Four memory cells each obtained by connecting a ferroelectric capacitor in parallel to a transistor are connected in series with each other to constitute a cell block. A sense amplifier circuit is arranged on a one-end side in a column direction every four cell blocks sequentially adjacent to each other in a row direction. One ends of the four cell blocks are connected to four different plate lines, respectively, and the other ends of the four cell blocks are connected to four different bit lines through four block selection transistors, respectively. Of the four bit lines, two bit lines constitute a first bit line pair, and the two remaining bit lines constitute a second bit line pair. Any one of the first and second bit line pairs is connected to the sense amplifier circuit and the other bit line pair is connected at a constant voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and, in particularly to, a ferroelectric random access memory. The present invention is used in a mobile product such as a cellular mobile telephone, a wireless tag, an IC card, a game machine, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM) using a ferroelectric capacitor, the present inventor proposes a scheme of a chain structure in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 10-255483, 11-177036, and 2000-22010. In the ferroelectric random access memory, a cell transistor and a ferroelectric capacitor are connected in parallel to each other to constitute one memory cell. In the ferroelectric random access memory using this scheme, a memory cell having a small size, a planar transistor which can be easily manufactured, a versatile high-speed random access function, and the like can be realized.
A ferroelectric random access memory having a folded bit line configuration is known. In this ferroelectric random access memory, array noise caused by on from the word lines, the plate lines, the substrate, and the like can be reduced. However, noise caused by a parasitic capacity between bit lines in different bit line pairs cannot be reduced.
As a scheme which can be applied to reduce noise caused by the parasitic capacitor between bit lines in a ferroelectric random access memory, a scheme described in H. Hidaka et al., IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuit, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 21–27, February 1989 or H. Hirano et al., IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuit, Vol. 32, No. 5, May. 1997 are known. In H. Hidaka et al., noise is reduced by twisting bit lines in the folded bit line configuration. In this scheme, however, since a twist region is secured, a chip size increases by about several percentages, and an effect of reducing a power consumption cannot be achieved.
In H. Hirano et al., only a selected column (bit line pair) in the memory cell array is activated. In this scheme, a power consumption of the memory cell array can be suppressed. Since cell data is not read from unselected bit line pairs located both the sides of the selected bit line pair, the unselected bit line pairs can be used for a shielding purpose. As a result, noise caused by a parasitic capacity between bit lines can be reduced. However, as a first problem, some sense amplifier circuits are activated, and the remaining sense amplifier circuits are inactivated. For this reason, decode circuits achieved by column addresses are required for all the sense amplifier circuits to increase the number of elements. As a second problem, although a low power consumption can be realized, column addresses must be decoded, and therefore, date except for limited data cannot be read or written outside the chip, and a bandwidth is limited. As a third problem, memory cells of columns except for a selected column must be inactivated, a plate drive circuit and plate lines must be arranged on the same side as that of a sense amplifier circuit to complicate the circuit. As a fourth problem, since a plate line connected to a memory cell at a row address except for a selected row address is inactivated, an unselected memory cell is disadvantageously disturbed.
The present inventor has proposed a method of reducing noise from a selected bit line pair and a sense amplifier circuit connected thereto, and a unselected bit line pair and a sense amplifier circuit connected thereto in a configuration obtained by alternately arranging bit line pairs and sense amplifier circuits connected thereto (U.S. Patent application. No. 2004/0105293).
In the ferroelectric random access memory having a chain structure, it is assumed that word lines and plate lines are arranged in a direction perpendicular to bit lines, that data of only one bit line is read every four bit lines, and that data of the other bit lines are not read. In this case, in general idea, memory cells of four types are necessary. In addition, four plate lines and four word lines are arranged on one memory cell, and each one plate line and word line must be activated every four plate lines and four word lines to considerably increase a cell size.


A chemical reaction is conducted in a fluid of a droplet inside a reaction receptacle or on a surface of a reaction substrate. Fluctuations of a magnetic field are applied to the droplet including an aqueous solution having magnetic body particles with a hydrophilic surface, and a physical force is transmitted to the surrounding aqueous solution through the magnetic body particles. The droplet is thus moved by the physical force to conduct an operation necessary for a chemical reaction.

