A battery terminal comprising first and second tightening plates continuous with an open free end of an annular electrode-engaging portion into which a battery post is inserted; and an electric wire-connecting portion continuous with the first tightening plate or the second tightening plate or the electrode-engaging portion, in which the first tightening plate is moved toward the second tightening plate to close the free end of the electrode-engaging portion so that the battery terminal is fixed to the battery post. In the above construction, a nut is tightened downward on the bolt to move the sliding contact portion downward along the inclined portion so that the first tightening plate is moved toward the second tightening plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery terminal to be installed on an electrode (battery post) of a battery mounted on an automobile or the like and more particularly to the battery terminal which can be installed on the battery post downward and vertically.
2. Description of the Related Arts
As shown in FIG. 10, a battery post 2 projecting upward from the upper surface of a battery 1 is inserted into an electrode-engaging portion 3a of a battery terminal 3. A bolt 4 is horizontally inserted into a bolt opening of a substrate 3b and that of a tightening plate 3c. A nut 6 is tightened horizontally on the bolt 4 with an impact wrench 5 disposed horizontally. Then, the electrode-engaging portion 3a is pressed against the battery post 2 to fix the battery terminal 3 to the battery post 2.
In recent years, parts are installed in the engine room of the automobile in a high density. For example, a projections such as an air duct higher than the battery post 2 or electric wires are installed in the periphery of the battery 1. In tightening the nut 6 on the bolt 4, with the bolt 4 and the impact wrench 5 disposed horizontally, the following problems occur: The impact wrench 5 may contact other parts and thus it is difficult to tighten the nut 6 on the bolt 4 or it is impossible to tighten the nut 6 thereon if there is no space in which the impact wrench 5 is placed horizontally.
If the impact wrench 5 and other parts interfere with each other while the plus side of the battery post is being tightened, a short circuit occurs when the impact wrench 5 interferes with the minus side thereof. Even a fire may occur in the automobile. Therefore, it is necessary to alter the configurations of other parts so as to prevent the interference between the impact wrench 5 and other parts.
In order to overcome the above-described problems, the following battery terminal is disclosed in Examined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-7567 as shown in FIG. 11: That is, the bolt 4 is inclined at an acute angle with respect to the axis of the electrode-engaging portion 3a of the battery terminal 3, and the nut 6 is tightened diagonally downward toward the head of the bolt 4 by the impact wrench 5.
The following battery terminal is also disclosed in Examined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-9736 as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B: That is, the battery terminal comprises a substrate 3b'; a tightening plate 3c' opposed to each other and inversely tapered; and a crimping plate 7 inversely tapered and stretching over the substrate 3b' and the tightening plate 3c'. The bolt 4 is tightened downward on the crimping plate 7 so that the crimping plate 7 presses the substrate 3b' and the tightening plate 3c' downward In this manner, an electrode-engaging portion 3a' is pressed against the battery post 2.
In the battery terminal as shown in FIG. 11, since the nut 6 is tightened downward diagonally, the substrate 3b and the tightening plate 3c are formed by imparting torsion thereto so that they incline with respect to the axial direction of the electrode-engaging portion 3a. The direction in which the twisted substrate 3b and the tightening plate 3c are moved toward each other is different from the direction in which the electrode engaging portion 3a is pressed against the peripheral surface of the battery post 2. Therefore, the force generated by the nut 6 tightened on the bolt 4 cannot be preferably applied to the direction in which the electrode-engaging portion 3a is pressed against the peripheral surface of the battery post 2.
In the battery terminal as shown in FIG. 12, both sides of the crimping plate 7 are inversely tapered. As a result, the force generated by the nut 6 tightened on the bolt 4 acts outward as well as inward and thus, the sides 7a and 7b of the crimping plate 7 do not preferably apply tightening force inward to the substrate 3b' and the tightening plate 3c'. As a result, there is a disadvantage that the electrode-engaging portion 3a' cannot be reliably pressed against the battery post 2.


Pyrazole compounds and piperazine compounds that are inhibitors of ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A2 and methods for using the pyrazole compounds and piperazine compounds in male contraceptive compositions for preventing spermatogenesis.

The world's population exceeds seven billion, is increasing by 80 million yearly and will likely reach 9-10 billion by 2050. Population growth is a leading cause of environmental degradation and human suffering from poverty and hunger. Much of this population growth is unintended. In 2008, 41% of all pregnancies worldwide were unplanned, and 20% of all pregnancies ended in abortion, leading to 47,000 maternal deaths from unsafe abortions. In the United States, the unintended pregnancy rate is 48%, and 18% of all pregnancies end in abortion, accounting for 1.1 million abortions annually. This high rate of unintended pregnancy is due to inadequate use of and/or access to methods of contraception. Access to contraception dramatically reduces population growth and abortion rates, resulting in positive improvements in newborn and maternal health. In addition to the attenuation in world population growth, the use of modern contraception and better maternity care worldwide has the potential to avert 1.7 million newborn deaths and 251,000 maternal deaths each year. Therefore, there is a great need for better access to existing contraceptives, better contraceptive education, and more contraceptive options both in the United States and around the world.
Male Contraception
In the United States, 30% of all currently practiced contraception is male-directed with 20% of all couples using condoms and 10% of couples relying on vasectomy. Both of these methods have significant drawbacks. Condoms, while providing some protection against sexually transmitted infections, have a marginal contraceptive efficacy, and vasectomy, which is expensive and difficult to effectively reverse, is most appropriately considered an irreversible method of male contraception. A male contraceptive analogous to the estrogen/progesterone pills used by women would be welcomed by a large majority of men, and according to one analysis the market for such a contraceptive could exceed 40 million men in US and Western Europe.
Inhibition of Testicular Retinoic Acid Biosynthesis Reversibly Inhibits Spermatogenesis
It has recently been discovered that inhibition of testicular retinoic acid biosynthesis allows for safe, reversible, non-hormonal inhibition of spermatogenesis. This line of investigation begins fifty years ago, when the oral administration of bisdichloroacetyldiamines (BDADs), such as WIN 18,446 were shown to safely, completely and reversibly inhibit spermatogenesis in many species including mice, rats, cats, shrews, dogs, monkeys and man. Histologic examination of testicular biopsies from men in these studies revealed a complete arrest of spermatogenesis, with an absence of forms beyond spermatogonia. Since these compounds had no effect on the endocrine function of the testes, and were not androgenic themselves, it was concluded that the inhibition of spermatogenesis exhibited by WIN 18,446 was not hormonal in nature. At least sixty men were administered WIN 18,446 for up to one year with achievement of sperm concentrations below 1 million sperm/ml of ejaculate—a sperm concentration associated with excellent contraceptive efficacy in trials of male hormonal contraceptives. Unfortunately, subjects taking WIN 18,446 experienced a "disulfiram reaction" consisting of nausea, vomiting, palpitations and sweating, when they drank alcohol. Because of this, further development of these compounds was abandoned without an understanding of the mechanism by which BDADs such as WIN 18,446 inhibited spermatogenesis.
In 2011, it was discovered that WIN 18,446 suppresses spermatogenesis by inhibiting testicular retinoic acid biosynthesis. Using a rabbit model, it was shown that oral administration of WIN 18,446 induced reversible azoospermia. This reduction in spermatogenesis was preceded by a reduction in intratesticular retinoic acid, the biosynthesis of which was potently inhibited by WIN 18,446 (see FIGS. 1A-1C).
These findings demonstrated that WIN 18,446 functioned as an oral, non-hormonal male contraceptive by inhibiting the testicular biosynthesis of retinoic acid and suggested that inhibition of the testicular retinal dehydrogenase (ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A2) responsible for testicular retinoic acid biosynthesis was a promising target for male contraceptive development. Since 2011, there has been a focus on identifying novel inhibitors (i.e., distinct from WIN 18,446) of ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A2, that didn't inhibit other ALDHs isozymes, to develop as male contraceptives.
Retinoic Acid and Spermatogenesis
It has been known since 1925 that vitamin-A is required for normal spermatogenesis. Nutritional studies in rats and genetic studies in mice demonstrate a requirement for vitamin-A and its metabolites at puberty for initiation of spermatogenesis and in adults for maintenance of spermatogenesis. Dietary beta-carotene (the vegetable form of vitamin-A) and retinol (the animal form of vitamin-A) are adsorbed in the intestine and mostly stored in the liver as retinyl-esters. Retinol is released via esterases and transported via a serum retinol binding protein-transthyretin complex to tissues, where it is converted to retinoic acid (RA), the main effector of vitamin-A activity by alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenases.
In the seminiferous tubules, both germ and Sertoli cells synthesize retinoic acid from retinal via aldehyde dehydrogenases. Retinoic acid binds one of several retinoic acid receptors (RARs or RXRs), which regulate gene expression. Male RAR and RXR knockout animals are sterile due to various problems in spermiation. The importance of retinoic acid to spermatogenesis has also been demonstrated in animal models using experimental compounds that antagonize binding of retinoic acid to its receptors. For example, BMS-189453, a compound that non-selectively inhibits the binding of retinoic acid to RAR receptors, potently inhibits spermatogenesis after oral doses as low as 5 mg/kg for seven days, with mice becoming infertile after four weeks of treatment. However, this compound leads to hepatic inflammation, likely due to the fact that its antagonism of RAR is not testes specific. In mice, retinoic acid appears to be essential for the conversion of undifferentiated spermatogonia to A1 or differentiating spermatogonia. In the vitamin-A deficient mouse model, spermatogenesis can be synchronously initiated by vitamin-A supplementation, suggesting that the entry of spermatogonia into meiosis requires access to retinoic acid. This effect is mediated by the induction of the 45 kD protein STRA8 ("stimulated by retinoic acid-8") within the developing germ cells. The induction of Stra8 expression leads to the expression of Scp3 and Dmc1, known markers of meiosis. In summary, testicular retinoic acid appears to be the key signal that triggers spermatogonial differentiation and meiosis. Therefore, inhibition of retinoic acid biosynthesis in the testes is a logical target for male contraceptive development.
Testicular Retinoic Acid is synthesized by ALDH1A2, which is Testis Specific and by ALDH1A1. Nineteen isozymes of aldehyde dehydrogenase have been identified in the human. These enzymes catalyze the nicotinamide-dependent oxidation of a large array of aldehydes to their corresponding acids. Human and rodent ALDH1A1/1A2 sequences are highly conserved, sharing ˜70% identity at the amino acid level. In mice, expression of the Aldh1a1 gene is evident in the testes, liver and lung; Aldh1a2 expression is predominantly in the testes and ovaries, while Aldh1a3 is expressed at very low levels in multiple tissues. Work in human testicular tissue samples indicates that ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A2 each contribute about 50% of intratesticular retinoic acid production in men, with ALDH1A3 contributing less than 1%.
A need exists for novel compounds that are effective inhibitor of both ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A2, without inhibiting other ALDH isozymes, for suppression of intratesticular retinoic acid biosynthesis and spermatogenesis. The present invention seeks t fulfill this need and provides further related advantages.

