The invention relates to the stabilization of high power semiconductor laser diode sources as they are extensively used in the field of optical communication. Such lasers are mostly employed as so-called pump laser sources for fiber amplifiers, e.g. erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, and are designed to provide a narrow-bandwidth optical radiation with a stable power output in a given frequency band. To improve the wavelength locking range of such laser sources when operating without an active temperature stabilizing element, an external reflector providing very high relative feedback is used. The reflectivity bandwidth of the external reflector is broadened for improving the stability of the laser source. In commonly employed optical fibers for conducting the laser beam, the external reflector is formed by one or a plurality of appropriately designed fiber Bragg gratings.

Semiconductor lasers of the type mentioned above have, for example, become important components in the technology of optical communication, particularly because such lasers can be used for amplifying optical signals immediately by optical means. This allows to design all-optical fiber communication systems, avoiding any complicated conversion of the signals to be transmitted which improves speed as well as reliability within such systems.
In one kind of optical fiber communication systems, the lasers are used for pumping erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, so-called EDFAs, which have been described in various patents and publications known to the person skilled in the art. An example of some technical significance are 980 nm lasers with a power output of 100 mW or more, which wavelength matches the 980 nm erbium absorption line and thus achieves a low-noise amplification. InGaAs lasers have been found to serve this purpose well and are used today in significant numbers. However, the invention is in no way limited to InGaAs lasers.
There are examples of lasers of other wavelengths and materials for which the present invention is applicable. Generally, laser diode pump sources used in fiber amplifier applications are working in single transverse mode for efficient coupling into single-mode fibers and are mostly multiple longitudinal mode lasers, i.e. Fabry-Perot (FP) lasers. Three main types are typically used for erbium amplifiers, corresponding to the absorption wavelengths of erbium: InGaAsP and multiquantum-well InGaAs lasers are used at 1480 nm; strained quantum-well InGaAs lasers at 980 nm; and GaAIAs lasers at 820 nm.
One of the problems occurring when using semiconductor lasers for the above purpose is their wavelength and power output instability which, though small, still affects the amplification sufficiently to look for a solution to the problem. This problem is already addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,732 by Erdogan et al., entitled "Laser Pumping of Erbium Amplifier", which describes the stabilization of a pump laser of the type described above by use of a Bragg grating in front of the laser. This grating forms an external cavity with the laser. The emission spectrum is stabilized by the reflection from the grating. The grating is formed inside the guided-mode region of the optical fiber at a certain distance from the laser. Such a fiber Bragg grating is a periodic (or aperiodic) structure of refractive index variations in or near the guided-mode portion of the optical fiber, which variations are reflecting light of a certain wavelength propagating along the fiber. The grating's peak-reflectivities and reflection bandwidths determine the amount of light reflected back into the laser.
Ventrudo et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,263, entitled "Fibre-grating-stabilized Diode Laser" describes an essentially similar approach for providing a stabilized laser, showing a design by which the laser light is coupled to the fiber by focussing it through a fiber lens. Again, a fiber Bragg grating is provided in the fiber's guided mode portion, reflecting part of the incoming light back through the lens to the laser. To summarize, when positioning a fiber Bragg grating at a certain distance from the laser's front facet and when the laser gain peak is not too far from the Bragg grating's center wavelength, it is understood that the laser is forced to operate within the optical bandwidth of the grating and thus is wavelength-stabilized. Additionally, low-frequency power fluctuations seem to decrease by the effect of induced high-frequency multi-mode operation.
Though the above stabilization methods are effective, they all use active temperature stabilizing elements. None of the above prior art addresses solutions for high power (i.e. >100 mW) laser sources capable of stable operation without using an active temperature stabilizing element. Such cooling elements, commonly known as thermoelectric coolers (TEC), are usually attached to the heatsink of the laser for maintaining the laser temperature at a constant level. The need for TEC's contributes significantly to the complexity and cost of a laser source.
A so-called external cavity laser is known from from Bestwick et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,210. This design, though mentioning that cooling of the laser may not ne necessary, is however limited to narrow bandwidth signal lasers whose power dissipation is much lower compared to the high power lasers addressed by the present invention. Also, Bestwick et al focus on production techniques and do not disclose any reflectivity values or ratios for the laser front facet and/or the grating. Thus, the low power, narrow bandwidth signal lasers disclosed by Bestwick et al. do not provide any indication of how to make or design an uncooled high power laser according to the present invention.
Thus, it is the main object of the invention to devise a simple and reliable laser source with sufficiently large locking range, especially for pump lasers in optical fiber communication systems, that provides a stable output without the need for an active temperature stabilizing element.
A specific object is to avoid the detrimental switching of the laser between operation at a single longitudinal mode and operation at multi-longitudinal modes, even for a laser output power of more than 100 mW, and thus increase the stability of the output of high power laser sources. Output stability shall be achieved for high optical power having reduced noise at low frequencies, wavelength stability and high side-band suppression outside the fiber Bragg grating bandwidth.
A further object is to allow maximum flexibility for choosing the laser's parameters without running into stability problems.
A still further object is to avoid any further complexity and keep the number of additional components of the laser source within a laser pumped optical amplifier to a minimum.

Laser source with high relative feedback and method for making such a laser source


A surface processing method and power transmission component includes transforming a surface region of a metal alloy into a hardened surface region at a temperature that is less than a heat treating temperature of the metal alloy. The metal alloy includes about 11.1 wt % Ni, about 13.4 wt % Co, about 3.0 wt % Cr, about 0.2 wt % C, and about 1.2 wt % Mo which reacts with the C to form a metal carbide precipitate of the form M2C. The surface processing temperature, vacuum pressure, precursor gas flow and ratio, and time of processing are controlled to provide a desirable hardened surface region having a gradual transition in nitrogen concentration.

This invention relates to surface processing of a power transmission component and, more particularly, to methods of surface processing that minimize dimensional alteration and the identification of alloys that possess properties and microstructures conducive to surface processing in such a way that the processed alloy possesses desirable surface and core properties that render it particularly effective in applications that demand superior properties such as power transmission components. Absent the combination of alloy selection and processing that are taught herein, such superior properties would be unavailable.
For iron-based metal alloy components, such as power transmission components, it is often desirable to form a hardened surface case around the core of the component to enhance component performance. The hardened surface case provides wear and corrosion resistance while the core provides toughness and impact resistance.
There are various conventional methods for forming a hardened surface case on a power transmission component fabricated from a steel alloy. One conventional method, nitriding, utilizes gas, salt bath or plasma processing. The nitriding process introduces nitrogen to the surface of the component at an elevated temperature. The nitrogen reacts with the steel alloy to form the hardened surface case while the core of the component may retain the original hardness, strength, and toughness characteristics of the steel alloy. This conventional process provides a hardened surface case, however, the elevated temperatures of the nitriding process may over-temper the core and diminish its properties and/or induce dimensional distortion of the component such that additional grinding or dimensionalizing steps are required to bring the component into dimensional tolerance.
Accordingly, it is desirable to identify a particular alloy for a surface processing method that minimizes dimensional alteration of a power transmission component and essentially eliminates dimensionalizing processes subsequent to the case hardening process.