The present invention relates to a micro-chemistry reaction method which mainly manipulates a droplet including particles responding to a magnetic force such as a magnetic body or particles including the above-mentioned particles by applying a magnetic field to the above-mentioned particles on a solid-phase surface or near the solid-phase surface; and execute operations such as preparative isolation, displacement, mixture, heating, and cooling of the fluid necessary for a chemical reaction.
For an efficient control and analysis of a reaction of the chemical reaction system and a minimization of the chemical reaction system, especially, a biochemical reaction system, a micro-chemical reaction system, i.e. μ-TAS (Micro Total Analysis System) structure which can be used for the screening of medical diagnostics or the development of a new medicine, an identification test in a forensic medicine field, environmental monitoring and so on, is expected. Recently, a μ-TAS device has been studied by developing a micro flow channel or valve on a silicon or glass substrate by a microfabrication technology in a semiconductor manufacturing field.
Characteristics required for the chemical reaction on a microchip such as the μ-TAS device are efficiency of the reaction and shortening of the analysis time due to the minimization; high throughput processing due to the integration; reduction of burdens on an examinee due to the reduction of the collection quantity of a specimen material; improvement of analytical precision due to automation; reduction of environmental burdens due to the control of the amount of reagent or waste fluid; and reduction of cost. On the other hand, in addition to easiness of chip manufacturing, especially, mass production; low manufacturing cost; and handling ability, reducing size and weight of the equipment for conducting the reaction and analysis are required in order to realize the device. Furthermore, low cost and higher reliability are required for the device.
A conventional μ-TAS chip is provided with the micro flow channel on the silicon or glass substrate using semiconductor manufacturing technology, and can obtain high processing accuracy and various measures of the fluid control in a micro area. However, the conventional μ-TAS chip is impractical since a peripheral device, which conducts the reaction, tends to become large-scale and complicated in addition to a difficulty to control the cost for expensive materials or high-accuracy processing. Especially, in a genetic diagnosis in a medical field which can not cause cross-contamination, the size and weight of analyzing equipment are required to be small, and the chip has to be a disposable μ-TAS chip which can conduct the reaction in a sealed atmosphere.
On the other hand, because of the expectation of the above-mentioned application, in order to reduce the manufacturing cost and be disposable, a μ-TAS chip using a resin substrate has been studied. However, when a conventional μ-TAS approach is adopted, the establishment and maintenance of the processing accuracy when a micro flow channel, micropump, valve, mixer and so on are formed by the resin substrate, are difficult to achieve, compared to the silicon or glass substrate. However, a resin chip has an excellent applicability to a bio-genic substance such as nucleic acid and protein, and a biological sample such as a body tissue or cell in addition to that raw materials thereof are affordable, so that the resin chip is very advantageous as a material for the disposable μ-TAS chip.
A technology for transporting a minute amount of liquid in a μ-TAS field has been numerously reported. As a driving method with respect to the solution sending the minute amount of liquid, a method in which liquid or gas from a drive source of a device external portion is a driving medium by a syringe-type pump; or an electrical method using an electrostatic force or dielectrophoresis have been reported.
When utilization for the biochemical reaction, especially, diagnosis in clinical medical care is considered, in many cases, the amount of the sample at the starting time of the reaction is minute. Also, in order to reduce the burdens of the examinee, the reduction of the collection quantity of the specimen materials will be furthermore required in the future, so that a micro-amount biochemical reaction system using a μ-TAS technology is required. Also, when a large-sized screening is considered, high throughput processing of the system due to integration and parallelization is required. In the conventional minimization of the biochemical reaction, the micro flow channel was built on a silicon or glass substrate, and the solution sending, distribution, mixture and the like were conducted. However, cost and labor hours for providing the microfabrication on the substrate and also pasting substrates are required, and even if a reaction chip becomes smaller, a high-accuracy operation due to an external solution sending equipment of the solution sending drive source is required, so that the overall system becomes large-scale and impractical.
On the other hand, when the reaction chip is made disposable, the development of a resinous chip is essential; however, in order to directly mold a microflow system which is designed by materials except for resin such as a silicon substrate and the like on the resin chip, it is difficult to ensure a processing accuracy of a micrometer-order, and it is required to be designed while considering the shrinkage and transformation when molded. Accordingly, there are many problems in building the micro flow channel, micro solution sending pump, and micro valve on the resin substrate, and there are also many problems in promoting mass production.
For transporting the minute amount of liquid in a droplet state, a method electrically transporting the droplet which is formed when, for example, a minute amount of oil is added to water or a minute amount of water is added to oil, has been reported. An electrostatic carrier (refer to a Japanese non-patent document 1: "International Symposium on Microchemistry and Microsystems 2001" by Tomohiro Taniguchi, et al., 2001, pp. 104-105) using an electrostatic force two-dimensionally operates various droplets, and conducts the micro chemical reaction. However, it is required to arrange a micro electrode and also provide a high-accuracy insulation processing in the device manufacturing in addition to requiring high voltage. Accordingly, it is difficult to mass produce, and costs for a disposable device are not affordable.
On the other hand, a chemical reaction operation of the droplet including the magnetic body has also been reported (refer to Japanese non-patent document 2: "Sensors and Actuators B" by Mitsuhiro Shikida, et al., 2006, Vol. 113, pp. 563-569, and patent document 3: International Patent Publication No. 05/069045). In the above-mentioned documents, the following method has been proposed. The sample material or a material connected with the sample material is connected on the surfaces of magnetic body particles beforehand, and the magnetic body particles are displaced by a magnet and united with a droplet (for example, enzyme liquid and the like) which includes the other reagent, so that a chemical reaction is conducted. However, an object of this method is promoting the reaction process of the material connected on the surface of the magnetic body by transporting the magnetic body itself. Also, a fluid control structure such as a dividing wall is provided on a glass device, and the μ-TAS chip on the resin substrate which does not require a special processing which is a problem to be resolved by this invention, has not been obtained. Therefore, the method is directed to one method of the conventional μ-TAS device, and differs from μ-TAS technology with a novel concept wherein the micro flow channel and micropump are not required, which is the intention of this invention.
As a microchip using the magnetic body particles, there is a chip extracting and purifying the nucleic acid from a sample on a substrate, and conducting a gene amplification reaction (refer to the Japanese patent document 1: Japanese Patent Publication (TOKKAI) No. 2006-61031). In this chip, the sample and magnetic body particles are filled into a refined well; the nucleic acid in the sample is attached to the magnetic body particles; and the nucleic acid is purified by displacing the magnetic body to the other refined well using fluctuations of the magnetic field. The magnetic body wherein the nucleic acid is purified is displaced to a nucleic-acid amplification well on the chip; and the magnetic body displaced to the nucleic-acid amplification well is heated by induction heating, so that the nucleic acid attached to the magnetic body is amplified. In this chip, a reaction field such as purification and nucleic-acid amplification is within the well provided in the substrate, and in order to process the above-mentioned well on the substrate, high-accuracy and complicated microfabrication is required. Even in the above-mentioned reference examples, substrate processing is required.
In addition, the reference examples have a structure specialized in a standard protocol of the gene amplification reaction, so that they cannot respond flexibly to various biochemical reaction protocols. As in the case of the Japanese non-patent document 2, this chip is based on the assumption that the example material (DNA) is attached to the surface of the magnetic body, and this is also one method of the conventional μ-TAS device. Accordingly, the chip differs from the μ-TAS technology with the novel concept wherein the micro flow channel and micropump are not required, which is the intension of this invention.
Also, there is a method of conducting a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) within the droplet by repeatedly displacing and placing the droplet formed from PCR reagent by the electrostatic transportation among multiple heated areas (refer to Japanese patent document 2: International Patent Publication No. 03/067875).
The present invention provides a method and device which do not require to place or construct a fluid control element such as a pump, valve, mixer and the like inside a reaction receptacle, which was required for a conventional μ-TAS, so that chemical reaction operations such as the solution sending, preparative isolation, mixture, dilution, agitation and temperature control of liquid can be conducted, and a possible chemical reaction after the above-mentioned operations can be conducted.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.


A transmission unit and a failure recovery method with failure recover functions, which use limited network resources efficiently. A label table manager manages a label table which associates incoming labels related to incoming transmission data with outgoing labels related to outgoing transmission data. Based on the label table, a transmission controller performs label-switching of transmission data. A path set-up unit establishes a loop-shaped protection path that includes a part or whole of transmission links of an existing working path and would allow transmission data to flow in the opposite direction to that of the working path. When a failure occurs, a failure recovery controller changes the association between the incoming and outgoing labels stored in the label table and switches the failed part of the working path to the loop-shaped protection path, thereby restoring the label-switched network.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission unit and a failure recovery method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a transmission unit which has the capability of recovering from failure, and to a failure recovery method for that purpose.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent years have seen an increasing amount of packet traffic because of the expanding use of the Internet. In today's Internet Protocol (IP) networks, the packets carry various types of information, from ordinary computer data to delay-sensitive realtime voice and video streams. To address the requirements for packet transport with smaller delays, a new traffic engineering protocol called "label switching" has been proposed. Label is a short fixed-length value that is attached to packets at the ingress node to specify a path to a particular destination. Without using ordinary layer-3 (network layer) routers, label-switched networks transport labeled packets over a layer-2 path that is previously defined for each destination. That is, the label switching mechanism enables fast packet delivery by eliminating upper-layer routing procedures. This new technology, called the multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) protocol, is currently under standardization by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
To ensure a high level of network availability, MPLS networks employ a failure recovery mechanism called "local repair," for example. FIGS. 22 to 24 show a failure recovery process with local repair techniques. The illustrated network is constructed with a plurality of local switch routers (LSRs). Six LSRs 202 to 205, 207, and 208 are connected circularly, and two LSRs 201 and 206 are linked to the LSRs 202 and 205, respectively.
Suppose here that an end-to-end working path W is established between two LSRs 201 and 206 as shown in FIG. 22. Packets originating from the ingress LSR 201 are delivered to the egress LSR 206, being label-switched at each intermediate LSR on the working path W as follows:                LSR 201→LSR 202→LSR 203→LSR 204→LSR 205→LSR 206Protection paths p1 to p3 are provided to make this connection tolerant of possible failure with the links L1 to L3 along the path W. Those paths p1 to p3 would detour packets around the links L1 to L3, respectively. In the event that one of those links is disrupted, two LSRs located at both ends of that link would reconfigure themselves to activate an appropriate protection path, thereby recovering from the link failure.
Referring to FIG. 23, suppose, for example, that the working path W has failed somewhere on the link L2. Upon detection of the problem, the LSRs 203 and 204 switch the failed link L2 to the protection path p2. Accordingly, a new packet route is established as follows:                LSR 201→LSR 202→LSR 203 (loopback)→LSR 202→LSR 207→LSR 208→LSR 205→LSR 204 (loopback)→LSR 205→LSR 206Packets are label-switched at each LSR on this new working path Wa, and finally reach the destination LSR 206 as shown in FIG. 24.
The above-described conventional failure recovery technique, however, requires a lot of network resources to be allocated previously for protection purposes. In the example of FIGS. 22 to 24 discussed above, three protection paths p1 to p3 have to be reserved for one working path W, to provide an alternative route that detours around the link L1 to L3 in case of failure. This is very inefficient in terms of resource usage. While it surely contributes to the improved availability of networks, the conventional protection method causes a problem in operability and usability of communication services.


