A method for controlling an electrically actuable parking brake is described. In this method the cutoff current of the electric motor is varied to compensate for example for changes in the application force associated with aging or wear or for changes in the application force due to changes in the resistance and/or temperature of an electric motor.

The invention relates to a parking brake. The invention relates in particular to an electrically actuable parking brake.
A parking brake is known from EP 0 729 871 A1, and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,189 A1, in which a friction lining can be pressed against a brake disc by means of a brake piston. For this purpose pressurised hydraulic fluid is conventionally introduced into a hydraulic chamber in the case of service braking operations, of which chamber one limiting wall is formed by the brake piston. The pressure in the hydraulic chamber leads to displacement of the brake piston, and thus of the friction lining, in the direction of the brake disc. This known vehicle brake can be used as a parking brake, in addition to being used as a service brake. For this purpose it comprises an electrically actuable spindle/nut arrangement for mechanically securing the brake piston in a state in which the friction lining is engaged with the brake disc.
Brake arrangements are also known in which, instead of hydraulic actuation, an electrical drive brings about the displacement of the brake piston, and thus of the friction lining, in the direction of the brake disc and away from it (also) in the case of service braking operations. The electromechanical brake in DE 102 12 612 A1 for example dispenses completely with hydraulic transmission of the actuating force. A pedal force applied by the driver is detected and transmitted as an electrical signal to a controller. After evaluating various further sensor signals (for example operating parameters of the brake), the controller meters the braking force.
The current consumption of the electric motor is used as one of the measured quantities for adjustment of the application force in electrically actuable parking brakes. The size of the current consumption of the electric motor is designated as the cutoff current, at which size a desired application force is attained in the callipers. The electric motor is cut when this current is reached. A self-locking gearing or other means mean that the attained application force is maintained despite cutting of the electric motor.

Parking brake and method for controlling the same


Embodiments of substrate supports are provided herein. In some embodiments, a substrate support may include a support plate having a support surface to support a substrate, a support ring to support a substrate at a perimeter of the support surface; and a plurality of first support elements disposed in the support ring, wherein an end portion of each of the first support elements is raised above an upper surface of the support ring to define a gap between the upper surface of the support ring and an imaginary plane disposed on the end portions of the plurality of first support elements.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are two exemplary methods used in semiconductor fabrication to deposit thin films on a substrate in a processing chamber. Typical processing chambers include a substrate support, for example a substrate support plate, to support the substrate during processing. The substrate support plate may include channels or other recesses formed in a support surface of the substrate support plate, for example, to facilitate formation of a vacuum between a backside of the substrate and the support surface to chuck the substrate to the substrate support. The substrate support provides a seal with the backside of the substrate to allow the formation of the vacuum between the backside of the substrate and the support plate.
The inventors have also observed that substrate contact with some substrate support materials can cause undesirable substrate contamination. Elimination, or reduction, of substrate contact with those substrate support materials causing substrate contamination can eliminate, or reduce, substrate contamination.
Therefore, the inventors provide embodiments of an improved substrate support.

Substrate support with controlled sealing gap


A panel to be arranged in a vehicle body includes a reinforcing inner panel made of metal and formed by press molding, and a thickening part to partially thicken the reinforcing inner panel by a thickening process. The reinforcing inner panel includes a first surface, a second surface, and a surface edge between the first surface and the second surface, along which the thickening part is provided.

There is a technique of reinforcing a vehicle body panel of an automobile, as described in Japanese Patent No, 3852733. Japanese Patent No. 3852733 discloses a technique of providing a door hinge reinforcing member at a corner, between a front pillar and a side sill, of an opening in a side body outer panel. The door hinge reinforcing member is composed of a plate-shaped panel member, and is overlappingly attached by spot welding to the door hinge panel mounted to the inner surface of the side body outer panel.

Vehicle panel and manufacturing method thereof


A source MAC address is associated with a particular port that is a member of a secure group of ports of a network edge device. A move of the source MAC address to any port of the network edge device that is a member of the secure group of ports is allowed. Moves of the MAC address to any port of the network edge device that is outside the secure group of ports are disallowed.

An edge device (e.g., a bridge or a router) is a network device that connects nodes in one network to nodes in another network. The edge device maintains a media access control (MAC) forwarding table that stores entries that map MAC addresses of network nodes to the ports of the network bridge. When an ingress packet is received at a port, the edge device performs a forwarding phase lookup of the destination MAC address in the received packet and a learning phase lookup of the source MAC address in the received packet.
In the forwarding phase lookup mode of operation, the edge device looks for the destination address in the received ingress packet in the MAC forwarding table. If an entry containing the destination address is found, the edge device forwards the packet to the port listed in the entry; otherwise, the edge device may "flood" the packet on all output ports of the edge device except the port on which the packet was received.
In the learning phase mode of operation, the edge device looks up the source address in the received ingress packet in the MAC forwarding table. If an entry containing the source address is not found, the edge device adds a new entry to the MAC forwarding table that maps the source address to the port on which the packet was received. If an entry containing the source address is found, the edge device determines whether the entry associates the source address with the current port on which the packet was received or a different port. If the current port is the same as the port listed in the identified forwarding table entry, the learning phase ends. If the current port is different from the port listed in the identified forwarding table entry, the edge device determines that the source address has moved (i.e., that a MAC move has occurred) and updates the MAC forwarding table to reflect the new MAC address to port mapping.
Some edge devices are configured to implement one or more security protocols. For example, an edge device may be restricted to a maximum number of source MAC addresses that can be learned for each VLAN (virtual local area network). In another example, the edge device may be configured to lock down the MAC forwarding table in response to receipt of a MAC lock down command. In accordance with these approaches, after the maximum number of source MAC addresses has been learned or the MAC lock down command has been received, the edge device discards packets that contain source MAC addresses that are not listed in the current MAC address table. In another example, the number of moves of the MAC address over time is tracked in order to detect and prevent bridge forwarding loops. If the number of MAC moves of a particular source MAC address over a given period is above a threshold number, the edge device may block all packets that are associated with that source MAC address and issue a loop detection warning.
Systems and methods of managing MAC moves with secure port groups are described herein.

Managing MAC moves with secure port groups

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Novel microwave processing equipment includes a silicon single crystal containing neutral {110} planar four vacancies, a cooling mechanism for holding the silicon single crystal to a low temperature, a light pumping mechanism for irradiating light to the silicon single crystal, a magnetic field applying device for applying a static magnetic field to the silicon single crystal, an orientation holding mechanism for holding the silicon single crystal to a specific orientation with respect to the static magnetic field, an electromagnetic wave inputting mechanism for supplying an input electromagnetic wave to the silicon single crystal, and an electromagnetic wave outputting mechanism for extracting an output electromagnetic wave from the silicon single crystal. The input electromagnetic wave supplied in the silicon single crystal by the electromagnetic wave inputting mechanism is amplified by the stimulated emission produced in the silicon single crystal and passes through the electromagnetic wave outputting mechanism to be outputted to the outside. A microwave amplifier with narrow band width capable of amplifying the electromagnetic wave in the microwave range with low noise is thus obtained.

The present invention relates to microwave processing equipment for amplifying or attenuating microwaves and more particularly to microwave processing equipment being suitable to amplify weak electromagnetic waves in the microwave range.
In the prior art, in order to amplify electromagnetic wave in the microwave range, an electron tubes such as a klystron or a traveling wave tube, and semiconductor elements such as a Gunn diode or an impact avalanche and transit time diode, have been used. These electron tubes and semiconductor elements are explained, for example, in Eitaro Abe, "Microwave Technology" (published by Tokyo University shuppankai, Tokyo, 1979) at pp. 127-135.
Among the above-mentioned devices, the electron tubes are applicable to microwave amplifications for broad frequency ranges, but there are problems in that they are large in size and weak to impact force, and high voltage and cooling water must be supplied. Moreover, and their life is short and their performance varies with the passage of time. On the other hand, the semiconductor elements have superior characteristics in handling due to their small size and their ability to operate at lower voltages in comparison to the electron tubes, but have difficulties in their limited frequency range, high price and lack of reliability at present, because the history of development of the semiconductor elements is short in comparison to that of the electron tubes.
Further, in any of these electron tubes and semiconductor elements, since a massive flow of electrons is controlled and amplification is carried out, there is an elementary problem where the flow is accompanied by the generation of noise. This problem becomes particularly serious when microwaves to be amplified are very weak.