Inhibitor compounds for male contraception


High solubility of pristine single and multi-walled carbon nanotubes using electron donors as solubilizers has been observed. The resulting carbon nanotube solution can be readily diluted with other organic solvents, such as acetone, toluene and methanol. SEM after solvent evaporation clearly shows that nanotubes are still present after being subjected to this procedure. Electronic absorption of these solutions is observed in both the UV and visible region. Strong light emission (=0.30) was observed at 561 nm for dilute solutions of aniline-dissolved carbon nanotubes diluted with acetone.

Nanostructured materials, such as carbon nanotubes (NTs) have been the subject of much research in recent years because their unique electronic, mechanical and physical properties can be used in all areas of science.1,2 Nanostructured tubes are becoming increasingly important because their mechanical properties, notably strength, stiffness, and toughness, make them useful in a variety of applications. Composites made from carbon nanotubes have superior strength and stiffness per weight, and thus are already being used in aerospace and sporting goods applications. Carbon nanotubes are also excellent electron emitters, emitting electrons at very low voltage, which makes them particularly useful in the field of flat panel displays. Their good electron conductivity and high thermal conductivity also make carbon nanotubes ideal materials for making anti-static and/or anti-corrosion coatings as well as thermal conductors. Additionally, carbon nanotubes can be used in electronic circuits where silicon and other standard semiconductor materials do not work.
Carbon nanotubes are particularly stable because of the strength with which the carbon atoms bond together. In nanotubes, the carbon atoms arrange themselves in hexagonal rings, similar to the arrangement in graphite. In fact, a nanotube resembles a sheet or several stacked sheets of graphite rolled into a seamless cylinder. Unfortunately, carbon nanotubes are difficult to dissolve or disperse in most organic or inorganic solvents because of their long structured features, large molecular size, or severe aggregation. The common agents used to help disperse carbon nanotubes are surfactants, which, however, can only increase the dispersibility to a limited extent, and surfactants do not affect the solubility of carbon nanotubes. Attaching alkyl groups to the surface of carbon nanotubes can increase their solubility to some extent. This approach, however, requires tedious chemical reactions, and the chemical functionalization may alter the structure or affect properties of the carbon nanotubes. In another approach, carbon nanotubes were wrapped with a helical polymer, through which they were brought into other solvents. This method, however, can only be applied in very limited circumstances. The size of soluble nanotubes depends upon the size of the helices of the polymer, and it is tedious to synthesize these polymers. This difficulty in dispersing or dissolving carbon nanotubes limits the ability to incorporate carbon nanotubes in other organic or inorganic materials as well as the ability to manipulate them chemically and characterize them quantitatively.
Some solution properties of carbon nanotubes have also been studied, aimed at their chemical modification and functionalization.3-6 Several methods have been reported for making solubilized NTs, including attachment of long alkyl chains3 and incorporation with polymers.4,5 Haddon et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,823, disclose a method of dissolving single-walled nanotube carbons in organic solvents by directly functionalizing the nanotubes with amines or alkylaryl amines having an uninterrupted carbon chain of at least five and, more preferably, nine carbon atoms.
Despite those attempts, the dissolution of pristine carbon nanotubes, to our knowledge, has not been realized.

Method for dissolving nanostructural materials


Grain oriented electrical steel is made in a manner that the grains are selectively grown to obtain a crystal structure known as cube-on-edge and the grains are largely aligned in the rolling direction. Selection of chemistry and process route along with thin slab continuous casting enables the production of Grain oriented electrical steel such that less energy is consumed in the process, certain process steps can be combined, yield is better and the product can be manufactured within a wider process control tolerance.

This invention is a method for the production of grain oriented electrical steel, and more particularly, grain oriented silicon electrical steel, starting from a thin slab. In one embodiment, this method refers to a product formation route which enables efficient production with better yield and wider process control tolerance.
The prior art describes variations of the product and the process to make many variations of electrical steels. Patents issued to Hadfield starting in 1903 (such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 745,829; 836,762; 836,754; 836,755; 836,756) are among the earliest patents in the field of this invention. Such patents describe the magnetic performance of electrical steels and the composition for making electrical steels with methods using the technology available around the year 1900. Patents assigned to Armco Steel Corporation, Ohio and the General Electric Company, New York, from the year 1950 onward (such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,535,420; 2,599,340; 2,867,558) describe variations and improvements to the product and process to incorporate continuous manufacturing operations and improved process control.
Traditionally, electrical steels have been made by casting ingots or slabs that are 200-250 mm thick. In such processes large oriented grain growth is obtained in the final stages of the process at a step referred to High Temperature Anneal (HTA) where the steel strip is held at elevated temperatures of around 1200° C. for an extended period of time. In the HTA step certain chemical systems inhibit the growth of general or normal grains while allowing the large oriented grains to grow. These chemical systems are referred to as the "inhibitor system" for a given process. In the past, electrical steels have used one of two inhibitor systems, which are the (a) sulfide-manganese system, and (b) nitride-aluminum system.
The sulfide-manganese system has been known to result in high quality electrical steels but it has several major drawbacks. It requires high temperature reheat of the slab to re-dissolve the inhibitor species which tend to escape from the iron crystal grains when the slab is solidifying after casting. It also requires tight process control since sulfur has a high propensity to escape from the iron crystal grains. Moreover, when sulfur rich chemical species collect at the grain boundaries they cause the problem of red-shortness or hot-shortness which results in cracking and breakage of steel strips and results in yield loss.
The nitride-aluminum system has been used to make electrical steels with a lower reheat temperature of the slab. But since a thick slab (200-250 mm) takes a considerable time to solidify it still provides an environment in which the inhibitor species escape from the iron crystal grains. As such the process has a few drawbacks: 1) it still requires an energy intensive reheat step; and 2) the inhibitor species have a propensity to chemically combine with other impurities present in the steel and thus result in lower levels of inhibitors at the HTA step and also create new impurities that compromise the performance and properties of the finished electrical steel.
In the recent past attempts have been made to produce electrical steels using sulfide-manganese inhibitor systems along with thin slab casting technology which casts a slab from 20-80 mm (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,719). This offers the benefit of low energy consumption since the slab can be rolled to final gauge from a much smaller starting thickness. It also offers the benefit of obtaining favorable microstructure in the slab. But since it is based on sulfide-manganese inhibitor systems, the process still requires slab reheat to about 1300° C. and still is susceptible to the drawbacks which are characteristic of such systems.

Method and system for manufacturing electrical silicon steel


A system for covering the box and bed of a pick-up truck includes a tarp, a pair of side rails, an end rail and a cam latch associated with each side rail. The tarp includes beads associated with its edges. These beads cooperate with slots in the rails to fix the edges of the tarp to the rails. The cam latches are provided to interact with the end rail to stretch the tarp and help secure it in place over the bed and box of the pick-up truck.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for covering an opening in a detachable manner. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for detachably covering the bed and box of a pick-up truck or trailer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Since before the advent of the motorized truck, people have understood the need to cover items as the items are transported to protect them from the elements. Generally, when such items are being transported on the bed of a wagon, trailer or truck, this has been accomplished using a tarp. To provide adequate protection, the tarp should be fixed in place along the entire perimeter of the box. The tarp should also be taut and remain so to prevent it from sagging and collecting water or debris. Thus, some reliable means of holding the tarp in place is required to provide effective protection. In the days of the pioneers who explored this continent, ropes were used to hold tarps in place. A variety of fasteners for holding tarps in place have been developed since that time. Fasteners in common use today include bungie cords, hook-and-loop type fasteners, grommets and rope arrangements, various types of snaps, and various types of clips.
One cover arrangement which incorporates a number of different fasteners for securing a tarp in place is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,353 dated Dec. 29, 1992 to Schmeichel et al. The cover arrangement disclosed in this patent, for example, includes a tarp and hook-and-loop type fasteners to attach to the sides of the tarp and the sides of a truck box. This patent also discloses an L-shaped plate which cooperates with various cord members, stops, lips and locks to secure the back end of the tarp in place. This patent also recognizes the difficulty associated with using hook-and-loop type fasteners. Rather than using a different type of fastener, the patent suggests the use of plastic members attached to the tarp to prevent the two elements of the hook-and-loop type fastener from engaging each other as the tarp is rolled and unrolled.
Despite the many attempts made in the prior art to provide a simple, inexpensive and durable cover that can be easily and quickly opened and closed, the need for such a cover continues to exist. The present invention fills this need and solves the problems associated with prior art covers outlined above.

