Minimizing the latency of on-device detection of malicious executable files, without sacrificing accuracy, by applying a machine learning model to an executable file in quantized steps. Allowing a threshold confidence level to be set to different values enables controlling the tradeoff between accuracy and latency in generating a confidence level indicative of whether the executable file includes malware.

Over time, smart phones have become more capable and their use has increased. However, as a result of this increasing use, smart phones have become a more attractive target for malware. Malware, short for "malicious software," is software that can be used to disrupt device operations, damage data, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems without the user's knowledge or consent. Examples of such malware include software viruses, trojan horses, rootkits, ransomware etc. Correctly identifying which files or applications contain malware and which are benign can be a difficult task, because malware developers often obfuscate various attributes of the malware in an attempt to avoid detection by anti-malware software.
Machine learning models are trained by executing software packages and feeding the resulting observations into the machine learning model. However, software packages can execute for a very long time (e.g., on the order of minutes), thus generating many observations over the execution period. Conventional techniques build machine learning models with data from a specific period in time or during the occurrence of a certain number of events (e.g., 60 seconds, 1000 events, etc.). Models built using this conventional technique require waiting until a software package under evaluation reaches this same point in time/event. Such techniques are accurate, but the software packages cannot be evaluated until the specific point in time or event is reached, thus resulting in undesirable latency in the identification of malware in the software package. Moreover, using a machine learning model built in this conventional manner to test a short sequence of events (e.g., 5 seconds, 50 events, etc.) results in undesirable false negatives and false positives.

Using a machine learning model in quantized steps for malware detection


Provided herein are methods for treating, preventing, and/or managing hematological cancers and solid tumors using combination therapy of 3-(5-amino-2-4-oxo-4H-quinazolin-3-yl)-piperidine-2,6-dione and checkpoint inhibitors.

Cancer can induce significant suppression of the immune system and escape from the immune surveillance mechanisms of the host. Dysregulation of host immune system is now considered one important hallmark of cancer (Hanahan et al., Cell, 2011, 144, 646-674). The interactions between cancer and the host immune system have been extensively studied and many types of immunotherapies have been explored for cancer treatment.
One class of immunotherapy is agents targeting specific checkpoint proteins that play critical roles in regulating T cell activation and proliferation. These proteins function as co-receptors on the surfaces of T cells and help regulate T cell responses following T cell activation (Wolchok et al., Cancer 1, 2010, 16, 311-317). The two best characterized checkpoint proteins are cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death-1 (PD-1), both serve as negative regulators of T cell activation. T cell activation induces expression of CTLA-4 on T lymphocytes, thereby inhibits further T cell activation and proliferation. Furthermore, anti-CTLA-4 antibodies can directly activate CD4(+) and CD8(+) effector cells and generate anti-tumor responses (Wolchok et al., Oncologist, 2008, 13 (suppl 4), 2-9). Pre-clinical models showed anti-tumor activity of anti-CTLA-4 antibodies in many tumor types, and a phase III randomized trial has demonstrated overall survival benefit of the anti-CTLA-4 antibody ipilimumab in patients with advanced melanoma (Hodi et al., N. Engl. J. Med., 2010, 363, 711-723). PD-1 signaling plays an important role in promoting regulatory T cell (Treg) function and preventing auto-immunity (Francisco et al., Immunol. Rev., 2010, 236, 219-242). Over-expression of PD-1 and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, has been found in many types of cancers and the over-expression was associated with advanced tumor stage and poor survival (Thompson et al., Cancer Res., 2006, 66, 3381-3385; Hamanishi et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2007, 104, 3360-3365). Blocking of PD-1/PD-1 ligand interaction by antibodies can inhibit Treg function, promote host immune response, and inhibit tumor growth in various cancer models (Tsushima et al., Blood, 2007, 110, 180-185; Iwai et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2002, 99, 12293-12997). Early-phase clinical trials of anti-PD-1 antibodies have shown promising anti-tumor activity in solid cancers and hematological malignancies (Berger et al., Clin. Cancer Res., 2008, 14, 3044-3051; Ansell et al., N. Engl. J. Med., 2015, 372, 311-319).
A blood cancer or hematological malignancy is a type of malignant cancer that originates, affects, or involves the blood, bone marrow, or lymph nodes. These cancers include leukemias, lymphomas, and myelomas. These particular types of cancers can arise as defected mature cell types that have differentiated from hematopoietic precursor cells (often in the bone marrow) and begin to quickly proliferate through the bloodstream where it can then often infiltrate other organs and tissues. Others can involve the formation of tumors from lymphoblasts from within the lymphoid tissue.
The pathogenesis of lymphomas involves the accumulation of multiple genetic lesions affecting proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. The lymph node microenvironment, which includes stromal cells, macrophages, regulatory T-cells, and the lymph node vasculature, has been implicated in the promotion of lymphomagenesis.
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), formerly called Hodgkin's disease, arises from germinal center or post-germinal center B-cells. Hodgkin lymphoma has a unique cellular composition, containing a minority of neoplastic cells (Reed-Sternberg cells and their variants) in an inflammatory background. Hodgkin lymphoma is a B-cell lymphoma that accounts for approximately 10% of all lymphomas in economically advanced countries. This amounts to approximately 9,050 new cases and about 1,150 deaths due to HL in the US annually. The incidence in Europe is approximately 2.4 cases per 100,000 persons.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), which often refers to group of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphoma, is more common than Hodgkin lymphoma. About 90% of lymphomas are non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Common subtypes of NHL include diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma, and others. In 2015, it is estimated that there will be 71,850 new cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and an estimated 19,790 people will die from this disease annually in the U.S.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in North America and Europe with an incidence of 4.0 cases per 100,000 persons per year and has a median age of diagnosis of 72 years. It consists of an accumulation of mature B-cells typically cluttering in marrow, blood and lymphoid organs with a unique CD19+, CD5+, and CD23+ phenotype.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, also known as acute lymphocytic leukemia or acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL), is an acute form of leukemia. ALL is most common in childhood, with a peak incidence at 2-5 years of age and another peak in old age. About 6,000 cases are reported in the United States every year.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), also known as acute myelogenous leukemia or acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL), is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells. AML is the most common acute leukemia affecting adults, and its incidence increases with age.
Chronic myelogenous (or myeloid or myelocytic) leukemia (CML) is a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of predominantly myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulation of these cells in the blood. In Western countries it accounts for 15-20% of all adult leukemias and 14% of leukemias overall (including the pediatric population).
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are hematological medical conditions with ineffective production of all blood cells. The overall incidence of MDS in the United States is estimated at close to four cases per 100,000 people, with as many as 20,000 to 30,000 people diagnosed annually. There are several different types of MDS which can be further classified as low risk MDS or high risk MDS—depending on the progression and severity of the disease. Treatment for MDS includes blood transfusion, growth factors, chemotherapy, and bone marrow transplant or stem cell transplant. Many treatments can place MDS in remission but treatment failure and possible recurrence of MDS exist with few options available following treatment.
Myeloproliferative disorders (MPD) are a group of diseases of the bone marrow in which excess cells are produced. They are related to, and may evolve into, myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia.
A tumor, also known as a neoplasm, is an abnormal mass of tissue which may be solid or fluid-filled. A solid tumor is an abnormal mass of tissue that usually does not contain cysts or liquid areas. Solid tumors may be benign (not cancer), or malignant (cancer). Different types of solid tumors are named for the type of cells that form them. Examples of solid tumors include sarcomas and carcinomas.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), also known as malignant hepatoma, is the most common primary malignancy of the liver and accounts for 80-90% of primary liver tumors. HCC is one of the most common and devastating malignant diseases worldwide, responsible for more than 1 million deaths annually in the world (Parkin et al., C A Cancer J. Clin. 1999, 49, 33-64; Bruix et al., Cancer Cell 2004, 5, 215-219). Although various chemotherapy regimens are available, traditionally, chemotherapy is not considered an effective treatment option for HCC. Systemic chemotherapy response rates of 10% can be seen, with response rates up to 20% using intra-arterial chemotherapy.
Despite of the recent development of immunotherapies, there remains a high unmet medical need for effective treatment involving immunotherapies for hematological cancers and solid tumors (such as HCC) that reduce treatment failure and reduce or eliminate recurrence or development of resistance to anti-cancer agents.

Combination therapy for treatment of hematological cancers and solid tumors


According to one embodiment, the power circuit includes a first feedback loop which feedbacks information on an output voltage and a second feedback loop which feedbacks information on a load current. When the load current is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the second feedback loop is blocked and a PWM signal is generated using data of a feedback current signal which is stored before blocking the second feedback loop.

In the related art, a technology which switches a control mode from current mode control to voltage mode control in accordance with amplitude of a load current is disclosed. In the current mode control, a detecting circuit of an output current is required so that power consumption is larger than that of the voltage mode control. However, the current mode control has an advantage in an excellent load response characteristic.