The present invention enables to realize a convenient determination of a therapeutic effect of an anticancer agent on a cancer. Specifically, the present invention provides a diagnostic marker for an effect of an anticancer agent on a cancer, comprising a substance having an affinity for a fragment of an extracellular domain of c-MET; a diagnostic reagent for an effect of an anticancer agent on a cancer, comprising a substance having an affinity for a fragment of an extracellular domain of c-MET and the fragment of the extracellular domain of c-MET; and a method of testing an effect of an anticancer agent on a cancer, comprising (a) measuring a concentration of a fragment of an extracellular domain of c-MET in a biological sample from a subject, and (b) comparing the measured concentration of the fragment of the extracellular domain of c-MET with an indicator which presents a relationship between a concentration of the fragment of the extracellular domain of c-MET and the effect of the anticancer agent on the cancer.

Diagnosis of sensitivity and resistance against a specific anticancer agent is important for selecting the specific anticancer agent that is more effective for a specific patient with cancer. Therefore, biomarkers that can diagnose the sensitivity and the resistance against the specific anticancer agent have been actively explored. Examples of such an anticancer agent may include c-MET inhibitors and EGFR inhibitors.
(1) c-MET Inhibitor
It is shown that growth of a certain cancer can be inhibited by inhibiting c-MET (a receptor-type tyrosine kinase) that is one of oncogenes (Non-patent Literature 1), and development of a c-MET inhibitor as an anticancer agent has been advanced. There are many unclear points so far about the cancers that are sensitive against the c-MET inhibitor, which are effectively treated by the c-MET inhibitor, and the cancers caused by hyperactivation of a c-MET gene (e.g., cancers caused by amplification, mutation or the like of the c-MET gene) is promising candidates of the cancers that are sensitive against the c-MET inhibitor.
(2) EGFR Inhibitor
In cancer therapy with a molecular target drug such as an EGFR inhibitor (e.g., gefitinib), an event has become problematic in which a cancer that is effectively treated with the molecular target drug in early times lose its therapeutic effect during a long term treatment because of resistance against the molecular target drug. It is reported that the amplification of the c-MET gene is thought to be one of causes for this event (the amplification of the c-MET gene was confirmed in about 20% of patients with lung cancer which had acquired a resistance to gefitinib) (Non-patent Literature 2). It is also reported that the cancer in which the amplification of the c-MET gene is observed can be treated with simultaneous combination of the EGFR inhibitor and the c-MET inhibitor (Non-patent Literature 2).
Meanwhile, a method of measuring the amplification of the c-MET gene is available as a method capable of selecting the cancer that is sensitive against the c-MET inhibitor and the cancer that is resistant against the EGFR inhibitor. A FISH method capable of directly detecting the gene amplification is known as the method of measuring the amplification of the c-MET gene. However, the FISH method is problematic since it requires cumbersome steps that are treatments of cancer cells and detection of the gene amplification, and is difficult to be automated. Thus, it is expected to develop a method capable of diagnosing the sensitivity against the c-MET inhibitor and the resistance against the EGFR inhibitor conveniently.
Ectodomain shedding that is a phenomenon that a fragment of an extracellular domain of c-MET (a secretory form of c-MET) is released is reported for the c-MET gene (Patent Literature 1). It is also reported that the fragment of the extracellular domain of c-MET can be used as a biomarker for the cancer (Patent Literature 2) and the ectodomain shedding can be associated with malignancy of the cancer (Non-patent Literature 3).

Diagnostic marker for effect of anticancer agent


In an internal combustion engine with a fuel injector for injecting fuel directly into the cylinder, in which a current combustion is changed between pre-mixture combustion and stratified charge combustion in accordance with a current engine operating condition and the flow of cooling water in a cooling system of the engine is varied according to the current combustion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling device for an internal combustion engine with a fuel injector for injecting fuel directly into the cylinder, in which a current combustion is changed between pre-mixture combustion and stratified charge combustion in accordance with a current engine operating condition.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a known internal combustion engine with a fuel injector for injecting gasoline fuel directly into the cylinder, fuel injection at a low engine load is carried out during a compression stroke so that a combustible gas mixture is formed only close to the spark plug and thus a stratified charge combustion is carried out. On the other hand, fuel injection at a high engine load is carried out during an intake stroke so that injected fuel is sufficiently mixed with intake air and thereafter pre-mixture combustion is carried out. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-52145 discloses an internal combustion engine in which fuel injection timing is changed, as above-mentioned, and whereby, at a low engine load, lean burn can be realized so that fuel consumption can be improved. On the other hand, at a high engine load, a required high engine output can be obtained. The engine in which the stratified charge combustion and the pre-mixture combustion are alternated is usually cooled by cooling water. During the stratified charge combustion and during the pre-mixture combustion, the same cooling system is used, which has a passage in which cooling water circulates and a radiator in which heat of cooling water releases.
The cooling system is adapted to the pre-mixture combustion. Therefore, an excess cooling occurs during the stratified charge combustion. In the stratified charge combustion, a combustible gas mixture is formed only close to the ignition plug and thus combustion is carried out. Accordingly, the time from fuel injection to ignition is short. On the other hand, the temperature of the engine block is made low by the cooling so that injected fuel can not vaporize sufficiently in the short time. Therefore, a discharged amount of unburned fuel (HC) can increase. Moreover, if injected fuel can stick to the ignition plug, the fuel can not vaporize due to the low temperature of the engine block so that a misfire can occur. Furthermore, a difference in temperature between the center portion and the periphery portion of the piston becomes large so that a deformation of the piston is easily caused and thus scuffing of the piston can occur.

Internal combustion engine with a fuel injector for injecting fuel directly into the cylinder


A respiratory mask assembly for delivering breathable gas to a patient includes a frame and a headgear assembly removably attachable to the frame. The headgear assembly includes a pair of side portions and a rear portion that interconnects the pair of side portions. The pair of side portions includes at least one strap. The rear portion has at least one strap constructed of at least two layers of material. One of the layers of material has a more rigid construction than the other of the layers of material to resist compression of the at least one strap of the rear portion in a first direction which resists movement of the at least one strap of the pair of side straps in the first direction.

Respiratory mask assemblies such as the Mirage® nasal mask assembly manufactured by RedMed Ltd. and used for treatment of SDB such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) are typically held in position on a patient's head by a headgear assembly. A headgear assembly typically includes a pair of side portions and a rear portion. The side portions are adapted to engage with the patient's mask and the rear portion is adapted to engage the back of the patient's head.
Headgear assemblies are structured to position and stabilize a patient interface, such as a nasal mask, on a patient's face so that a good seal can be maintained. In addition, the headgear assembly should be comfortable so that a patient can wear the mask assembly at night while they sleep. Many prior art headgear assemblies are uncomfortable to wear for long periods. It is desirable that one form of headgear assembly is suitable for a broad range of patients in order to reduce inventory, and ultimately reduce costs.
Completely rigid headgear assemblies are known, but they typically suffer from being uncomfortable to wear for long periods. In addition, because of their rigidity, they typically do not fit a broad range of patients, being suitable only for a subset.
For reasons of costs, it is desirable to be able to cut headgear assemblies from a flat piece of fabric or composite, yet in use the headgear assembly should conform to a complex three-dimensional shape. Hence a problem to overcome is to have a design of headgear assembly which can be easily manufactured by cutting or stamping, and yet in use be able to fit a wide range of head shapes and sizes.
Known forms of headgear assemblies include the ResCap™, ResCap™ II and MIRAGE® headgear, as shown in FIGS. 11-16. These headgear assemblies are constructed from fabric or composite layers of fabric and neoprene. Because of the soft flexible nature of the straps in the headgear assembly, there is the possibility of some movement of the headgear assembly on the patient's head, particularly during the course of a night's sleep. Hence, while the headgear assembly may be initially correctly positioned on a patient's head, they may subsequently move to an incorrect position.
A form of connector to enable the headgear assembly to engage with the patient's mask is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,826 (Gunaratnam et al.), the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,238 (Lithgow) shows a form of headgear assembly including a quick-release mechanism. The contents of the Lithgow patent are hereby incorporated by reference. The headgear assembly taught by Lithgow includes an upper and lower strap in each side portion extending between the patient's face and the rear of the patient's head. The upper straps lie above the ears on the patient's head. The lower straps lie below the ears on the patient's head.
A problem which can occur with prior art mask assemblies, such as the mask assemblies shown in FIGS. 11-16 and taught by Gunaratnam and Lithgow, is that the lower straps of the mask assemblies can ride up the patient's head while in use and cause chafing and irritation of the lower portion of the patient's ears.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Headgear assembly for a respiratory mask assembly


A set of reference videos is indexed to a reference index in order to facilitate matching of video content. An indexing module receives a set of reference fingerprints representing a set of reference videos and identifies keys contained in the reference fingerprints. Reference identifiers for the reference videos are stored in bins of the reference index associated with the identified keys. The bins in the reference index are sub-sampled to limit the number of reference identifiers stored in a given bin.

