unusually large amount of heat such as those circuits that are used in power supplies. Metal-backed circuit boards are frequently used in such applications, and are often designed for surface-mounted components and direct chip-attached components. Normally these cards are cooled by air convection, frequently by forced air directed across the surface of the circuit board. However, as the need to further miniaturize power supplies and other unusually high heat-generating applications becomes a significant design issue, cards which are cooled by air convection become unsatisfactory. Hot spots under components may be generated and either the size of the metal-backed printed circuit board must increase for better heat dissipation or the life of the components will decrease.
To solve the above-stated problem, the inventors herein have incorporated a flat heat pipe directly into the copper layer of the metal-backed card, thereby eliminating hot spots and enabling the delivery of significantly more power by a given card because of increased cooling capacity. Additionally, longer component life is provided by maintaining all components at approximately the same temperature. Smaller form factor cards are made possible through the improved cooling arrangement. These improvements are accomplished by incorporating a heat pipe at the copper layer thereby eliminating thermal contact resistance between the circuit board and the heat pipe as compared to previous arrangements where heat pipes are attached to cards in an external manner.
Japanese patent application 286395 relates to the use of small heat pipes located between two "prepregs" with a printed board located on the opposite side of the prepreg from the heat pipes. Thus, a laminated assembly is provided with heat pipes ensconced within the prepregs and not directly connected to the circuit board itself.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,455 relates to a semi-conductor power module with an integrated heat pipe. Semi-conductor power components are located in openings formed in a ceramic carrier plate. Heat pipes are integrated into the structure between the ceramic carrier plate and a ceramic baseplate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,399 relates to a cooling arrangement for integrated circuit chips in which a heat pipe structure is located within the ceramic or silicon substrate.
Japanese patent application 54-78670 also relates to a ceramic heat pipe incorporated into the substrate of components.

Integrated heat pipe and circuit board structure


A semiconductor device has a substrate. A semiconductor die is coupled to a first surface of the substrate. An encapsulate is placed over the semiconductor die. A first plurality of lands is formed on the first surface of the substrate around the encapsulate. A second plurality of lands is formed on a second surface of the substrate. A first group of the second plurality of lands has a pitch and a second group of the second plurality of lands has a pitch of a different length.

As electronic devices get smaller, the components within these devices must get smaller as well. Because of this, there has been an increased demand for the miniaturization of components and greater packaging density. Integrated Circuit (IC) package density is primarily limited by the area available for die mounting and the height of the package. One way of increasing the density is to stack multiple die or packages vertically in an IC package. Stacking multiple die or packages will maximize function and efficiency of the semiconductor package.
Stacked semiconductor packages are different from regular semiconductor packages in that they have land pads on both the top and bottom surfaces of the stacked semiconductor package. Due to the need for additional standoff height on a top surface of the stacked semiconductor package, the solder ball size, and hence pitch on the top surface needs to be rather large so that there is sufficient clearance between the stacked packages. However, the use of a large solder ball size is not feasible for the bottom surface of the stacked semiconductor package since this would lead to a solder ball count which would be fairly low.
Because of the above problem, present stacked packages use a ball pitch of one dimension for the top surface and a ball pitch of a second dimension for the bottom surface. The non-uniform ball pitch causes non-alignment of lands between the top surface and the bottom surface. This makes substrate design more complicated since metal traces will have more complex routings. Furthermore, non-uniform ball pitches require more complicated technologies like via-in pad to be used.
Therefore, a need existed to provide a device and method to overcome the above problem.

Land patterns for a semiconductor stacking structure and method therefor


Provided is a printing apparatus including: a material accommodating unit including an accommodating portion for accommodating at least one printing material, and an extruding portion for externally sending the at least one printing material accommodated in the accommodating portion; a printing unit including a nozzle portion for spraying the at least one printing material received from the material accommodating unit toward a printing area according to a preset program, and a first temperature adjusting portion for adjusting a first temperature within the printing area; and a transfer unit including a transfer pipe that guides the at least one printing material sent from the material accommodating unit to the nozzle portion of the printing unit, and a second temperature adjusting portion for adjusting a second temperature of the transfer pipe.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is capable of manufacturing a complicated structure within a short time period by a method of stacking, layer by layer, outputs corresponding to a drawing made via computer-aided design (CAD), without cutting. Recently, this technology has not only been used to manufacture test products but has also been actively utilized in industries such as the clothes, automobile, ship, and shoes industries.
Examples of 3D printers include stereolithography apparatuses (SLAs) which use a principle in which laser light is radiated onto a photocurable resin such that an irradiated portion of the photocurable resin is cured, selective laser sintering (SLS) machines which use a principle in which laser light is radiated onto a functional polymer or metal powder instead of a photocurable resin to mold and solidify the functional polymer or metal powder, fused deposition modeling (FDM) machines, and digital light processing (DLP) machines which use a principle in which light is radiated to the bottom of a storage storing a photocurable resin and the photocurable resin is partially cured.
As this 3D printer technology develops, the importance of technology for increasing the accuracy of outputs is being emphasized.