Method for processing alloys via plasma (ion) nitriding


A computer system capable of providing a visual display of a display power management signaling (DPMS) mode for user selection of different power save modes of operation. The DPMS mode is used to convert a power supply mode to a power save mode in a computer peripheral such as a monitor. The computer system includes a micro-computer installed in the monitor for determining whether the frequency of sync signals are within predetermined bands to set the power save mode, a switching element installed in the computer for controlling the power supply of a predetermined voltage under control of the micro-computer, and a luminance element installed at a predetermined location of a keyboard and powered by the operation of the switching element for providing a visual display of the DPMS mode for user selection of different power save modes of operation.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a computer system capable of displaying a display power management signaling (DPMS) mode and, more particularly, to a power management system device for a method of displaying the DPMS mode in which, when the computer system is not manipulated for a predetermined time, i.e., while not being used, the system converts to a first power save mode, generates a message and waits for user feedback, thus reducing power consumption.
2. Related Art
Contemporary computer systems generally consist of a main unit (which may have built-in storage devices such as floppy disks, hard disks and CD-ROM), a keyboard and a monitor. The main unit may be connected to a printer and other peripheral devices. In normal usage, it is common for the monitor and other peripherals to be turned on and to remain on for as long as the computer is running, even though the peripherals are actually used only a small percentage of the time. A typical color video monitor, for example, may consume as such as 50 to 80 percent of the total 5 electrical energy consumed by a personal computer (PC). If the monitor consumes valuable energy only to remain idle, not only the valuable energy resources will be wasted but the life of the monitor will decrease rapidly. Obviously, power can be conserved if the user turn the computer system off or in a standby mode each time the computer system is no longer in use for an extended period. This requirement is, however, impractical. Therefore, system should be designed to automatically conserve valuable energy resources when the computer system is not in use.
In principle, automatically saving energy by turning off the computer system is fairly easy. Portable computers such as laptop computers are invariably designed so that if there is no activity from the keyboard or from other external inputs during a specified time, the computer systems are turned off or placed in a standby mode to save energy. Only minimal logic is kept active to detect when the keyboard or other external inputs are becoming active again so as to turn the computer system back on. In portable computers, this power saving feature is fairly simple to implement, since the monitor display is integrated with the computer system. However, for normal desktop personal computers in which a monitor is physically separated from the main computer unit, turning off the external monitor automatically from the main computer unit is much more difficult because most monitor systems contain no special lines or special commands to turn the power on or off.
Conventional power saving features for typical personal computers having monitors as separate items are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,961 for Screen Blanker For A Monitor Of A Computer System issued to Cheng, U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,124 for Method And Apparatus For Controlling Power To Device In A Computer System issued to Yabe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,168 for Computer System With Power-Down Mode For Monitor issued to Walker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,245 for Apparatus For Automatically Reducing The Power Consumption Of A CRT Computer Monitor issued to Solhjell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,721 for Information Processing System With A Power Control Unit issued to Joto, U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,952 for Low-Power-Consumption Monitor Standby System issued to Kikinis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,668 for Method And Apparatus For Controlling The Provision Of Power To Computer Peripherals issued to Tornai, U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,732 for CRT Monitor Power Control Unit issued to Shahbazi, and recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,464 for Power Saving Apparatus For Use In Peripheral Equipment Of A Computer issued to Song and assigned to the same assignee of the present invention. Usually, the monitor is shut down during the period of inactivity with the exception of a small amount of power necessary to detect when the computer system becomes active again so as to resume operation of the monitor. Generally, when the monitor is powered normally, the display of data image is blanked during the period of inactivity and re-displayed when the computer system becomes active, i.e., when an input device such as a keyboard is operated. During this type of blanking, however, the monitor continues to consume normal power.
Accordingly, display power management signaling (DPMS) mode standards have been set to save power consumption by controlling monitor power with respect to the operational status of the computer system. In the DPMS mode, power supply is managed according to the operational status of the computer system. The mode status of the power management is classified into ON, STAND-BY, SUSPEND and OFF, which are represented here in operational sequence. The horizontal and vertical sync signals are applied according to the respective power management states as listed in the below table.
______________________________________ SYNC SIGNAL POWER MANAGEMENT STATUS HORIZONTAL VERTICAL ______________________________________ ON MODE .smallcircle. .smallcircle. STAND-BY MODE x .smallcircle. SUSPEND MODE .smallcircle. x OFF MODE x x ______________________________________
In the table ".smallcircle." indicates the presence of a sync signal, determined as a horizontal sync signal frequency higher than 10 kHz and a vertical sync signal frequency higher than 40 kHz; and ".times." indicates that the respective sync signals are below these frequencies and therefore determined to be interrupted. The duty ratio of the sync pulses is assumed less than 25%. When the DPMS mode is activated, however, the monitor is blanked, and may be left powered-on for a long period of time. If the power-off state is incorrectly assumed by the user who leaves the display in an "off" state. This is contrary to the basic function of the power save mode of the computer system which fails to effectively save power.

Power management system and method of displaying power management information in a computer


A printed wiring board having assembled thereon a grid array type package, a multi-terminal device with many terminals arranged in matrix, is provided, through first signal connection holes, signal lines, and second connection holes, with many numbers of lands divided into plural blocks, being arranged in matrix on a first layer to connect each terminal of the multi-terminal device correspondingly, signal line patterns connected with many lands, and drawn out in the same direction per block, and first signal patterns from lands positioned on the innermost line of many lands. Then, the wiring patterns of the signal lines are drawn out regularly from many lands formed in matrix on the assembling surface of the grid array type package to make it easier for the printed wiring board to effectuate wiring connections without making them complicated or increasing the number of layers of the printed wiring board. Also, with the provision of ground patterns that surround signal lines, it is made possible to reduce unwanted radiant, as well as to suppress the occurrence of malfunctions of electronic equipment due to reflections and ground bounces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed-wiring board. More particularly, the invention relates to a printed-wiring board provided at least with a first layer and a second layer, having multi-terminal devices, such as a grid array package ICs, installed hereon with a plurality of terminals arranged in a plane configuration.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, along with the electronic equipment the functions of which are made higher increasingly, the integration of semiconductor devices has been higher still, and the numbers of outer terminals of an LSI package are on the increase accordingly. There are in practical use, among some others, a ball grid array package (BGA) having 500 or more connecting terminals formed therefor, and a chip scale package (CSP) having connecting terminals arranged in the form of array at narrower pitches. For such package of grid array type, soldered bumps or some other terminals are formed in general on the bottom face of a package base plate. Then, electrical connections are implemented by assembling and connecting these terminals with the lands of a printed-wiring board.
Now, however, it is difficult to draw out pattern from the inner lands among many numbers of lands on a printed-wiring board with which are connected many numbers of terminals arranged for a package of grid array type. To counteract this, it has been practiced to provide a plurality of signal layers for the printed-wiring board of multi-layered structure or to effectuate the interruption of signal layers into the power supply-source layer and the ground layer.
In other words, if a package is of quad-flat package (QFP) or of tape carrier package (TPC), only one line of terminals is arranged on the outer side of a package so that signal lines can be drawn out from the terminals of the printed-wiring board easily without any particular arrangement. Therefore, it is good enough for a printed-wiring board to use just one layer as the signal layer. Thus, the other layers can be used for the power supply-source pattern, the ground patterns, and the like. However, for a printed-wiring board having a grid array type package assembled thereon, plural signal layers are needed in order to draw out signal lines from the inner lands. The resultant number of layers becomes many for the printed-wiring board in use or the signal lines should be interrupted into the power supply-source layer and ground layer in order to suppress the layer numbers of the printed-wiring board.
Here, on the other hand, there is a constant demand in making the clock frequency of digital circuit of electronic equipment higher still.
Now, hereunder, the existing problems will be described, at first, as to a package of grid array type assembled on a printed-wiring board.
FIG. 15 is a plan view which shows the first layer, the surface, of the conventional double-layer printed wiring board generally in use, on which a ball grid array package is assembled. FIG. 16 is a plan view which shows the second layer, the reverse side, of the printed wiring board represented in FIG. 15, and arranged to be a perspective view in order to make the positional relations clear between them. Then, in order to distinguish the positional relations with lands in FIG. 15, the land positions are indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 16.
In FIG. 15, signal lines 52 and 62, and the power supply-source pattern 54 and ground pattern 56 are connected with the land 51. Of many lands, it is not easy to draw out patterns from the inner ones. Thus, the inner lands are connected with signal pattern on the second layer shown in FIG. 16 by way of through holes 53, 55, and 57.
In FIG. 16, a part of signal pattern shown in FIG. 16 is connected with the signal pattern on the second layer by way of through holes. For example, the signal line 62 is connected with the signal line 58 on the second layer by way of a through hole 53. Likewise, the power supply-source pattern 54 is connected with the power supply-source pattern 59 on the second layer by way of a through hole 55. The ground pattern 56 is connected with the ground pattern 60 on the second layer by way of a through hole 57. Here, a reference numeral 61 designates the by-pass capacitor land which is assembled between the power supply-source pattern 63 and the ground pattern 64.
As clear from FIG. 16, the grid array package assembled on a double-layer printed wiring board makes it impossible to arrange the ground pattern freely due to the existence of signal lines and others. The ground pattern should be made far from being in an ideal plane configuration. The structure of the ground pattern tends to become such a portion that may present many chipping.
To avoid this condition, a multi-layer printed wiring board is used, in which signal layers are increased so that a layer is dedicated for use of the power supply-source, and another for grounding. In this case, however, costs become significantly high, and also, there is a problem encountered that printed wiring board becomes heavier.
Now, the description will be made of the problems existing in using a printed wiring board having digital circuits installed thereon for the use of a high speed clocking frequency.
Generally, when considering a differential mode irradiation, the field strength in the direction of maximum irradiation can be expressed by the following formula (xe2x80x9cA Practical Technique for Gradually Decreasing Noisesxe2x80x9d p.324, Published by Jatech Shuppan):
E=263xc3x9710xe2x88x9216 (f2xc2x7Axc2x7I) (1/r)
where E is field strength (V/m); f, frequency (Hz); A, loop area (m2), I, current (A), and r, distance (m) to receiving antenna.
As understandable from the above formula, it is desirable to make the loop area A as small as possible for the high frequency current I which may create the problem of irradiated noises. In other words, in order to prevent noises from being irradiated, the digital signal lines should be made as short as possible, and also, the ground pattern or the power supply-source pattern where return current runs should desirably be arranged as near the signal lines as possible. Also, among digital circuits, special care should be given to the clock signal lines through which high frequency signals flow. Likewise, it is desirable to make the loop area A as small as possible for a high frequency current which runs between the power supply-source and the ground.
Also, the ground pattern that has many chipped portions may result in the increase of reflection that tends to invite the disturbance of signal waveforms or may invite ground bounces. Then, it becomes easier for equipment to malfunction.
Now, with reference to FIG. 17, this condition will be described further in detail.
FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a printed wiring board which schematically shows the relationship between the pattern arrangement of signal lines, power supply-source lines, ground lines, and others on the printed wiring board, and the loop areas.
In FIG. 17, a reference numeral 101 designates an IC output buffer; 102, an IC that receives signals; 103, a signal line; 105, a power supply-source line; 106, a ground line; and 104, a bypass capacitor.
The loop area A expressed in the above formula corresponds to the loop A surrounded by the signal line 103 and the ground line 106 in FIG. 17, the loops B and C surrounded by the power supply-source line 105 and ground line 106 up to the position where the bypass capacitor 104 is assembled, and the loops D and E which are created when the bypass capacitor does not work effectively.
FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the printed wiring board which corresponds to FIG. 17, and shows the changes of the loop areas due to the chipping of the ground pattern.
In FIG. 16, there are chipping portions for the ground patterns 60 and 64 in the vicinity of the package assembling lands. With the signal output pins being considered as reference, for example, this is the condition where any ground pattern is arranged near the signal line. Then, as the loop G shown in FIG. 18, the increase of loop area is invited, thus increasing unwanted radiant noises (irradiated noises). In this respect, thick lines in FIG. 16 indicate either the thick pattern on the printed wiring board or the smaller inductance due to smaller chipping portions.
Also, if the ground pattern is away from the signal line, the characteristic impedance becomes larger, and it tends to create inconformity with the portion to which the ground pattern is formed closer, hence making a larger reflection.
Moreover, if the chipping portion of the ground pattern is greater in the vicinity of IC, the inductance becomes larger to generate greater ground bounces.
The present invention is designed in consideration of the problems discussed above. It is an object of the invention to provide an inexpensive and light printed wiring board having grid array type package assembled thereon with a lesser amount of unwanted radiant noises, being capable of suppressing the malfunction of electronic equipment that may be caused by reflections or ground bounces.
It is another object of the invention to provide a printed wiring board capable of making connections easier, for which the wiring pattern of signal lines can be drawn regularly from many numbers of lands formed in matrix on the assembling surface of grid array type package so that wiring is not made complicated without increasing the layers of the printed wiring board.
Other objectives and advantages besides those described above will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which follows. In the description, reference is made to accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which illustrate an example of the invention. Such example, however, is not exhaustive of the various embodiments of the invention, and therefore reference is made to the claims which follow the description for determining the scope of the invention.