1. Field of Art
The invention generally relates to an indexing system and more specifically to improving the efficiency of lookup and retrieval from a stored index.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic video libraries may contain thousands or millions of video files, making management of these libraries an extremely challenging task. The challenges become particularly significant in the case of online video sharing sites where many users can freely upload video content.
To facilitate searching of a large video database in order to identify and remove copies of videos, the reference videos may be indexed into a searchable reference index. When an input video is received, a lookup is performed on the index to identify reference videos (or portions of reference videos) that have characteristics in common with the input video. Based on the retrieved information, one or more reference videos (or portions of reference videos) can be matched to the input video. A problem occurs when an index lookup returns a very large list of results for a particular input query. In such a situation, the system may be unable to handle the large data flow due to constraints such as processing power, memory, or network bandwidth. A conventional solution to this problem is to blacklist common input queries. Using this technique, input queries that would return long lists of results are omitted and no results are returned. However, blacklisting causes a complete loss of information corresponding to the blacklisted input queries and thus decreases the accuracy of the matching process. What is needed is an efficient lookup and retrieval system that maintains the accuracy of the matching process.


The present invention features a method of noise reduction in both packaging structures and circuit boards, as well as articles of manufacture that result from this method. Both the method and the articles weaken and effectively reduce undesirable noise signals that propagate as waves to and from the perimeter of circuit boards. The method of the invention adds absorbent materials in various structural configurations to strategic areas about the exterior and interior of the circuit boards. In order to absorb noise signals, these added materials are placed around lines and vias of the circuit boards, as well as at their ends and perimeters. Non-absorbent materials must contiguously surround the lines and vias; otherwise, absorbent material will absorb desired signals, as well as noise. The method of this invention tries to match the dielectric constant of the added, absorbent materials with the dielectric constant of the non-absorbent, dielectric materials found on the circuit board. The absorbent materials are known as "lossy" dielectrics, and are chosen in some instances for their magnetic, rather than their electric, absorption properties.

The explanation for low-frequency switching noise is usually attributed to the switching of the logic gates in electronic circuits. When these gates switch, they draw more currents This change in current develops a voltage of V=LdI/dt (where L is the inductance, I is the current, and t is the time), for some non-zero inductance always exists, through which extra current must be supplied.
Both the understanding of and the method of modeling delta-I noise has recently been elucidated by Jiayuan Fang et al, in a series of journal publications. Experimental confirmation of the modeling approach has been affirmed by a collaboration between Jiayuan Fang and IBM Microelectronics of Endicott, New York. "A New Approach to Signal Integrity Analysis of High-Speed Packaging" by Yuhze Chen, Zhaoqing Chen, Khonghua Wu, Danwei Xue, and Jiayuan Fang, Proceedings of the 1995 IEEE 4th Topical Meeting on Electrical Performance of Electronic Packaging, pp. 235-238.
In designing high-speed switching and high clock rates for electronic circuits, Fang's insights are important, particularly where the wavelength of the switching noise corresponds to components of the highest frequency, and where it is comparable to, or even smaller than, the dimensions of such circuits. In particular, it has been shown that the previous, low-frequency description or understanding of delta-I noise as LdI/dt is inadequate. Rather, delta-I noise must now be considered as a propagating wave between the conducting planes of the circuit boards.
The present invention has as its objective the reduction of undesirable reflections of power-supply-induced fluctuation signals as they strike the perimeter of a circuit board. These undesirable signals can arise, for example, from current surges in vias supplying power to chips. These signals propagate in a radial-mode waveguide, as suggested by Fang.
This invention also has as its objective the attenuation of such undesirable signals as they propagate to and from the perimeter of the circuit board. Such signals would affect the magnitude of the undesired signal at other vias disposed upon the circuit board.

Reduction of switching noise in high-speed circuit boards

The Research Foundation of State University of New York


Present invention is an adjustable transfer device for unloading processed crop onto a container of a transport vehicle including a control arrangement with an electronic control unit, among other integrated components. Electronic control unit calculates position of expected point of incidence of crop flow on the container within field of view of optical image capture device, displays image of container together with symbol representing calculated expected point of incidence of crop flow on container on display, receives adjustment inputs from user interface for adjusting position of actuator and thus of adjustable transfer device, updates position of symbol in image on display, receives confirmation input from user interface once symbol in image on display is in appropriate position, derives at least one feature in image representing container, and tracks container within output signal of image processing system based on retrieved image feature and controls actuator accordingly to fill container with crop.

Forage harvesters are used in agriculture to harvest plants from a field, to chop them and to unload them by means of an adjustable transfer device onto a container of a transport vehicle that drives on a side of the forage harvester. The position of the adjustable transfer device, normally arranged in the form of a spout, can be controlled by an operator by means of inputs on a hydraulic handle and actuators, normally hydraulic cylinders, in order to move the adjustable transfer device into a position in which the crop is unloaded onto the container of the transport vehicle, but not onto the ground. Usually, the adjustable transfer device can be rotated around a vertical axis, tilted around a horizontal axis to adjust the height of its outer end, and an end flap can be rotated in order to define the exhaust direction of the crop.
Since the control of the adjustable transfer device is exhausting for the forage harvester operator, automatic solutions have been proposed for controlling the transfer device that use data on the relative position of the harvesting machine and the container, or a optical image capture device with an image processing system. The latter however are not always able to identify the container correctly, in particular when a field is opened, i.e. the forage harvester harvests a first strip of the field with standing crop on both sides such that the transport vehicle needs to follow the forage harvester, and the container to be filled is towed behind a tractor following the forage harvester, such that the distance between the forage harvester and the container is relatively large.

Control arrangement and method for controlling a position of a transfer device of a harvesting machine


A semiconductor material having a stepwise surface structure of (0001)-plane terraces and (11-2n)-plane steps [n≧0] on the SiC substrate, a semiconductor device using the same and a method of producing the semiconductor material in which a carbon-rich surface is formed on the SiC substrate prior to epitaxial growth of an SiC crystal, the carbon-rich surface satisfies the ratio R=(I284.5/I282.8)>0.2, wherein I282.8 (ISiC) is an integrated intensity of a C1s signal having a peak at the binding energy relating to stoichiometric SiC (in the region of 282.8 eV), and I284.5 (IC) is an integrated intensity of a C1s signal having a peak at the binding energy relating to graphite, SiCx (x>1), or SiyCH1-y (y<1) (in the region of 284.5 eV), as measured by an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analyzer (XPS).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor material, a production method thereof and a semiconductor device and, in particular, to a silicon carbide-based semiconductor material favorably used for production of devices having a step-terrace structure such as quantum wire devices, optical devices and electronic devices, a semiconductor device using the same, and a method of producing the semiconductor material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various semiconductor materials other than silicon have been studied with a view to improvements in mobility and performance of semiconductor devices. Silicon carbide (SiC), a semiconductor material having a larger band gap than silicon, has in recent years shown promise in terms of application to power devices, high-frequency devices, and the like.
For a silicon carbide substrate, a 4H—SiC or 6H—SiC substrate, in particular, a substrate having a (0001) plane is in wide use. To form a SiC thin film on the substrate by performing an epitaxial growth process, an inclined substrate from the (0001) plane as the standard plane, for example, a substrate tilted toward the [11-20] axis by 8°, in the case of a 4H—SiC substrate is commonly used, whereby a step-terrace pattern is formed on the surface of the SiC substrate.
For example, a method of forming a step-terrace structure by keeping a 4H—SiC substrate in an HCl (0 to 0.1%)-added H2 atmosphere at 1,430° C. for 15 to 30 minutes has been disclosed (see, for example, H. Nakagawa et al., PRL91 (2003) 226107-1-4).
In connection with the above method, a method of depositing a SiC thin film on a SiC bulk substrate by supplying a gas containing nitrogen intermittently after supplying material gases which contain Si and C has also been disclosed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003-234301).
It is essential that the SiC film can be formed by epitaxial growth on the stepwise pattern of the step-terrace structure to produce devices using the step-terrace structure such as quantum wire devices, optical devices and electronic devices. However, in conventional techniques, the stepwise pattern is formed on the substrate surface at a temperature of 1,430° C., which is below the favorable range for a 4H—SiC to grow epitaxially, and hence the stepwise pattern cannot retain its structure due to deformation caused by the increase of temperature.
Furthermore, the above-mentioned method of depositing a SiC thin film by intermittently supplying a nitrogen-containing gas is not intended for forming a stepwise pattern on the substrate surface, but for eliminating the stepwise pattern to smooth the substrate surface by performing epitaxial growth when a SiC thin film is grown on the above-mentioned substrate having an off angle.
Thus, the method of forming a desirable stepwise pattern, in particular a stepwise pattern exhibiting favorable periodicity, e.g. a periodic stepwise pattern having a terrace width of 40 nm or more and a step height of 5 nm or more, on the surface of a SiC substrate is yet to be established.