System for covering the bed and box of a pick-up truck, wagon or trailer


A system for triggering purging of depollution means including a NOx trap and integrated in a vehicle diesel exhaust line comprises respective elements for establishing: a first coefficient representing the extent to which the trap is full of NOx; a second coefficient representative of the capacity of the trap to reduce the NOx as a function of its temperature; a third coefficient representative of the capacity of the engine to purge the trap as a function of the engine operating point; and a fourth coefficient representative of the capacity of the engine to purge the trap as a function of the corresponding excess fuel consumption; together with a device for combining these various coefficients in order to obtain a fifth and final coefficient, and a comparator for comparing the fifth coefficient with a threshold so that in the event of the threshold being exceeded, a request is issued to trigger purging of the trap.

It is possible to obtain a significant reduction in the NOx emitted by a diesel engine while in operation by post-treatment of the exhaust gas using a catalyst of the NOx trap type.
Such a catalyst operates on the principle of enabling NOx to be stored in the catalyst by forming a stable complex of the Ba(NO3) 2 type.
This storage of NOx then takes place while the engine is operating normally on a lean mixture, i.e. with excess oxygen.
Once the catalyst is saturated in NOx, it becomes necessary to purge it so as to reduce the amount of NOx stored in the trap.
This can be done, for example, by switching the operation of the engine from a lean mode to a rich mode, i.e. a mode with excess fuel.
Storage efficiency decreases as the trap becomes filled with NOx. Consequently, it is possible to obtain NOx conversion that differs depending on the spacing between purges and on the duration of such purges.
Similarly, the quantity of NOx that can be stored in a trap is not constant, since it depends on the temperature of the catalyst, and thus on the temperature of the exhaust gas from the engine.
Thus, for example, a single lean/rich operating sequence, e.g. 100 seconds (s) with a lean mixture and 5 s with a rich mixture, leads to conversion that differs depending on the temperature at which the sequence is performed.
Finally, the engine can be operated in rich mode (e.g. in order to reduce NOx) only under certain running conditions of the vehicle.
Consequently, optimizing NOx conversion in a NOx trap needs to take account of various parameters relating to the operation of the engine, e.g. to physical magnitudes, etc. . . . Deciding when to trigger and when to stop purges is a key factor governing the performance of the post-treatment system, i.e. the NOx conversion that is achieved, the associated extra consumption of fuel, the penalty in terms of other pollution emitted, . . . .
Applying a NOx trap to a diesel-engined vehicle thus requires strategies that enable purges to be managed autonomously. These strategies must be defined in such a manner as to optimize the various services expected of the system.
In practice, these strategies are implanted in a computer, e.g. an engine control computer, and they are intended to control the operation of the catalyst in interaction with the other strategies involved in controlling the engine.
Various methods and systems have already been envisaged for optimizing such purges.

System for triggering the purging of NOx trap depollution means


The present invention provides for a data storage system having a number of virtual storage devices. Each of the virtual storage devices may include a number of physical storage devices. The physical storage devices need not be separately addressable by a host system. Each virtual storage device unit may comprise a field replaceable unit encompassing no more than a single virtual storage device. Physical storage devices included in a virtual storage device that are not in active use may be powered down, even while one or more other physical devices included in that virtual storage device are powered up.

The need to store digital files, documents, pictures, images and other data continues to increase rapidly. As a result, the demand for data storage continues to increase. In addition, recent legislation, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the United States, affecting the management of electronic records, has increased the need for data storage. As the demand for data storage has increased, the space or volume occupied by storage systems has become an important issue. In particular, data storage having high capacity, high density, and space efficiency has become increasingly desirable.
In order to provide increased storage space, storage devices with ever greater storage capacities are being developed. However, the storage needs of even small enterprises can easily exceed the storage capacity of a single data storage device. In addition, in order to safeguard data, systems providing data redundancy that include multiple storage devices are necessary.
Systems that provide at least some integration of individual storage devices, such as JBOD (just a bunch of disks), SBOD (switched bunch of disks) or RAID (redundant array of independent (or inexpensive) disks) systems have been developed. Such systems are typically deployed within enclosures to present an integrated component to the user. The typical enclosure features very tight drive packaging, leaving little space for controllers if the system provides a RAID array, or an interface card if the system provides a JBOD or SBOD system. Furthermore, with the development of higher RPM (e.g., 10,000 RPM and 15,000 RPM) hard disk drives and reduced (e.g. 1 inch) drive packaging, the thermal densities of state of the art storage enclosures have increased. In addition, the dense packaging of multiple storage devices creates serviceability and/or cooling problems. For example, storage devices within an enclosure are commonly interconnected to trays or sleds that facilitate the insertion and removal of devices from the enclosure. For example, in connection with an enclosure adapted for use as part of a rack or stack of multiple enclosures or other devices, the sleds can be arranged so that they are removable through the front panel of the enclosure. Furthermore, the sled is typically implemented as a field replaceable unit (FRU) such that even relatively unsophisticated personnel can exchange failed components for replacements. That is, the sled and any attached disk drives are replaced as a unit, rather than removing a failed disk drive from the sled, and attaching a new disk drive to the sled. In order to maximize the storage density of a storage device enclosure, multiple disk drives would need to be interconnected to each sled. Accordingly, in connection with systems featuring more than one disk drive on a sled, the replacement of a failed disk drive typically results in the removal of a functional storage device. Furthermore, while most RAID arrays providing data redundancy can tolerate a single drive failure, data is lost or will be unavailable if more than a single data storage device is removed from a typical RAID array. Therefore, removing a sled to service one of a number of interconnected drives can result in the removal of data from the system. Accordingly, systems featuring multiple disk drives per sled present serviceability and maintenance problems.
The high packaging densities that can be achieved by interconnecting multiple disk drives to a sled, and by providing a number of such disk drives within an enclosure, also presents cooling problems. Although storage system enclosures typically include one or more cooling fans, maximum cooling capacity is eventually limited by the volume within the enclosure available for the passage of cooling air. This problem can be addressed by adopting more elaborate cooling techniques, such as liquid cooling. However, such alternatives to air cooling can dramatically increase the cost of the storage system.
In order to reduce the amount of power consumed by storage devices, systems that allow storage devices to be powered down have been developed. In a typical power saving system, a storage device is powered down if it has not been used to store or access data for a predetermined period of time. In general, such systems have been used in connection with battery powered computing devices in order to extend battery life. However, such techniques have generally not been adapted to data storage systems featuring a number of storage devices. In particular, such systems have typically used hard disk drive type storage devices in order to provide fast access to data. However, powering down a hard disk drive can dramatically increase access times, because a hard disk drive must be spun up before data can be accessed. In addition, such storage devices are typically line powered, and therefore power consumption is not a major concern. As a result, powering down disk drives has generally not been thought to be practical in connection with relatively high density storage systems.
In addition to storage systems that utilize a number of hard disk drive type storage devices, systems using other storage media have been developed. For example, systems using reels or cartridges of magnetic tape have long been used for storing large amounts of data. In addition to providing reels or cartridges that are always associated with a read/write head, tape libraries have been developed in which robotic actuators are used to retrieve tapes having desired information. Although tape based storage systems are generally characterized by much longer access times than disk type storage systems, the access times have been considered acceptable when tape based systems are used for "near line" applications, where near instantaneous access is not required. However, tape based storage systems have remained relatively expensive and can require a large amount of space. Accordingly, applications for tape based storage systems have generally been limited to large main frame computer systems. Furthermore, with the steady introduction of advances in the capacities of magnetic disk and optical disk type storage devices, and as the cost per megabyte of disk drives has gotten closer to that of tape based storage systems, tape based storage systems have become less desirable, particularly in view of the faster response times of disk based systems.


A system and method are provided for parallel path turbo decoding in a portable wireless communications user terminal (UT). The method accepts a coded stream having a first order of information packets, and demultiplexes the coded stream into first coded and second coded information streams. The first coded stream is turbo decoded, generating a first decoded information stream. Likewise, the second coded stream is decoded to generate a second decoded information stream, asynchronously with respect to the first decoded stream. Then, the first and second decoded streams are combined into a combined stream having the first order of decoded information packets. The first and second decoded streams are combined by parallel buffering the first and second decoded streams, generating parallel-buffered decoded streams. Then, the parallel-buffered decoded streams are multiplexed to create a combined stream, which is stored in an output buffer.