A system in which existing email protocols are leveraged to exchange information between two or more client devices. In some examples, a trained classifier can be leveraged to apply a label or classification to a received email. Based on the classification of the email, one or more parsers can be selected which can output data to be displayed in a dedicated portion of a graphical user interface.

Electronic mail ("email") is leveraged for a wide variety of personal and professional purposes. Some emails provoke a recipient to perform some action, such as saving an attachment, replying in a particular manner, scheduling or performing a non-email task, and so on. Other emails contain content for a recipient to read or review, such as a newsletter. Still other emails contain status updates, receipts, or other generalized information generated by software services platforms. In many cases, however, recipients of emails frequently receive a number of emails per day. A recipient of email is required to develop his or her own methods and schedules to sort, filter, and/or otherwise triage email messages and to manually determine which messages or content should be consumed and/or acted upon first, often resulting in inefficiencies and, in some cases, resulting in delayed responses to time-sensitive information or content inadvertently overlooked by the recipient.
Conventional email client applications can include rules engines that can assist email recipients with certain application-level organizational tasks (e.g., sorting messages, generating calendar events and reminders, and so on), but such applications are often unable to assist users, without substantial manual configuration and testing, with completing higher-order repetitive tasks, such as replying to emails with message-specific content, selecting appropriate recipients of a reply, opening an application or web address in response to receiving an email, and so on. In addition, conventional email message client applications are often unable to assist users with higher-order tasks triggered by electronic messages due to sandboxing requirements and/or other system-level application programming interface or permissions limitations.
Further still, conventional emails often include one or more embedded tracking scripts that collect and distribute metrics about the recipient to third parties, such as marketing firms. Such metrics include click-through rates, message view counts, dwell times, and so on. Such information, when paired with unique identifiers linking to the recipient's email address exfiltrate substantial information describing the recipient of the email, often without the recipient's permission or knowledge.
The use of the same or similar reference numerals in different figures indicates similar, related, or identical items.
Additionally, it should be understood that the proportions and dimensions (either relative or absolute) of the various features and elements (and collections and groupings thereof) and the boundaries, separations, and positional relationships presented therebetween, are provided in the accompanying figures merely to facilitate an understanding of the various embodiments described herein and, accordingly, may not necessarily be presented or illustrated to scale, and are not intended to indicate any preference or requirement for an illustrated embodiment to the exclusion of embodiments described with reference thereto.

Classification engine instance informing parsing of emails received by an email client instance executed by a mobile device


A time-dependent substrate temperature to be applied during a plasma process is determined. The time-dependent substrate temperature at any given time is determined based on control of a sticking coefficient of a plasma constituent at the given time. A time-dependent temperature differential between an upper plasma boundary and a substrate to be applied during the plasma process is also determined. The time-dependent temperature differential at any given time is determined based on control of a flux of the plasma constituent directed toward the substrate at the given time. The time-dependent substrate temperature and time-dependent temperature differential are stored in a digital format suitable for use by a temperature control device defined and connected to direct temperature control of the upper plasma boundary and the substrate. A system is also provided for implementing upper plasma boundary and substrate temperature control during the plasma process.

In semiconductor fabrication, a plasma etching process can be used to transfer a photoresist mask pattern of a portion of a circuit onto one or more materials (conductors or insulators) on a semiconductor wafer. In the plasma etching process, the plasma acts to etch away materials exposed in the open areas of the photoresist mask pattern, i.e., in the areas that are not protected by the photoresist mask. The etching reaction is accomplished by chemically active and electrically charged species (ions) present in the plasma. The plasma is generated from a reactant mixture within a plasma chamber. In some applications, an electric field can be used to accelerate ions present in the plasma towards the wafer, thereby providing directionality to the etching of materials from the wafer. When the etching process is completed, the photoresist mask material is removed from the wafer.
During the plasma etching process, the photoresist material can be eroded or altered by the etching chemistry and/or etching byproduct materials. Too much erosion of the photoresist material can cause distortion in the photoresist mask pattern and corresponding etching distortion in the wafer. Also, without proper control, the etching byproducts can reduce the size of the openings of the photoresist mask pattern, thereby preventing the etching constituents of the plasma from reaching the materials to be etched. Moreover, the above-identified issues become even more problematic in fabrication of advanced devices that have high aspect ratio features and very small dimensions. It is in this context that embodiments of the present invention arise.