Method of forming epitaxial SiC using XPS characterization


In a control system for controlling a motor-driven injection molding machine that comprises an injection unit driven by a servo-motor and a speed feedback control loop for controlling the servo-motor, an amplifier produces a command signal indicative of a torque command value for the servo motor in accordance with a difference between a sensed speed value obtained by a rotation speed sensor and a speed command value. A pressure sensor senses a pressure of resin within a mold to produce a sensed pressure signal indicative of a sensed pressure. A correction amplifier amplifies the sensed pressure signal to produce an amplified signal as a correction value for a torque command value. An adder adds the torque command value and the correction value to produce an addition result to a motor drive.

The present invention relates to a control system for controlling a motor-driven injection molding machine having an injection unit that is driven by a servo-motor.
Motor-driven injection molding machines have an injection unit that is driven by a servo-motor. The injection unit comprises a ball screw, a nut, and a pressure plate. The ball screw rotates in response to rotation of the servo-motor. The nut is moved forward and backward depending on the rotation of the ball screw either in the normal or the reverse direction. The pressure plate moves forward and backward in cooperation with the nut. A screw provided within an injection cylinder moves forward and backward in response to the forward and backward movement, respectively, of the pressure plate.
As described more in detail below, the servo-motor is controlled by a speed feedback control loop. The speed feedback control loop comprises an amplifier, a motor drive, a rotation speed sensor, and a subtracter. The amplifier receives a speed command value and amplifies it to produce an output torque command value for the servo-motor. The motor drive drives the servo-motor according to the output of the amplifier. The rotation speed sensor senses a rotation speed of the servo-motor as a sensed speed value. The subtracter is provided on the side of an input of the amplifier and subtracts the sensed speed value obtained by the rotation speed sensor from the speed command value to produce a subtraction result to the speed amplifier.
The output of the amplifier that is supplied to the motor drive is a torque command value used to follow the speed command value. In such a case, a torque for acceleration or deceleration is required to accelerate or decelerate the servo-motor. The torque command value is produced by the amplifier, so that it is necessary to provide a difference between the speed command value and the sensed speed value, i.e., a speed deviation, to the amplifier. This means that the speed deviation is present when the servo-motor requires a torque. Thus the speed deviation can be used as an index for response of the speed feedback control loop.
A smaller speed deviation is preferable for better response. In principle, the speed deviation can substantially be zero if the amplifier has an infinite gain. However, it is impossible in practice. To cope with this, the gain of the amplifier may be increased to eliminate a response delay due to the speed deviation. However, a too much larger gain results in instability of the control, which adversely affects the quality of resultant molded products.