A liquid crystal display employs an on-common storage capacitor which includes a lower storage electrode of a predetermined size provided in the same layer that a signal line is formed, and a pixel electrode provided on the lower storage electrode, and functioning as an upper storage electrode. A method of fabricating the liquid crystal display is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display employing an on-common type storage capacitor for providing a uniform orientation film and improving the optical characteristic thereof by reducing the step height of a pixel electrode, and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
For a long time, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display has been used as a display for displaying image information on a screen, but its large volume and heavy weight compared with the display area create inconveniences and difficulties in using it.
For this reason, a thin flat type display that can be used anywhere because of its large display area and reduced thickness was developed and is now replacing the CRT. In particular, a liquid crystal display (LCD) is the one that has a characteristic of having higher resolution than other types of flat displays, and a rapid response speed comparable to the display quality of the CRT when displaying moving images.
As widely known, the driving principle of the LCD is based on the optical anisotropy and polarization. If an electromagnetic field is applied from the outside to the liquid crystal molecules that are thin and long in their structure and have orientation and polarization in their alignment, the alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules can be artificially adjusted. Therefore, the artificial control of their alignment direction allows light to be transmitted or blocked depending on the alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules and thereby, colors and images can be displayed.
An active matrix liquid crystal display in which a non-linear characteristic active device is formed at each of pixels arranged in a matrix configuration controls the operation of each pixel by using the switching characteristic of the active device, and realizes a memory function by an electro-optical effect of the liquid crystal.
In the active matrix liquid crystal display, it is required to maintain a signal voltage input through the signal lines at a constant level for a predetermined time until the next input of another signal so as to secure the uniformity of the displayed images. For this requirement, a storage capacitor should be formed in parallel with the liquid crystal cells.
Here, the storage capacitor formed on the liquid crystal display can be divided into on-common type and on-gate type depending on the type of electrode used.
In view of the difference between these two types of storage capacitors, the on-gate type has advantages of little decrease of the aperture ratio because it uses a part of the (n−1)-th scanning line as a charge electrode of the n-th pixel, unnoticeable characteristic in case of the occurrence of point defects in normally white (NW) mode, and good production yield, but has disadvantages of a long scanning signal time.
Meanwhile, the on-common type, which uses a charge electrode separately, has an advantage of a short scanning signal time, but has disadvantages of substantial decrease of the aperture ratio, and noticeable characteristic in case of the occurrence of point defects in NW mode, which results in low production yield.
The on-common type storage capacitor is briefly described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a thin film transistor (TFT) array including on-common type storage capacitors provided in a conventional liquid crystal display.
Referring to FIG. 1, a TFT array with an on-common type storage capacitor has an intersection part defined by the crossing of scanning lines 109, 119 and signal lines 110, 120, on an insulating substrate (a lower substrate). At the portion crossed by a signal line (ex. 110) and a scanning line (ex. 119), there is formed a thin film transistor (TFT) including a source electrode 111 (extended from signal line 110) and a drain electrode 112, a gate electrode 114 (extended from scanning line 119) and a semiconductor layer 113.
In addition, a pixel electrode 115 is connected to the drain electrode 112 and spaced apart by a constant interval from the scanning line 119 and the signal line 110. A lower storage electrode 116 is placed to cross the pixel electrode 115 in parallel with the scanning line 119.
The on-common type storage capacitor structured as described above accumulates charges between the pixel electrode 115 functioning as the upper storage electrode and the lower storage electrode 116 formed of the same material as the gate electrode 114.
The electrostatic capacitance accumulated in the storage capacitor can be represented as follows.
  C  =      ε              A      d
The electrostatic capacitance is calculated by the above equation. Here, C is an electrostatic capacitance, ε is a dielectric constant, A is the area of the electrode, and d is the interval between the electrodes.
To secure the uniformity of the images displayed on the liquid crystal display, the greater the capacitance of the storage capacitor the better the result.
As one means of achieving this, an additional upper storage electrode is formed below the pixel electrode as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, to reduce the interval (d) between the electrodes and to increase the capacitance.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the TFT array of an improved on-common type storage capacitor used in a liquid crystal display of the background art, and FIG. 3 is a detailed sectional view of the portion "A" in FIG. 2.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the TFT array of an improved on-common type storage capacitor is similar in structure to that shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, the same reference numerals are used to refer to the same or like parts, and an additional description will be made here for different parts.
The basic structure of the TFT array of an improved on-common type storage capacitor is similar to the structure of the TFT array shown in FIG. 1, but only the upper storage electrode 217 is changed.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper storage electrode 217 (having a predetermined size) is formed in the same layer that the signal line 110 is formed by using the same material as the signal line 110.
In addition, a through hole region 305 for a through hole is provided in a part of a passivation film 303 covering the upper storage electrode 217. The pixel electrode 115 and the upper storage electrode 217 are electrically connected through the through hole region 305.
The improved on-common type storage capacitor structured as above has charges accumulated between the upper storage electrode 217 (having the same material as the signal line 110), and the lower storage electrode 116, having the same material as the gate electrode 114.
In comparison with the on-common type storage capacitor shown in FIG. 1, the interval between the two electrodes forming the storage capacitor is reduced and thus, a relatively large capacitance can be secured.
Now hereinafter, a method of fabricating a TFT array of the improved on-common storage capacitor is briefly illustrated with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting a method of fabricating the TFT array of the improved on-common type of storage capacitor used in a liquid crystal display of the Background Art. Here, general processing steps of fabricating a TFT array are omitted, and the method described herein focuses primarily on the region of the on-common type storage capacitor.
First, there is provided on a substrate, a plurality of scanning lines 109, 119 and an on-common type lower storage electrode 116 (of a predetermined size) in parallel with the plurality of scanning lines 109, 119 (step 401). Here, the plurality of scanning lines 109, 119 and the on-common type lower storage electrode 116 in parallel with the plurality of the scanning lines 109, 119 are formed of the same material as the gate electrode 114 during the formation of the gate electrode 114, and thus, a separate masking process is not necessary. An insulating layer 301 is formed on the plurality of scanning lines 109, 119, the lower storage electrode 116, and the gate electrode 114 (step 402).
Then, an on-common type upper storage electrode 217 is formed on the on-common type storage lower substrate 116, and a plurality of signal lines 110, 120 are formed to cross the plurality of scanning lines 109 and the 119 at a right angle (step 403). The upper storage electrode 217 and the plurality of signal lines 110, 120 are formed of the same material as the source/drain electrode 111, 112 during the formation of the source/drain electrode 111, 112, and thus, a separate masking process is not necessary. Then, a passivation film 303 is formed on the plurality of signal lines 110, 120, the upper storage electrode 217, and the source/drain electrode 111, 112 (step 404).
At a predetermined region of the passivation film 303 formed on the upper storage electrode 217, a through-hole is formed (step 405), and then, a pixel electrode is formed at the matrix-shaped region defined by the plurality of scanning lines 109, 119 and the plurality of signal lines 110, 120 (step 406).
The pixel electrode 115 formed on the passivation film 303, and the upper storage electrode 217 can be electrically connected via the through-hole region 305. Accordingly, the electrostatic capacitance of the on-common type storage capacitor can be increased more than the electrostatic capacitance of the on-common type storage capacitor in FIG. 1, by accumulating charges between the lower storage electrode 116 and the upper storage electrode 217.
However, the TFT array of the improved on-common type storage capacitor structured as shown in FIG. 3 has a large step height in the pixel electrode 115 (especially, in the through hole region). Therefore, when forming an orientation film for alignment of liquid crystal, a problem occurs in that the orientation film may not be formed uniformly. In case the orientation film is not uniform, the liquid crystal molecules are not aligned properly, and an optical failure such as light leakage may occur.
To form the TFT array as shown in FIG. 3, the through hole is formed as illustrated in the steps 405 and 406, and the pixel electrode 115 and the upper storage electrode 217 are connected electrically via the through-hole region 305. In the step 405, an etch process is performed to form the through-hole in the predetermined region of the passivation film 303.
However, a point defect may be generated by a nonuniform etch when forming the through hole by the etch process and exposing the upper storage electrode 217. Therefore, resistance may be increased when electrically connecting the upper electrode 217 and the pixel electrode 115, and finally, a white defect may be generated in the pixel to display images, and the TFT array ends up with a failure.

Liquid crystal display and fabrication method thereof


The present invention is directed to slice selective magnetization preparation for moving table MRI. The present invention includes a method of magnetization preparation that takes into account patient movement or translation during the imaging process. The present invention adjusts or modifies the frequency at which magnetization preparation pulses are applied to offset the preparation pulse in space. This allows preparation pulses to be interleaved with imaging and enables magnetization preparation without sacrificing other imaging variables or parameters defined for the particular MR study. As such, contrast within a reconstructed image is improved.