Methods for controlling plasma constituent flux and deposition during semiconductor fabrication and apparatus for implementing the same


Provided is a method for preparing a true, homogeneous solution of a pharmaceutical substance dissolved in an organic solvent in which the pharmaceutical substance is not normally soluble. Solubilization is obtained by forming a hydrophobic ion pair complex involving the pharmaceutical substance and an amphiphilic material. The resulting organic solution may be further processed to prepare pharmaceutical powders. A biodegradable polymer may be co-dissolved with the pharmaceutical substance and the amphiphilic material and may be incorporated into a pharmaceutical powder. A preferred method for preparing pharmaceutical powders is to subject the organic solution to gas antisolvent precipitation using a supercritical gas antisolvent such as carbon dioxide. Also provided is a method for making hollow particles having a fiber-like shape which would provide enhanced retention time in the stomach if ingested by a human or animal host.

Pharmaceutical substances may be introduced into a human or animal host for therapeutic or curative purposes in a number of ways. In many pharmaceutical applications, the pharmaceutical substance is administered in the form of solid particles. For example, a micropump may be used in some applications for prolonged treatment by slowly injecting a suspension of small particles in a liquid. Also, small particles having both a pharmaceutical substance and a biodegradable polymer may be placed within tissue for sustained release of the pharmaceutical substance, with the biodegradable polymer acting to control the release of the pharmaceutical substance. Furthermore, in pulmonary delivery applications, small particles may be inhaled to lodge in tissue of the lungs, permitting the pharmaceutical substance to then enter the circulatory system.
Often, however, problems are encountered in attempting to make particles having the desired properties for a particular pharmaceutical application. For example, when particles having a biodegradable polymer and a pharmaceutical substance are prepared, the pharmaceutical substance often concentrates near the surface of the particles. This effect may cause a sudden, undesirable release of the pharmaceutical substance when it is initially introduced into the host. Also, when using a micropump for continuous injection of a suspension over a prolonged period, the solid particles tend to settle over time, which may cause an undesirable variation in the rate of delivery of the pharmaceutical substance.
With respect to pulmonary delivery applications, current methods for delivering the pharmaceutical substance in small particles typically result in a majority of the pharmaceutical substance being wasted. In one method, called nebulization, a liquid having the pharmaceutical substance in solution is sprayed at a high velocity and inhaled. Alternatively, nebulization may involve spraying a powder as fine particles propelled by a carrier gas, with the particles being inhaled. Particles administered by both these nebulization methods, however, may have a wide distribution of droplet or particle sizes, resulting in a very low utilization of the pharmaceutical substance. Particles, or droplets, which are too large tend to lodge in the throat and mouth during inhalation and are not, therefore, effective for delivering the pharmaceutical substance to the lungs. Particles, or droplets, which are too small tend not to impact on the lung tissue, but rather tend to be exhaled. As much as 80 to 90 percent, or more, of the pharmaceutical substance may, therefore, be wasted and only a small portion of the pharmaceutical substance which is administered may actually reach the desired target in the lung.
Many of these problems with delivery of particles of a pharmaceutical substance result from limitations on methods used to make the particles. One method for making particles of a pharmaceutical substance, called lyophilization, involves rapid freezing of the pharmaceutical substance with water, followed by rapid dehydration of the frozen material to produce dry particles of the pharmaceutical substance. This technique has been used with proteins and other polypeptides, but the low temperatures involved may reduce the biological activity of some polypeptide molecules. Also, the particles produced by lyophilization tend to be large and clumping and are often not suitable for pharmaceutical delivery methods which require smaller particles. It is possible to grind the lyophilized particles to produce smaller particles, but such grinding may damage some pharmaceutical substances, especially proteins. Also, even when a substance may be ground without significant damage to the activity of the substance, it is difficult to obtain a pharmaceutical powder having particles of a narrow size distribution. Therefore, such pharmaceutical powders are prone to substantial waste of the pharmaceutical substance, such as described above for pulmonary delivery applications.
One method which has been proposed for making small particles of a pharmaceutical substance is called gas antisolvent precipitation. In this method, a pharmaceutical substance is dissolved in an organic solvent which is then sprayed into an antisolvent fluid, such as carbon dioxide, under supercritical conditions. The antisolvent fluid rapidly invades spray droplets, causing precipitation of very small pharmaceutical particles.
The gas antisolvent precipitation technique, however, requires that the pharmaceutical substance be soluble in the solvent. For hydrophobic pharmaceutical substances, this generally presents no problem because those substances can readily be dissolved in relatively mild, non-polar organic solvents. Hydrophilic pharmaceutical substances, however, are substantially insoluble in such relatively mild organic solvents.
It has been proposed that insulin, a hydrophilic protein, may be processed in a gas antisolvent precipitation process by dissolving the insulin in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) or N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF), both of which are strong, highly polar solvents. One problem with such a process, however, is that highly polar solvents such as DMSO and DMF tend to unfold protein molecules from their native tertiary structure, or conformation. These protein molecules would, therefore, also be precipitated in an unfolded state for incorporation into the solid particles. Such unfolding could seriously reduce the biological activity of a protein or other polypeptide, especially if stored as a solid particle in the unfolded state for any appreciable time.
There is a need for improved methods for making solid particles of pharmaceutical substances, and especially for making particles of hydrophilic substances, to permit preparation of particles having an appropriate size and size distribution without the molecular unfolding associated with the gas antisolvent precipitation method and without the low temperatures and grinding associated with lyophilization.

Solubilization of pharmaceutical substances in an organic solvent and preparation of pharmaceutical powders using the same


A cooking apparatus with an information exchange system that involves an assembly featuring a cooking apparatus such as a smoker or an electric turkey fryer and an information exchange system that provides for local and/or remote monitoring of cooking characteristic that preferably includes food item temperature probing that is displayed externally on the cooking appliance as in a local remote cooking characteristic information conveyance device that are preferably either in unidirectional of bi-directional.

Both indoor and outdoor cooking has increased in popularity and has led to a variety of cooking devices such as smokers and stand-alone or non-stove top fryers (cooking fluid cooking devices as in frying with oil or steaming with water), with an example being fryers such as the electric turkey fryers of Masterbuilt Manufacturing of Columbus, Ga.
Various conventional cookers of the smoker type also exist and the heat sources for such cookers are typically based on various fuels (or combinations thereof), as in gas, electric (e.g., electric resistance bars or infrared ceramic plates), charcoal, etc. Smokers have also gained in popularity as a smoker provides for imparting a desirable smoked flavor to the food and the cooking technique is generally carried out at low to moderate heat levels. The smoking cooking techniques can also promote basting of the food as the juices from the food are caught and vaporized to baste the food to keep the food moist and prevent dehydration while the smoke flavor is imparted to the food. In addition, with the inclusion of a drip pan the juices can be captured and this drip pan can also hold fluids such as water which, in conjunction with the heat source, provide additional moisture in the food being smoked (e.g., meats, fish, etc.).
A typical conventional smoker assembly includes a housing containing one or more grill racks, the above noted pan positioned below the grill for drippings collection and vapor generation, a heat source, and a wood chip tray or rack, placed adjacent the heat source, to hold the smoke producing material (e.g., to generate the smoke there is typically used materials such as hickory, alder and mesquite wood in any one of a variety of forms as in chips, briquettes, and saw dust).
In addition, the prior art devices include stand alone smokers as seen, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,713,267; 4,417,748; 4,309,938; 4,020,322 and 3,776,127 as well as those that are designed as an added feature to a grill assembly as seen by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,891,498; 5,718,165; 5,167,183 and 4,770,157. Additionally, the prior art discloses a variety of structures for generating the smoke and providing the smoke to the food, including a generally common housing embodiment with both an internalized firebox (where the material is subjected to heat and initiates smoke generation) and a smoke/food contact chamber or smoker location (where the smoke is applied to the food) as seen from U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,857; those with an exterior fire box with direct attachment to a smoker housing as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,533; as well as those that are externally connected to the smoking location via a smoke conduit or the like as seen from U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,939.
The above noted references additionally illustrate ways of supplying the smoke generating material, with U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,939 featuring a supply stack of pellets which are fed via a motorized pusher assembly to the smoke generation location, U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,127 illustrating an upper domed cover which provides access to the interior of the smoker when cool, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,891,498 and 4,309,938 showing a door access arrangement and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,770,157 and 5,718,165 illustrating sliding insertion drawers.
A problem associated with the prior art cooking devices and particularly smokers is the inability to accurately monitor the true status of cooking despite the ability to estimate based on prior experience with a cooking apparatus. This often entails periodic checking of a product as in opening a smoker door and testing the food product for temperature level. Particularly when dealing with smokers, this temperature monitoring activity can lead to an alteration in the cooking schedule or a loss in heat build up. This same problem is also associated with fryer devices as in electric turkey fryers such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,857 to John McLemore and incorporated herein by reference. In the case of an electric turkey fryer, for example, the bubbling cooking fluid about the submerged turkey makes it very difficult to monitor the degree of cooking the turkey has undergone. Also, the testing requirement undesirably places the user in close contact with high heat items as in the cooking fluid, heat resistors, and heat conducting components of a cooking device as in a rack. Thus, there is a need to accurately monitor the cooking state of the food product while avoiding the need for close proximity to the cooking device. In addition, during operation of cooking devices it is helpful to be able to have freedom to move around to different locations particularly with smokers with their long cooking times, while still providing for ready access to the current state of the device whether that be by external consideration (e.g. external viewing) at the cooking apparatus location and/or via a remote monitoring. An operator may also desire the ability to easily alter the cooking settings or characteristics of the cooking apparatus at location and/or a remote location such as increasing the temperature to shorten the time period of cooking in a smoker, etc. The prior art has not met these desired requirements relative to monitoring the cooking characteristics. For example, there exists wireless remote cooking thermometer such as represented by U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,308 featuring a hand held transmitter with plug in temperature probe and a receiver with display screen. The hand held transmitter is placed adjacent to food being cooked and the probe is inserted into the food fold being monitored. This is ill suited for cooking apparatus such as a smoker where the smoke can heat can quickly tarnish an object inserted into the smoker or electric fryers where there is not a good support location for a hand held transmitter.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,377,733 and 4,475,024 illustrate wireless temperature probes for a cooking utensil such as a microwave oven, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,662 describes a liquid cooking vessel temperature sensing system, while JP Patent No. JP62062130 to Hitachi Heating features a remote controlled cooking unit. These references are incorporated herein by reference for background purposes.