Ewha University-Industry Collaboration Foundation


A cooling device for a semiconductor module supplying a coolant from outside into a water jacket and cooling a semiconductor element, includes a heat sink thermally connected to the semiconductor element; a first flow channel extending from a coolant introducing port and including a guide section having an inclined surface for guiding the coolant toward one side surface of the heat sink; a second flow channel disposed parallel to the first flow channel and extending toward a coolant discharge port; a flow velocity adjusting plate disposed in the second flow channel and formed parallel to the other side surface of the heat sink at a distance therefrom; and a third flow channel formed to communicate the first flow channel and the second flow channel. The heat sink is disposed in the third flow channel.

Semiconductor modules have been widely used in power conversion devices typically used in hybrid automobiles or electric automobiles. In such a semiconductor module constituting a control device for saving energy, a power semiconductor element is provided to control a high electric current. The usual power semiconductor element generates heat when controlling a high electric current, and the amount of generated heat increases as the size of the power conversion device is reduced and the output thereof is increased. Therefore, it is very important to ensure cooling in a semiconductor module provided with a plurality of power semiconductor elements.
Cooling apparatuses of a liquid cooling system have been used to increase the cooling efficiency of semiconductor modules. A variety of measures have been used to increase the cooling efficiency of the cooling apparatuses of a liquid cooling system, for example, by increasing the coolant flow rate, forming the heat radiating fins (cooling bodies) such that good heat transfer coefficient is obtained, and increasing thermal conductivity of the material constituting the fins.
However, when the flow rate of the coolant flowing to the cooling apparatus is increased or a complex fin shape is used that has good heat transfer coefficient, a load on the cooling pump for circulating the coolant is increased, for example, due to the increase in the pressure loss of the coolant inside the apparatus. In particular, in a cooling apparatus that cools a large number of power semiconductor elements by using a plurality of heat sinks, the increase in pressure loss becomes especially significant in a flow channel configuration in which a plurality of flow channels is connected in series. In order to reduce the pressure loss, it is ideal to use a configuration in which the cooling efficiency is increased at a small coolant flow rate. For this purpose, for example, thermal conductivity of the fin material may be modified, but using a fin material with a high thermal conductivity can increase the cost of the entire apparatus.
In order to reduce the pressure loss while maintaining the cooling performance, cooling apparatuses have been suggested (see Patent Documents 1 to 8) in which a coolant introducing flow channel for introducing the coolant and a coolant discharge flow channel for discharging the coolant are arranged parallel to each other, and a plurality of heat sinks is disposed therebetween in the coolant circulation direction that is substantially perpendicular thereto. In this case, the flows of the coolant between the fins constituting the heat sinks are parallel to each other, the cooling performance can be increased, and also the pressure loss of the coolant in the flow channels can be reduced (see Patent Document 5).
Further, Patent Document 3 describes a cooling apparatus of a liquid cooling system in which the flow channels (header water channels 11a, 11b) for introducing and discharging the liquid coolant are disposed at the same side surface of a module, and the flow channels are disposed in the direction orthogonal to the fins, without variations in the cross-section area thereof (see FIG. 1). As a result, the pressure loss generated in the liquid coolant can be greatly reduced.
Further, Patent Document 6 describes a cooling apparatus of a liquid cooling system in which the entire rear wall of the casing constituting a liquid coolant inflow section is gradually inclined forward from the right wall side to the left wall side and the cross-section area of the flow channel in the inlet header section decreases from the liquid coolant inlet side to the left wall side. As a result, it is possible to improve uniformity of flow velocity distribution in the entire flow channel of the parallel flow channel portion of the casting, that is, the flow velocity distribution in the lateral direction of the parallel flow channel portion.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-35981 (see paragraph [0020] and FIG. 1)    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-12722 (see paragraph [0006] and FIG. 7)    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-205371 (see paragraph [0021] and FIG. 1)    Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-251932 (see paragraphs [0037] and [0038] and FIG. 7)    Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-80211 (see paragraph [0006] and FIG. 1)    Patent Document 6: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-231677 (see paragraphs [0024] and [0031] and FIG. 2)    Patent Document 7: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-295178 (see paragraphs [0017] to [0024] and FIG. 2)    Patent Document 8: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-203694 (see paragraph [0026] and FIG. 3)
However, with the conventional cooling technique, a drift distribution, that is, the drift of coolant flow inside the cooling device, occurs due to the shape of the heat sink of coolant flow channels, the arrangement of heat generating elements, or the shape of the coolant introducing port and discharge port. Since such drift distribution causes uneven cooling performance, it is difficult to obtain stable and uniform cooling performance in the conventional cooling apparatuses. Another problem is that the heat generation temperature of the semiconductor element disposed at a position directly opposite the coolant discharge port side rises significantly, thereby decreasing the element service life and damaging the element.
Further, if the cross-sectional area of the flow channel in the inlet header portion decreases in the extension direction, as in the cooling apparatuses disclosed in Patent Documents 6 and 7, the flow rate distribution tends to improve, but the problem of temperature increase in the vicinity of the coolant introducing port remains unsolved and the increase in pressure loss is easily induced if the flow velocity adjustment is performed by changing the shape of the introducing flow channel.
In the cooling apparatus of a liquid cooling system described in Patent Document 8, a plurality of flow channel groups that includes a plurality of flow channels and differ in path resistance is provided side by side in the lateral direction of the parallel flow channel portion in the parallel flow channel portion, and the uniformity of the flow velocity distribution in the lateral direction of the parallel flow channel portion can be improved, and the occurrence of regions where the cooling performance is reduced due to the decrease in the flow velocity can be prevented. However, stable cooling performance cannot be easily obtained due, for example, to the warping of the fin base occurring in the process of manufacturing the cooling apparatus.