1. Field
The present invention generally relates to wireless communications and, more particularly, to a parallel turbo decoder system capable of asynchronous decoding and buffering parallel streams of information.
2. Background
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram depicting an example of a ⅓ parallel-concatenated turbo encoder (prior art). Turbo decoding is an iterative process that permits data error correction to be performed at near the Shannon limit. The ⅓ notation represents an implementation where one input bit stream is converted into a 3-component bit stream. The original data stream (x) passes to a multiplexer input, along with parity bit outputs (p1 and p2) from two parallel recursive systematic convolutional (RSC) encoders. An interleaver randomly arranges bits that are input into one of the RSC encoders. The multiplexer reassembles the three parallel input bit streams into an output serial stream (x p1 p2). Although a ⅓ turbo encoder is shown, ½, ¼, and ⅕ decoder are also known.
The turbo encoding is performed based upon the assumption that data will be degraded, due to noise, during transmission. On the receiver side of the transmission, a turbo decoder reconstructs the original bit stream by using a turbo trellis function to perform multiple search iterations.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a turbo decoder (prior art). Each of the two maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) blocks generates extrinsic information. The extrinsic information represents the likelihood that a bit is either a "0" or a "1". One MAP block 202 receives the non-interleaved data x and first parity bit p1 as inputs, along with the disinterleaved output bit. A second MAP decoder receives the second parity bit p2, along with an interleaved version of the original data x. The second MAP calculates an extrinsic value based upon the extrinsic value from the first MAP and the second parity bit. The second MAP feeds its extrinsic value output to a disinterleaver, whose output is feed back to the first MAP for another iteration.
One pass through both the MAPs is considered an iteration. Multiple iterations through the system are required to generate a signal with a low bit-error ratio (BER). The iterative process gradually corrects errors, and given enough iterations, all the errors can be corrected.
Given the high data rates and amount of data to be processed, many real-time receivers are unable to use turbo decoding to correct all the errors in the data they receive. It would be advantageous if received data could be split into parallel data streams and parallel processed, to minimize the bottleneck associated with turbo decoding. However, this solution would present the additional problem of how to efficiently collect and recombine the data streams after they are decoded.

Parallel turbo decoders with multiplexed output


An optical device according to an embodiment of the present invention has an actuator structure. The actuator structure has a substrate, a stationary electrode, a movable electrode, an optical element, and a hole portion. The stationary electrode is provided on a surface of the substrate. The movable electrode is provided on the surface of the substrate. The optical element is provided on the movable electrode. The substrate faces the movable electrode. The hole portion is formed in a part of the substrate. A region near the movable electrode where the optical element is provided is immersed in a matching oil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical device with an actuator structure having an optical element such as a mirror, and to a production method thereof.
2. Related Background of the Invention
A well-known optical device with an actuator structure is an optical switch, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-241118. This optical switch is provided with an electrode and a movable member. The electrode is fixed to a base. The movable member has a mirror at the tip thereof and is fixed to the base. In this optical switch, the movable member is moved relative to the electrode to move the mirror.

Optical device and production method thereof


Cholesterol in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or very low-density lipoprotein (VLVL) in a sample is determined in the presence of a sugar compound and/or a protein-solubilizing agent.

LDL is considered to have the function to supply cholesterol to peripheral cells and to be a direct factor in occurrence of various types of arteriosclerosis such as coronary arteriosclerosis. It is known that LDL level in blood is useful as an indicator of arteriosclerosis. The relationship between VLDL which is rich in triglycerides (TG) and arteriosclerosis has also been noted. Currently, the determination of LDL cholesterol is carried out by the ultracentrifugation method, the electrophoretic method, the conversion method, etc., and that of VLDL cholesterol is carried out by the ultracentrifugation method, the electrophoretic method, etc. In the ultracentrifugation method, which is employed as a basic method, LDL or VLDL is separated by the difference in specific gravity using an ultracentrifuge for separation, and the amount of cholesterol therein is determined Adv. Lipid Res., 6, 1 (1968)!. However, this method is defective in accuracy, simplicity, economic efficiency, etc. In the electrophoretic method, LDL or VLDL is separated by using a cellulose acetate membrane or agarose gel as a support, and the amount of cholesterol therein is enzymatically determined Clinical Test (Rinsho Kensa), 29, 1344 (1985)!. This method is defective in simplicity, economic efficiency, etc. In the conversion method, the amount of LDL cholesterol is calculated according to the following equation Clin. Chem.,18, 499 (1972)!. EQU (Amount of LDL cholesterol)=(Amount of total cholesterol)-(Amount of HDL cholesterol)-(Amount of triglycerides)/5
However, the use of this method is restricted by the serum TG content, the type of hyperlipemia, etc., and so this method is defective in simplicity, accuracy, applicability to the analysis of a large number of samples, etc. As described above, conventional methods for the determination of LDL cholesterol or VLDL cholesterol are not suitable for the analysis of a large number of samples, the rapid analysis, and the analysis with an autoanalyzer which is widely used in the field of clinical testing. Further, in these methods, manual errors are liable to occur, for example, when the amount of the LDL fraction separated is determined using a measuring pipette. However, if a blood serum sample is directly added to a reagent containing cholesterol esterase and cholesterol oxidase without fractionation of LDL or VLDL, the resultant test system is not different from a system for the determination of total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol or VLDL cholesterol cannot be specifically determined.

Method for determination of cholesterol in low-density lipoprotein or very low-density lipoprotein


A relaxation device for furniture, particularly for an armchair of relaxing chair, includes body support flats (11, 12, 13; 101; 201) which are each formed of interconnected elongated support members (3) extending parallel to each other and transversally to a longitudinal axis of the device (Z), a frame (2) and means (23, 43) for coupling the above support flats (11, 12, 13; 101, 201) to the frame (2), characterized in that each set of elongated support members (3) is mounted by means of a multiple action suspension system (S1, S2) which is formed of a first stage suspension unit wherein each pair of adjacent elongated support members (3', 3") is externally coupled by means of primary intermediate suspension parts (31), and at least one additional second stage suspension unit wherein each pair of adjacent primary intermediate suspension parts (31', 31") is externally coupled by secondary suspension parts (33; 32', 32") which are directly (23) or indirectly (23, 33, 24) connected to the frame (2), so that the elongated support members (3) are mutually movable in two modes and can move from an unloaded state (A) to a loaded state (B) with the superimposed undulatory motion of said members (3).

Sitting down or lying down ought to have a relaxing effect. The leg muscles can relax, since they do not have to carry any weight in this position. By contrast, the back muscles could relax, provided that they are not put under stress when the user adopts the desired posture.
When sitting on a seat, only a small part of the back is in actual contact with the back of the seat. The back muscles are continually tensed in order to keep the back in the desired position, so as thereby to compensate for the lack of suitable support provided by the seat back.
By contrast, when sitting in a more upholstered seat, the cushion admittedly assumes the shape of the back. However, the more pressed-in parts of the cushion exert higher pressure on the back than the less pressed-in parts, particularly level with the lumbar region. There is, once again, the same problem that the back muscles are under stress, and the user begins to wriggle about and tries to shift his sitting plane further and further forwards by sinking further and further into the chair until the lower back is once more completely unsupported.
The cause of this restlessness is not only the unequal support which the back receives, but also a need for movement. There is therefore clearly a problem as regards the user's comfort.
Being seated for a long time and standing for a long time both represent a heavy physical load. The body needs to move in order to remain supple.
A good seat back and a good seat therefore ought to assume the shape of the sitter's back and bottom and thereby provide uniform support on all the exposed parts of the body. This characteristic should be maintained when the user moves and adopts different postures.

Undulatory motion relaxation device for furniture with a suspension system


The present invention relates to a three-dimensionally reinforced ablative/insulative composite that includes a high density fabric-based ablative layer and a low density resin-based insulative layer that is chemically bound to the ablative layer. This composite further includes stitches of a temperature-resistant thread which extend through the ablative layer and form reinforcing loops within the insulative layer. These loops are preferably chemically and mechanically bound to the insulative layer.

High performance re-entry vehicles and interceptor missiles will experience heating under conditions that challenge the ablation and/or insulation capabilities of conventional thermal protection materials applied thereto. These conditions include short-term exposure of the thermal protection materials, during ballistic ascent or re-entry through the atmosphere, to very high temperatures which will ablate any known material. These conditions also include long-term exposure to relatively lower heat flux levels, while gliding in the atmosphere, which can produce elevated temperatures deep inside the thermal protection material, thereby diminishing its insulative properties.
Typically, thermal protection materials employed for high performance ballistic re-entry (e.g., tape wrapped carbon phenolic and silica phenolic fabric composites) perform well under ablation but have insulation capabilities that are not sufficient to protect against overheating after long periods of thermal soak unless an excessive mass of insulating material is utilized.
Previously, the insulation capability of high density composite fabric ablative layers has been improved by superimposing and bonding a plurality of such layers by use of adhesives, stitching, and/or reinforcing elements or fasteners. However, the weight of high density ablative outer layers, needed to provide sufficient insulation, has typically been excessive, thereby resulting in reduced mission range and/or payload to accommodate this added weight.
Alternately, low density, lightweight resin foam or honeycomb have been used as an inner insulating layer, which is laminated to an outer composite fabric heat shield layer, by resin bonding, to provide suitable ablative and insulative protection at lower weights. However, many of these laminates have experienced delamination under adverse thermal conditions as could be experienced during the flight profile.
Therefore, a need exists for an ablative/insulative composite, having sufficient thermal protection capabilities, wherein the composite is lighter weight and will not fail (e.g., delaminate) during use.