Cooking apparatus with cooking characteristic monitoring system


A rifle or pistol mounted pepper spray device has a slide activation. The device has a housing that attaches to a picatinny rail of a modern sporting rifle. The housing receives a can of pepper spray. The housing and pepper spray slip into a grip. The grip activates the pepper spray when it is pulled toward the user. The device has a lock system as well as a buffer spring to prevent inadvertent spraying of the pepper spray.

Whether to use lethal force is a life or death decision made often in a split second. A bear encountered by a hunter or a perpetrator encountered by a SWAT team member are both very unpredictable targets. Currently, once the decision is made to use non-lethal force, a hunter or tactical officer must abandon the lethal option to activate pepper spray. Hip mounted pepper spray requires that the hunter or tactical officer lower his rifle to acquire and apply the spray. Rifle mounted devices often require that the user remove his finger from the trigger of the rifle to activate the spray (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,269,922; 5,671,559; 6,546,661 B1; 6,644,839 B2; and 7,644,839 B2). In either case, the user gives up the option to use lethal force.
A need remains for a device that can dispense pepper spray in these critical situations that is fast and intuitive. The pepper spray could be dispensed by a motion which is familiar to a rifleman. Most importantly, the subject device would not require the user to abandon the option of lethal force by requiring him to remove his finger from the trigger of his rifle.
All patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications and publications referred to or cited herein, are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent they are not inconsistent with the teachings of the specification.