Cooling device for semiconductor module, and semiconductor module


Disclosed is a software-defined networking device based on service profile learning. The device includes a physical network configuration unit for configuring a physical network via identification of a plurality of physical nodes, a service profile generating unit for analyzing packets respectively communicated from end nodes among the plurality of physical nodes to generate a service profile, a service profile learning unit for learning spatiality and temporality of the packets, and segmenting the plurality of physical nodes into service profile groups based on the learning result, and a software-defined networking unit for configuring a virtual network on a service profile group basis to generate a software-defined network.

The present invention relates to software-defined networking based on service profile learning, and more particularly, to a software-defined networking device based on service profile learning that efficiently manages a network via a segmentation of physical network nodes into units of service profile groups.
A computer network is one of digital telecommunication networks that allows nodes to share resources. That is, the computer network refers to a network of distributed computers. Computing devices in the computer network exchange data with each other using inter-node connections (data links). These data links are established via cable media such as a fiber-optic cable, or wireless media such as Wi-Fi. Network computer devices that send, route, and terminate data are referred to as network nodes. The nodes may include hosts such as personal computers, telephones, servers, and network hardware. Among these devices, when one device may exchange information with another device regardless whether they are directly connected to each other, the two devices form a network. In most cases, application-specific communication protocols are layered over other, more general, communication protocols.
Most networks were in a tree structure of Ethernet switches and routers, which is a client-server orient design. In the past, this structure wasn't a problem much since most communications took place between the client and the server. A network is constituted by sets of discrete protocols for connecting a large number of computers via a fixed topology. When adding a device to the network, associated switches, routers, firewalls, and authentication systems must be manipulated. The network topology must be changed, and product models and software versions must be managed. Before an emergence of a virtualization technology, an application was executed on a single server, and the sever transmitted or received traffic to or from the client. Unlike in the past, where the client and the server perform a large capacity communication with each other, these days, an application generates various traffic while accessing an application server and a database (DB) before providing data to a user. Applications are distributed in a plurality of virtual machines (VMs). Therefore, network management becomes more complex. In the early days of the Internet, this was not a problem. The network was fine if being managed on time. However, with a rapid growth of mobile devices and an emergence of cloud-based virtualization services, traffic patterns have changed.
Korean Patent No. 10-1996-0036460 (Oct. 28, 1996) preserves a sequential order in which packets are presented to a network like virtual-circuit networks, but does not require node-by-node call set-up or tear-down, unlike virtual-circuit networks. Korean Patent No. 10-1996-0036460 includes determining the topology of a network of packet switches that are connected by communication links, associating at least two names (e.g. 10a and 10b) with at least one of the packet switches 10, and populating the router tables (913) in the packet switches so that for each name the packet switches and communication links form an elemental network with the topology of a sink tree with the named packet switch at the root of the tree.
Korean Patent No. 10-2005-0046092 (May 18, 2005) discloses a network apparatus and packet routing method for ubiquitous computing. In the network apparatus, a movement detection unit detects movement from a first network to a second network, and a movement address setting unit generates care-of-address (CoA) information corresponding to prefix information of the second network. A movement registration unit registers a movement address by transmitting a binding update message containing the generated CoA and home address (HoA) mapping information, to a home agent. A resource setting unit registers information on current terminal apparatuses among network terminal apparatuses on the second network. A packet distribution unit distributes the received packet to a current terminal apparatus corresponding to the application characteristic of the packet received from the home agent based on the information on the current terminal apparatuses. In Korean Patent No. 10-2005-0046092, user mobility may be perfectly guaranteed, and the application service may be provided via various terminals on the network near the user by the message routing on the network device.

Software-defined networking device based on service profile learning