Control system for controlling a motor-driven injection molding machine


Apparatus and accompanying methods for optimally using available computer resources, illustratively processing time, and which can be advantageously used for selecting task(s) instances to be precomputed during idle time as well as during other periods of processing activity. Specifically, at an onset of each idle-time interval, processing time is allocated to precompute during the remainder of that interval a future task instance, from among a group of such instances then available for precomputation, that will provide the highest fixed or incremental utility. For those task instances which exhibit constant or varying value with time, task selection is based on maximum probability of future occurrence, or net expected value (NEV), respectively, of each such instance. NEV is evaluated as a product of the task instance probability multiplied by a rate of change in the value (EVC flux) to be provided by that task with continued computation time, respectively. This product is assessed, for task instances that exhibit linearly changing value with time, at the onset of each idle-time interval, or, for task instances that exhibit non-linearly changing value, at the onset of each time slice occurring during such an interval. Processing time can be also allocated, at non-idle times, to precomputing a future task instance in lieu of continuing a presently executing task instance, if the future task instance then exhibits a time-discounted NEV that is larger than the EVC flux presently being provided by the currently executing task instance.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to apparatus and accompanying methods for optimally using available computer resources, illustratively processing time, and is ideally, though not exclusively, suited for selecting task(s) instances to be precomputed during idle, as well as during other periods of processing activity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally speaking, a single computer processor, while executing a given software program and under control of an associated operating system, executes a series of atomistic processes--which collectively implement the program. However, in any single sequential Von Neumann type processor, only one such process executes at any one time. A significant response time imbalance often exists between a rate at which the processor itself executes instructions for a given process and the substantially slower response time of a resource, e.g. a hard disk drive or other mass storage facility, utilized by that processor. Hence, when the process requires use of such a resource, the operating system issues a request for the resource and then ceases executing the process, i.e. the process is suspended and simply waits, until the resource has properly responded to the request. This wait time can become significant if the resource is busy, i.e. unavailable, at the time the request is issued. While the process itself could not advance its execution pending the availability of the resource, the computer processor itself is often not so constrained.
The art, recognizing this dichotomy and given the widely divergent response times between a processor used in a computer system and other associated resources therein, teaches several techniques aimed at increasing computer utilization, and thus increasing throughput, by exploiting concurrency. All these techniques are characterized, in some form or another, by utilizing time, whether it be processing time and/or resource time, that would otherwise be spent simply waiting for something, such as a particular event, to occur and thus be wasted.
One such concurrency technique involves so-called "multi-tasking" through which a portion of a process, the portion commonly referred to as a "thread", is separately executable. Each thread has its own distinct program counter and represents a separate movement of a processor through a program instruction space. Rather than requiring a computer processor to execute a single unitary process or program from start to finish with intermediate wait (idle) intervals and potentially substantially wasted processing time, a single thread is executed at any one time but not necessarily to completion. A thread will continuously execute until either its execution is interrupted or that thread must wait for an associated resource which it then requires to become available. Once execution so ceases for a given thread, the computer, through context switching, begins executing another thread then queued for execution. Multi-threaded operation provides the illusion, given the relatively high processing speeds relative to that of other resources in the computer, of simultaneous execution of multiple threads and more generally of multiple programs. While the incorporation of context switching increases the amount of processing overhead consumed by the operating system, as a function of total available processing time, this increase is rather minor compared to the processing cycles that would otherwise be wasted during single-task processing and are consequently made available for execution of waiting threads. Consequently, multi-tasking provides significantly enhanced throughput over single task operation. As an example of a multi-tasking operating system is the Windows NT operating system currently available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., which is the present assignee hereof (and which also owns the registered trademark "Windows NT").
Further throughput enhancements arise through use of so-called "multi-processing". Rather than utilizing a single computer processor, a "multi-processing" based operating system executes on a computer that employs two or more separate processors which together operate concurrently. Illustratively, the Windows NT operating system not only provides multi-tasking but also accommodates so-called "symmetric multi-processing"; through the latter, any available one of a group of processors in a common computer can execute both operating system code and user (application) code. Additional throughput arises where a multi-processor operating system is also multi-tasking, i.e., as in Windows NT operating system, where each one of a group of processors can operate on a multi-tasked basis by effectively dividing its time among all waiting threads.
Additional concurrency-based throughput enhancements can arise through operating systems that use so-called "multi-threading". Oftentimes, executing two separate processes is not particularly efficient. Such inefficiencies arise where one process, i.e. a "parent" process, must create ("fork") another, i.e. "child", process and copy the contents of the address space of the parent process into that of the child process. This copying consumes a significant amount of time where relatively large address spaces are used. Moreover, the two processes must establish a way to share data therebetween, which, in certain operating systems, is rather difficult to accomplish. To avoid these inefficiencies, a multi-threaded operating system, a capability also inherent in the Windows NT operating system, permits each process to create its own threads, as a need arises to do so. For example, such additional threads are often used for asynchronous operations, i.e. operations (such as input/output, e.g. monitoring user manipulation of a mouse) that can occur at any time without regard to a main flow of the program. By using one thread to run a main program and creating another to monitor a device, the operating system can schedule both operations separately on a given processor to effectuate multi-tasking. When executing on a multi-processing computer, two threads can execute simultaneously, i.e. concurrently, and on different processors without a need for and the concomitant overhead associated with creating a second process and initializing its address space. Concurrency arises where a program creates two or more threads to execute different portions of a common program within the same process but on different processors. For additional detail on threads, multi-tasking, multi-processing and multi-threaded operation, the reader is referred to pages 83-97 of Chapter Four "Processes and Threads" of H. Custer, Inside Windows NT (.COPYRGT. 1993, Microsoft Press).
While these concurrency-based throughput enhancing techniques have substantially increased computer throughput, additional room for improvement exists.
In that regard, even with an operating system, such as the Windows NT operating system, that utilizes multi-threading and multi-tasking, and which can accommodate multi-processing--to the extent it is used in any given computer system, a processor can still spend and waste time idling. This result can simply occur in those instances where, e.g., one thread is currently active but it is waiting for a resource to become available and no other threads are then queued.
In particular, where tasks that form any large processing job are well-organized, well-defined and hence can be tightly scheduled with respect to each other, such as in batch execution of large jobs on mainframe or similar computers, idling and resource wastage tend to be less pronounced. However, in personal computers, given, from the standpoint of the operating system, the wide diversity of tasks, their seemingly random nature of being executed (e.g. a user executing at any time a save or a spell check operation, or a web page access) as well as relatively long periods between the times a user manually executes separate successive tasks, idling and resource wastage can still be rather acute.
Moreover, not every computer, whether it is a personal computer or not, employs any of these concurrency-based throughput enhancing techniques.
Therefore, a need still exists in the art for apparatus and accompanying methods for optimizing the use of available processing time. Preferably, such an optimization should find ready application to a wide range of, if not substantially all, computers, apart from whether any such computer employs any concurrency enhancing technique, such as multi-tasking, multi-processing or multi-threading.
Furthermore and generally speaking, resource wastage, in a computer, is not confined to occurring just during idle time.
Specifically, computational activity, particularly with personal computers, is often marked by bursts of relatively high processing activity interspersed with intervals, usually somewhat long, of relatively low activity. During the latter intervals, low priority tasks, such as background or overhead processing of one form or another, occur. It is during these low activity intervals that some degree of available processing capacity either exists and is not being used, or is being allocated to relatively unimportant (i.e. low priority) tasks. In either case, some or all of this capacity is being wasted. In an interactive personal computer processing environment, high processing activity occurs during, e.g., downloading of an Internet page or other user-initiated operation, such as spell-checking in a word processing program or updating calculations in spreadsheet program. In contrast, low processing activity is typified by waiting for user input, such as for a user to appropriately manipulate a mouse and select, through clicking, a menu-based command for subsequent execution. Inasmuch as background tasks that execute during low processing intervals tend to be of lesser current importance (utility) and hence can usually be deferred, processing efficiency and hence system throughput would rise if, in some fashion, other tasks, of greater importance, could be determined and executed during these intervals.
In fact, further throughput enhancements could occur if computer resources, such as, e.g., processing time, could be allocated, even for use during periods of high activity, to those tasks in order of their current utility to a user rather than in just their order of pendency or priority.
In that regard and at first blush, one skilled in the art would think that those tasks having greater user and/or operational importance could be executed ahead of other pending tasks that either have lesser importance, but which were previously queued for execution, or are even currently executing. Most conventional personal computer operating systems permit a user to assign a priority to a certain task(s). For various application-based tasks, such as printing a document, or various utilities, their priority can be defined through the associated application or utility by, e.g., manual selection of a value in a range delimited by a software implemented slider, or depression of a button associated with a broad class of priorities, e.g. "high", "medium" or "low" priority. As against two pending tasks awaiting execution, the task with a higher priority would typically be dispatched for execution by the operating system ahead of such a task that has a lower priority. For critical system tasks, the operating system itself can assign different priorities among those tasks depending upon the relative importance the operating system ascribes to each of these tasks. The operating system can also permit the user to select a relative importance and hence a priority to those tasks collectively executing in foreground as against those collectively executing in background. Where the operating system is indifferent to task priority, user-specified priorities, to the extent they are used, may be employed to select one task over another for immediate execution. As one can appreciate, a task priority is often fixed and does not change unless, in the case of user-specified priority, the user manually changes it. Consequently, once a conventional operating system assigns a priority to a task, whether based on user selection or otherwise, that task, if invoked, will be queued for execution and will execute, if processing resources are available, ahead of all other pending tasks that have the same or lower priority. Once the task begins executing, its execution continues to completion, unless interrupted pending resource availability with the task resuming once the resource becomes available.
However, the utility of one task to a user vis-a-vis that of other tasks often changes during a given processing session. Task utility is influenced by current and future needs of the user with respect to his(her) application, historical user activity regarding that application, as well as by changes in the processing environment of the computer then being used. In that regard, a task that previously was of low importance to the user could in a given situation become extremely important to that user, thus deserving of an immediate change in priority with concomitantly immediate or very near-term execution relative to other pending and/or executing tasks. Other tasks, typically viewed as being important to that user, could, based on recent user activity, actually diminish in importance to that user and hence be relegated to a low priority with deferred execution. As of yet, given the difficulties associated with classifying tasks based on their current utility, no operating system appears to dynamically assess current task utility, based on these and similar user and system dependent factors, and schedule task execution accordingly.
Given this apparent omission in the art, operating systems frequently execute tasks, by virtue of their fixed priority assignments, that actually have less current utility to a user ahead of those that have greater current utility. This frustrates the user and further exacerbates resource wastage and, from the standpoint of the user, decreases system throughput.
Therefore, apart from a specific need to effectively utilize computer resources, such as available processing time, during idle-time intervals, a broad-based need continues to exist in the art to effectively and efficiently utilize available computer resources in properly selecting and executing tasks for current execution at any time. The solution to this need should assess dynamic changes in the current utility of a task to its user and select tasks for current execution accordingly.

Apparatus and methods for optimally using available computer resources for task execution during idle-time based on probabilistic assessment of future task instances


Compounds of formula (I) have been found to be useful as inhibitors of DDAH. The present invention thus provides the use of a compound of formula (I), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, in the manufacture of a medicament for use in the treatment of a disease whose pathology is affected by DDAH

Endogenous methylarginines NGNG dimethyl-L-arginine (ADMA) and NG monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) which are released by proteolysis of methylated protein arginine residues, are inhibitors of all nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms. The enzyme dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH) metabolises the two NOS-inhibiting methylarginines, but not the related NGN′G dimethylarginine (SDMA) which is physiologically inactive.
Thus DDAH, which controls levels of asymmetrically methylated arginine derivatives, may have therapeutic potential through its ability to indirectly influence the activity of NOS.

Guanidine derivatives as inhibitors of DDAH


An interconnect assembly including a resilient material with a plurality of through holes extending from a first surface to a second surface. A plurality of discrete, free-flowing conductive particles is located in the through holes. The conductive particles are preferably substantially free of non-conductive materials. A plurality of first contact tips are located in the through holes adjacent the first surface and a plurality of second contact tips are located in the through holes adjacent the second surface. The resilient material provides the required resilience, while the conductive particles provide a conductive path substantially free of non-conductive materials.