The present invention relates generally to MR imaging and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus of slice selective magnetization preparation for moving table MRI. More specifically, the present invention relates to the timing and positioning of preparation RF pulses, e.g. inversion recovery pulses, in a pulse sequence for whole body axial imaging of a patient being translated through an imaging volume of an MR system by a moving table.
When a substance such as human tissue is subjected to a uniform magnetic field (polarizing field B0), the individual magnetic moments of the spins in the tissue attempt to align with this polarizing field, but precess about it in random order at their characteristic Larmor frequency. If the substance, or tissue, is subjected to a magnetic field (excitation field B1) which is in the x-y plane and which is near the Larmor frequency, the net aligned moment, or "longitudinal magnetization", MZ, may be rotated, or "tipped", into the x-y plane to produce a net transverse magnetic moment Mt. A signal is emitted by the excited spins after the excitation signal B1 is terminated and this signal may be received and processed to form an image.
When utilizing these signals to produce images, magnetic field gradients (Gx, Gy, and Gz) are employed. Typically, the region to be imaged is scanned by a sequence of measurement cycles in which these gradients vary according to the particular localization method being used. The resulting set of received NMR signals are digitized and processed to reconstruct the image using one of many well known reconstruction techniques.
Moving table MRI is an MR imaging technique that allows for whole body imaging in a relatively short amount of time. Ideally, through continuous translation of a patient through an imaging volume, MR data can be acquired of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis in a single breath-hold. Furthermore, it is preferable for a moving table MR study to provide image quality, contrast, and resolution comparable to stationary or non-moving table studies. Stationary-table studies frequently implement contrast-preparation techniques such as inversion recovery (IR) and saturation recovery to enhance contrast in a reconstructed image. These imaging techniques utilize spatially selective or spatially and spectrally selective RF pulses at a fixed interval in time prior to application of imaging RF pulses and readout gradient pulses. These traditional imaging protocols, however, are not optimal for moving table MRI.
As suggested by its name, moving table MRI uses a table to translate a patient through an imaging volume during the imaging process. The table may incrementally or continuously move the patient through the imaging bore of the MR system. Unlike stationary-table imaging techniques, in moving table MRI, the patient is translated or moved during data acquisition. As such, if a preparatory RF pulse is applied at a moment in time to a particular slice or slab of the patient that is fixed relative to the imaging bore, the tissues subjected to the preparatory pulse will move in the direction of table motion over time. Therefore, a region or volume of interest that was marked for data acquisition may move out of the slice or slab and, as such, not present data for acquisition.
A standard IR pulse sequence 2 for obtaining T1-weighted images of a patient positioned on a stationary stable is illustrated graphically in FIG. 4. As is known, the magnetic moments of the spins in tissue are uniformly aligned upon placement of a patient in a uniform B0 field. This magnetization 3 is then inverted by the application of an RF inversion pulse 4, i.e. 180 degree flip angle, to an imaging volume. Coinciding with the application of the inversion recovery pulse is a slice select gradient 5 that selectively encodes the imaging volume. After the IR pulse 4 is applied, an inversion recovery time TI is observed that allows for the magnetization 3 to recover and decay in accordance with T1 and T2 characteristics of the tissue. The longer TI, the more recovery and decay in the magnetization. At the expiration of TI, another RF pulse 6 as well as slice selective gradient 7 is applied. This RF pulse 6 is generally referenced as an imaging pulse. RF pulse 6 is applied to drive the magnetization of the spins in the tissue back to the transverse plane. Because the RF pulse 6 is preferably applied at TI, those spins that had a zero magnetization are nulled. As illustrated, for T1-weighted imaging, an imaging module 8, i.e. phase encoding and frequency encoding gradients, is applied relatively immediately after RF pulse 6 to acquire MR data from the non-nulled magnetization.
When applied to moving table MRI it is clear that the spins to which the IR pulse was directed, will not only recover toward equilibrium longitudinal magnetization during TI but will move in the direction of table motion. Depending upon the slice/slab thickness set for the particular imaging session and the velocity of table translation, the spins may no longer be in the slice, slab, or volume of interest when TI expires and, as such, not detected during readout.
One possible solution is to adjust the timing of the imaging RF pulse relative to the preparation RF pulse so that the TI period is changed. However, the user selects the appropriate TI period typically as a function of the T1 values of the targeted tissue. Since a preparation RF pulse, such as an inversion RF pulse, causes magnetization to be driven below the transverse plane, the magnetization will progress toward positive magnetization from the inverse or negative magnetization. As such, adjusting TI will not achieve the effect sought with preparation RF pulses and, as such, affects image contrast as well as image intensity; both of which could negatively affect the diagnostic value of the reconstructed image.
Another proposed solution is to acquire imaging data during TI, i.e. as magnetization recovers. However, if data from the imaging volume is collected during the approach from inversion to fully recovered magnetization image contrast will change on a slice-by-slice basis. Variations in image contrast on a per slice basis also negatively affect the diagnostic value of the reconstructed image.
It would therefore be desirable to have a system and method capable of achieving slice selective magnetization preparation for moving table MRI.

Method and apparatus of slice selective magnetization preparation for moving table MRI


A thrust vectoring system is created with a convergent-divergent nozzle having a total angle no greater than 150 degrees. A divergent portion of the nozzle has a wall at a predetermined angle of at least 12° from the freestream direction. A disturbance generator is located on the wall to induce flow separation from the wall with the predetermined wall angle sufficient for the induced flow separation to extend upstream from disturbance generator substantially to a throat of the nozzle pressurizing the wall and creating a net vector angle in jet flow through the nozzle.

Field
Embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to the field of vectoring of jet engine nozzle exhaust and more particularly to embodiments for inducing shockless flow separation in the divergent section of an exhaust nozzle to asymmetrically alter the effective divergence angle of the nozzle walls, thus creating thrust vectoring.
Background
Vectoring of jet engine nozzle exhaust for added aerodynamic control of aircraft has been employed in various designs. With additional requirements for increased maneuverability and performance of modern jet aircraft, vectored thrust systems have become highly important in achieving overall performance goals. The thrust vectoring methods in past systems can generally be categorized in two groups: mechanical and fluidic. Mechanical systems often use deflecting surfaces or gimballing of the entire nozzle to physically direct the flow in a desired direction. Fluidic systems generally fall into two subcategories: shock vectoring and sonic line skewing. Shock vectoring schemes inject flow into the divergent section of the nozzle such that a shock wave is generated in the supersonic flow thereby turning the flow. Sonic line skewing can be achieved by injecting flow near the throat of the nozzle and thus "skewing" the throat to direct flow at an angle through the divergent section.
Mechanical systems are heavy due to the requirements for large control surfaces and actuators. Shock vectoring typically requires large amounts of injection to generate a sufficiently strong shock to alter the flow direction. Large amounts of injected flow are not preferable due to the performance impact on the engine to supply the large amounts of secondary flow for injection (flow that could otherwise be used to produce thrust). Additionally, the strong shock wave created in the divergent section reduces thrust. Sonic line skewing requires intricate nozzle inner mold line shaping to assure the skewed throat is the same area as the undisturbed throat thus maintaining a constant mass flow through the duct across its operating envelope. Sonic line skewing also requires large amounts of injected flow.
It is therefore desirable to avoid the weight penalties of mechanical thrust vectoring systems by providing a fluidic thrust vectoring using less flow injection than current fluidic systems to achieve desired vector angles. It is also desirable to provide thrust vectoring which does not impact the nozzle throat area, thus easily maintaining the engine mass flow. Additionally, it is desirable to provide thrust vectoring which is simple to implement and provides an effective fluidic vectoring solution while minimizing thrust loses.

Method and apparatus for nozzle thrust vectoring


A hydraulic fluid control valve (HFCV) configured to recirculate an existing hydraulic fluid from a first hydraulic actuation chamber to a second hydraulic actuation chamber is provided. The HFCV includes a selectively movable spool assembly having an outer annulus, at least one one-way valve arranged within the outer annulus, and an inner fluid chamber configured to receive and deliver the exiting hydraulic fluid to one or both of either a sump or one of the first or second hydraulic actuation chambers. The at least one one-way valve moves in an axial direction and the outer annulus serves as an axial motion stop for the at least one one-way valve.

A hydraulic fluid control valve can manage delivery of pressurized hydraulic fluid to a hydraulically actuated component such as a camshaft phaser or a cranktrain phaser of an internal combustion engine. Pressurized hydraulic fluid in an internal combustion engine is provided by a hydraulic fluid pump that is fluidly connected to a reservoir or sump of hydraulic fluid. The size, and, thus, power requirement of the hydraulic fluid pump is dependent upon a total volume of pressurized fluid that is requested or consumed by the internal combustion engine and its associated hydraulic fluid systems. This requested or consumed hydraulic fluid can be reduced by recirculating and re-using at least some of the hydraulic fluid that is typically returned to the reservoir or sump after being utilized for actuation purposes within a hydraulically actuated component.

Recirculating hydraulic fluid control valve


A tag tape and a tag tape roll that can realize a uniform roll winding state, and an RFID label produced using them are provided. A tag tape in which a plurality of RFID circuit elements provided with an IC chip storing information and a loop antenna for transmission/reception of information is continuously arranged in a tape longitudinal direction with a predetermined interval is provided with an extension part of a protection member that compensates a difference of a thickness in a portion of the tag tape where the RFID circuit element is arranged and a thickness in a portion other than that of the tag tape in a tape width direction.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a tag tape having an RFID circuit element storing information, a tag tape roll in which the tag tape is wound in a roll shape, a cartridge in which the tag tape roll is provided, and an RFID label produced using them.
2. Description of the Related Art
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) systems for transmitting/receiving information contactlessly (an electromagnetic coupling method using a coil, an electromagnetic induction method, an electric wave method or the like) with an RFID circuit element for storing information are known.
A tag label producing apparatus for producing an RFID label by transmitting/receiving information with such RFID circuit element is known. In the tag label producing apparatus, a tag tape on which RFID circuit elements are arranged in the tape longitudinal direction with a substantially equal interval is wound around a supply spool in a roll shape and attached. By supplying the tag tape from the tag tape roll and by bonding it with a print-receiving tape on which a desired print is applied, a tag label tape with print is formed. Then, by writing RFID tag information to the RFID circuit element provided at the tag label tape with print and by cutting the tag label tape with print to a desired length, an RFID label with print is continuously produced.
In the tag tape used for producing the RFID label as above, in order to realize a uniform winding state when the tag tape roll is formed by winding it in a roll state, such an art is known that a thickness (a dimension in the thickness direction) of the tag tape is configured to be substantially uniform along the tape longitudinal direction (See Patent Document 1: JP, A, 2006-39854, for example).
If the thickness of a tag tape is not uniform in general, a difference in the thickness in the tape width direction is increased when the tag tape is wound in the roll state, and there is a fear that the roll might be a flared state and a uniform winding state can not be realized.
In the above prior art, it is possible to make the thickness of the tag tape substantially uniform along the tape longitudinal direction, but the thickness in the tape width direction is not particularly considered.