A heat treatment device for baking a chemically amplified resist film formed on a substrate after exposure but before development includes a table that supports the substrate, a heater that heats the substrate, a magnetic field generating unit that generates a magnetic field of lines of magnetic flux directed in a film thickness direction of the resist film and reverses the direction of the lines of magnetic flux, and a controller unit that controls the magnetic field generating unit to generate the magnetic field acting on the resist film at least while the substrate is being heated by the heater unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat treatment device used for PEB (post exposure baking), which bakes a process material film applied on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or glass substrate for liquid crystal display after exposure but before development, and such a heat treatment method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, a desired circuit pattern is formed on each semiconductor wafer using the so-called photolithography process. In the photolithography, each semiconductor wafer is subjected to a series of processes including washing, dry baking, adhesion (process to make the wafer water-repellent), resist application, pre-baking, exposure, post-exposure baking (PEB), development and post-baking, which are carried out in this order.
The above-described photolithography process has to deal with a very thin line width of the circuit pattern. Therefore, a chemically amplified resist that contains a polymer that transforms to be alkali-soluble in the presence of acid and an acid generator is used.
By referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a conventional pattern formation method that uses a chemical amplified resist will now be described. First, a chemically amplified resist 18 is applied to a wafer W. The resist 18 is, for example, a KrF resist (a type of chemically amplified resist) that contains an onium salt as the acid generator, and polyvinylphenol protected by a tert-butoxycarbonyl group (t-BOC), as the polymer.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1A, a KrF excimer laser beam 15 is applied to the resist 18 via a mask 16, and thus the resist 18 is exposed to form a pattern. When the KrF excimer laser beam 15 is applied to the resist 18, an acid (H+) or positive ion is generated from the acid generator in the resist 18.
After the exposure but before the development, when the resist 18 is heated in the PEB step, the acid (H+) reacts with the t-BOC group. Due to this reaction, the t-BOC group is decomposed to generate a phenolic hydroxide group and an acid (H+). Due to the decomposition of the t-BOC group, the acid (H+) is newly generated and thus the number of positive ions (H+) increases. Consequently, the reaction proceeds in a chain reaction manner (chemical amplification reaction). As described, in the chemically amplified resist 18, the positive ions (H+) serve as a catalyst, and thereby the sensitivity is improved.
In the developing step, which follows, an alkali developing solution (for example, TMAH solution) is brought into contact with the resist 18 to dissolve an exposed section 18a, which is now rendered alkali-soluble, and remove it. Thus, a positive-type resist pattern 19 as shown in FIG. 1B is obtained.
It should be noted here that after carrying out the post-exposure baking (PEB), the resist must be cooled down in a short period of time. Otherwise, the chemical amplification reaction proceeds more than needed, causing a problem of creating an adverse affect on the width of the pattern line ultimately formed. Further, if the time period until the cooling process starts after the PEB varies from one occasion to another, the width of the line varies from one wafer W to another accordingly, which is not desired.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-85323 discloses such a technique that substrates to be processed are cooled down while they are carried by means of a cooling unit equipped in a carriage unit for carrying the substrates. With this conventional technique, the cooling process can be started within such a short time after the heating process of the wafers, and therefore the temperature distribution within the wafer surface can be made even, thereby making it possible to improve the yield of the products.
Incidentally, the post-exposure pre-developing baking (PEB) is a process that is carried out to promote the reaction of the acid in the chemically amplified resist, and therefore the decomposition of the protection group (t-BOC group) by the acid (H+) is promoted. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, in the initial stage of the reaction, the acid (H+) diffuses in random directions within the range of a mask pattern width d1, to attack the protection group (t-BOC group).
However, the diffusion of the acid (H+) proceeds not only in the film thickness direction (Z-direction) but also in the film surface direction (X or Y direction) or a diagonal direction. Consequently, the diffusion of the acid (H+) proceeds beyond the mask pattern width d1 (the target pattern line width) during the PEB process as shown in FIG. 2B. FIG. 2C shows the results, in which a pattern line width d2 after the development becomes larger than the mask pattern width d1.
As described above, the conventional technique cannot control the progression of the chemical amplification reaction during the post-exposure and pre-development baking (PEB), and therefore it entails such a drawback that the line width of a circuit pattern ultimately obtained is larger than the target pattern line width.

Baking device and baking method of baking a chemically amplified resist film containing an acid (H


The present invention provides diamond tools, and a method for the formation thereof, using CVD techniques. In one aspect, a mold is provided which has an interface surface configured to inversely match a configuration intended for the working surface of a diamond layer in a tool. After the mold is provided, various CVD techniques may be used to deposit diamond layers upon the diamond interface surface of the mold. Following diamond deposition upon the diamond interface surface, the mold may be removed by various means, such as chemical etching, or the mold may be left intact for certain applications, such as SAW filters. Thus, the working surface of the diamond receives a shape which inversely corresponds to the configuration of the mold's diamond interface surface. The diamond layer may then be incorporated into a tool, if such incorporation has not yet taken place.