Rifle mounted pepper spray device with slide activation


Methods and circuits for distributing power to suspended-particle-device (SPD) film products including SPD windows, SPD shades, and other SPD products, which are referred to generally as SPD loads. A driving voltage derived from a primary power source is provided to an SPD load by backbone wiring which carries a low AC or DC voltage derived from the primary power source, and a conversion stage which converts the low voltage to an AC driving voltage which is then supplied to the SPD load.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to power-efficient and low-cost methods for distributing power to SPD loads including SPD windows, SPD shades, and other window enhancements or other devices incorporating SPD film.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light valves have been known for more than seventy years for the modulation of light. As used herein, a light valve is defined as a cell formed of two walls that are spaced apart by a small distance, at least one wall being transparent, the walls having electrodes thereon, usually in the form of transparent, electrically conductive coatings. The cell contains a light-modulating element (sometimes herein referred to as an "activatable material"), which may be either a liquid suspension of particles, or a plastic film in which droplets of a liquid suspension of particles are distributed.
The liquid suspension (sometimes herein referred to as "a liquid light valve suspension" or "a light valve suspension") comprises small, anisometrically shaped particles suspended in a liquid suspending medium. In the absence of an applied electrical field, the particles in the liquid suspension assume random positions due to Brownian movement, and hence a beam of light passing into the cell is reflected, transmitted or absorbed, depending upon the cell structure, the nature and concentration of the particles, and the energy content of the light. The light valve is thus relatively dark in the OFF state. However, when an electric field is applied through the liquid light valve suspension in the light valve, the particles become aligned and for many suspensions most of the light can pass through the cell. The light valve is thus relatively transparent in the ON state. Light valves of the type described herein are also known as "suspended particle devices" or "SPDs."
Light valves have been proposed for use in numerous applications including, e.g., alphanumeric and graphic displays; television displays; filters for lamps, cameras, optical fibers, and windows, sunroofs, sunvisors, eyeglasses, goggles and mirrors and the like, to control the amount of light passing therethrough or reflected therefrom as the case may be. As used herein the term "light" generally refers to visible electromagnetic radiation, but where applicable, "light" can also comprise other types of electromagnetic radiation such as, but not limited to, infrared radiation.
For many applications, as would be well understood in the art, it is preferable for the activatable material, i.e., the light modulating element, to be a plastic film rather than a liquid suspension. For example, in a light valve used as a variable light transmission window, a plastic film, in which droplets of liquid suspension are distributed, is preferable to a liquid suspension alone because hydrostatic pressure effects, e.g., bulging, associated with a high column of liquid suspension, can be avoided through use of a film, and the risk of possible leakage can also be avoided. Another advantage of using a plastic film is that in a plastic film, the particles are generally present only within very small droplets, and hence do not noticeably agglomerate when the film is repeatedly activated with a voltage.
As used herein, the terms "SPD film" and "light valve film" mean at least one film or sheet comprising a suspension of particles used or intended for use by itself or with other components as part of a light valve. The light valve film or SPD film comprises either: (a) a suspension of particles dispersed throughout a continuous liquid phase enclosed within one or more rigid or flexible solid films or sheets, or (b) a discontinuous phase of a liquid comprising dispersed particles, the discontinuous phase being dispersed throughout a continuous phase of a rigid or flexible solid film or sheet. The light valve film or SPD film may also comprise one or more other layers such as, without limitation, a film, coating or sheet, or combination thereof, which may provide the light valve film or SPD film with, for example, (1) scratch resistance (2) protection from ultraviolet radiation (3) reflection of infrared energy, and/or (4) electrical conductivity for transmitting an applied electric or magnetic field to the activatable material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,734 exemplifies a type of light valve film that is formed by phase separation from a homogeneous solution. Light valve films made by cross-linking emulsions are also known. Examples of these are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,463,491 and 5,463,492, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,040 B2 describes a method and device for controlling the ac voltage provided to a suspended particle device, hereafter called an SPD.
When the electric field is zero, the suspended particles are randomly oriented because of Brownian movement, and this randomness usually has the effect of reducing or blocking the passage of light. Upon application of an electric field, the particles align, usually with their long axes parallel to the electric field, which allows light to pass through the SPD load.
With currently available SPD films, a nominal AC voltage of 120 V can create a clear state, whereas the absence of voltage results in a dark state. Intermediate voltages produce light transmissions between the clear and dark states, that is, relative light transmission between 0 and 100 percent. The exact value of acceptable voltage required for a clear state depends on the thickness of the dielectric layer between conducting layers, the dielectric constant of the SPD emulsion, and the nature of the SPD particles. The function of an SPD controller is to produce an AC voltage between 0 and Vmax, the voltage level that produces a subjectively acceptable level of window clarity in a given application. Although voltages as low as 60 VAC may be acceptable in some applications, this discussion assumes 120 V rms as the standard value for Vmax because 120 VAC produces an acceptable clear state in all of today's SPD films. Future films may eventually operate with voltages as low as 10 VAC or lower, when the films become thinner or more efficient, for example.
The following is a brief description of liquid light valve suspensions known in the art which are useful in forming windows retrofitted with a switchable glazing, although the invention is not limited to the use of only such suspensions, nor is it limited to the use of switchable glazings per se since alternate classes of light modulating devices (e.g., non-switchable devices), as described below, can be used in place of such switchable window enhancements.
1. Liquid Suspending Media and Stabilizers
A liquid light valve suspension for use with the invention may be any liquid light valve suspension known in the art and may be formulated according to techniques well known to one skilled in the art. The term "liquid light valve suspension", as used herein, means a "liquid suspending medium" in which a plurality of small particles is dispersed. The "liquid suspending medium" comprises one or more non-aqueous, electrically resistive liquids in which there is preferably dissolved at least one type of polymeric stabilizer, which acts to reduce the tendency of the particles to agglomerate and to keep them dispersed and in suspension.
Liquid light valve suspensions useful in the present invention may include any of the liquid suspending media previously proposed for use in light valves for suspending the particles. Liquid suspending media known in the art which are useful herein include, but are not limited to, the liquid suspending media disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,247,175 and 4,407,565. In general, at least one of the liquid suspending medium and the polymeric stabilizer dissolved therein is chosen in a manner known in the art so as to maintain the suspended particles in gravitational equilibrium.
The polymeric stabilizer, when employed, can be a single solid polymer that bonds to the surface of the particles, but which also dissolves in the non-aqueous liquid or liquids of the liquid suspending medium. Alternatively, two or more solid polymeric stabilizers may serve as a polymeric stabilizer system. For example, the particles can be coated with a first type of solid polymeric stabilizer such as nitrocellulose which, in effect, provides a plain surface coating for the particles, after which they are re-coated with one or more additional types of solid polymeric stabilizer that bond to or associate with the first type of solid polymeric stabilizer and which also dissolve in the liquid suspending medium to provide dispersion and steric protection for the particles. Also, liquid polymeric stabilizers may be used to advantage, especially in SPD light valve films, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,492.
2. Particles
Inorganic and organic particles may be incorporated into a light valve suspension useful in forming a switchable enhancement for use in retrofitting a window in accordance with the present invention. Such particles may be either light-absorbing or light-reflecting in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. For some particular applications the particles can be reflective at infrared wavelengths.
Conventional SPD light valves have generally employed polyhalide particles of colloidal size, that is the particles generally have a largest dimension averaging about 1 micron or less. As used herein, the term "colloidal", when referring to particle size, shall have the meaning given in the preceding sentence. Preferably, most polyhalide or other particles used or intended for use in an SPD light valve suspension used in accordance with the invention will have a largest dimension which averages less than one-half of the wavelength of blue light, i.e., less than 2000 Angstroms, to keep light scatter extremely low. As used herein, the term "anisometric", which refers to particle shape, means that at least one dimension is larger than another. Typically, anisometric particles (sometimes referred to as particles which are anisometrically shaped), are desirable in an SPD light valve suspension so that the particles will block less light when the suspension is activated than when it is unactivated. For some suspensions the reverse is true, however. Desirable anisometric shapes for the particles include, without limitation thereto, particles shaped like rods, cylinders, plates, needles, blades, prisms, and other shapes known in the art.
A detailed review of prior art polyhalide particles is found in "The Optical Properties and Structure of Polyiodides" by D. A. Godina and G. P. Faerman, published in "The Journal of General Chemistry", Vol. 20, pp. 1005-1016 (U.S.S.R. 1950).
Herapathite, for example, is defined as a quinine bisulfate polyiodide, and its formula is given under the heading "quinine iodsulfate" as 4C20H24N2O2.3H2SO4.2HI.I4.6H2O in The Merck Index, 10.sup.th Ed. (Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J.). In polyiodide compounds, the iodide anion is thought to form chains and the compounds are strong light polarizers. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,313 and Teitelbaum et al. JACS 100 1978), pp. 3215-3217. The term "polyhalide" is used herein to mean a compound such as a polyiodide, but wherein at least some of the iodide anion may be replaced by another halide anion. More recently, improved polyhalide particles for use in light valves have been proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,877,313, 5,002,701, 5,093,041 and 5,516,463. These "polyhalide particles" are formed by reacting organic compounds, usually containing nitrogen, with elemental iodine and a hydrohalide acid or an ammonium halide, alkali metal halide or alkaline earth metal halide.
For some applications, however, it may be desirable to use non-polyhalide particles in light valve suspensions and films, especially where the stability of the material composing the particles is known to be excellent.
3. Power Sources
Regardless of the type of SPD load, it is currently the practice to apply a high AC voltage to the SPD load to attain maximum clarity, that is, maximum light transmission through the SPD film. This applied voltage is typically 120 VAC at 60 Hz, which makes SPD loads ideal for use with ac power available in the United States. For those countries where 240 VAC at 50 Hz is common, a 2-to-1 step-down transformer may be used to obtain 120 VAC. There is no noticeable difference between 50 Hz and 60 Hz for running an SPD load.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,040 B2 describes an SPD controller, a method and device for controlling a high ac voltage provided to an SPD load. Basically, it modulates 120 VAC to produce an output that is adjustable manually, automatically, or by remote control to vary the voltage being applied to an SPD load from 0 to 120 VAC. The low end of the range (0 V) produces a dark state, that is, very little transmission of incident light. The high end of the range (120 VAC) produces a clear state, that is very high transmission of incident light. Intermediate voltages between 0 and 120 VAC produce intermediate light transmissions between the dark and clear states.
Turning initially to FIG. 1, there is shown a conventional distribution of AC power from a source 10 to SPD loads SPD1-SPD5 in architectural applications. In the United States, the line voltage has a nominal value of 120 VAC at 60 Hz. Although voltages less than 120 VAC may produce almost clear states with some SPD film types, 120 VAC is the ideal at present for SPD loads because it produces a fully clear state in all SPD films. In Europe, the nominal line voltage is 240 VAC at 50 Hz. In Europe, a 2-to-1 step-down transformer is used to obtain the desired maximum voltage of 120 VAC.
In FIG. 1, the use of five SPD loads is shown, for illustration only. The actual number of SPD loads will depend on the size of the architectural structure, the total window area involved, the number of individual SPD controllers being used, and other factors. Although five SPD loads will be shown in the figures herein, a much larger number of SPD loads may be present in various embodiments of the invention. In some large office buildings, hundreds or even thousands of SPD loads may be present.
To understand some of the problems involved in power distribution, we need to discuss the power requirements of SPD loads. To begin with, SPD film capacitance may vary from 40 nF per square foot (hereafter abbreviated sf) to 90 nF per sf. The former capacitance is for the darkest film type currently available and the latter is for the lightest film type. The corresponding capacitive reactances for the foregoing capacitances are approximately 66 kilohms/sf and 30 kilohms/sf. At 120 VAC and 60 Hz, these impedances result in ac currents of 1.8 mA/sf and 4 mA/sf. These data are summarized below for later reference:
Input: 120 VAC at 60 Hz
40 nF film: 1.8 mA/sf
90 nF film: 4 mA/sf
As an example of calculating required SPD load current, assume an architectural structure of 3000 square feet with a 20 percent window area of 600 square feet of 90 nF film.
Then, the total SPD load current isI=(600sf)(4mA/sf)=2.4AIf 40 nF film is used instead of 90 nF film, the total SPD current decreases toI=(600sf)(1.8mA/sf)=1.08A
The wiring that runs throughout the structure of FIG. 1 must conform with the United States National Electrical Code (NEC). Because of the high ac voltage being distributed, the National Electrical Code addresses a number of issues such as prevention of electric shock, fire hazard, etc. It is the intent of this invention to mitigate some of these issues by distributing power to SPD loads in a safer and less costly manner.

Methods and circuits for distributing power to SPD loads


A mechanism is disclosed for performing data plane based routing during a handover. The mechanism includes executing a user plane function (UPF). An uplink packet is received from a user equipment (UE) anchored to a fifth generation radio access network (5G) base station (gNB). The uplink packet includes a change destination command, a destination field, and metadata including a destination address for the uplink packet. A change destination command in the uplink packet is executed by setting the destination field of the uplink packet to the destination address in the metadata. The uplink packet is transmitted to the destination address set in the destination field.

Radio access networks (RANs) are implemented to allow cellular devices to move between base stations. Specifically, a cellular device may connect wirelessly to a base station. The cellular device can then establish a data connection with a network via the base station. The base station is generally selected from a group of base stations, where the selected base station has the best signal characteristics, for example based on distance between the base station and the cellular device, signal power of the base station, etc. As the cellular device moves, the signal characteristics may change. As such, the cellular device may connect to a new base station with the best signal characteristics. To manage such movements without service interruptions, tunnels may be set up between various network devices to ensure communications arrive at the appropriate communication end points. Such tunnels can be set up and can be created by control plane signaling. In such a scheme, rapid movement of cellular devices between base stations may result in significant control plane signaling to manage such tunnels.