Tag tape, tag tape roll, cartridge, RFID label


A method and apparatus for calibrating an antenna array are described. Input signals and feedback signals are received, where the feedback signal is a combination of the input signals as captured after having traversed transmit paths and prior to being transmitted at a plurality of sub-arrays. A first interference reduced feedback signals is determined. A current estimation of the impairment function is determined. A second interference reduced feedback signals based on the current estimation of the impairment function, the input signals and the feedback signal. Responsive to determining that the power of the second interference reduced feedback signal satisfies a selection criteria, the current estimation of the impairment function is caused to be used for each one of the plurality of transmit paths for calibration of the antenna array and removing distortion.

Antenna arrays have been widely used in wireless mobile networks for directional signal transmission and reception with an increased gain compared to an omni-directional antenna. The increased gain translates into a higher cell density and data throughput. An antenna array needs to be calibrated across its sub-array paths to remove any linear phase and/or amplitude distortions (hereafter simply referred to as phase distortion) in these paths. If the transmission beam pattern is out of phase or otherwise phase-distorted, the signal transmitted by a base station (e.g., a radio base station (RBS)) at normal transmission power may not be correctly received and decoded by a user terminal. To compensate for the phase distortions, the base station may transmit data at a higher power level; however, increasing the transmission power acts as a load to the system, causing a reduction to the power that can be allocated to other terminals. In addition, the signal transmitted at higher power may interfere with other terminals, causing a reduction in signal quality.
Several techniques exist for antenna array calibration. In some techniques, calibration signals specially selected are injected into the antenna array to perform the calibration. In these techniques, the signals are selected with controlled and known signal properties. However these techniques require the interruption or significant degradation of normal traffic signal in order to perform the calibration. An additional problem caused by these techniques is the need for compatibility with different system configurations of multiple carriers and multiple communication standards. If system configuration is not performed adequately with respect to a carrier requirements or communication standard requirements, the use of the special calibration signals may result in standards non-compliance and/or violation of regulatory requirements.
Some techniques for antenna array calibration use normal outbound traffic signals for calibration. The term "outbound traffic signals," as used herein, refers to the traffic signals that are to be transmitted from the antenna array to other network nodes or user equipment. In these techniques the antenna array combines outbound traffic signals across multiple transmit paths to form a feedback signal. The feedback signal is used in addition to reference signals (which are outbound traffic signals as captured before entering the transmit paths) to compute an impairment transfer function. Based on the impairment transfer function, the transmit paths are configured to output the outbound traffic signals while reducing phase distortion and transmission power.
In these techniques, only normal traffic signals are used for calibration consequently avoiding normal traffic interruption and maintaining standards compliance. In some cases, normal traffic signals can be highly correlated between the different transmit paths of the antenna array. For example, correlation between various transmit paths can occur when single user beam forming of cell shaping is performed. Traffic signal dithering can be used to introduce variations within the traffic signals and enable calibration of the antenna array even in the case of correlated traffic signals. However, traffic signal dithering requires additional signal capture time and longer averaging operations in order to achieve calibration with great accuracy.
Thus, the existing techniques of antenna array calibration have a significant negative impact on signal quality and/or data throughput.

Method and apparatus for antenna array calibration with interference reduction


Chiral epoxybutyrates are prepared in high yield from novel dihydro-3R-substituted sulfonyloxy-4R-hydroxy-2-(3H)furanones via based catalyzed alcoholysis. The product chiral epoxy butyrates are useful intermediates for the synthesis of 1-carba-1-dethia cephem antibiotics.

This invention relates to a cost effective process for producing chiral intermediates useful in the synthesis of 1-(dethia)carbacephem antibiotics. More particularly, this invention is directed to the synthesis of chiral epoxybutyrates via novel dihydro-3R,4R-dihydroxy-2(3H)furanone 3-sulfonic acid esters.
The ability to introduce a chiral center is critical to the synthesis of many commercially significant biologically active compounds. When only one enantionmer is active, yield losses result not only from production of the inactive stereoisomer but also during separation and recovery of the desired product. In synthetic procedures involving multiple steps, low yielding steps, especially those early in the synthetic route, seriously affect the economics of the synthesis. Thus, there has been a continuing effort toward the development of chemistry relying on asymmetric induction to provide products of preferred stereochemical configuration. One particular area of such effort has been the stereoselective synthesis of .beta.-lactam intermediates useful for the production of mono-bactams, clavulanic acid, thienamycin, and the 1-carba(1-dethia)cephalosporins. Among the more efficient methods for stereospecific construction of the .beta.-lactam ring is the so-called ketene-imine cycloaddition comprising the reaction of an amino-protected glycyl chloride or other ketene generating derivative with an imine in the presence of a tertiary amine. For example, Evans et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,171 describe an asymmetric method for preparing the .beta.-lactam ring which comprises a cyclo addition of an imine with a chiral 4-(S)-aryloxazolidin-2-on-3-yl-acetyl halide wherein the chiral aryl oxazolidinone functions to induce the desired chirality in the product azetidinones. A related method for synthesizing optically active .beta.-lactams starting from optically active alpha-amino acids is described and claimed by Sugawara et al. in published European Application No. 144,840. Still another chiral synthesis of .beta.-lactam intermediates is described in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/173,381, now allowed. That application describes a method for preparing .beta.-lactam intermediates wherein the chirality of the .beta.-lactam ring is induced with a chiral epoxy aldehyde employed to form the imine for use in a ketene-imine cycloaddition.
While each of those chiral syntheses offer the advantage of enhanced stereoselectivity, such advantages are offset by the expense of preparing the chirality inducing optically active intermediates. Thus, for example, the chiral epoxy aldehydes used to form the imine intermediates for cyclo addition with ketenes in accordance with the disclosure of Evans in the above referenced U.S. application Ser. No. 07/173,381 are, from a commercial perspective, not economically viable intermediates. Ongoing research and development efforts have been directed toward methods of synthesis of important chiral auxiliaries for the stereo selective production of .beta.-lactam containing intermediates.
This invention provides a cost efficient synthesis of chiral 4-hydroxy-2,3-epoxybutyrate esters from novel, but readily available, chiral dihydro-3,4-dihydroxy-2(3H)furanone 2-sulfonic acid esters. The sulfonic acid ester intermediates are prepared in high yield from the corresponding dihydroxy furanones derived by peroxide oxidation of low cost isoascorbic acid or its sodium salt, sodium erythrobate. The chiral epoxybutyrate esters are oxidized in high yield using, for example, Swern oxidation conditions (oxalyl chloride, DMSO-triethylamine) to the corresponding chiral epoxy aldehydes which are key intermediates for the stereo selective synthesis of .beta.-lactams in accordance with the above described method of Evans. The present method utilizing novel dihydro-3,4-dihydroxy-2(3H)furanone 3-sulfonic acid esters provides a cost effective method for preparing the important epoxy aldehyde .beta.-lactam intermediates.

Process and intermediates for chiral epoxides


A flexible bag having expansible and collapsible cells can be used in a liquid dispenser. A rigid manifold, and in one instance a rigid frame is provided in the bag to keep passages open in use and to isolate one of the cells from the remaining cells. The manifold is capable of altering the volume of one of the cells so that the same bag can be used in different applications.