Diamond and diamond-like substances have many properties, such as wear resistance, thermal, conductivity, acoustic transmission, and corrosion inertness, which make them desirable for a variety of industrial applications. To this end, diamond and diamond-like substances have been incorporated into tools of various purpose such as saw blades and drill bits. One method for incorporating diamond or diamond-like materials into a tool is known as chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
Various CVD techniques have been used in connection with depositing diamond or diamond-like materials onto a substrate. Typical CVD techniques use gas reactants to deposit the diamond or diamond-like material in a layer, or film. These gases generally include a small amount (i.e. less than about 5%) of a carbonaceous material, such as methane, diluted in hydrogen.
During the CVD process, the gases are heated to a temperature sufficient to separate the carbon atoms from the carbonaceous material, to which they are bound. Normally, such a separation would cause the carbon to be deposited on the substrate as amorphous carbon or graphite. However, when free carbon atoms are surrounded by hydrogen atoms, the carbon maintains an electron configuration of diamond (i.e. sp3 bonding) and deposits on the substrate as such. Further, even with the formation of non-diamond carbon on a substrate, a high hydrogen concentration readily converts the amorphous carbon or graphite back to methane. Thus, the concentration of hydrogen plays a key role in catalyzing the formation of diamond, and controlling the quality and purity thereof.
Various ways of heating the CVD gas mixture have been used, including hot filament, microwave agitation, oxyacetylene flame, and arc jet. While the temperature required for diamond deposition on a substrate is typically in the range of 800° C. to 900° C., the reaction temperature for the gases used is much higher. In fact, the higher the reaction temperature is, the more complete the decomposition of the gases into hydrogen and carbon atoms, and the faster the deposition rate of the diamond onto the substrate.
Of the above-recited heating methods, the hot filament method results in the slowest deposition rate (about 1 micron per hour), as it is only capable of reaching a temperature of about 2,200° C. in the filament. The microwave agitation method may achieve an intermediate deposition rate of about 10 microns per hour. The oxyacetylene flame method is capable of achieving a higher temperature than microwave agitation, and may yield a deposition rate of over 20 microns per hour. The arc jet method is capable of achieving the highest temperature (i.e. about 6,000° C.), and therefore yields the highest deposition rate, such as about 50 microns per hour.
It has been shown that higher deposition rates cause the diamond or diamond-like materials to be deposited over smaller areas of substrate surface. Thus, a higher rate of deposition may be more, or less, suitable for an application depending on the size of the device and the desired characteristics of the diamond or diamond-like portions thereof.
In forming a layer of diamond, or diamond-like material on a substrate using CVD techniques, a plurality of diamond grains, or "seeds," may be first placed upon the substrate surface. The placement of such seeds may be accomplished using CVD itself. These seeds act as diamond nuclei and facilitate the growth of a diamond layer outwardly from the substrate as carbon vapor is deposited thereon. As a result, the growing side of the diamond layer becomes increasingly coarse in grain size, and must ultimately be ground and polished to a smooth finish such as by a mechanical means, in order to be suitable for many industrial applications. However, as diamond and diamond-like substances are among the hardest known materials, such mechanical grinding and polishing is difficult and tedious. Moreover, the cost of polishing often exceeds the cost for the diamond and film itself. In addition, mechanical polishing inevitably introduces micro-cracks or variations on the diamond surface. Such cracks and variations are detrimental to certain applications. For example, if the diamond is used make a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter which is used to propagate surface acoustic waves, micro-cracks or variations in the diamond surface will introduce noise into the signal and therefore deteriorate the quality of the filtered wave.
Further, machine finishing is incapable of producing certain configurations in a diamond layer which are desirable or necessary for many industrial applications. For example, drilling a square hole through a diamond layer for creation of a wire drawing die that produces square shaped wires, is extremely difficult if not impossible.
In addition to the above-recited disadvantages, diamond or diamond-like materials which are produced by conventional CVD techniques are inefficient for making devices of certain purpose. Particularly, in many industrial applications, the surface of the diamond film requires a particular configuration in order to be of use. In such applications, the non-surface portion of the diamond or diamond-like material is unimportant to the performance of the device. However, conventional CVD techniques create the working surface by depositing thick films of diamond on the substrate and building up of the working surface to a body. Such a process wastes time and effort by slowly depositing a thick non-surface body of diamond or diamond-like materials.
As such, a process for making super-hard material containing devices which require little or no post synthesis work to achieve a finished product continues to be sought through on-going research and development efforts.

Cast diamond tools and formation thereof by chemical vapor deposition


A golf swing training and exercising device for developing the muscles of a golfer which are associated with a golf swing. The device includes a housing which is secured at an elevated position above a level ground surface. A resistance generating unit is mounted within the housing and imparts a controlled and adjustable resistance to an elongate member which is pivotally secured to the housing. The elongate member is also both pivotally secured at a first location to the housing and at a second remote location to a grip. The grip is capable of being grasped by the golfer in a golf swing stance and the golfer rotates the grip and elongate member in a first resistive direction corresponding to a back stroke and then in a subsequent and second opposite resistive direction corresponding to a follow through swing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to golf swinging apparatuses and devices for developing the physical capabilities of a golfer and, more particularly, to a golf swing training and exercising device for developing the muscle groups of a golfer associated with a golf swing, such muscle training being accomplished with the assistance of a constant resistive force applied to the user during the course of both the backstroke and follow-through swing. The present invention is also useful as a physical therapy device for rehabilitating various injuries and ailments for which exercising of the golfing muscle groups will aid in rehabilitation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is well documented with golf swing exercising and training devices for use in developing the muscular capability of a golfer. The purpose behind such devices generally is to improved both the mechanics and amount of force capable of being applied by a golfer during a golf swing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,801, issued to DeBack, teaches a golf swing muscle strengthener device which consists of a structural member attached to a conventional golf club, the member including being clamped to the handle of the club and including a plurality of weights which are suspended from the member so that they are directly below the golfer's grip. U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,481, also issued to DeBack, teaches another type of golf swing strengthening device which incorporates just the handle portion of a golf club and which again includes a selective plurality of weights which are secured to a downwardly extending end of an elongate member.
A further type of golf swing muscle developer is evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,135,714 and 4,253,663, both issued to Hughes. The Hughes '714 patent discloses a flexible cord attached to and wound around a spring loaded or spring-retarded pulley mounted to a wall or other stationary vertical support surface. An elongate handle is attached to a free end of the flexible cord remote from the pulley and, upon repetitive use by a golfer, strains and strengthens the muscles of the user. The Huges '663 patent is similar to the '714 disclosure and also teaches a U-shaped mounting bracket design which is capable of being mounted over a horizontal top of a door or other support.
A further type of muscle strengthener device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,212, issued to Opponheimer, which teaches an arched overhead support which is mounted on rollers so as to be rotated about a fixed axis to selected positions on a supporting surface. A downwardly extending and slidably movable mechanism is secured to the arched overhead support and includes three movably interconnected shafts, the lowermost of which is adapted to be connected to the implement to be swung. A system including hydraulic fluid, valves, electrical sensors and electrical actuators is provided either for detecting movements of the shafts or causing selected movements of the shafts. Unlike, the other cited references, the device of Opponheimer does not appear to disclose any means for establishing or adjusting a resistive force during either the backstroke or follow through swing of the user.
A further type of golf practice apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,432, issued to Jenks, which is similar to Opponheimer in that it teaches a device capable of positioning the golfer and coordinating the golfer's movements in a controlled manner. Jenks likewise teaches additional structure for positioning the golfer's head during the mechanics of the follow through swing, as well as the golfer's midsection and in addition to providing an elevated platform upon which the golfer stands, however again does not teach or suggest generating a constant and resistive force for developing the golfing muscles of the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,740, issued to Ohly, teaches a further type of golf swing training device in which the golfing muscles of the user are exercised and which discloses a tubular guide for directing a modified golf club, the club including a disc-shaped and weighted slide which is affixed to the club shaft and slidably engaged within the tubular guide. The weight slide is removable and can be replaced with other varying weights so as to vary the amount of resistive force. Also disclosed in the Golf Training Systems brochure is a swing development device which appears to include an upwardly extending body and, connected thereto, a cord and handle for applying resistive support to the user.

Golf swing training and muscle exercising device


Provided is a method, computer program product, and system for classifying a set of data items based on format organizations. A processor may determine at least one format organization of a set of data items. The format organization of a data item indicates a symbol type of at least one continuous symbol in the data item and a number of the at least one continuous symbol. The processor may determine at least one candidate data class for the set of data items from a plurality of predetermined data classes based on the at least one format organization. The processor may classify the set of data items into at least one target data class selected from the at least one candidate data class. In this way, the set of data items can be efficiently classified.

The present disclosure relates to computing, and more specifically to a method, system, and computer program product for classifying a set of data items based on format organizations.
Data classification plays an important role in the area of data management, for example in column analysis in Database Management Systems. Specifically, data classification is a process of assigning one or more data classes to data items, such as data items in a database column or flat file, during a data analysis job. A variety of data management products provide data classification capabilities to automatically detect a data class for unknown data items. For example, the data management products can analyze the data items or metadata of the data items, and then detect the data class for these data items.