Three dimensionally reinforced ablative/insulative composite


When a thickness sensor detects a corner fold in a front end part of the paper sheet being carried, a light sensor checks whether a break exists or not in the front end part. When there is no break, it means the thickness sensor does not detect a corner fold but a foreign matter such as a tape mending a break. When there is a break, it means the thickness sensor detects a corner fold in the front end part. When there is no corner fold, the light sensor checks the front end part. When there is a break, it means there is a corner break but no corner fold in the front end part. When there is no break, it is a normal state. Regarding the back end part, a corner fold is detected in similarly to the foregoing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper sheets corner fold detection method and a paper sheets corner fold detection program for surely detecting a minute corner fold arising in the corner part of a paper sheet in a paper sheets processor as an end part corner fold of the paper sheet without misidentifying it as a mending or a break, and separately accommodating the paper sheet wherein the corner fold arises in an accommodation part so that double feed is not caused by the corner fold in the next running-out time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been a paper sheets processor for automatically accommodating paper sheets. As a representative example, there is an automated-teller machine, which is installed in banks, post offices, convenience stores and the like, and which automatically performs processes such as accommodating deposit banknotes inserted from outside into a banknote pay-in/out slot or paying withdrawal banknotes.
In such an automated-teller machine, when a customer inserts banknotes into the banknote pay-in/out slot of the automated-teller machine, the inserted banknotes are provided with image recognition by a judgment part in the middle of a carrying route, and then automatically provided with denomination identification and other necessary judgment processes. After that, the number of the banknotes is counted, and then the banknotes are accommodated in a given banknote accommodation vessel.
Further, when a customer withdraws a desired amount of money, the customer inputs intention of cash withdrawal and the withdrawal amount of money from an input operation panel of the automated-teller machine. After that, banknotes corresponding to the desired amount of money are paid out from the banknote pay-in/out slot.
Then, the number of paid-out banknotes is counted while the banknotes are run out from the foregoing banknote accommodation vessel, and carried on the carrying route connected to the banknote pay-in/out slot. However, in this process, there has been a large problem.
First, deposit banknotes inserted into the banknote pay-in/out slot of the automated-teller machine are not always inserted into the banknote pay-in/out slot in a state that all the banknotes are orderly folded out. Some customers roughly insert a banknote wherein a fold arises in the corner part without correctly folding out the corner fold. Apart from the inserted banknote is a forged banknote, in case of the inserted banknote is a true banknote, it is not possible to return the true banknote to the customer (carry back to the banknote pay-in/out slot) due to just the corner fold. That is, the banknote with the corner fold is accommodated as it is.
FIG. 10 is a view showing a model of an example of a banknote wherein such a corner fold arises. A portraiture 21 of a person which is vertically and horizontally distinguishable at a glance is printed at the right side on a surface of a banknote 20 shown in the same figure. Further, in the example shown in the same figure, a small corner fold 22 which is folded down to the other side of the figure arises in the upper left corner. Such a small corner fold 22 often has dimension a in the longitudinal direction of about from 30 to 50 mm (millimeter) and dimension b in the lateral direction of about from 3 to 5 mm.
Aside from a large corner fold, such a relatively small corner fold as above arises in a margin in an edge part wherein no printing is provided. Therefore, the corner fold cannot be recognized by color. When trial is made to determine the corner fold by image recognition based on measurement by the judgment part, it is difficult to determine whether the corner part is torn or folded. Therefore, in any event, such a small corner fold is ignored as a very small defect, and accommodated in the banknote accommodation vessel as it is.
However, if the foregoing corner fold arises in the banknote, when banknotes are run out from the banknote accommodation vessel and paid out through the banknote pay-in/out slot in banknote withdrawal, or when the number of banknotes is counted while the banknotes are run out from the banknote accommodation vessel after, for example, the banknote accommodation vessel is taken out from the automated-teller machine for replacement and returned back to a home office, troubles have been often caused in the banknote automated counter.
FIG. 11 is a view for explaining the trouble caused by the corner fold banknote in running out the banknote as described above. As shown in the same figure, when trial is made so that the banknote 20 and a banknote 20n are sequentially run out in the running-out direction indicated by arrow A of the figure from an unshown accommodation vessel, if the foregoing corner fold 22 arises in the back end corner of the upper banknote 20 in the running-out direction, corner 20n-1 of the lower banknote 20n is hooked by the corner fold 22 part, and therefore, the banknote 20n is run out together with the banknote 20 in the direction of the arrow A. That is, it increases the likelihood that the problem of double feed running-out might be caused.
When such a double feed running-out is caused, there has been a problem that a carrying jam is caused on the carrying route leading to stop of the automated-teller machine, or a trouble in operation of the process for measuring the number of accommodated banknotes in the home office of the banck.
In view of the foregoing conventional actual circumstances, it is a task of the invention to provide a paper sheets corner fold detection method and a paper sheets corner fold detection program capable of surely detecting a minute corner fold arising in the corner part of a paper sheet, and accommodating the paper sheet in an accommodation part so that double feed is not caused by the corner fold in the next paper sheets running-out time.

Paper sheets corner fold detection method and paper sheets corner fold detection program


A conveyor belt including a plurality of interconnected wire segments forming a conveying surface to convey at least one article from one point to another. The conveying surface has first and second outermost edges. Preferably, each of the plurality of wire segments has open end regions permitting interlocking of adjacent wire elements without subsequent forming or reforming of the end regions. The outermost edges of the conveyor belt are formed to reduce the likelihood of snagging and/or injury.

Endless conveyor belts have been widely used to transport a number of different objects from one location to another. For example, endless conveyor belts have been used in the food processing industry to transport food products such as poultry, seafood, vegetables, cookies, crackers, bagels, tortillas and red meat. Typical food processes in which endless conveyor belts have been used include breading, battering, forming, frying, cooking, coating and baking. Endless conveyor belts have also been used in the food service industry to transport food products such as pizza, seafood, lunchmeat and toast. Endless conveyor belts can be found in this industry in impingement ovens in retail outlets, retail toasters and meat slicing systems to name a few. Further, endless conveyor belts have been used to transport confectionary food products including chocolate coatings and sugar coatings. Endless conveyor belts have also been used in the automotive industry, textile industry and electronics industry to transport various objects from one location to another.
One prior art endless conveyor belt that has been used in a wide variety of applications is the FLEXX FLOW endless belt manufactured by Lumsden Flexx Flow, Inc. While the FLEXX FLOW endless conveyor belt has been widely accepted by a number of different industries, it has some drawbacks as explained in detail hereinafter. The FLEXX FLOW endless conveyor belt includes a plurality of interconnected wire segments that form a conveying surface to transport various objects from one location to another. The conveying surface has first and second outermost edges. These outermost edges are not continuous. Rather, a gap or space is formed between the ends of a wire segment and the end regions of an interconnected wire segment as viewed from the plan view perspective. These gaps or spaces enhance the chances of the conveyor belt snagging on itself or other articles including but not limited to other conveyor belts. Snagging is undesirable as it can result in damage to the conveyor belt or other articles. Further, snagging can cause unnecessary delay in assembling the belt. Further, these spaces or gaps readily expose any burrs or jagged edges on the ends of the wire segments thereby increasing the likelihood of injury when the belt is assembled or operated. An example of this type of conveyor belt, i.e., a non-continuous edge type conveyor belt is disclosed in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,998.
Further prior art conveyor belts are disclosed in FIGS. 2 through 6 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,998. These conveyor belts have significant disadvantages. Specifically, these conveyor belts are all designed such that the ends of the wire strands are formed after interlocking. These designs lead to unnecessary delays in assembling the conveyor belt. Further, the conveyor belt can become damaged or weakened during this process.

Endless conveyor belt and splicing member for forming same


A storage management program is provided with a function of determining a suspension/continuation of a remote backup based on an operation-at-failure management table, and accomplishes the suspension/continuation of the backup based on the application in which a failure has occurred and the mode of this failure. The storage management program is also provided with a function of computing a change in the quantity of data from the last backup before the occurrence of the failure until the first backup after the occurrence of the failure, and determining the suspension/continuation of the backup, enabling to suspend/continue the backup in line with the operating status of the application.

The present invention generally relates to a backup method for use when a logical failure occurs.
In a computer system, a "backup" for replicating and storing data is generally implemented in preparation for a logical failure, which is the destruction of data due to user error or a computer virus. Also, when a failure occurs in original data, backup data is used to carry out a "restore" to recover the data. A backup is normally carried out after staticizing the application that is using the data in order to assure data consistency.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-242011 discloses technology related to a remote backup for backing up data on a remote storage. A remote backup makes it possible to prevent data loss because even when a failure occurs in data that is stored in one of storages, the data still remains in the other one of the storages.

Backup management method based on mode of failure


The object of the present invention is to make it easy to separate a portion which takes charge of the operation control of an air conditioner from the air conditioner using a remote controller, and the essential points are that the control means of the air conditioner controls the operation of a compressor to make the room temperature detected by a first temperature sensing means approach to a set temperature set by a first temperature setting means, and further comprises a changeover switch, and a means for controlling the operation of the compressor based on a signal from the remote controller when the changeover switch is in a valid state; the remote controller disposed being detached from the air conditioner comprises a second temperature sensing means for detecting the room temperature and a second temperature setting means for setting a desired temperature and transmits a signal for controlling the operation of the compressor to make the temperature detected by the second temperature sensing means approach to a desired temperature set by the second temperature setting means to the control means.