Traditional IC sockets are generally constructed of an injection molded plastic insulator housing which has stamped and formed copper alloy contact members stitched or inserted into designated positions within the housing. These contact members can be in a flat or "blank" format, or they can be produced with a series of forms, bends, and features to accommodate a desired function such as retention within the plastic housing.
The designated positions in the insulator housing are typically shaped to accept and retain the contact members. The assembled socket body is then generally processed through a reflow oven which melts and attaches solder balls to the base of the contact member. During final assembly onto a printed circuit board ("PCB"), the desired interconnect positions on the circuit board are printed with solder paste or flux and the socket assembly is placed such that the solder balls on the socket contacts land onto the target pads on the PCB. The assembly is then reheated to reflow the solder balls on the socket assembly. When the solder cools it essentially welds the socket contacts to the PCB, creating the electrical path for signal and power interaction with the system.
During use, this assembled socket receives one or more packaged integrated circuits and connects each terminal on the package to the corresponding terminal on the PCB. The terminals on the package are held against the contact members by applying a load to the package, which is expected to maintain intimate contact and reliable circuit connection throughout the life of the system. No permanent connection is required. Consequently, the packaged integrated circuit can be removed or replaced without the need for reflowing solder connections.
As processors and electrical systems evolve, several factors have impacted the design of traditional sockets. Increased terminal count, reductions in the terminal pitch (i.e., the distance between the contacts), and signal integrity have been main drivers that impact socket and contact design. As terminal count increases, the IC packages get larger due to the additional space needed for the terminals. As the IC packages grow larger the relative flatness of the IC package and corresponding PCB becomes more important. A certain degree of compliance is required between the contacts and the terminal pads to accommodate the topography differences and maintain reliable connections.
IC package manufacturers tend to drive the terminal pitch smaller so they can reduce the size of the IC package and reduce the flatness effects. As the terminal pitch reduces, however, the surface area available to place a contact is also reduced, which limits the space available to locate resilient contact members that can deflect without shorting to an adjacent contact member.
For mechanical reasons, longer contact members are preferred because they have desirable spring properties. Long contact members, however, tend to reduce the electrical performance of the connection by creating a parasitic effect that impacts the signal as it travels through the contact. Long contact members also require thinner walls in the housing in order to meet pitch requirements, increasing the risk of housing warpage and cross-talk between adjacent contact members. The demands of pitch reduction often reduce the available area for spring features. Often such contact members require retention features that add electrical parasitic effects.
The contact members are typically made from a selection of Copper based alloys. Since copper oxidizes, the contacts are typically plated with nickel to prevent migration, and a final coating of either a precious metal like gold or a solder-able metal such as tin. In very cost sensitive applications, the contacts are sometimes selectively plated at the interface points where they will connect to save the cost of the plating.
The copper based alloys also represent a compromise of material properties. For example, the spring constant of copper alloys is less than stainless steel, and the conductivity of copper alloys is less than pure copper or silver. Copper also oxidizes readily, so plating must be applied to at least a portion of the contact to improve the corrosion resistance.
One alternative to traditional resilient contact members are composite contacts containing tiny particles of silver molded into a silicone matrix. When compressed, the silver particles touch each other can create electrical contact. These composite contact members suffer from high contact resistance due to the silicone material interfering with the conductive path.
Next generation systems will operate above 5 GHz and beyond. Traditional sockets and interconnects will reach mechanical and electrical limitations that mandate alternate approaches.

Resilient conductive electrical interconnect


A protection system for protecting valuables, such as, for example, drugs, banknotes, checks, bank cards or securities, that are contained in a physically impregnable storage container or box, in which the contents of the storage box are destroyed upon the detection of an attempted unauthorized access to the storage box. The storage box includes an internal management system that controls transitions between a plurality of operating modes in accordance with particular events, the validity of the transitions being authenticated and verified. If the contents of the storage box are destroyed, data stored in a memory of the internal management system is also erased, so as to prevent the unauthorized extraction of the data, which could possibly be used to gain access to other portions of the protection system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a system for protecting documents or valuables and in particular, means of payment, such as banknotes, checks or bank cards, enclosed in a physically tamper-proof container, which also goes through a series of logical states, authenticated in small numbers.
2. Discussion of Background and Relevant Information
Conventional systems for protecting documents or valuables, such as means of payment, are well known and most of them are widely based on the principle of a safe with armored plated walls, the access to which is reserved for the sole owners of a key, with a material or immaterial support (such as a code), and wherein the safe is located in a controlled environment made safe for example by means of several armored plating.
An alternative to these conventional devices, which are often heavy and cumbersome, is offered in several French patents in Applicants' name. In patent FR-A-2 550 364, the documents to be protected, hereinafter referred to as funds, are enclosed in a small box, the physical state of which is checked by means of sensors that continuously give out signals, which should comply with the signals resulting from a compulsory and ineluctable process, when a sensor detects a fault, the funds are destroyed or marked.
The destructive device used for this purpose can be, for example, that described in patent FR-A-2 574 845 in Applicants' name.
In the case of valuables to be transported, such as, for example, dangerous drugs (narcotics, poisons) or which have a considerable added value, the destructive device is very much different; the man of the trade is aware of the known, specific means in this field.
The object of the above mentioned patents consists in making useless or in destroying, in the event of an attack, the funds contained in a box and whose important fiduciary value is far lower than their real value, (which is the case for banknotes, cards and checks); the desirability for these funds thus becomes nil, since they are destroyed before they can be reached.
The sensors associated with these systems, and which in particular enable the detection of a physical attack on the small box, can be of a very light structure; an appropriate wall integrity sensor being described, for example, in French patent FR-A-2 615 987 in Applicants' name.
A certain number of inconveniences are linked with the systems of protection offered by the above-noted that patents endanger the very reliability of protection, both when the small box containing the funds to be protected is mobile and when the small box is stationary, and especially during transactions connected to changes in the state of the small box, such as, for example, when the small box is removed, is delivered, is opened or closed.
Indeed, in compliance with patent FR-A-2 550 364, the protection of a box is closely linked in itself to the protection of other small boxes that are transported by an armored vehicle in which they are placed. In such a case, the small boxes are protected as a whole, thanks to the existence of a secret and permanent signal, circulating between them. Any unexpected interruption of the signal causes damage to the funds to be protected. Such a device has a problem, that is difficult to resolve, of managing this signal, and the complexity thus involved leads to expensive, slow solutions that are not reliable.
Moreover, it appears that an individual protection of the small boxes can be realized and would even be preferable, since it would have the benefit of a flexible protective system and avoid destroying a large quantity of funds contained in numerous boxes, when the security of just one box is breached.
In addition, in the event of a small box and the funds contained in it are destroyed, the described systems of protection do not enable to determine the people responsible for the attack that caused the destruction; indeed, when it is destroyed, it is desirable and even necessary for the box to mark or destroy not only the funds, but also to erase any information that may be confidential and which it requires for its operation, such as, for example, supervision algorithms of its physical states, coding and decoding algorithms of messages exchanged with the outside, the nature and content of these messages such as secret codes, destination and addressees of the transported funds.
The destruction of all this information makes it impossible to identify, with any amount of certainty, the last person to have handled a destroyed box, who might just as well be an attacker from outside the system, an employee responsible for handling or transporting the small boxes and wanting to steal the funds or other people authorized for various reasons to approach the small boxes or to open them at their final destination.
Another major inconvenience of the system described in the FR-A-2 550 364 patent resides in the strict inexorability of the process governing the "history" of a small box during its transport. Any unexpected event is considered by the box to be an attack, leading to its destruction; thus, there is no possibility of grading the response when an unexpected event occurs. For example, when traffic is held up along a route an armored vehicle carrying the boxes should follow, the delay in delivery caused by the traffic jam will lead to destruction of the box, which could prove to be an expensive error and lead the client whose funds are being transported to question the reliability of the system.
It is not possible at the present time to give an immediate answer to this problem since the inexorability of certain phases of the transport described in this patent is compulsory with regard to security.
From the above, it is easy to understand that the use of a sole decision center to manage the whole security system leads to unavoidable dead-ends.
French patent FR-A-2 594 14 in the name of the Applicant is an improvement to the FR-A-2 550 364 patent. In this patent, small boxes are considered as being in a stationary vehicle, and are therefore used as bank compartments. Their protection is always collective, with the above mentioned problems, but access to the strongroom where the small boxes are stored is controlled from the outside by a computer that enters into contact with an electronic case dedicated to the supervision of the strongroom, which communicates in a secret and continuous way with all the small boxes. The communication of each of the small boxes with the outside computer enables the computer to generate a "history" of a box and to control the initiation which is carried out after various checkings, including those of the secret codes known to the persons having valid access to the boxes (i.e. a banker or a client).
The system described in this last document has several inconveniences. In addition, it is possible to design a clone computer that carries out the same functions as the original computer. Thus, the safety of the funds enclosed in the boxes is not entirely ensured, since there is no means of enabling the boxes to recognize the supervisor computer and the clone computer with any certainty.
When reading the above mentioned patent, one notes that the source of information giving the process data to the various electronic elements of the system is not necessarily the only one, which is a risk factor for the confidentiality of this data.

System for protecting documents or objects enclosed in a tamper-proof container


A method includes: unifying plural types of substitution tables in each of which a substitution source string and a substitution destination string are mapped to each other into a single substitution table; constructing a prefix tree to incorporate the substitution source string registered in the single substitution table, a string in the prefix tree represented by characters of a label assigned to plural branches on route from a root node to a certain node is identical to the substitution source string mapped to the substitution source string; performing addition of a link failure directing from a first node to a second node for all nodes included in the prefix tree under a certain condition; and searching the substitution source string included in the target string by repeating migration between nodes in the prefix tree based on a certain condition to record identification information assigned to a node before migration.