International Business Machines Corporation


The ornamental design for a bar code Scanner using the Light Emitting Diode (LED), Optical Scanner assembly and Charge-Coupled Devices (CCD) capable of reading the barcode symbols at the variable distance, as shown and described. The optical passive elements for increasing the depth of field and method of fabricating the scanning head by mass-production techniques are also disclosed.

Many industries, including the assembly processing, grocery and food processing industry, have designated their products with a bar code symbol consisting of a series of lines and spaces of varying widths. Different bar code readers and laser scanning systems have been developed to decode the symbol pattern to a multiple digit representation for inventory, production-tracking and check-out purposes.
Modern miniature laser scanners using the laser diode, have recently been proposed to provide a portable and integrable laser scanning head for reading the bar code symbols at the variable distance. Other bar code scanners (called CCD bar code scanner) using the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) source and Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) have been developed to provide the same facilities at a reading distance of zero (contact) up to one and half inches away and for a bar code width no longer than the window or housing width. The actual CCD bar code scanner does not provide the comfort of the laser scanner which allows to read the bar code symbols at the variable distance and greater than the window or housing width.


An ink jet printhead chip that is manufactured in accordance with an integrated circuit fabrication technique includes a wafer substrate that defines a plurality of nozzle chambers as a result of an etching process. An etch stop layer is positioned on a front side of the wafer substrate so that portions of the etch stop layer define a roof wall for each nozzle chamber, each said portion defining at least one ink ejection port, also a result of an etching process carried out on each portion. A plurality of actuators are arranged on a back side of the wafer substrate, each actuator being operatively positioned relative to each respective nozzle chamber to eject ink from the nozzle chambers.

The Applicant has invented an ink jet printhead that is capable of generating text and images at a resolution of up to 1600 dpi.
In order to achieve this, the Applicant has made extensive use of micro electro-mechanical systems technology. In particular, the Applicant has developed integrated circuit fabrication techniques suitable for the manufacture of such printheads. The Applicant has filed a large number of patent applications in this field, many of which have now been allowed.
The printheads developed by the Applicant can include up to 84000 nozzle arrangements. Each nozzle arrangement has at least one moving component which serves to eject ink from a nozzle chamber. These components usually either act directly on the ink or act on a closure which serves to permit or inhibit the ejection of ink from the nozzle chamber. The moving components are microscopically dimensioned. This is necessary, given the large number of nozzle arrangements per printhead.
Such printheads usually incorporate at least one printhead chip. Where more than one printhead chip is required, the printhead chips are aligned to define what can be regarded as a single, elongate chip. The constraints on the dimensions of silicon wafers which are available result in the necessity for having more than one printhead chip defining a single printhead.
Those of ordinary skill in the field of integrated circuit fabrication techniques will appreciate that the cost of on-chip real estate is extremely high. It is therefore important that a configuration be selected which is efficient and yet which uses a minimum amount of space in order to keep costs to a minimum. Furthermore, it should also be borne in mind that integrated circuit fabrication techniques involve what is generally a deposition and subsequent etching process. As such, devices manufactured in accordance with such techniques are usually layered for ease of construction and also as a result of the methods used to construct such devices. It follows that it is desirable that the structure of the printhead together with the method in which the printhead is manufactured accommodates a layered configuration. This will facilitate ease of construction with a consequent reduction in costs.
The present invention has been conceived by the Applicant in an attempt to provide a printhead chip configuration which effectively overcomes the difficulties identified above.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ink jet printhead that incorporates an etch stop layer


A single piece optoelectronic module housing is disclosed herein. The housing comprises a first receptacle configured to receive a first optical assembly, a second receptacle configured to receive a second optical assembly, and a third receptacle configured to receive an optical fiber. In some embodiments at least one angled surface configured to have a filter placed thereon is included. In other embodiments, two or more angled pocket receptacles configured to have one or more optical elements placed therein are included. Further embodiments include at least one compliant press fit feature implemented as part of one of the receptacles. The optoelectronic module housing is a single piece housing configured such that the receptacles and other components are integral parts of the single piece housing.

For the fiber to the home market and other fiber markets, bidirectional and triple-bidirectional data transmission is often required, which in turn requires multiple elements to be packaged and aligned in an optoelectronic module. Typical examples of such modules that include multiple elements are a bidirectional module, also known as a diplexer, and triple bidirectional module, also known a triplexer.
A common approach to manufacturing both diplexers and triplexer modules is to create a housing that is implemented as two or more pieces. The two or more pieces are then fit together using known fabrication processes. Often, however, this multiple piece approach requires two or more fabrication operations to achieve the necessary accuracy and/or function of all the features. Accordingly, the multiple piece approach is expensive and time consuming.
Accordingly, what would be useful in the art is to have a single piece diplexer and/or triplexer housing that easy to manufacture and is low cost.

Single piece diplexer and triplexer housing


A valve means which comprises a control chamber in a valve housing and into which several fluid duct open. In the control chamber there is at least one pivoting control rocker member serving for the control of at least one of the fluid duct openings and able to be moved between two terminal positions, one pivotal position of such control rocker member being influenced by an electrically activated flexible element. The flexible element may act within the control chamber on an actuating part of the control rocker member. The latter is biased by spring means into a first terminal position, the flexible element engaging the actuating portion of the control rocker member in the electrically non-excited state mechanically free of stress and without any spring bias.