Big packet protocol mobility instructions for 5G handovers


Multi-layer structures are useful as surgical patches.

Healing and sealing tissue wounds at the same time poses unique problems in visceral surgery. Devices (such as patches, meshes, plugs, etc.) that are used for the repair and/or regeneration of surrounding damaged visceral tissues need to be secured to tissue surrounding the wound. Sealing should be done without compromising the healing and by using the easiest techniques.
Sealing tissue wounds has been achieved via suturing or stapling to surrounding tissues. Alternative to suturing and stapling have been developed for closing openings in tissue such as incisions, wounds, anastomosis and fistulae. They include the use of i) biological glues such as fibrin sealant, gelatine-resorcinol glue and the glutaraldehyde albumin glue, ii) synthetic glues such as cyanoacrylate glues and iii) physical bonding techniques such as laser tissue welding to produce thermal effects to attach tissue surfaces, radio-frequency tissue welding or photosensitizer-assisted laser welding. Each of these prior techniques has certain drawbacks.
It would be desirable to provide an effective, safe, ready to use, affordable, and biocompatible device for tissue sealing which promotes healing of the wound.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention provides a complete, easy to use and install security and surveillance system for a personal computer, which is designed to act as a peripheral to the personal computer. The system utilizes a radio frequency device having receiving and transmitting means connected between the serial port of the personal computer and various sensors to input signals to the non-data pins of the serial port whereby software in the personal computer interprets the signals received at the non-data pins to place a call to a pager or cellular phone, or communicate with another computer, produce sound effects, and/or operate video equipment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to security systems, and more particularly, to an improved and simplified process and device for use with a personal computer to provide security and surveillance capabilities.
2. Description of the Related Art
Burglaries and vandalism of homes and offices is a widespread problem. To protect against such occurrences, many types of security systems are known to safeguard persons and property. These systems tend to be expensive and complex, and/or hard to install and use. Such systems include those that are built into or added to a home or vehicle, or those which are separate, but tied into a central monitoring station. Other systems such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,460 to Hewit et al, utilize a bi-directional interface for coupling remote security transducers and monitoring devices to a computer, such that the circuitry of the bi-directional electronic interface has multiple functions, including the scanning of data in the signals from the bi-directional interface by the computer. This device tends to be expensive to implement and use, and does not provide surveillance capabilities.
Other problems exist with known security and surveillance systems, such as the need for specialized equipment and/or personnel to adequately install and use them. Additionally, although various solutions have been proposed to overcome the shortcomings of known security and surveillance systems, these solutions still tend to be expensive and hard to implement. One solution is to provide a central monitoring station with coded information, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,886 to Rodriguez. However, a disadvantage of this system is that it is complicated to use and expensive to acquire. A further disadvantage of this system is that it is not designed to automatically record events, or advise an owner of a security problem.
Additionally, when security and surveillance systems are used, long term (2 or 3 year) monitoring contracts present a further problem. These systems rely on a monitoring company to monitor the systems and to contact the police if the system is triggered. This results in delays, and raises another big problem, that of false alarms. False alarms are such a drain on police resources that many states have enacted laws regarding them. Stiff fines apply for each false alarm, and in many states police will cease to respond if a user has over a certain number of false Alarms in a given period.
Finally, the known devices are not easily controlled by the user, other than by working with a central monitoring station, or shutting the system off entirely, thereby defeating the purpose of having the system.
There, therefore, still exist a need for a system which is easily and quickly connected to available or emerging personal computer systems, to add security and surveillance capabilities to the personal computer system. The security system of the present invention is connected to the serial port of a personal computer system, but does not use the data pins therein.
The present invention provides a security system which together with unique software installed in the personal computer being used, includes selected point-of entry sensors and motion detector devices which transmit signals to a radio frequency receiver connected to the serial port of the personal computer. The novel radio frequency device transmits no data through the data pins of the serial port to the software, but instead send a simple signal to the non data pins to operate the system through the unique software. This provides for simplicity in operation, while substantially reducing the cost of the equipment and increasing its reliability.

Computer controlled security and surveillance system


Agents are used as cleaning agents and also as agents to purify the water in water treatment plants. The agents are a mixture of phosphates and fatty acid salts. Precipitation agents are used such as, polyvalent metals. The pH is adjusted. Flocking agents can be used to increase the rate of separation. The purified water is removed after precipitation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a washing soap and a method for cleaning the resulting wash water.
2. Description of the Art
Many industrial operations involve the cleaning of machinery, clothing, building areas, and personal. The waste water generated from these wash operations often contain environmental toxins such as heavy metals, and organic toxins. Many cleaning agents make water treatment difficult, especially when environmental pollutant removal is required.
It is desirable to have a mild nontoxic cleaning agent that does an excellent job of cleaning equipment, building areas, clothing, and personnel. In addition, it is desirable that the same cleaning agent does an excellent job of cleaning the waste wash water in the water treatment area. The cleaning agent itself should place no burden on the environment. The agent should be inexpensive and be readily available throughout the world.
Phosphates have been used as cleaning agents for several years. There have been many attempts to restrict their use because they stimulate algae growth. However, they are required to sustain life.
Fatty acid salts have long been used in the soap industry. Recently soft soaps that are based on potassium fatty acid salts have been introduced.
In earlier patents I have introduced the concept of using fatty soaps as agents to remove environmental toxins. Some municipal water treatment plants have used phosphates to reduce the level of heavy metals in their treated water.


Disclosed is a catalyst for olefin polymerization comprising [I] a solid titanium catalyst component [S] comprising titanium, magnesium, halogen and an electron donor (b), which is obtained by bringing a solid adduct consisting of a magnesium compound and an electron donor (a) into contact with an electron donor (b) and a liquid titanium compound by at least one method selected from (A) a method of contacting the materials in a suspended state in the coexistence of an inert hydrocarbon solvent and (B) a method of contacting the material plural times individed portions and [II] an organometallic compound catalyst component [M] containing a metal selected from the groups I to III in the periodic table.

A catalyst comprising a titanium compound carried on a magnesium halide in, an active state, is known as a catalyst for use in the production of olefin polymers such as a homopolymer of ethylene or an α-olefin and an ethylene/α-olefin copolymer.
As the catalyst for olefin polymerization (hereinafter, "the catalyst for polymerization" is used sometimes to encompass "catalyst for copolymerization"), a solid-titanium catalyst component comprising magnesium, titanium, halogen, and an electron donor, and an organometallic compound is known.
This catalyst has a high activity, in polymerization or copolymerization of α-olefins such as propylene, and butene-1, similar to polymerization of ethylene (hereinafter, "polymerization" is used sometimes to encompass "copolymerization"), and the stereospecificity of the resulting polymer (hereinafter, "polymer" is used sometimes to encompass "copolymer".) is also high.
Among these catalysts, a catalyst using a solid titanium catalyst component having an electron donor selected from carboxylates typically phthalates carried there on, an aluminum-alkyl compound as a catalyst component, and a silicon compound having at least one Si—OR bond (R is a hydrocarbon group) is known to exhibit excellent performance.
The present inventors have made investigations for the purpose of obtaining a catalyst for olefin polymerization more excellent in polymerization activity and stereoregularity, and as a result, they found that this object can be achieved by a catalyst using a specific solid titanium catalyst component having magnesium, halogen, titanium and an electron donor (b), and an organometallic compound, or by a catalyst comprising a specific solid titanium catalyst component comprising magnesium, titanium, halogen and an electron donor (b), an organometallic compound, and, an electron donor (c).

Solid titanium catalyst component for olefin polymerization, catalyst for olefin polymerization, and process for olefin polymerization


A sustained release drug formulation including: a drug; a biodegradable polymer which is insoluble in water; and an oil vehicle in which both the drug and the polymer are dissolved. The oil vehicle contains 10-100% by volume a pharmaceutically acceptable oil and 0-90% by volume a pharmaceutically acceptable liquid carrier for the drug or the polymer.