This invention relates generally to pumps which act on flexible bags to dispense fluent material, and more particularly to a liquid dispenser employing a flexible bag suitable for higher flow rate operation.
Pumps are often used in applications where the surfaces contacting a fluent material being pumped should be kept clean. Such fluent materials include food, beverages, and medicinal products in the form of liquids, powders, slurries, dispersions, particulate solids or other pressure transportable fluidizable material. For instance, where the fluent material is a food additive for a food product, it is imperative that surfaces contacting the material are maintained in an aseptic condition. Accordingly, the parts of the pump which contact the food are made of materials (e.g., stainless steel) which are highly resistant to corrosion and can be cleaned.
It is known to isolate the material from the pump by having the pump act on a flexible bag containing the fluent material, rather than on the fluent material itself. There are many examples in the context of delivery of medicines. Co-pending and co-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/909,422, filed Jul. 17, 2001, Ser. No. 09/978,649, filed Oct. 16, 2001, Ser. No. 10/156,732, filed May 28, 2002 and Ser. No. 10/351,006, filed Jan. 24, 2003 disclose pumps of this general type and illustrate applications in the handling of food and products other than medicine. The disclosure of these applications is incorporated herein by reference. Use of pumps of this general type is also desirable, even when it is not necessary to maintain aseptic conditions.
The application of pumps of the aforementioned type outside the field of medicine often requires higher flow rates. The flow rates may produce fluid flow effects which act on the flexible bag in ways which are detrimental to its operation. For instance, the bag material may tend to collapse under pressure drops caused by rapid fluid flow rates. It is desirable to be able to perform several manipulations of the fluent material in the flexible bag, such as mixing of two component materials. Handling of the fluent material in this manner requires valving which operates without direct contact with the fluent material. If the fluent material is liquid containing particulate matter, the particulate matter can block a valve from reaching a fully closed position, causing leakage past the valve. One such example of fluent material containing particulate matter is orange juice which contains pulp. Different juices have differently sized pulp, which presents different problems for sealing. It is desirable to provide flow paths which can be selectively sealed to block flow, but which are not tortuous or otherwise affect the flow in the open, free-flowing condition. Still further, pumps of this general type use vacuum and pressure pumps for applying a vacuum and a positive pressure to the flexible bag to induce flow of fluent material. In many contexts, it is less desirable to employ vacuum pumps and pressure pumps because they require space and can generate undesirable noise.
In one application, the flexible bag may contain a concentrate which is diluted by water (or another diluent) added to the concentrate. If another fluid is to be supplied to the flexible bag in use, a connection is necessary. Fittings to make such connections require additional structure and additional time to make the connection. Moreover, it is imperative that the connections not leak either upon connection or disconnection. Different concentrates often require different dilution ratios. Conventionally, changes in dilution ratios are achieved by dedicating a pump to a particular type of concentrate or by physically altering the pump.

Flexible bag for fluent material dispenser


A web turn-up cutting method and apparatus for severing a continuous web has a water jet controller adapted to activate a water supply of first and second water nozzles and a carriage controller adapted to actuate the nozzle carriages to provide a transversal movement of the first and second water nozzles. The first and second nozzles are adapted to define together a substantially X-shaped cut on the traveling continuous web defining at least a substantially V-shaped tail for ending a forming roll, an opposite substantially V-shaped start for starting a new spool, a detachable first wing and a detachable second wing.

The manufacturing of paper has evolved over the last centuries. Modern papermaking began in the early 19th century in Europe with the development of the Fourdrinier machine, consisting in the production of a continuous roll of paper rather than individual sheets. With the aim of reducing paper making manufacturing costs, the papermaking machine has further evolved and is capable of forming at very high speeds (i.e. around 100 km/h), a large band of paper web typically measuring up to 11 meters wide. At a final step of the paper making process, the continuous paper web is wound as a roll that is used in post-processing or distribution of paper.
The papermaking process is a continuous process which cannot be readily started and stopped without incurring considerable expense. Therefore, the rolls of paper which are formed must be started and cut off from the continuously formed web without interrupting the continuous production of paper.
When the roll is fully formed, the continuous paper web is severed and redirected onto a new spool. It is common practice to use a web cutting apparatus for cutting or notching the continuous paper web so as to form a tail end and a turn-up start for assisting in the re-threading of the web from a forming roll to a new spool. As the web travels at a very high speed, the web cutting apparatus must produce a cut of the web for effectively re-threading the new spool without causing a jam in the machine and interrupting production.
In PCT patent application No. PCT/US97/07615 to Beloit Technologies inc., there is disclosed a web turn-up apparatus that uses two water jets and an adhesive material dispenser such as a tape or glue dispenser. The two water jets are oriented to cut the web as it is led over a winder drum. The jets are initially positioned above the web at a center portion and each jet travels toward an opposite edge portion of the web. The two jets form a turn-up start having substantially a V-shape. The dispenser applies the adhesive material onto the turn-up start so as to provide an instant engagement of the start with the new spool, thereby assuring thereon a tight, uniform and consistent initiation of the web.
In European patent application No. EP0997417 to Voith Paper Patent GmbH, there is disclosed a method and device for severing a running web. A cutter unit is movable relative to the plane of the web and is positioned at an underside of the web. In one example, there is a cutter unit with a single cutter, the cutter is adapted to travel from one edge of the web to the opposite edge. As the web is being wound onto the forming reel, the cutter produces an oblique cut line across the web. In another example, the cutter unit has two cutters, the cutters are each adapted to travel from a center portion of the web toward opposite edges. There is presented the cut lines produced by each of the cutters as the web is being wound onto the forming reel, the cut lines cross at a middle portion and extend toward the opposite edges of the web.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,000 to Paprima Industries Inc., there is disclosed a water jet cutting apparatus mounted on a beam. The beam spans across the web and is transversal to the travel direction of the web. The cutting apparatus has water jet nozzles located on opposite sides of the beam. In one example, each jet is adapted to travel along the beam from a middle portion of the beam toward an outer portion of the beam forming a pointed start on the web. Paprima further presents the cut lines formed by each water jet, as the web travels the water jets initially positioned above a middle portion form cut lines that cross and extend to opposite edges of the web. In yet another example, there is a single water jet that travels from one edge of the web to an opposite edge of the web. A skilled person would understand that with such displacement of the water jet, as the web travels there would be formed an oblique start.
As presented in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the cutting apparatus in the above mentioned references form either a pointed start 100a or an oblique cut start 100b for re-threading around a new spool and form respectively a complementary notched tail 102a or an oblique cut tail 102b for the forming spool.
The web portions (100a and 102a) of FIG. 1A, each travel at high speed in the direction indicated by the arrow, an adhesive being placed on the pointed start 100a causes this web portion to tightly engaging a new spool. However, the notched tail 102a is a loose end that has a tendency to uncontrollably flutter as it is pulled around the forming spool. The uncontrolled fluttering of the notched tail 102a can cause a rip and/or a complete detachment of a portion of the notched tail 102a thereby possibly jamming the papermaking machine, disrupting further processing operations as pieces of paper get wrapped in the forming roll and causing production loss.
In FIG. 1B, the oblique cut start 100b and tail 102b both have a shape that is possibly less prone to uncontrollably flutter as it is pulled around the forming spool. However, the complementary oblique cut start 100b may cause alignment problems when re-threading a new spool. The shape of an oblique cut start 100b is such that at re-threading, as the prominent edge of the web engages the new spool, a pulling force is initially applied only at that prominent edge. A pulling force being applied at only one edge portion does not provide a symmetric pulling force across the web, thereby possibly causing web edge alignment problems and wrinkles on the forming roll and this can be a cause for production loss.
Therefore, there is a need for a web cutting apparatus that forms a web tail portion for ending a forming spool and a web start portion for re-threading a new spool that are stable when traveling at high speed. Also there is a need for a web cutting apparatus that forms a web start portion for re-threading a new spool in a uniform edge alignment.

Web turn-up cutting apparatus and method


A method, system, and program product for a VTS subsystem's logging server to optimize applications' logging data entries where applications use the logging service. More specifically, in certain embodiments, the system comprises logic executed within a VTS subsystem to which a tape library subsystem is attached. The logic controls VTS subsystem applications' logging data entry strategy through applications' configured logging level, log entry category, and a cache buffer. The logic not only dynamically balances applications' logging request but also maximizes the availability of system information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of computers and similar technologies, and in particular to software utilized in this field. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to logging data automation for Virtual Tape Server (VTS) applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known for system applications to level their logging data to balance various resources consumptions such as system outage cost, labor cost, etc. Typically an application is designed to handle staged logging levels, such as production level, testing level, debug level, development level, etc, and users can turn on/off different logging levels at run-time in order to satisfy their particular interests from debugging applications' hardware or software errors, monitoring systems' performance at various I/O states, analyzing system's execution statistics at various stages, etc.
For a production system, if an application processes too much logging data, the processing can affect system resources, such as performance, memory, storage, etc. However, if an application processes too little logging data, it is often difficult for system support structure to understand a system failure when such an error occurs. In turn, more labor might be required to resolve the problem, or the system may experience much longer outages. Additionally, because an occurrence of an error is mostly unpredictable, having an application process excessive logging data, unconditionally, during periods of stability for the production system can be unfair.
Accordingly, often only minimized logging data is processed to monitor a system's important run-time status. In other words, production level of logging data is turned on for an application in a production system. When an error occurs, and the production level of data cannot provide a satisfactory resolution, then a higher logging level (i.e., debug level) turns on to catch more data that are detailed when the same error occurs again. This can be a timely and costly process, and can cause multiple system outages.
Thus, an optimal logging level management is desirable from the perspective of system's overall resource management.

Leveled logging data automation for virtual tape server applications

International Business Machines Corporation


An implantable medical device system for detecting cardiac conditions such the long-term ischemic heart disease, an occlusion of a coronary artery by a thrombus or an impending as a myocardial infarction. The implantable medical device (IMD) system includes a sensor that outputs a blood flow rate signal representing a rate of blood flow through a coronary sinus of a patient's heart. An implantable medical device (IMD) includes a microcomputer circuit configured to analyze the blood flow rate signal and detect a cardiac condition as a function of the blood flow rate signal. The system can also includes an implantable lead that senses electrical activity from the patient's heart. The microcomputer circuit monitors an ST segment of the electrical activity signal and detects a cardiac condition as a function of blood flow rate signal in conjunction with the electrical activity signal.