The invention relates to a valve means comprising a valve housing, which delimits a control chamber, into which a plurality of fluid ducts open and in which a control rocker member is arranged serving for the control of at least one of the fluid duct openings and adapted to be pivoted between at least two terminal positions, its pivotal position being able to be influenced by an electrically activated flexible element, which is adapted to act on an actuating portion of the control rocker member.
A valve means of this type is disclosed in the European patent publication 0 741 248 A2. Here a control chamber is defined in the interior of the valve housing, in which a pivotally moving control rocker member is arranged, whose actuating portion, which constitutes an extension of the pivot axis, projects from the control chamber of the valve housing. It is possible, for instance, for a piezoelectric flexible element to act on the actuating portion in order to influence the position of pivoting of the control rocker member, which in the interior of control chamber is opposite to two fluid duct openings or ports which it is able to open and close in a manner dependent on the position of pivoting. A similar valve means is also disclosed in the German patent publication (utility model) 29,901,855, in which case however, departing from the design of the said European patent publication 0 741 248 A2 the fluid ducts to be controlled are placed on a longitudinal side of the control rocker member.
In the case of these two known valve means extensive seal means are necessary in order to enable the actuating portion to extend out of the control chamber without leakage and while ensuring pivotal mobility. Furthermore, a mechanical biasing effect on any piezoelectric flexible element employed for operation is needed in order to bias the control rocker member in the home position into one of its two terminal positions. Mechanical relaxation of the flexible element may mean that functional defects occur.
A similar problem arises in the case of valve means in accordance with the U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,218, wherein for setting a predetermined terminal position the piezoelectric flexible element is subjected to a biassing force and then cast in the position assumed.
Therefore there has already been a suggestion in the European patent publication 0 547 022 B1 to deal with the relaxation problem by means of a mechanical spring acting on the piezoelectric flexible element for compensation. However this leads to a greater overall height of the valve means.
One object of the present invention is to create a valve means of the type initially mentioned, in the case of which the relaxation problem is dealt with, at least to a substantial extent, using a simple and compact valve structure.
In order to achieve these and/or other objects appearing from the present specification, claims and drawings, in the present invention the control rocker member including its actuating portion is accommodated in the control chamber and is biased by spring means without involvement of the flexible element into a first one of the two terminal positions, the flexible element in a non-electrically-excited condition within the control chamber being substantially free of mechanical stress and without spring bias, engaging the actuating portion of the control rocker member in the first terminal position of said member.
This means that when the flexible element is deactivated the control rocker member is biased toward a terminal position, the spring forces employed for this being transmitted to the control rocker member independently of the flexible element so that the flexible element itself can engage the control rocker member when it is essentially free of mechanical stresses and therefore of relaxation and no spring bias, acting on the flexible element, is required for compensation of any relaxation tendency. The valve means may consequently be relatively simply assembled, because the flexible element may be installed completely free of bias or at least with only a small bias, something which may take place simply by laying it in place. Since furthermore the flexible element cooperates within the control chamber with the control rocker member, there are no problem sealing areas between the control rocker member and the valve housing. The valve means may all in all be designed with extremely compact dimensions.
Further advantageous developments of the invention are defined in the claims.
As an electrically activated flexible element use is more particularly made of a piezoelectric flexible element, such a flexible element of memory metal or of bimetal also being possible in principle.
On the basis of the valve means it is possible to create different types of valve inexpensively, as for example valves with a xe2x80x9cnormally closedxe2x80x9d characteristic and a xe2x80x9cnormally openxe2x80x9d characteristic.
In the case of a preferred embodiment the control chamber has two fluid openings controlled by the control rocker members, which each communicate with a separate fluid duct and which close and open alternatingly in the two terminal positions of the control rocker member, the closure of one respective fluid duct opening causing simultaneous clearing of the respectively other fluid duct opening. In this respect the two controlled fluid duct openings are preferably controlled by different rocker arms of the control rocker member and therefore, in the case of there being a multi-part valve housing, they can be arranged on the same housing part on the same side of the control rocker member.
It is convenient for the control rocker member to bear a sealing material layer in the portion cooperating with the respective fluid duct opening for control, the control rocker member preferably being borne in a pivotally movable fashion on a fulcrum point on the housing and in the pivotal supporting part has a material layer identical to the layer of sealing material as regards material and thickness, such material layer being more particularly made coherently with the layer of sealing material. This means that any swelling of the sealing material will not have any effect on the valve gap present between the control rocker member and the valve duct opening to be controlled. Since swelling of the sealing material simultaneously results in identical swelling of the material layer present in the supporting portion, there is merely a parallel displacement of the control rocker member, something which is practically devoid of effect on the valve gap.
It is convenient for the arrangement to be such that starting at a point of attachment, which as regards the control rocker member is spaced transversely from its pivot axis, the flexible element extends toward the control rocker member, it partially overlapping the control rocker member on the side opposite to the at least one fluid opening to be controlled. The actuating portion, cooperating with the flexible element, of the control rocker member may here be arranged on the side, opposite to the point of attachment, of the pivot axis at a distance from same. In this respect there is a preferably a provision such that the spring means on the side, opposite to the actuating portion, of the pivot axis engage the rocking control member.
In this respect there is preferably a provision such that by having different lever lengths an optimum adaptation to the stroke-force characteristic of the flexible element may be achieved.
The point of attachment of the flexible element may in case of need be arranged directly within the control chamber. In the case of a design, which is also advantageous, the point of attachment is located in an attachment chamber, adjacent to the control chamber, in the valve housing, from which the front terminal section of the flexible element extends into the control chamber. The attachment chamber may for example be filled with a potting or casting composition in order to lock the flexible element in position and simultaneously to create a seal for the electrical connections.
It is furthermore an advantage if the home position assumed in the electrically non-excited condition, by the flexible element corresponds to that position, which the flexible element assumes on assembly of the valve means simply on the basis of its weight, after it has been placed on the actuating portion of the control rocker member and on at least one fulcrum point on the housing. In this case it is possible to achieve fitting of the flexible element free effects due to manufacturing errors, without play and free of the need for later adjustment, simply on the basis of its own weight.
The spring means predetermining the selected terminal position of the control rocker member are preferably arranged directly in the control chamber. In this respect the spring means may be so designed that they simultaneously perform a holding function for the control rocker member. It is more particularly an advantage for the spring means to act on the control rocker member with a spring force parallel to the actuating force of the flexible element.
In the case of a form of the invention, which is particularly simple to manufacture, the spring means comprise at least one spring lug anchored at one end on the housing and at the other end on the control rocker member, the spring lug being part of a spring unit, which is able to be secured to the housing by way of an anchoring section. It is convenient for the entire spring unit, in the case of which the anchoring section and the spring lug are preferably made integral, to be fashioned of resiliently elastic material, for example of spring steel.
In the case of a further embodiment of the spring means the spring force employed for biasing the control rocker member is obtained using torsion rod elements aligned in the same direction as the pivot axis and which extend between control rocker member and the valve housing and which are preferably able to define the pivot axis directly. The attachment of the torsion rod element on the housing can be using attachment parts, which are held between the holding faces of two parts of the valve housing. Here it is possible for the control rocker member, the torsion rod elements and the attachment parts to be designed in the form of an integral component group. Furthermore, the arrangement is preferably such that the holding valve housing so act upon the attachment parts that on the one hand the control rocker member is urged into the first terminal position and on the other hand there is an additional twist of the torsion rod elements in order to produce the desired biasing force.
The holding faces cooperating with a respective attachment part are best installed on the one hand on a bottom part and on the other hand on a top part of the valve housing, the bias being obtained directly on assembly of the two housing parts.
The flexible element can be a component of a drive means for the control rocker member, which furthermore has means in order to permit a step by step pivoting of the control rocker member, the corresponding means defining for instance a ratchet mechanism or a self-locking mechanism. This means that it is possible to use relatively small setting forces of the flexible element and small pivoting strokes of the flexible element to serve large valve seat diameters with the resulting large setting forces and opening strokes. In this respect the design may be such that after a single operation by the flexible element the control rocker member opens by one pivotal step and after renewed operation closes again in order to realize a bistable valve function.
Taken together the control rocker member and the associated spring means can be termed a first control unit. In addition to this first control unit a suitably designed second control may be present, which serves to control at least one further fluid opening or port, the control rocker members of both control units being able to be actuated jointly by the flexible element. Then the design may be such for instance that the valve means performs a 3/3 valve function. Preferably, the second control rocker member is arranged in a bilaterally symmetrical manner in relation to the first control rocker member on the opposite side of the flexible element.
It is an advantage for adjustment means to be present, which render possible a variable presetting of the position, assumed in relation to the fluid duct openings to be controlled, of the pivot axis of the control rocker member. The valve gap may be adjusted in this way. This can preferably also be performed even without the flexible element during assembly of the valve means and is more especially appropriate, when the valve means possesses two control rocker members.
If means are present, which render possible a stepless application of the actuating voltage for the flexible element, it is extremely simple to provide for any continuous control of the control rocker member, any desired positions of pivoting being able to be preset as required.
Further advantageous developments and convenient forms of the invention will be understood from the following detailed descriptive disclosure of several embodiments thereof in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


An optical port apparatus includes a housing having oppositely disposed first and second housing surfaces and a housing body extending therebetween. A housing aperture extends about a central axis of the housing body. A groove surrounds the housing aperture. The groove extends partially through the housing body and has a bottom groove surface spaced from the second housing surface by a groove side wall. A shelf is located between the groove and the housing aperture. A gasket is located in the groove adjacent the bottom groove surface. The gasket surrounds the housing aperture. A window is located across the housing aperture in contact with the shelf. An elastomeric adhesive is located in the groove between the groove side wall and at least one of the window and the gasket. A bezel is fastened to the second housing surface adjacent the groove.