The present invention relates to a proper constitution for connecting a remote controller to an air conditioner which has a portion for controlling the operation of the air conditioner.
There has been a controller for a conventional air conditioner as described in a Japanese Patent laid open No. Hei3-233247. The controller described in the gazette is the one to be mounted on an air conditioner, and operation signals are given to a compressor or a blower by operating a selection switch of the controller for controlling the operation of the air conditioner.
In a conventional air conditioner constituted as described in the above, a selection switch is mounted on an air conditioner itself, so that when a user operates the air conditioner, the user has to be on the side of the air conditioner.
When the selection switch is to be disposed in a place being convenient to the user, the electric circuit has to be improved by adding some parts such as a relay or a transformer; thereby there has been a problem that the quantity of electric work for the installation of a air conditioner is increased.


An expandable downhole sealing assembly in which an axial setting force is applied to radially compress and self-energize an expanding element such that stored radial forces in the expanding element effect and maintain a seal thereafter. The sealing assembly can be used to provide a seal between a casing and a mandrel in a well, among other applications.

The present invention relates generally to sealing assemblies used in the oil and gas industry, and more particularly, to expandable downhole sealing assemblies in which an axial setting force is applied to radially compress and self-energize an expanding element such that stored radial forces in the expanding element effect and maintain a seal thereafter.
Downhole packers are well known in the oil and gas industry for sealing an annulus between various weight casings and mandrels at different underground locations in an oil well, for example, to exploit different production zones. Conventional downhole packers include multi-element elastomeric packers (see FIG. 7), packers including a single elastomeric element having metal or mesh back-ups (see FIG. 8), and inflatable packers. Elastomeric sealing elements are generally restricted for use in applications up to about 450° F., while high temperature and pressure applications require flexible or expanded graphite.
Packers having elastomeric sealing elements typically require a large axial setting force to deform the sealing element radially outward to reach the interior of the casing. Typically, the greater the setting force the more energy transferred radially outward. Once set, internal stresses within the sealing element work against the packer as lost energy, thus an axial maintenance force is required to resist the elastomeric memory of the element. As a result, the packer is not "self-energizing," and will leak at a pressure higher than its equilibrium internal pressure without any sign of extrusion.
Geothermal packers used in high temperature applications (e.g., up to about 650° F.) can include braided graphite packing elements or compressed flexible graphite elements. These packers also require large axial setting forces to deform the element to reach the interior of the casing. One problem associated with the use of flexible graphite elements is that they are fragile, and thus susceptible to damage when the tool is lowered into the well. To protect the flexible graphite elements from damage during installation, the elements are typically covered with an elastomeric shell, which not only increases the complexity of the assembly, but also introduces the problems associated with elastomeric memory as discussed above.
Inflatable packers utilize air or other fluid injected into an expandable element to expand the outer shell to reach the interior of the casing. In inflatable packers, the inflation pressure must be higher than the system pressure in order to maintain a positive seal. Thus, like the other conventional packers discussed above, inflatable packers are not self-energizing. Additionally, any axial movement of the packer or the anchoring stop will relax the packer and reduce the sealing force accordingly. Further, when the temperature increases after setting, the element tends to expand, which further deforms the back-up system to create more gland volume or room. Further, changes in internal pressure as a result of thermal cycling affect the sealability.
Accordingly, what is needed is a self-energizing packer that overcomes the disadvantages of prior art assemblies in that the packer is structurally simple, requires a minimum setting force, obviates the need for axial maintenance forces, and is suitable for use with elastomeric, thermoplastic and graphitic elements, among other advantages.


A database has a plurality of entries and a plurality of attributes common to each entry, where each entry corresponds to an individual. A query is received from a querying entity query and is passed to the database, and an answer is received in response. An amount of noise is generated and added to the answer to result in an obscured answer, and the obscured answer is returned to the querying entity. The noise is normally distributed around zero with a particular variance. The variance R may be determined in accordance with R>8 T log2(T/δ)/ε2, where T is the permitted number of queries T, δ is the utter failure probability, and ε is the largest admissible increase in confidence. Thus, a level of protection of privacy is provided to each individual represented within the database. Example noise generation techniques, systems, and methods may be used for privacy preservation in such areas as k means, principal component analysis, statistical query learning models, and perceptron algorithms.

Oftentimes it is desirable to be able to analyze a database to learn statistical information about a population as represented by the database. Typically, a query to such a database is of the form "How many members of a set of entries/rows in the database satisfies a particular property?", where such property may be expressed as a Boolean formula or as some more complex formula.
For example, it may be desirable with regard to a particular database to statistically determine within the population represented thereby whether a correlation may be found between two factors or sets of factors, such as whether, with regard to a medical database, patients who have heart disease also have a history of smoking tobacco. In particular, a query to a medical database might be fashioned to answer a question such as: "How many individuals as represented within the database are tobacco smokers?", "How many individuals as represented within the database have heart disease?", "How many individuals as represented within the database are tobacco smokers that suffer from heart disease?", and the like.
However, and significantly, it is oftentimes necessary based on a legal or moral standard or otherwise to protect the privacy of individuals as represented within a database under statistical analysis. Thus, a querying entity should not be allowed to directly query for information in the database relating to a particular individual, and also should not be allowed to indirectly query for such information either.
Given a large database, then, perhaps on the order of hundreds of thousands of entries where each entry corresponds to an individual, a need exists for a method to learn statistical information about the population as represented by such a database without compromising the privacy of any particular individual within such population. More particularly, a need exists for such a method by which an interface is constructed between the querying entity and the database, where such interface obscures each answer to a query to a large-enough degree to protect privacy, but not to such a large degree so as to substantively affect statistical analysis of such database.
A recent method uses two algorithms that permit data mining while maintaining privacy. It has been shown in a single attribute database that adding a small amount of noise to a query will preserve privacy, where the total number of queries is sub-linear in the size of the database. A previous approach to calculating the amount of noise to be added to preserve privacy returned only binary values (0,1) as results. It would be desirable if the restraint of 0 or 1 as results was removed.
A more-developed discussion of prior techniques may be found in Privacy-Preserving Datamining on Vertically Partitioned Databases, Dwork and Nissim, CRYPTO 2004—The 24th Annual International Cryptology Conference, Aug. 15-19, 2004, Santa Barbara, Calif., USA, Proceedings, page 528, Springer-Verlag, ("Dwork and Nissim") hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, and therefore need not be set forth herein in any further detail.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for systems and methods that overcome such deficiencies.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Private clustering and statistical queries while analyzing a large database


A differential device includes a main flywheel, a main shaft integrated with the main central gear, prime train of planet gears, secondary train of planet gears, secondary shaft integrated with the secondary central gear, and a fixing plate. This improved device can resolve problems of current bevel gear-driven differential devices and improve dramatically the drive force and stability of the differential device.

A differential device, also known as a differential gear, is commonly used on the transmission mechanism of automobile tires. Since the distance traveled by the left and rights tires when the automobile is making a turn is different, the number of revolution cycles is different too. Herein, a differential device is employed to rotate the left and rights tires in opposite directions, as known as the effect of "differential". Generally, current differential devices achieve countermovement of the two output shafts by gearing drive of bevel gear. However, as the gearing drive between the bevel gear, the input shaft and two output shafts is single side direction, the drive force and its stability of this kind of bevel gear drive structure is far from desirable. Furthermore, as far as a bevel gear is concerned, the augmentation of its size is less likely to bring about effective increases of such variables as modulus and number of teeth, which are critical for the increase of its friction. Consequently, this kind of differential device has little room for any improvement. Therefore, an ideal and practical new differential device offsetting such shortcomings is called for in relevant industry.
In light of this and drawing on years' experiences in the manufacturing and designing work of relevant products, this inventor proposes a practical design after careful evaluation and design to achieve such purposes.