A wide variety of implantable heart monitors and therapy delivery devices have been developed including pacemakers, cardioverter/defibrillators, heart pumps, cardiomyostimulators, ischemia treatment devices, and drug delivery devices. Most of these cardiac systems include electrodes for sensing and sense amplifiers for recording and/or deriving sense event signals.
These devices typically utilize the sense event signals to detect problems with a patient's cardiac system and to delivery of the therapy. Prior art disclosures have been made suggesting methods for detecting cardiac conditions including:
TABLE 1CountryPatent NumberInventor/ApplicantIssue DateU.S.A.5,199,428Obel et al1993U.S.A.5,305,745Zacouto1994
All patents listed in Table 1 above are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their respective entireties. As those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate readily upon reading the Summary of the Invention, Detailed Description and Claims set forth below, many of the devices and methods disclosed in the patents of Table 1 may be modified advantageously by using the teachings of the present invention.


A semiconductor device having nickel silicide and a method for fabricating nickel silicide. A semiconductor substrate having a plurality of doped regions is provided. Subsequently, a nickel layer is formed on the semiconductor substrate, and a first rapid thermal process (RTP) is performed to react the nickel layer with the doped regions disposed thereunder. Thereafter, the unreacted nickel layer is removed, and a second rapid thermal process is performed to form a semiconductor device having nickel silicide. The second rapid thermal process is a spike anneal process whose process temperature is between 400 and 600° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a semiconductor device having nickel silicide and a method of fabricating nickel silicide. The semiconductor device has nickel silicides including nickel monosilicide and nickel disilicide on the surface of source/drain regions, and the nickel silicides are formed by two rapid thermal processes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Silicide has been widely applied to IC fabrications for its advantages, such as high melt point, low resistance, etc. Currently, while critical dimension, contact area, and junction depth are diminished gradually, the gate and source/drain regions of most semiconductor devices require silicide to reduce gate resistance, contact resistance, and RC delay, so as to improve drive current.
Silicide is fabricated by first forming a metal thin film on a semiconductor substrate, and subsequently performing a thermal process. Generally, the metal thin film is formed by, for instance evaporating or sputtering, on the semiconductor substrate covering where to form silicide such as gate, and source/drain regions. Thereafter, the semiconductor substrate is heated so that the metal thin film reacts with the gate and source/drain regions.
Silicide has another advantage of self-alignment. Currently, self-aligned silicide (also referred to as salicide) has been broadly applied in IC fabrications. Please refer to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4. FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 are schematic diagrams illustrating a conventional method for fabricating silicide. As shown in FIG. 1, a semiconductor substrate 10 is provided. The semiconductor substrate 10 includes isolations 12 (e.g. field oxide or STI), a gate dielectric layer 14, a polycrystalline silicon gate 16 disposed on the gate dielectric layer 14, a spacer structure 18 formed alongside the polycrystalline silicon gate 16, and source/drain regions 20 disposed in the semiconductor substrate 10 between the polycrystalline silicon gate 16 and the isolations 12.
As shown in FIG. 2, a physical vapor process is performed to deposit a metal thin film 22 on the semiconductor substrate 10 covering the polycrystalline silicon gate 16 and the source/drain regions 20. As shown in FIG. 3, an anneal process is performed to react the metal thin film 22 with the polycrystalline silicon gate 16 and the source/drain regions 20, so as to form silicides 24 on the polycrystalline silicon gate 16 and the source/drain regions 20. As shown in FIG. 4, the unreacted metal thin film 22 is removed.
Normally, metal materials for fabricating silicide are titanium, cobalt, nickel, etc. Titanium disilicide (TiSi2) has a lower resistance ranging between 12 and 20 μΩ-cm, however, it suffers from narrow linewidth effect. When critical dimension reduces to less than 180 nm, the sheet resistance increases dramatically. Therefore, cobalt disilicide (CoSi2) and nickel monosilicide (NiSi) whose resistances are slightly higher (15 to 20 μΩ-cm) are more suitable for forming silicide because nearly no narrow linewidth effect is observed. Between these two materials, nickel consumes less silicon in the silicidation process, and thus is more preferred.
Nickel silicide, however, still suffers some disadvantages. Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are schematic diagrams respectively illustrating a semiconductor device having nickel silicide formed by a conventional method. As shown in FIG. 5, the semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate 30, isolations 32, a gate dielectric layer 34 disposed on the semiconductor substrate 30, a polycrystalline silicon gate 36 disposed on the gate dielectric layer 34, a spacer structure 38 formed alongside the polycrystalline silicon gate 36, and source/drain regions 40 positioned in the semiconductor substrate 30 between the polycrystalline silicon gate 36 and the isolations 32. Nickel silicides 42 are formed on the surface of the source/drain regions 40. However, the nickel silicides 42 of the semiconductor device (especially an P type device) tend to grow downward as shown in FIG. 5. This phenomenon is referred to as spiking effect, and leads to current leakage between the source/drain regions 40 and the semiconductor substrate 30. In addition to the spiking effect, the nickel silicides 42 of the semiconductor device (especially a N type device) tend to grow laterally as shown in FIG. 6. This phenomenon is referred to as piping effect, and results to reduction of threshold voltage.
In view of the aforementioned problems, the present invention proposes a semiconductor device having nickel silicide and a method for fabricating nickel silicide to avoid these problems. The nickel silicide of the present invention includes nickel monosilicide and nickel disilicide formed by two rapid thermal processes. Consequently, spiking defect and piping defect are prevented.

Semiconductor device having nickel silicide and method of fabricating nickel silicide


A navigation device comprises a traffic information receiving means (103) for receiving traffic information, and a display form controlling unit (107) for displaying a traffic-jam indicating line along a road in a traffic jam on a road map displayed on a display device (106), and for changing display forms, such as the colors or widths, of either roads or traffic-jam indicating lines on the road map on-screen when the display form controlling unit determines from the traffic information received that a number of links each of which are respectively connecting two nodes such as intersections and includes a congested road section is equal to or more than a predetermined number or when the scale of the road map displayed on the display device is smaller than a predetermined scale.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation device which can be mounted on a vehicle such as a motor vehicle, for displaying the current position of the vehicle and traffic information received by the vehicle on a map displayed on the screen of a display device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring now to FIG. 26, it illustrates a block diagram showing the structure of a prior art navigation device disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. 4-40596. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a display means such as a cathode ray tube display or a liquid crystal display, for displaying display data such as a map and the current position of a vehicle comprising such the prior art navigation device, 2 denotes a map storing means such as a compact disc or a semiconductor memory, for storing data on a map to be displayed on the screen of the display means 1, 3 denotes a selection switch for inputting various instructions provided by a driver, and 4 denotes a scale setting means for setting the scale of a map to be displayed on the screen of the display means 1 in accordance with an user's operation of the selection switch 3.
Furthermore, reference numeral 5 denotes a current position estimating means for estimating the current position of the vehicle. The current position estimating means is adapted to estimate the current position of the vehicle with high accuracy by using self-contained dead reckoning navigation with which the current position of the vehicle can be estimated on the basis of map data stored in the map storing means 2 and measured data by various sensors mounted on the vehicle, such as a magnetic sensor and a wheel speed sensor, and satellite navigation with which the current position of the vehicle can be estimated on the basis of data included in received radio waves delivered by satellites, in combination. Reference numeral 6 denotes a map reading means for reading needed map data from the map storing means 2 in response to output signals from the scale setting means 4 and current position estimating means 5, and 7 denotes an image converting means for converting map data read by the map reading means 6 into image information to be output to the display means 1.
Reference numeral 8 denotes a destination inputting means through which a driver inputs a destination, 9 denotes a distance determining means for determining the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the destination on the basis of position data output by the current position estimating means 5 and destination data input through the destination inputting means 8, 10 denotes an information storing means for storing road traffic information such as road information input in advance and traffic information input sequentially as needed, 11 denotes an information reading means for reading data which are associated with the current position from the information storing means 10, and 12 denotes an information restricting means for judging the importance of the road traffic information on the basis of data about the information output by the information reading means 11 and data about the distance output by the distance determining means 9 so as to prevent some pieces of road traffic information of little importance from being output to the display means 1 through the image converting means 7.
Next, a description will be made as to the operation of the prior art navigation device. FIGS. 27 through 30 are views of examples of a display of road traffic information added to a map displayed on the screen of the display means 1 of the navigation device shown in FIG. 26. Reference characters A to F denote respective pieces of road traffic information displayed on the screen of the display means 1, and A shows the current position of the vehicle, B shows a piece of information about a traffic jam, C shows a piece of information about a traffic regulation or control, D shows a specified area surrounded by dashed lines each of which forms a predetermined angle with the moving direction of the vehicle, E shows a recommended route to the destination, and F shows a route along which the vehicle is scheduled to move.
First, when the map reading means 6 receives a setting of the scale of a map set by a user through the scale setting means 4 and the current position of the vehicle estimated by the current position estimating means 5, it reads the map data on a map to be displayed on the screen of the display means 1 from the map storing means 2 in accordance with the scale of the map and current position of the vehicle. Then, the device displays the map on the screen of the display means 1 on the basis of the map data read out of the map storing means, and displays road traffic information on the map on-screen. Displaying all pieces of road traffic information increases the complexity of the screen display and hence causes a reduction in the visibility. To eliminate this problem, the information restricting means 12 prevents some pieces of road traffic information of little importance from being displayed on the display means 1.
That is, as shown in the example of FIG. 27, the device is adapted to set a specified area D surrounded by dashed lines each of which forms a predetermined angle with the moving direction of the vehicle and display only some pieces of road traffic information (i.e., three symbols B each showing a piece of traffic-jam information and two symbols C each showing a piece of traffic control information) which exist within the area D rather than all pieces of road traffic information. Furthermore, in the example shown in FIG. 28, the device is adapted to determine whether or not it displays each of all symbols B indicating a traffic-jam in accordance with the length of each of the traffic-jams. The device shows only traffic-jam symbols B each showing a traffic jam with a length which is equal to or longer than a predetermined length on the display means 1 so as to restrict the display of other traffic-jam symbols B each showing a traffic jam with a length which is shorter than the predetermined length.
Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, when either a recommended route E from the current position A to the destination or a route F along which the vehicle is scheduled to move is displayed on the screen, the device judges the importance of road traffic information with reference to the recommended route E or route F along which the vehicle is scheduled to move so as to conclude that some road traffic information symbols other than other road traffic information symbols which exist in the vicinity of the recommended route E or on the route F along which the vehicle is scheduled to move are of little importance. Thus, the device restricts the display of the road traffic information symbols of little importance to display only the other road traffic information symbols, which exist in the vicinity of the recommended route E or on the route F along which the vehicle is scheduled to move, on the map.
Since such a prior art navigation device is so constructed as mentioned above, there is a problem in that though the device improves the visibility of the display screen by judging the importance of road traffic information and then restricting the output of some pieces of road traffic information which are concluded to be of little importance to the display means 1, the device cannot provide rich amounts of information.