It is often desirable to provide sensor systems with enclosures to protect the sensor systems from harsh environmental conditions. The enclosures typically require one or more optical ports to allow one or more sensor systems access to the surrounding environment. An optical port is often made from a less durable material than the enclosures and, accordingly, may be particularly susceptible to structural damage and/or leakage from environmental conditions. The optical structures of the optical port may be sensitive to physical stresses arising from interaction with the mounting and/or sealing structures of the optical port. In addition, installation of the optical port necessitates placement of a hole in the enclosure, and an improperly sealed hole may allow passage of dust, debris, gasses, chemicals, water or other liquid vapors, and other unwanted contaminants between the outside and the inside of the enclosure. Furthermore, the structure of the optical port may allow unwanted transmission or receipt of electromagnetic interference (EMI) from an otherwise EMI-protected enclosure.
One example of a sensor system that requires protection from environmental conditions is a sensor system and enclosure that is mounted to an aircraft. An aircraft is exposed to a wide variety of stressful environmental conditions, such as extremely high or low temperatures and air pressures, extended periods of vibration, high-pressure water contact from pressure washing or rainstorms aloft, chemical vapors from fuel or other environmental factors, elevated levels of EMI, and the like. Any of these environmental stressors, singly or in combination, may be found in a typical operating cycle of an aircraft. Aircraft generally go through thousands of such cycles in a lifetime of service. It is very important for an optical port to resist such environmental conditions and maintain structural integrity of the enclosures, optical ports, and sensor systems. It is equally important for optical ports mounted to ground vehicles to resist harsh environmental conditions.

Optical port apparatus and method of making the same


Disclosed is a compound represented by formula (1) or a pharmacologically acceptable salt thereof. (In the formula, R1 is optionally substituted heteroaryl etc.; R2 is hydrogen etc.; R3 and R4 are each independently hydrogen etc., R5 is the following group: (wherein Y is optionally substituted five membered heteroaryl etc., R9a is optionally substituted aryl etc., R9b and R9c are each dependently hydrogen etc., and m is the integral 0 etc.) etc.; R6 is hydrogen etc.; and R7 is hydrogen etc.

The protein kinases represent a large family of proteins, which plays a central role of in the regulation of wide variety of cellular processes and maintaining control over cellular function as enzymes that catalyze the phosphorylation of hydroxyl groups on tyrosine, serine and threonine residues of protein. A partial, non-limiting, list of these kinases include: receptor tyrosine kinases such as platelet-derived growth factor receptor kinase (PDGFR), insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGFR), the nerve growth factor receptor, TrkB, Met, and the fibroblast growth factor receptor, FGFR-3; non-receptor tyrosine kinase such as Abl and the function kinase Bcr-Abl, Lck, Csk, Fes, Bmx, and Src; and serine/threonint kinases such as B-Raf, C-Raf, Sgk, MAP kinases (e.g., MKK4, MKK6, etc.) and SAPK2a, SAPK2b and SAPK3. The consequences of phosphorylation with PKs are staggering; cell growth, differentiation and proliferation. Furthermore, aberrant kinase activity has been observed in many disease states including benign and malignant proliferative disorders, as well as diseases resulting from inappropriate activation of the immune and nerve systems. In view of the apparent link between PK-related cellular activities and wide variety of human disorders, a great deal of effort is being expended in an attempt to identify ways to modulate PK activity.
Some of this effort has involved biomimetic approaches using large molecules patterned on those involved in the actual cellular processes (mutant ligands (Patent Document 1); soluble receptors and antibodies (Patent Document 2) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (Patent Document 3.).
In addition to the above, attempts have been made to identify small molecules which act as PK inhibitors, For example, bis-monocyclic, bicyclic and heterocyclic aryl compounds (Patent Document 4), vinylene azaindole derivatives (Patent Document 5) have been described as tyrosine kinase inhibitors. However these compounds have limited utility because of toxicity, poor bioavailability, or less potency.
On the other hand, some of indolinone derivatives are reported as PK inhibitors (Patent Document 6). Especially, 4-phenyl- or 4-pyridyl indolinone derivatives (Patent Document 7), and 5-(thiazol-4-yl)indolin-2-one derivatives (Patent Document 8) are reported.
However these prior arts do not disclose derivatives with other five-membered heteroaryl groups or heteroalicyclic group at 5th, 6th, or 7th position on indolinone and indolin.    [Patent Document 1] U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,849    [Patent Document 2] WO94/10202 pamphlet    [Patent Document 3] WO92/21660 pamphlet    [Patent Document 4] WO92/20642 pamphlet    [Patent Document 5] WO94/14808 pamphlet    [Patent Document 6] U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,783    [Patent Document 7] WO02/02551 pamphlet    [Patent Document 8] WO2009/033033 pamphlet


Aspects define a union mixed secure virtual machine image to include an encrypted code virtualization machine for code machine instructions of a first retrieved package; and an unsecure virtualization hypervisor that includes a non-encrypted code virtualization machine for code machine instructions of a second retrieved package and a non-encrypted data storage device.

A virtual machine (VM) is an emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. A VM image includes an operating system and all computer memories attached to a virtual machine when the image is created. A VM image that contains only a generalized operating system is basically the same as an original type of image, an operating system (OS) image.
A hypervisor or virtual machine monitor (VMM) is computer software, firmware or hardware that creates and runs virtual machines. A computer on which a hypervisor runs one or more virtual machines is called a host machine, and each virtual machine is called a guest machine. The hypervisor presents the guest operating systems with a virtual operating platform and manages the execution of the guest operating systems. Multiple instances of a variety of operating systems may share the virtualized hardware resources. This contrasts with operating-system-level virtualization, where all instances (usually called containers) must share a single kernel, though the guest operating systems can differ in user space.
Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, virtual machine images, and services) for data handling and processing. Computer program memories used within cloud structures may be categorized as "read-only," wherein values of variables can be altered at run time; or "read-only," containing static constants rather than variables.
Virtual machines generally segment computer memories into different, discrete segments for differential processing of machine instructions (code or text) and associated data within a package: conventionally, the machine instructions into a code segment, and the associated data into a data segment, a Basic Service Set (BSS) segment, a stack segment and a heap segment.
The code segment, also known as a text segment or simply as text, is where a portion of an object file or the corresponding section of the program's virtual address space that contains executable instructions (machine code, etc.) is stored.
The data segment (sometimes denoted as ".data") is a portion of an object file or a corresponding virtual address space of a program that contains initialized static variables which have a pre-defined value and can be modified, and any variables that are not defined within a function (and thus can be accessed from anywhere) or are defined in a function but are defined as static so they retain their address across subsequent calls. The values for these variables are initially stored within read-only memory areas and copied into the .data segment during the start-up routine of the program. The size of a data segment is determined by the size of the values in program source code, and does not change at run time. Data segment regions within memory are generally of read-only type and of fixed size.
The Basic Service Set (BSS) segment, also known as uninitialized data, is usually adjacent to the data segment. The BSS segment contains all global variables and static variables that are initialized to zero or do not have explicit initialization in source code. For instance, a variable defined as static "int i;" would be contained in the BSS segment.
The heap is an area of memory used for dynamic allocations, meaning that blocks of memory can be allocated and freed in an arbitrary order and accessed multiple times (as opposed to the stack, which is Last-In-First-Out (LIFO). Heap segments commonly begin at the end of the BSS and data segments and grows to larger addresses from there.) The heap area is managed to adjust its size and shared by all threads, shared libraries, and dynamically loaded modules in a process.
The stack area contains the program stack, a LIFO structure, typically located in the higher parts of memory. A "stack pointer" register tracks the top of the stack; it is adjusted each time a value is "pushed" onto the stack. The set of values pushed for one function call is termed a "stack frame". A stack frame consists at minimum of a return address. Automatic variables are also allocated on the stack. The stack area conventionally adjoins the heap area and they grow towards each other; thus, when the stack pointer meets the heap pointer, free memory is generally exhausted within the memory. Within large address spaces and virtual machine implementations stack and heap areas tend to be placed more freely, but still typically grow in a converging direction relative to each other.