Biodegradable polymer sustained release formulations have been used to administer drugs over a prolonged period of time. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,773,919 and 4,767,628. These formulations are generally in the form of solid cylindrical implants, microcapsules, or microspheres. Solid implants require incisions in the patient which often are quite painful, resulting in poor patient compliance. Solid microcapsules and microspheres, which are injected into the patient, are often difficult to reproducibly manufacture and, thus, can give varying release profiles. Also, microcapsules and microspheres require lyophilization in order to avoid agglomerization of the particles during storage and large needles for injection.

Societe de Conseils de Recherches et d'Applications Scientifique S.A.


A method is provided for producing vinyl chloride monomer from methyl chloride and methylene chloride. In the method, methyl chloride is reacted with methylene chloride in the vapor phase in the presence of a catalyst to produce vinyl chloride and hydrogen chloride. The reaction temperature is in the range of from about 300° C. to 500° C. The catalyst is selected from the group alumina gel, gamma-alumina, zinc chloride on active alumina, silica-alumina, zeolite, and silicon-aluminum-phosphorus oxide.

Historically two industrial processes have been used for the production of vinyl chloride monomer. A good overview of this activity is given in Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 4th ed., Vol. 24, pp. 872–875. The first general method for the preparation of VCM involved the addition of hydrogen chloride to acetylene to give vinyl chloride directly. Newer processes that rely on ethylene as a raw material have now largely supplanted this process. Using one of several methods, ethylene is converted to ethylene dichloride (EDC), which is thermally cracked to produce VCM and byproduct hydrogen chloride. By recycling the hydrogen chloride, balanced processes are achieved.
Because ethylene comprises about 45 weight percent of VCM, the cost of ethylene is a major factor in the manufacturing cost. As a result, there exists an interest to find a less expensive hydrocarbon raw material. The most likely candidates are ethane and methane, but so far, attempts have been frustrated by the relative inactivity of these two hydrocarbons.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to substitute a cheaper source of hydrocarbon for ethylene in the manufacture of VCM. Another object is to provide a method that gives high yields of product. These and other objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the following description.

Method for producing vinyl chloride monomer


The method of this invention is directed to a treatment of depression in men and women and to a treatment of pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) in women by administering to a patient a therapeutically effective amount of chromium in a pharmaceutically acceptable form either alone or in conjunction with the administration of a standard antidepressant composition, such as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor composition. Chromium, preferably in the form of chromium picolinate, is administered to the patient at dosages in a preferred range of about 200 to about 500 micrograms chromium.

It will be appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art that depression is a difficult mental disorder to treat. Patients having such a disorder are often reluctant to seek the medical attention necessary to diagnose the disorder. Such reluctance is often related to the patient's fear of the stigma associated with seeking psychiatric help or to the patient's feelings of worthlessness associated with depression. Moreover, once patients seek competent psychiatric help, it is difficult to successfully treat the disorder through psychoanalytic approaches alone.
In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, (DSM IV) published by the American Psychiatric Association, depressive disorders are classified under mood disorders and are divided into three types: major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder and depressive disorder not otherwise specified. Major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder are differentiated based on chronicity, severity and persistence. In major depression the depressed mood must be present for two weeks. In dysthymic disorder the depressed mood must be present most days over a period of two (2) years. Usually major depressive disorder is characterized by its sharp contrast to usual functioning. A person with a major depressive episode can be functioning and feeling normally and suddenly develop severe symptoms of depression. By contrast a person with dysthymic disorder has chronic depression with less severe symptoms than major depression.
In an effort to treat depression, a variety of antidepressant compositions have been developed. Among these are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), such as sertraline (registered trademark ZOLOFT.RTM.--Pfizer), fluoxetine (registered trademark PROZAC.RTM. --Eli Lilly), paroxetine (trade name PAXIL.RTM.--Smith Kline Beecham) and fluvoxamine (trade name LUVOX.TM.). Other examples of antidepressant compositions include tricyclic antidepressants such as that sold under the registered trademark ELAVIL.RTM. (Merck, Sharpe and Dohme), aminoketone antidepressants such as bupropion, and lithium, a metal used to treat bipolar disorder. However, these drugs are very potent, often generating problematic side effects such as lethargy, clouded thinking and a lack of ability to concentrate.
Fluoxetine is also known to be efficacious in the treatment of dysmenorrhea and pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). Steiner et al., New England Journal of Medicine 332:1529-34 (1995). The symptoms of PMS include dysphoria, craving for carbohydrates, exhaustion, muscle aches and cramps, among others. A detailed description of the symptoms of PMS can be found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, (DSM IV) published by the American Psychiatric Association. However, approximately forty percent (40%) of women who are suffering from PMS do not have a positive response to fluoxetine when treated with it.
Chromium, in its pharmaceutically acceptable trivalent form, has been used in the treatment of overeating as it is documented to control appetite. Trivalent chromium is commercially available as chromium picolinate. Chromium has also been documented as playing a role in facilitating the action of insulin in the body. In this regard, toxicity concerns relating to chromium have been demonstrated to be quite low.
There has been no description of the use of chromium in the treatment of depression or in the treatment of pre-menstrual syndrome.
A method of treating neurological and mental disorders was described in Sandyk U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,846. However, the method of this reference includes the application to the brain of a patient of a sufficient amount of an AC pulsed magnetic field of proper intensity and frequency to treat the disorder. In conjunction with the application of the AC pulsed magnetic field, a stimulant to facilitate the transport of tryptophan into the brain is administered. Chromium, preferably in the form of chromium picolinate, is described as a stimulant. However, when the disclosure of this application of chromium is taken as a whole, the deficiencies become apparent. First of all, the application of the AC pulsed magnetic field is required in the method. Additionally, a patient, particularly in the case of depression, may be resistant to accepting such a complex treatment.
Therefore, what is needed then is an effective, pharmacologically-based treatment for depression and for pre-menstrual syndrome that potentiates the action and reduces the side effects of known compositions used in the treatment of these disorders. Such a method of treatment is lacking in the prior art.

Method of treating depression and pre-menstrual syndrome using chromium


An electrical connection device comprises a standard receptacle module, a reverse receptacle module and a connector cable module. The standard receptacle module comprises a first receptacle and a first guide frame. The first guide frame has a first positioning portion. The reverse receptacle module comprises a second receptacle and a second guide frame. The second guide frame has a second positioning portion. The connector cable module comprises a standard plug, a reverse plug and a cable. The standard plug has a third positioning portion compatible with the first positioning portion. The reverse plug has a fourth positioning portion compatible with the second positioning portion. The third positioning portion of the standard plug is incompatible with the second positioning portion of the second guide frame, and the fourth positioning portion of the reverse plug is incompatible with the first positioning portion of the first guide frame.

The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to an electrical connection device, and, more particularly, to an electrical connection device comprising a receptacle module and a connector cable module.
Conventional I/O connectors have various transmission specifications, such as an Internal miniSAS. Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. M384443, the content of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety herein, discloses a receptacle connector conforming to the Internal miniSAS transmission specification. In addition, Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. M430018, the content of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety herein, discloses a plug connector conforming to the Internal miniSAS transmission specification. In this reference, the receptacle connector is engaged with a guide frame to guide a mating plug connector to be easily inserted into the receptacle connector. The plug connector disclosed by the '018 Patent comprises a latching mechanism, which may resiliently latch onto the receptacle connector as disclosed in the '443 Patent, when the above plug connector and the above receptacle connector are mated; that is, the above plug connector and the above receptacle connector are locked and positioned via the latching mechanism and the guide frame, to avoid disengagement of the plug connector and the receptacle connector.
The aforementioned plug connector is generally connected with cables, and both ends of one cable each are connected to a plug connector to form an adapter cable, by which the plug connectors at both ends of the cable can respectively mate with two receptacle connectors to transmit a signal. However, when the two receptacle connectors are respectively provided to different electronic devices, and one receptacle connector is provided over a circuit board, the other receptacle connector is provided under a circuit board, in other words, the receptacle connector provided under the circuit board rotates 180° relative to the receptacle connector provided over the circuit board, so only one plug connector must rotate 180° relative to another plug connector can the two plug connector respectively mate with the receptacle connectors, thereby resulting in twisting of the cable. Furthermore, if an engagement part of the guide frame of the receptacle connector positioned under the circuit board with the latching mechanism of the plug connector is positioned at the bottom of the receptacle connector, a user cannot see the engagement part from top to bottom. Thus, the user cannot easily position the latching mechanism and the guide frame or disengage the latch mechanism from the guide frame.

Electrical connection device having a standard plug and a reverse plug at two ends of a cable