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


A surface acoustic wave (“SAW”) device including a SAW element, a first material, a luminescence material and a light source, and a method for signal amplification of a SAW element. The first material may be positioned on the SAW element and bound to a target material in a sample. The luminescence material may be bound to the target material. The light source may apply light to the luminescence material. The SAW device and the method for signal amplification of a SAW element using the same allow amplification of a signal of the SAW element by an electromagnetic wave generated when light is applied to the luminescence material.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to a surface acoustic wave ("SAW") device and a method for signal amplification of a SAW element, and more particularly to a SAW device for amplifying a signal of a SAW element using a luminescence material and a method for signal amplification of the SAW element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A SAW sensor having a SAW element may be used for detecting a target material in a sample using a piezoelectric material. An oscillation signal may be applied to the SAW sensor. The oscillation signal may be converted into a SAW, or a SAW may be converted into an oscillation signal through an interdigital transducer ("IDT") electrode included in the SAW sensor.
Meanwhile, if the target material existing in the sample is bound on the surface of the SAW sensor, the surface mass of the sensor may be changed due to the material. The change of surface mass may cause a change of a SAW generated by the IDT electrode. Thus, the target material may be quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed by comparing an output of the SAW sensor bound to the target material with an output of a reference element to which the target material is not bound.

Surface acoustic wave device and method for signal amplification of surface acoustic wave element


Methods, devices, and systems for an image sensor device are disclosed. An image sensor device comprises an array of image pixels wherein each pixel is configured for sensing light incident on the pixel. An image sensor device may further comprise a ground contact shared between at least two image pixels of the plurality. The ground contacts may be provided in an even pattern, a random pattern, or a repeating random pattern across the array. The image sensor device may further include an array of shared pixel structures comprising a plurality of pixels, wherein a ground contact may be evenly or randomly placed within each pixel structure across the array of pixel structures.

An image sensor device is a semiconductor device with the capacity to convert an optical image into an electrical signal. Image sensor devices are used in a variety of imaging applications including medical products, navigational equipment, and consumer products such as digital cameras and cellular phones.
Many systems include image sensor devices to sense and capture optical images that can be electronically converted to a digital representation of the image. Image sensor devices include an array of photo-sensitive devices such as photodiodes or photo-transistors fabricated on, for example, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) substrate. Each photo-sensitive device is sensitive to light in such a way that it can create an electrical charge that is proportional to the intensity of light striking the photo-sensitive device. The overall image captured by an image sensor device includes many pixels arranged in an array such that each pixel detects the light intensity at the location of that pixel.
Image sensor devices fabricated according to a conventional CMOS process are known as CMOS imagers and may be configured to include active pixel sensors (APS). An active pixel sensor (APS) includes an integrated circuit containing an array of pixels, each containing a photo detector (e.g. photodiode or other similar device) as well as other transistors for resetting and gating the stored charge on the photo detectors. In a conventional CMOS imager, each pixel cell in an array of pixels operates to convert light intensity to electrical charge, accumulate the electrical charge in proportion to the light intensity, and transfer the accumulated charge to an amplifier. In many CMOS imagers, a pixel may be reset to a specific reference voltage level prior to, or after, acquiring the image.
Conventional image sensor devices, in various configurations, may comprise a pixel array formed in a p-region over an n-type semiconductor substrate tied to a positive voltage or, alternatively, may comprise a p-region over an n-epi (epitaxial) or n-type implanted layer that is tied to a positive voltage and formed over a p-type substrate. One purpose of the aforementioned configurations is to provide for a barrier region to reduce dark current and cross-talk between adjacent pixels in a pixel array. An adverse side effect of utilizing an n-type substrate, or a p-type substrate with an n-epi or n-type implanted layer is that the pixel array lacks a substrate to act as a ground conductor and, therefore, the only ground conductor within the pixel array is the surface p-type region with a ground strap located on the outer edge of the pixel array. As a result, these conventional designs experience a large resistance drop on the ground plane from the edge of a pixel array to the center of the pixel array. Although these conventional designs have been successful in their intended function of decreasing dark current and cross-talk between adjacent pixels in the pixel array, they have increased the ground resistance of the pixel array.
FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) illustrate an output response across a cross-section of a conventional image pixel array utilizing an n-substrate, or alternately, an n-epi or implanted n-type layer formed over a p-type substrate. Due to the increased ground resistance caused by the lack of a sufficient ground connection across the pixel array, pixels at the center of the array may display a lower response than pixels located at the edges of the array. Therefore, the output response across the pixel array may experience a dip 104 (dark spot in the image) in the center of the array as shown by FIG. 1(a). Alternatively, pixels at the center of the array may display a higher response than pixels located near the edges of the array, and therefore, the output response across the pixel array may experience a peak 102 (bright spot in the image) in the center of the array as shown by FIG. 1(b).
There is a need for methods, apparatuses, and systems to improve the quality of an image sensor device. Specifically, there is a need for improving the layout of a pixel array by maintaining electrical and optical isolation of adjacent pixels of a pixel array while providing a sufficient ground connection across the pixel array, and decreasing the ground resistance of the pixel array.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods, devices, and systems related to pixel arrays


A communication system includes an antenna. A signal transmission and reception unit for cellular CDMA communication and a signal transmission and reception unit for PCS COMA communication are coupled to the antenna.

In a communication system, it is desirable to have a path for transmitting a signal and a path for receiving a signal separated from each other, so as to avoid or reduce interference between the transmission signal and the reception signal which may degrade the quality of communication.
On the other hand, when a communication system uses two or more antennae simultaneously, for example, when a communication system has two respective antennae for two different communication schemes, e.g., SVLTE (Simultaneous Voice and LIE), SVDO (Simultaneous Voice and EVDO), a signal transmitted via one antenna often may be received at another antenna and added to a reception signal of the other antenna, thereby degrading the quality of communication. An example of such interference is third-order intermodulation (IMD3) distortion.
Conventionally, an isolator and/or a ceramic notch filter (i.e., band stop filter), which can remove an interference in a certain frequency band, have been employed so as to reduce the interference between the transmission signal and the reception signal and/or the interference between different communication schemes. However, use of an isolator and/or a ceramic notch filter may result in an increase in the physical size and cost of the communication system, while failing to sufficiently reduce interference.

Device for separating signal transmission and reception and communication system including same

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A shock-absorbing device includes an airtight cylindrical casing; at least one compressible springy ball arranged in the cylindrical casing; a main piston mounted in the cylindrical casing above the at least one compressible springy ball and reciprocated to compress the at least one compressible springy ball, the main piston having a piston rod extended out of the cylindrical casing; a damping substance flowing in the cylindrical casing; and a plurality of main piston valves respectively installed in said main piston for enabling the damping substance to flow between an upper chamber in the cylindrical casing above the main piston and a lower chamber in the cylindrical casing below the main piston.