When a name identification is performed in which the data of the same person among the data registered in a database is determined and unified, the string representing the name registered in the database may be substituted in order to make the strings representing the name of the same person to be consistent with each other.
Regarding the substitution described above, a first technology has been proposed in which a rounding operation is performed for the data that cannot be unified in a master database where, for example, registrations are made by kanji character names and kana names, and a Kanji character full name written in Kanji character is defective and a kana full name may be erroneously readable. The first technology unifies and outputs the non-unified data that went through the rounding conversion to the master database to implement the name identification processing for the data of the kana name. See, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2011-8389.
Further, a second technology has been proposed in which a name and an address of a person registered in a plurality of databases utilized in different systems are transcribed into a unified format and an individual name identification edition file is generated. In the second technology, the individual information registered in each individual name identification edition file is merged, duplicated individual information is deleted, a unified name identification edition file is generated and an address in the unified name identification edition file is converted into a regional Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) code to generate a single unified database. See, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-11049.

String substitution apparatus, string substitution method and storage medium


A protocol-conforming server system separated into the receive part and the send part and provided with a receive protocol processor for processing the receive and a send protocol processor for processing the send which permits speedy sending out large-sized data which requires to be continuous and consecutive, e.g., moving image data and audio data. Packet header models are provided as template to save processing time, for the data covered by the present invention are sent out in the form of a packet, and almost the same packet header is used each time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a server system and methods for conforming to different protocols. More particularly, the server system and methods for adapting to various protocol formulas in case of sending out large quantities of continuous and consecutive data such as audio data of moving images and voices on a communication line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is necessary for sending and receiving-of data via such communication lines as the Ethernet to generate and analyze communication data conforming to different protocols. Furthermore, in transferring a large volume of data such as moving images at a high speed, it is important to speed up the protocol adapting process.
FIG. 12 shows the conventional protocol-conforming process in the server system.
In the prior art, a server system 608 is connected to a terminal unit 607 via a communication line switch 606. According to the instructions from a central control 605, a protocol sender-receiver 604 makes a processing to send or receive the communication data.
When the server sends out the data to the terminal unit in response to a demand for data from a terminal unit, at first, the central control 605 prepares header information for the communication such as data to communicate, and the addresses of the terminal units on the communication lines, and further, stores them in a header memory 602 and in a contents memory 603 respectively.
According to instructions from the central control 605, a protocol separator-coupler 601 reads out the header from the header memory 602 and the contents from the contents memory 603, and then couples the header and the contents, and thereafter generates a packet data adapted to the form of the communication protocol, which data is sent to the protocol sender-receiver 604. The central control 605 instructs the protocol sender-receiver 604 to send out the data, and the data are sent to the terminal unit 607.
The above mentioned header has different standards based on communication systems, e.g., TCP/IP for the Internet, IPX standard of Novell Inc., a data transfer system of NFS protocol, and data transfer system of "endless effluence" style, etc. The communication system comprises the signal to designate its communication style in response to the request-to-send of the terminal unit. After reading out the signal, the central control 605 prepares the header applicable to the demand from the terminal unit.
On the other hand, in case of receiving data from the terminal unit 607, a packet data is first received by the protocol sender-receiver 604 via network. The said protocol sender-receiver 604 transfers the received packet data to the protocol separator-coupler 601, where the data is separated into the header and the contents. The header obtained as mentioned above is stored in the header memory 602 temporarily, while the contents is kept in the contents memory 603 in the same way. In the next step, the central control 605 will make the necessary processing as writing into the hard disk the contents equivalent to the information (file name, packet number, data size etc.) stored in the header memory 602 or making the data shown on the display.
However, in the foregoing protocol processing in the prior art, the central control 605 makes the necessary processing including the generation of a header for communication to the terminal unit and giving instructions to couple data. As described above, demands from the terminal unit are not simple, so that the central control 605 often has to prepare many headers in response to various demands. And also, the amount of that processing or workload get to be increased, and its takes much time. This system processes not only send protocols but also receive protocols, which adds the further load on the central control 605.
Therefore, it takes a longer time, to send data equivalent to a request-to-send from the terminal unit 607 in response to the said request-to-send, and it delays sending data to the terminal units. Especially in each time of sending out running data such as moving images or pictures, data is fragmented into packet data in the same size and formed the same header. The protocol processing, that is, coupling the header with data and sending out the same is repeated, so that it results some defaults, that is, the overhead increases, the sending out from the server is delayed, and the reproduction of moving images on the terminal side is disrupted.
The present invention is proposed based on those shortcomings of the prior art.

Server system and methods for conforming to different protocols

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A particle counting method is provided whereby a liquid sample is radiated by a laser light, scattered light produced by causing the laser light to hit a particle in the liquid sample is detected by a photoelectric conversion element, and a sample value which is the output of the photoelectric conversion element is sequentially compared to a threshold preset for each particle size range, thereby counting the number of particles for each particle size range, the method comprising: a timer start-up step for starting a timer of a predetermined time when the sample value becomes smaller than a threshold of a minimum particle size for the first time and for sequentially holding the maximum value of the sample value; and a timer extension step for restarting the timer to sequentially hold the maximum value of the sample value when the sample value at the time-out of the timer start-up step is larger than the threshold of the minimum particle size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a particle counting method whereby scattered light produced by radiating a fluid sample with a laser light is detected to count the number of particles for each particle size range.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a conventional method for counting particles in a liquid or in air, a method is known whereby the magnitude of the output voltage of a photoelectric conversion element receiving scattered light caused by particles is analyzed to find the size of particles in a liquid sample, thereby counting the number of particles for each particle size range.
Further, a method is known whereby the number concentration is determined by the time when the output voltage of a photoelectric conversion element receiving scattered light exceeds a predetermined threshold (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). Another method is known whereby the duration time of scattered light is measured to discriminate the scattered light by the particles from a background light (for example, refer to Patent Document 2). A still further method is known whereby a sampled latest value is sequentially compared to a preceding value and, when it is judged that the latest value is smaller than the preceding value, the scope of the particle sizes is searched referring to a particle size table, thereby counting the particles for each particle size range. However, when the pulse width exceeds a predetermined time, the particles are not counted (for example, refer to Patent Document 3).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H09-273987
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. S63-149541
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H11-258145
However, particles moving near an inner wall of a flow cell or particles moving near a flow channel boundary of a flow channel formed as a result of the flow of an air sample are slower than those moving through the center of the flow channel and exhibit unstable behavior. In this manner, there is a problem in that, if a judgment is made only by the time when the output voltage of a photoelectric conversion element exceeds a threshold or by the duration time of scattered light, one particle may be falsely recognized as a plurality of particles or particles may not be counted.
Further, a signal wave form by a large particle is accompanied by an overshoot. In this manner, if a judgment is made only by the time when the output voltage of the photoelectric conversion element exceeds the threshold or by the duration time of the scattered light, there is a problem in that one particle may be falsely recognized as a plurality of particles.


Binders for coating materials that exhibit high flexibility and good hardness contain a polymer-modified resin, containing I) at least one polyester having a hydroxyl group or a carboxyl group or both, and II) at least one glycidyl-containing polyacrylate. The polyester I contains an alcohol component containing of from 0.5 to 80 mol % of a dicidol fraction, and the resin is obtained by free-radical polymerization of the starting component(s) for the preparation of the polyacrylate II in the presence of the polyester I in at least one organic solvent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polymer-modified resin comprising a hydroxy-functional and/or carboxy-functional polyester with dicidol in the alcohol component and a glycidyl-containing, optionally hydroxy-functional or carboxyl-containing polyacrylate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Different polymers are normally miscible with one another only with great difficulty if at all, since the Gibbs's mixing enthalpy of polymers is generally positive. This is one reason why polyesters are often immiscible and incompatible with polyacrylates. By the polymerization of acrylic monomers into a polyester matrix, however, it is possible to prepare stable mixtures.
EP 0 184 761 describes a low molecular mass liquid reaction product of a hydroxyl-containing polyacrylate prepared in a polyester polyol. A disadvantage of such products is the low molecular weight and the associated unsatisfactory adhesion to substrates. EP 206 072 describes a semicontinuous process for preparing the abovementioned products at a temperature of at least 150° C.
EP 0 896 991 describes an acrylic copolymer in which the fraction of the copolymer, which is composed of a polyester, is below 10%. The polyester described possesses OH numbers of between 50 and 350 mg KOH/g and acid numbers of between 1 and 50 mg KOH/g.
EP 0 607 792 discloses water-dilutable polyester-polyacrylate polymers in which the polyacrylate is prepared free-radically from its monomers in the presence of the polyester. The polyesters used are likewise of relatively low molecular mass, since the OH numbers are between 100 and 600 mg KOH/g and the acid numbers are between 0 and 15 mg KOH/g.
As experience has shown, the low molecular weight, owing to the relatively high OH numbers and acid numbers of such polyesters, leads to poor adhesion properties on substrates and also to poorer mechanical properties such as flexibility, for example.
EP 0 541 604 (WO 92/02590) discloses coating compositions based on hydroxyl-containing binders formed from polyesters and polyacrylates, the polyacrylates being prepared at least partly in the polyester and there being isocyanate crosslinkers present.
In accordance with the same preparation principle, EP 0 776 920 (DE 195 44 737) describes special polyester-acrylate-based binders.
None of these patents uses dicidol-containing polyesters.