A method for forming a MOSFET includes the steps of forming cobalt silicide layers on a polysilicon gate electrode and source/drain regions, implanting impurity ions to form source/drain extensions and diffusing the impurity ions in the source/drain extensions The temperature of the heat treatment for diffusing step is lower than the maximum of the temperatures of the heat treatment for forming the silicide layer, whereby a MOSFET having excellent short-channel characteristics and a higher reliability can be obtained.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a silicide layer and, more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a higher reliability and excellent short-channel characteristics.
(b) Description of the Related Art
For achieving a higher reliability of a semiconductor device, it is important to reduce the dimensions of the transistor elements. In particular, in a transistor element having a gate width on the order of 0.1 xcexcm, a shallow junction structure with excellent short-channel characteristics is especially important. For example, the source-drain extension regions (referred to as SD-extensions hereinafter) needed for a reliable operation of the 0.1-xcexcm-level transistor element should have a depth as low as 20 to 30 nm or below. To achieve such a shallow junction structure, several techniques are proposed and used heretofore which include an ion-implantation using low-energy ions, an ion-implantation for conversion from a polysilicon layer to an amorphous layer, and a short-time and low-temperature heat treatment for activation of impurity ions after the latter implantation. For example, in fabrication of the 0.1-xcexcm-level transistor element, a heat treatment using a lamp annealer is conducted at a temperature of 1000xc2x0 C. for 10 seconds after an ion-implantation for forming source/drain diffused regions.
A silicide process includes the steps of forming a refractory metal film on the surfaces of a polysilicon gate electrode and source/drain diffused regions having a specific conductivity-type and silicifying the refractory metal by reacting the same with underlying silicon in a heat treatment. The silicide process should meet the following requirements: that the silicide layer can be formed on a small-width gate electrode; and that the resistivity of the silicide layer does not depend on the heat treatment conducted at an ordinary temperature of 450xc2x0 C. or a maximum temperature of 700xc2x0 C. after formation of an overlying dielectric film. In the silicide process, a titanium silicide is generally used in a current 0.25 xcexcm-rule MOSFET and a cobalt silicide is to be used in a next generation MOSFET having a smaller gate length for suppression of the line effect of the MOSFET. The term xe2x80x9cline effectxe2x80x9d as used herein means a phenomenon that a smaller gate length raises the sheet resistance of the silicide layer.
It is known that the silicon constituting the silicon substrate shifts or diffuses during the heat treatment at a temperature of 800xc2x0 C. for 10 seconds in the silicide process. The shift of silicon atoms from the crystal lattice of the substrate generates an interstitial silicon atom and a vacancy in the silicon crystal lattice. These interstitial silicon atom and the vacancy significantly affect the rate of diffusion of implanted impurities such as boron and arsenic conducted for determining the electric characteristics of the transistors, and in particular, raises the diffusion rate of boron. More specifically, the silicide process uses a temperature lower than the temperature of a heat treatment for activation of diffused ions in the source/drain diffused regions, the silicide process has a larger influence upon the control of impurity diffusion compared to the heat treatment for activation.
A technique for solving the above problem is described in a literature xe2x80x9c1999 Symposium VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papersxe2x80x9d pp49. This technique is described below, with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1G showing consecutive steps of fabrication of an nMOSFET.
FIGS. 1A to 1G show a conventional fabrication process of an nMOSFET having a silicide layer. In FIG. 1A, the surface area of a semiconductor substrate 11 is doped with boron as p-type impurities to form a p-well 21 so that the p-well 21 defines specific electric characteristics such as threshold of the nMOSFET. A gate insulator film 13 is formed on the p-well 21. The gate insulator film 13 is made of silicon oxide or silicon oxide nitride film including nitrogen at a concentration of 2 to 5%, in the case of a 0.1-xcexcm-rule nMOSFET operating at a source voltage of 1.2 volts. A gate electrode 14 made of polysilicon having a thickness of 150 nm, for example, is formed on the gate insulator film 13.
After forming the gate electrode 14, as shown in FIG. 1B, a TiN film 45 is deposited on the entire surface by sputtering, followed by deposition of a silicon oxide film by using a CVD technique. The silicon oxide film is then subjected to etch-back thereof to leave a portion of the silicon oxide film on both the sides of the gate electrode 14 to form side-walls 55, as shown in FIG. 1C. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1D, an ion-implantation process is conducted to form source/drain diffused regions 17, followed by a heat treatment for activation of the implanted ions. The top portion of the side-walls 55 is then etched by using hydrofluoric acid, followed by deposition of consecutive cobalt film 82 and TiN film 84 by sputtering, as shown on FIG. 1E.
Subsequently, a heat treatment is conducted in a nitrogen ambient for silicidation, whereby a portion of the cobalt film formed on the source/drain diffused regions 17 is silicified to form cobalt silicide films 18, as shown in FIG. 1F, At this stage, silicidation does not occur on the side surfaces of the polysilicon film constituting the gate electrode 14 and the substrate region in the vicinity of the source/drain regions 17, whereby the cobalt silicide film is not formed thereon. Thereafter, remaining cobalt film not silicified and the TiN film on the sides of the gate electrode are removed by using sulfuric acid based etchant, as shown in FIG. 1F.
In the state after the removal of cobalt and TiN, ion-implantation processes for forming SD-extensions 61 and for forming a pocket regions 62 which assures the short-channel characteristics of the MOSFET are conducted, followed by a heat treatment using a rapid thermal annealing technique, as shown in FIG. 1G. Thereafter, known processes are conducted for forming contact-holes and interconnect layers similarly to a conventional fabrication process of the nMOSFET.
In the conventional silicide process, the shallow SD-extensions have a depth larger than a desired depth irrespective of the energy for the implanted ions being lowered as desired, because the implanted ions are thermally diffused to a larger depth region during the heat treatment for the silicidation. The depth of the junction formed by the thermal diffusion is far larger than the initial depth of the junction formed by the ion-implantation, the larger depth causing degradation of the short-channel characteristics of the MOSFET. Thus, a process is desired which is less susceptible to the heat treatment for silicidation with respect to the design depth for the shallow junction.
The literature as described above recites a process, wherein the silicide layer is formed before ion-implantation for forming the SD-extensions, thereby solving the above problem. However, the recited process raises another problem wherein the gate oxide film having a small thickness is damaged by the heat treatment for silicidation, thereby significantly lowering the reliability of the MOSFET. In addition, the temperature of a heat treatment conducted after a later ion-implantation step is not specified in the literature, whereby the recited process achieves only a limited advantage.
In view of the above problems in the silicide process in a conventional fabrication method for a MOSFET, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for fabricating a semiconductor device including a MOSFET having excellent short-channel characteristics without degrading the reliability of the MOSFET.
The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a MOSFET including the steps of forming a gate electrode having a top surface including silicon and source/drain diffused regions disposed in operative relationship with the gate electrode in a silicon substrate, forming a refractory metal film at least on the gate electrode and the source/drain diffused regions, reacting the refractory metal film with underlying silicon to form a refractory metal silicide layer, implanting impurity ions into a portion of the silicon substrate to form source/drain extensions adjacent to the source/drain regions, and diffusing the impurity ions in the source/drain extensions at a temperature which is lower than a maximum of temperatures at which said reacting step is conducted.
In accordance with the method of the present invention, the configuration that the temperature of the heat treatment for forming the SD-extensions is lower than the maximum temperature of the heat treatment for silicidation allows the shallow junction to have a smaller depth thereby achieving excellent short-channel characteristics, and does not damage the gate oxide film and degrade the reliability of the MOSFET.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description, referring to the accompanying drawings.

Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a silicide layer


A steering shaft arrangement comprises a first housing (9), which accommodates a contact roller (10), the first housing (9) being divided up into a first and second section (13, 14), of which the first section (13) is connected to a steering shaft (1) and the second section (14) is connected to a steering column (6), fixed in relation to the steering shaft (1), the contact roller (10) comprising at least one electrical conductor, which is arranged between the first and the second section (13, 14). A second housing (11) is divided up into a first and second element (19, 20) of which the first element (19) is connected to the steering shaft (1). The second element (20) of the second housing (11) is detachably connected to the second section (14) of the first housing (9).

The present invention relates to a steering shaft arrangement comprising a first housing, which accommodates a contact roller, the first housing being divided up into a first and second section, of which the first section is connected to a steering shaft and the second section is connected to a steering column, fixed in relation to the steering shaft, the contact roller comprising at least one electrical conductor, which is arranged between the first and second section; and a second housing, which is divided up into a first and second element, of which the first element is connected to the steering shaft.


A drive circuit includes a duty cycle adjusting circuit that changes the duty cycle of a first signal; and a calculating circuit that with respect to signals that include the first signal for which the duty cycle has been adjusted and a second signal having a phase and amplitude that differ from that of the first signal, performs any one of subtracting one of the signals from the other signal and adding the signals.

Recently, accompanying the increased speed of data transmission, the application of optical signals, which have minimal deterioration even with high speed transmission over long distances, has replaced electrical signals that, conventionally, have been widely used as a data communications medium. When high optical signal quality is demanded such as with long distance optical transmission, an external modulator yielding high signal quality is often used as an optoelectronic converting device. However, schemes of using an external modulator have a problem of increased cost and consequently, for short distances, direct modulation is employed, where an optoelectronic device (light emitting device) such as a laser diode (LD) is directly turned ON and OFF to convert an electrical signal into an optical signal.
When an LD is used for direct modulation with an electrical signal, even if an electrical signal having symmetrical rising and falling edges is input, consequent to the properties of the LD, such as relaxation oscillation, the LD output is a waveform having asymmetrical rising and falling edges, arising in a problem of degraded transmission characteristics. Therefore, asymmetrical pre-emphasis is used, where, at the electrical signal stage, by preliminarily emphasizing the falling edge (falling edge peaking), which significantly degrades compared to the rising edge, the degradation is compensated (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-40974).
In the case of direct modulation using an LD and an electrical signal, from the perspective of optical signal quality improvement and high speed operation, asymmetrical pre-emphasis of not only emphasizing the falling edge of the signal, but also preliminarily emphasizing the rising edge of the signal (rising edge and falling edge peaking) is also employed. In this case as well, like the technique in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-40974, a technique is used where the emphasis of the falling edge becomes particularly great consequent to the rising edges and falling edges being asymmetrical.
Nonetheless, with the conventional techniques above, the circuit configuration implementing asymmetrical pre-emphasis is complicated, whereby the scale of the drive circuit becomes large and parasitic capacitance increases making high speed operation difficult. The increased scale of the drive circuit results in a further problem of increased power consumption.