The present invention relates to shock-absorbing devices and, more particularly, to such a shock-absorbing device, which comprises a plurality of compressible springy balls of rubber. Plastics or silicon rubber material connected in series or parallel in a cylindrical casing to absorb or lessen the pressure.
Various shock-absorbing devices have been disclosed for use in bicycles, vessels, aircrafts, trains, cars, motorcycles, engineering machinery, industrial equipment, building construction equipment and etc. These conventional shock-absorbing devices commonly use shock-absorbing springs, shock absorbing elastomer, and hydraulic or pneumatic shock absorbing cylinders to absorb or lessen the pressure. However, these conventional shock-absorbing devices are still not satisfactory in function because of the following drawbacks:
a. Elastic fatigue, metal aging, and breaking problems tend to occur quickly with use;
b. Fluid or air leakage may occur, affecting the shock absorbing performance;
c. Attenuation of damping effect tends to occur;
d. Breakdown tends to occur upon an overload;
e. Bulking and heavy;
f. Limited buffering stroke;
g. Difficult to be standardized;
h. Load bearing and stroke range adjustment not applicable; and
i. High cost.
Further, in building and bridge construction, lead-core rubber bearing cushions, laminated rubber bearing cushions, rubber bearing cushions of high damping coefficient are commonly used to lessen static force, dynamic force and earthquake shockwaves. However, these devices do not return to their former shape quickly after deformed by an external force.
The present invention has been accomplished to provide a shock-absorbing device, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. According to one aspect of the present invention, the shock-absorbing device is developed subject to Boyle""s law: the product of the pressure and the specific volume of a gas at constant temperature is constant.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the shock-absorbing device comprises an airtight cylindrical casing; at least one compressible springy ball arranged in the cylindrical casing; a main piston mounted in the cylindrical casing above the at least one compressible springy ball and reciprocated to compress the at least one compressible springy ball, the main piston having a piston rod extended out of the cylindrical casing; a damping substance flowing in the cylindrical casing; and a plurality of main piston valves respectively installed in said main piston for enabling the damping substance to flow between an upper chamber in the cylindrical casing above the main piston and a lower chamber in the cylindrical casing below the main piston. According to another aspect of the present invention, the compressible springy balls can be arranged in series, or alternatively in parallel in the cylindrical casing. According to still another aspect of the present invention, the compressible springy balls are made of elastic plastic or rubber material, or silicon rubber.


The number of external column driver chip can be reduced to one in an active matrix liquid crystal display with column input multiplexing driving scheme. At least two sample and hold circuits are used for each column with alternate sampling and holding periods. Video signals are sampled and held at least twice during one line scanning time. These sample and hold circuits are all integrated in the driver chip.

This invention relates to active matrix display driving circuits--in particular to a novel sample and hold (S/H) circuit incorporated into a column driver circuit which can be used for sampling and holding signals at least once in a horizontal line time for an active matrix display device.
Active matrix display devices commonly utilize a plurality of display elements which are arranged in a matrix of columns and rows on a transparent substrate. The most commonly used display device is the liquid crystal display (LCD) or similar devices realized on a transparent substrate, normally a glass.
A display system that incorporates an active matrix liquid crystal device (AMLCD)) also includes column (data) drivers, controllers and row drivers. A conventional AMLCD requires one external lead for each column or row line. For example, a video display with a resolution of 480.times.240 would require 115,200 external connecting leads. The need for this large number of leads in the display is a serious problem, which gets worse as the resolution and complexity of displays increase.
One solution to the problem is to design a self-scanned AMLCD with different driving schemes which can reduce not only the number of column input leads but also the external column driver integrated circuit (IC) chips (or complexity of column driver circuit) as compared to the conventional unscanned AMLCD. In such a driving scheme, the input column data signals, such as video signals, are grouped into N groups, each with M columns, and arranged in a multiplexed fashion to feed the display sequentially through column line input leads using a designated portion of a line time, approximately 1/N of a line sampling time, Ts, for each group. For those with ordinary skill in the art, one horizontal line time Trow is about 63.5 .mu.S for NTSC video signals with effective line sampling time, Ts, is about 50 .mu.S.
For a display with a resolution of 480.times.240, for example, M and N can be equal to 120 and 4, respectively, or other combinations such that M.times.N=480. In this way, the number of input data column leads is only 1/Nth of the total number of display column lines and only one external column driver chip is used if the driver chip has M outputs. Although it is common to use the least number of external column driver chips which is usually one, the number of external column driver chips can be more than one, depending on the number of outputs for each column driver chip. For example, if the number of outputs for each column driver chip is M/2, the requirement is two chips.
In a conventional unscanned AMLCD display system, there should be N column driver chips used if each column driver chip has M outputs. Two S/H circuits are needed for each of M output stages in the column driver chip. During any given line sampling time period, Ts, one of two S/H circuits samples the input video signal for the next horizontal line, while the other S/H circuit holds the data for outputting to the current scanning horizontal line. Therefore, there are only one sampling and one holding operations during a horizontal line time if the S/H circuit driving scheme in accordance with prior art.
As stated previously, the number of external column driver chips can be reduced to one in an AMLCD with the column input multiplexing driving scheme. However, in this single column driver chip display system, the approach of using two S/H circuits, with the driving scheme in accordance with the prior art for each output stage of a column driver chip, would not work if N is greater than one, because one of the two S/H circuits samples the input video signal of the next horizontal line only once and the other S/H circuit holds the signal for outputting to the current horizontal line only once during one horizontal scanning line. Thus, there is no time for N time divisions during one line time. Therefore, a column driver circuit with conventional S/H circuit driving scheme would not be able to be incorporated into a display system with column input multiplexing driving scheme.

Sample and hold circuit for drivers of an active matrix display


A bathroom hanger rack has two base seats, two hollow casings, two bolts, two hollow balls, two caps, and a rod. Each hollow ball has a threaded hole, a groove, a middle interior, and a lower interior. Each base seat has a middle portion and two lateral portions. Each middle portion has an oblong hole. Each lateral portion has a round hole receiving a screw. A hollow post is disposed on the middle portion of the base seat. Each hollow ball is disposed on each respective hollow casing. A bottom of each hollow post is enclosed by a ring. Each groove receives the rod. A bolt passes through the respective threaded hole and is inserted in the hollow post. Each hollow casing has an interior receiving the respective base seat. Each threaded hole receives the respective cap.

This invention relates to a hanger rack, and more particularly to a hanger rack installed in a bathroom.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a traditional hanger rack 1 has two base seats 3, two hollow truncated-cone casings 4, two rings 5, two support balls 6, and a rod 7. Each support ball 6 has a groove 603 and a threaded hole 602. Each hollow truncated-cone casing 4 has a through hole 401. Each base seat 3 has a solid post 301 which passes through the through hole 401, the ring 5, and a lower portion of the support ball 6. The groove 603 receives the rod 7. A plurality of screws 2 fasten the base seats 3 on a wall. A plurality of perforated holes should be drilled on the wall. However, the perforated holes may not match the screws 2. Furthermore, the distance between two base seats 3 may not match the length of the rod 7.


New 2-oxo-1-azetidine sulfonic acid derivatives with an aminoalkyl substituted "anti" (E-isomer) oxyimino group in the acylamino substituent at the 3 position of the monobactam ring. These compounds are potent inhibitors of bacterial .beta.-lactamases. These compounds can be used in combination with .beta.-lactam antibiotics to increase the effectiveness of the .beta.-lactam antibiotics in fighting infection caused by .beta.-lactamase producing bacteria.

This invention relates to new 2-oxo-1-azetidine sulfonic acid derivatives which are of value for use in combination with .beta.-lactam antibiotics to increase their effectiveness in infection caused by .beta.-lactamase producing bacteria.
The most important bacterial resistance to .beta.-lactam antibiotics is the degradation of the .beta.-lactam nucleus by production of .beta.-lactamase enzyme. The apparently endless capacity of .beta.-lactamases to develop the ability to degrade the commercially used penicillins and cephalosporins, has led to the alternative strategy of seeking inhibitors to block their action. When a .beta.-lactamase inhibitor is used in combination with a .beta.-lactamase-susceptible .beta.-lactam antibiotic, the effectiveness of the .beta.-lactam antibiotic is increased or enhanced. Such an effect is known as synergy. Synergy is deemed to be exhibited by a combination of .beta.-lactamase inhibitor and a .beta.-lactam antibiotic when the antibacterial activity of the combination is significantly greater than the sum of the antibacterial activities of the individual components.
The present invention provides certain novel 2-oxo-1-azetidine sulfonic acid derivatives which are potent inhibitors of bacterial .beta.-lactamases, particularly against class C .beta.-lactamases (cephalosporinase). U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,670 issued Oct. 4, 1988 to Sykes et al. discloses the discovery of 2-oxo-1-azetidine sulfonic acid salts as antibacterial agents. One member from this series, called aztreonam is a known antibiotic. Several publications [(e.g., Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Vol. 22, pp. 414-420, (1982); Chemotherapy, vol. 30, pp. 398-407, (1984); J. Antibiotics, vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 589-593, (1982); J. Antibiotics, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 403-410, (1990)] suggest that aztreonam possesses .beta.-lactamase inhibitory properties.
Aztreonam is a monocyclic .beta.-lactam having a sulfonic acid substituent in the 1-position and a (substituted oxyimino) acylamino group in the 3-position. The orientation of the "substituted oxyimino" group in aztreonam is in the "Syn" form (Z-isomer).
The present inventors found that by introducing an aminoalkyl substituted "anti" (E-isomer) oxyimino group in the acylamino substituent at 3-position of the monobactam ring, it is possible to obtain a monobactam compound having remarkable .beta.-lactamase inhibitory activity, particularly against class C .beta.-lactamases (cephalosporinase).

Azetidinone derivatives as .beta.-lactamase inhibitors