A multimode electromagnetic wave energy rejection filter arrangement for a slot waveguide includes at least one system of series coupled LC-circuits located, at least partly, within a cavity of the slot waveguide and arranged along a predetermined line intersecting the wave vectors of electromagnetic waves to be rejected, the LC-circuits including lumped elements and the coupling between the LC-circuits being substantially weak. The LC-circuits may be located, at least partly, within grooves formed in a wall of the slot waveguide. As applied to a heating apparatus employing high frequency electromagnetic wave energy or microwave energy for heating dielectric materials, the series coupled LC-circuits are arranged along a closed line which envelopes the access opening in a body of a multimode resonator heating chamber, in which the high frequency electromagnetic wave energy is employed for heating. By optimizing the parameters of the system of series coupled LC-circuits it is possible to provide rather low transmittance for a wide range of angles of incidence of waves, as well as to minimize the transmittance dependence on the angles of incidence of these waves. The later enables to achieve high protection against leaks of electromagnetic energy from the resonator heating chamber of a heating apparatus, for example, of a domestic microwave oven.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus which employs a high frequency electromagnetic wave energy, and more particularly to a multimode electromagnetic wave energy rejection filter arrangement for preventing leakage of electromagnetic energy from such apparatus.
2. Background of the Invention
Various techniques utilize high frequency bands in the communication field. It is well known to those skilled in the art that the demand for electromagnetic compatibility of equipment and, hence, low levels of apparatus interference is extremely important due to the active electromagnetic environment of communication systems. For that reason the problem of handling electromagnetic energy leaks has attracted considerable attention in the past years.
Nowadays, this problem has acquired a particular interest in terms of personal safety, once microwave devices have found extensive application in areas beyond scientific research and communication systems, such as food processing industry, medicine, household appliances, devices for heating of dielectric materials as, for example, domestic microwave ovens. The most advanced solutions to the problem of preventing electromagnetic leaks have been offered, naturally, in the latter application.
The arrangement for prevention of leakage of high frequency electromagnetic waves will be described herein by taking, as an example, a domestic microwave oven which utilizes high frequency electromagnetic energy for cooking or heating food items.
Generally, a microwave oven includes a magnetron for generating microwave and a resonator in which the microwave energy is employed for heating, the resonator having a body with an access opening and a door member installed so as to allow opening and closing of the access opening, the door member periphery enveloping the access opening. In the available microwave oven designs there is always a gap between the body of the resonator and the door member periphery when the access opening is closed. This gap acts a slot waveguide through which the electromagnetic energy leaks from the resonator.
Traditionally the problem of preventing this leakage is solved by using absorbing materials or installing a rejection filter either along the perimeter of the door member or along the perimeter of the access opening.
The rejection filter is commonly designed as a quarterwave distributed-parameters choke placed along the perimeter of the door member so that it is coupled with the slot waveguide cavity via a coupling hole. An example of a rejection filter of this type is disclosed in a U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,447, wherein the filter proves quite effective in preventing leakage of high-frequency energy from the microwave oven resonator at the fundamental frequency, but it is insensitive to leakage at higher harmonics. Besides, this filter can provide effective rejection of waves only within a limited range of their angles of incidence.
All efforts towards upgrading the rejection filter design so far have pursued better characteristics and compactness of the device at a lower cost. One example is a multimode rejection filter for a microwave oven described in the European Pat. No. 0,196,214. The filter contains two quarter-wave distributed-parameters chokes, one bing tuned to the fundamental frequency of the cavity, the other being tuned to the frequency of a higher (for example, 5th) harmonic.
However, this design fails to provide an appreciably wider range of angles of incidence of the waves, wherein the filter will be effective, due to a strong coupling between the elements of the choke (i.e. a high value of mutual inductance).
The multimode rejection filter for a microwave oven according to the U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,525, comprises two quarter-wave distributed-parameters chokes, one of which being tuned to the fundamental frequency of the resonator, the other being tuned to a higher harmonic frequency, and two capacitance filters, The advantage of this arrangement is a slightly expanded range of propagation directions of the waves that are being rejected. Its major shortcoming, though, is the design complexity, a rather large size of the choke, and a nonuniform dependence of the reflectivity of waves to be rejected on their propagation directions.
The microwave oven according to the U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,034, incorporates a multimode rejection filter which is coupled with the slot waveguide cavity through a coupling hole and is essentially a series LC-circuit consisting of distributed-parameters elements. The circuit is placed inside a quarter-wave choke along a line enveloping the access opening. This filter provides good rejection of waves at the fundamental--and the 2nd--harmonic frequencies but only within a limited range of directions of propagating waves, which is the major drawback in this design. Besides, it is quite complicated structurally, which makes the overall design of microwave oven more sophisticated.
The closest analog of the present multimode rejection filter for a slot waveguide in terms of collective relevant properties featured in both designs is the multimode rejection filter proposed in the paper: "High response door seal for microwave oven" by S. Ohkava, H. Watanabe, K. Kane (Microwave Power Symposium Digest, 1978). This filter is intended for utilization in domestic microwave ovens to prevent leaks of high-frequency energy from a resonator heating chamber.
The filter comprises a system of strongly coupled series LC-circuits arranged inside a quarter-wave choke along a predetermined line intersecting the wave vectors of the waves to be rejected. It also comprises a parallel LC-circuit located inside another quarter-wave choke. Both of these quarter-wave chokes are coupled with a slot waveguide cavity via a coupling hole, the slot waveguide being formed by a body of the resonator heating chamber and a door member periphery enveloping an access opening in the heating chamber. The LC-circuits consist of distributed elements.
The disadvantages of this multimode rejection filter are the design complexity and the dependence, although a weaker one as against other filter designs used for the same purpose, of the transmittance on the propagation direction of waves to be rejected. This limits the range of angles of incidence of the waves rejected by the filter.

Multimode electromagnetic wave energy rejection filter arrangement for a slot waveguide


A removable protective thermoformable coating for the packaging of electronic equipment. The coating includes a thermoplastic film and a microencapsulated silicone attached to one side of the film. The coating is vacuum formed and/or melted onto a component, releasing a one- or two-component silicone that forms a silicone layer. The silicone layer cures or hardens, and, together with the thermoplastic film, forms a protective coating. The coating may be removed or peeled off, as the silicone will preferentially adhere to the film.

Silicone based conformal coatings that are sprayed on electronic boards are commonly used in automotive and military applications. The silicone coating provides good corrosion and mechanical protection but is difficult and unsafe to apply, and is not easily reworkable. For example, parylene conformal coatings are commercially available but require advanced application methods. Parylene conformal coatings are normally applied in a solid state by a vapor deposition polymerization method. Melt-on waxes are used for protection of electronic components, but they are messy and not easily incorporated into manufacturing processes.
Film wraps are commonly used as oxidative and odor barriers for various food products. Further, metallized bags are frequently used as barriers against odor and water vapor to keep foods dry and crisp, such as for example potato chips. However, these types of barriers can not be vacuum formed or melted onto a component. Further, thermoplastic films alone do not have an effective melt viscosity to provide sufficient wetting, and hence, do not protect against ion migration and corrosion.
A combination of silicone and film is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,117. The '117 patent describes forming a cured silicone resin on a releasing film that acts as a carrier for the silicone. After application of the cured silicone layer to a substrate, the film is removed. Hence, the combination of silicone and film does not supply a protective coating that can be easily removed from a substrate and reworked.
A combination of silicone and film for medical applications is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,560. The '560 patent describes a silicone composition that is bonded to the surface of a thermoplastic splinting material. Hence, a silicone layer is formed and cured prior to application and does not provide sufficient surface and corrosion properties

Silicone dispensing with a conformal film

Abstract: Also, a method for applying a protective coating to a component. The component is contacted with a thermoplastic film having silicone microcapsules on the contacting side of the film. The film is heated and drawn down over the component by pressure or vacuum, breaking the silicone microcapsules and releasing liquid silicone. The silicone is allowed to cure and form a coating.