Drive circuit, optical transmission apparatus, driving method, and optical transmission method


A method and apparatus for nonlinear laying of components such as elastics on a continuous web is provided. In an apparatus embodiment, the apparatus comprises a diverter and a combining roll. The apparatus can be configured to vary an elastic profile of the elastic member on a continuous web by oscillating a rotation of the diverter. The method and apparatus can be used for making absorbent articles such as diapers and training pants.

Diapers for absorbing exudates from a wearer are known. It is common to provide such diapers with elastic along side edges of a diaper to cause the diaper to contract around leg openings to fit the diaper around the legs of a wearer. Typically, these diapers have absorption pads or bodies of an hour-glass or similar configuration, in which the narrower center part, intended to conform to the shape of the body, forms the crotch part of the diaper when the diaper is in use. Elastic members positioned generally rectilinearly and generally parallel with the longitudinal axis of the diaper tend to result in chafing of the skin of the wearer in the crotch region. Because of this and because the leg openings in the diaper typically are curved, it is desirable to lay the elastic members in a curved elastic profile that is generally parallel to the side edges of the diaper. Thus, at least a portion of the elastic profile typically is curved to match the curvature of the side edges along the leg openings. It would be advantageous to lay components such as elastics in a nonlinear fashion during manufacturing of an absorbent article that may easily be customized for different elastic profiles.

Method and apparatus for nonlinear laying of material


A method of correlating a signal to a synchronization pattern is disclosed. The signal has a waveform with frequency and phase angle components that may be varied, at each repeated signal pulse, to communicate a change in a bit pattern of the signal. A synchronization pattern is generated using knowledge of phase rotation direction due to two consecutive bits in a synchronization key. The signal is compared with the synchronization pattern. It is determined whether the comparison of the signal and the synchronization pattern indicate a correlation between the signal and the synchronization pattern.

Minimum Shift Keying (MSK) is a communications protocol that is commonly used to communicate data in communications networks. MSK uses continuous phase modulation techniques to communicate the required data. One aspect of processing received signals involves acquisition and estimation of the signal in time, phase, frequency, and signal quality. The acquisition is often performed using correlation techniques. The correlation techniques attempt to compare any incoming signals with a synchronization pattern known to both a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter inserts the known synchronization pattern into the transmitted signal. The receiver uses this pattern to perform the acquisition and estimation of the incoming signal.
Often, a signal is represented using in-phase and quadrature components of the received signal to assist in processing. FIG. 2 shows how the quadrature or phase angle component 30 of an MSK signal changes in response to an on/off bit pattern 32. It can be seen that a change in the bit pattern results in an immediate reversal in direction of the phase rotation (frequency). One drawback to using an MSK strategy is that frequency changes, such as at 34, provide possible discontinuities that result in wide bandwidth frequency events thus giving up spectral efficiency.
Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) provides at least a partial solution to the frequency discontinuities inherent in MSK techniques. As shown at reference number 38 in FIG. 3, GMSK techniques round off or smooth each phase change such that the phase change does not yield sudden shifts in frequency (dφ/dt). However, because of the rounding off of the signal, GMSK techniques suffer from inherent intersymbol interference. FIG. 4 depicts "eye diagrams" for the in-phase and quadrature components of an ideal MSK signal 40. The best point to sample the signal for correlation purposes is the point 42 at which MSK eye diagram 40 is widest. This is when the phase angle is at 90 degrees and integer multiples thereof, and corresponds to the times when the on/off bit pattern can change from a +1 value to a −1 value. However, the eye diagrams for a the in-phase and quadrature components of a GMSK signal 44, as represented in FIGS. 5A and 5B, show that at phase angles ideal for MSK signals (at point 46), the ideal GMSK signal does not provide a predictable maximum opening or predictable phase. This demonstrates that GMSK signals are inherently susceptible to intersymbol interference at the phase angles of 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees, said interference being usually in the neighborhood of 2-3 dB. Consequently, when a GMSK signal is correlated at the same phase angles as MSK signals, correlation computations may be adversely affected.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method of correlating signals having in-phase and quadrature components.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a method of correlating such signals while minimizing the effects of intersymbol interference.
A feature of the invention is using knowledge of direction of phase rotation due to two consecutive bits in a known synchronization key to create a correlator synchronization pattern.
An advantage of the invention is the effective elimination of intersymbol interference while simplifying the computation required by a correlator function.


The invention is directed to an aqueous non-ototoxic, topical, otic pharmaceutical composition of matter for treating a mammal consisting essentially of: ciprofloxacin or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof in aqueous solution in an amount effective for antibacterial action; hydrocortisone or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof in an amount effective as an anti-inflammatory agent; polyvinyl alcohol at least about 85% hydrolyzed in an amount effective to suspend the hydrocortisone in solution; water sufficient to produce an aqueous composition; benzyl alcohol in an amount effective for antibacterial action; lecithin in an amount effective for enhancing suspension of other constituents in the composition; and polysorbate ranging from polysorbate 20 to 80 in an amount effective for spreading the preparation on a hydrophobic skin surface to the site of infection or inflammation.

Otitis externa, involving the ear canal portion of the external ear, is a common otologic problem occurring mainly during hot, humid weather, and five times more frequently in swimmers than in nonswimmers. In the incipient stage, symptoms include itching and pain in the ear canal, and tenderness when pressure is applied around the external auditory meatus, the ear lobe is pulled or the jaw is moved. In the definitive stage, suppuration occurs in the ear canal and hearing may be decreased. Over 90% of cases of otitis externa are due to bacterial and fungal infections. Treatment with topical agents is common, including antibacterial and/or antifungal creams and drops. Oral antibiotics may be used if cellulitis symptoms are present.
Otitis media, a term used to describe infections of the middle ear, is also very common. A relatively high percentage of the population, both adults and particularly children, are affected. It has been estimated that nearly 95% of all children experience one or more episodes of otitis by age 9, and that about 15% of all visits by children to pediatricians are in regard to otitis media. In children, the disease is most often associated with upper respiratory afflictions which trigger a transudate secretion response in the Eustachian tube and middle ear. Bacteria and viruses migrate from the naso-pharynx to the middle ear via the Eustachian tube, and can cause the Eustachian tube to become blocked, preventing ventilation and drainage of the middle ear.
In its more severe forms, purulent exudate, toxins and endogenous anti-microbial enzymes are formed in the middle ear, which can cause irreparable damage to sensory-neural and sound conducting structures. It has been reported that sensory-neural hearing loss occurred in 35.8 percent of children with otitis media with effusion. It is estimated that over one billion dollars are spent annually in the United States on the treatment and prevention of otitis media.
Current methods of treatment generally involve the systemic use of antibiotics; the use of ear drops (which have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration); and in more chronic cases, the insertion of a myringotomy tube through an incision in the eardrum to allow ventilation and drainage of the middle ear cavity. Systemic administration of antibiotics generally requires high initial doses and an appreciable time lag to achieve therapeutic levels in the middle ear. With respect to currently known ear drops, there has been growing concern recently that medications in the middle ear cavity as well as inflammatory and infectious substances can cause inner ear damage. It is generally believed that damaging substances in the middle ear space can gain access into the inner ear across the round window membrane, which has been demonstrated to be semipermeable. Hearing loss is believed a result of impairment, damage or destruction of inner ear cochlear hair cells.
Ciprofloxacin and its preparation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,444, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Studies have shown the usefulness of local ciprofloxacin in ear infections. A study of the clinical and bacteriological efficacy of ciprofloxacin in human patients affected by chronic otitis media in the acute stage is reported in "Topical and Oral Treatment of Chronic Otitis Media With Ciprofloxacin" by Esposito, D'Errico and Montanaro in Arch. Otolaryngo Head Neck Surg., Vol 116, May 1990, p.556-559. Three drops of ciprofloxacin in saline solution were administered twice a day in affected ears for 5 to 10 days. A high percentage of favorable clinical response and bacteriological eradication was observed without ototoxicity.
A study entitled "Local Therapy for Pseudomonas Infections of the Ear" by G. Stang in Laryngol Rhino Otol. 68 (12): 653-656 (1989) reports that infections of the middle and external ear in humans caused by Pseudononas aeruginosa can be cured by local therapy with ciprofloxacin and tutofusin very quickly and without any complications. Function disturbance of the middle and internal ear cleared up and the functions returned to normal.
A study of the "Efficacy of 2 Regimens of Local Ciprofloxacin in the Treatment of Ear Infections" by Garcia-Rodriguez et al was reported in Preprint: Drugs 45 (Suppl.) 1993, pages 40-41. Ear infections of several types were treated with 3 drops per 8 hours for 7 days with 0.5% ciprofloxacin solution and in another group of patients with 0.3% ciprofloxacin solution. The results obtained showed that local ciprofloxacin is an effective treatment for ear infections with few and mild side effects and without ototoxicity.
While ciprofloxacin-containing ear drops have been prepared and administered in studies, currently, there is no ciprofloxacin or other antibiotic preparation approved for topical middle ear use, and which can be prescribed for a patient. What is needed is a non-irritating, non-sensitizing, non-ototoxic composition which can be readily used by a patient for topical treatment of otitis, particularly otitis media, and most particularly, otorrhea.