A method for increasing the efficiency of homologous recombination-based gene editing in a plant according to an embodiment of the present invention includes optimizing temperature and photoperiod conditions during tissue culture of plant cells, expressing factors required for homology-directed DNA repair (HDR) and factors for increasing the HDR efficiency by using a multiple replicon, or regulating the HDR pathway or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway.

Developing a method for commercializing the gene editing technique by using homologous recombination (HR)-based or homology-directed DNA repair (HDR) in plant system is an area that is considered to be the holy grail of plant engineering. HR easily occurs in meiosis of germ line cells, yielding haploids, but it hardly occurs in mitosis of somatic cells. HDR is a repair pathway which occurs, along with non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), in case of having DNA damage. However, it is also reported that HDR occurs at a frequency of 1/1,000 compared to NHEJ. It has been reported in the early 90s that an increased HDR can be caused by a double strand break (DSB) in tobacco plant (Nicotiana species), and the gene scissors or genome engineering/editing technique for DSB-induced modification of genome has been known since 20 years ago or so. However, use of the genome engineering/editing technique in plant system remains very restricted, and, in recent years, studies are actively made to increase the HRD efficiency by introducing the third-generation CRISPR/Cas9 system. When a DSB is created in a gene at specific site of a genome according to application of the CRISPR/Cas9 system, due to the incorrect repair occurring during DNA repair via NHEJ pathway, which is a predominant DNA repair pathway in somatic ells, various kinds of insertion-deletion (Indel) mutations are often generated. Although the technique is useful for obtaining random Indel mutations, it is not a genome engineering/editing technique in true sense. Technique for freely modifying a DNA sequence like target-specific insertion of foreign gene, deletion of a specific DNA fragment, replacement of specific DNA fragment with similar DNA, or the like are indeed a HDR-based genome engineering/editing technique. In this regard, the result showing that a significant increase in the HRD efficiency can be obtained by inducing DSB served as a very important basis of the HDR study. However, in spite of the fact that the HDR efficiency can be significantly increased by inducing DSB, the HDR efficiency remained at low level, i.e., about 1/100 of NHEJ, so it seemed highly unlikely that the HDR can be applied in actual cases. As such, many efforts have been made to improve the DSB-based plant HDR technique, and, among them, the noticeable progress is obtained with use of a viral replicon.
Baltes et. al. (2014, Plant Cell 26 (1): 151-163) showed that, according to the amplification of HDR template by using ZFN (zinc finger nuclease) and geminivirus-based virus replicon previously known to be capable of inducing HDR, the HDR efficiency can be significantly increased in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Specifically, the geminivirus-based virus replicon containing ZFN and HDR template was harbored in T-DNA, and, after the injection to tobacco using Agrobacterium, a circular replicon was yielded based on rolling circle replication, and expression of ZFN was allowed to occur. Subsequently, as a result of inducing DSB in defective GUS target gene, HDR occurs due to the HDR template harbored in the replicon. It is recently reported that this technique works well when TALENs (transcription activator-like effector nucleases) and Cas9 (CRISPR associated protein 9) are also used in tomato (Cermak et. al., 2015, Genome Biology 16 (1): 232). In the literature, the authors indicated that the HDR efficiency is about 10 to 13% per cotyledon based on the number of callus having anthocyanin over-accumulated by HDR. However, when converted in terms of the number of insertion invents of T-DNA in genome at the same conditions, the efficiency is 1 to 1.5%, and when converted in terms of the cells transiently expressing TALEN and Cas9, the efficiency is 0.1 to 0.15%, both remaining at still low level. When comparison is made with the T-DNA system in which conventional DSB is used only, it is considered that there is an increase of at least 5 to 10 times. However, as the estimation is made based on a callus having HDR events, an additional loss will occur for obtaining a plant with HDR so that it is expected to be at the level of about 1 target plant per 1,000 plants. In addition, since a reporter needs to be used due to the anthocyanin accumulation and characteristics like herbicide resistance or antibiotics resistance have to be utilized, the HDR-based genome engineering/editing technique is far from commercialization. According to the result of the most recently-reported study, the HDR knock-in efficiency based on T0 transformant is increased up to 19.4% by using WDV (Wheat dwarf virus) replicon in rice. In this case, however, not only a callus having Cas9 already expressed therein is used but also the selection is made by using antibiotics after NPTII construct, which is an antibiotics-resistant gene, is inserted to the HDR template, and thus it is still far from the achievement of a new plant breeding technique allowing only the editing of a nucleotide sequence of target gene without having insertion of any foreign gene (Wang et. al. 2017, Mol Plant. 10 (7): 1007-1010). Accordingly, the optimization of a process for obtaining HDR plant from HDR callus as well as further enhancement of the efficiency of obtaining HDR callus remains as a very important task to achieve.
The improvement of gene editing technique appears to be faster in animal system than plant, and, in case of mammals like mouse and human, HDR occurs at higher efficiency compared to plant. This may be based on the characteristics of an animal system in which a large number of molecules can be delivered partially in oligonucleotide form to a cell. Among the plant systems that have been used until now to enhance the HDR efficiency in plant somatic cells, the plant system known to have the highest efficiency involves use of a virus replicon to provide HDR. However, to have additional enhancement of HDR efficiency, it is expected that various factors are expressed and controlled simultaneously. However, there is a problem that, when such factors are introduced to a replicon, a replicon with larger size is yielded to give a lower copy number and a unstable replicon is yielded. As such, it seems that efforts need to be made to overcome those problems.
A phenomenon in which the HDR efficiency is enhanced according to a treatment with various small chemical compound is also reported. Among those compounds, several chemical inhibitors inhibiting NHEJ pathway in competitive relationship with HDR are known. Specifically, it is reported that a treatment with SCR7 pyrazine (2,3-dihydro-6,7-diphenyl-2-thioxo-4 (1H)-pteridinone), which is known to inhibit ligase IV, can increase HDR by 2 to 19 times approximately. It is also reported that a treatment with RS-1 (RAD51-stimulatory compound 1), which is known to increase the activity of recombinase RAD51, can increase the HDR efficiency in mouse, but no report is made whether or not the treatment exhibits the working effect also in a plant system.
Most plant tissue culture is carried out at 22-25° C., but it is not known whether or not CRISPR/Cas9 functions well at those temperatures. Recently, it is reported that Cas9 activity is activated in Arabidopsis system at a temperature of 37° C. to yield increased frequency of Indel mutation (LeBlanc et. al., 2018, Plant J. 93 (2): 377-386). However, no report has been made for Cpf1 (CRISPR from Prevotella and Francisella 1) enzyme, and a use in plant HDR has never been described.
Increasing the HDR efficiency to a practically and industrially applicable level is a highly valuable project. Currently, the HDR efficiency at cellular level remains at very low level, and, when estimation is made for obtaining a plant with such cell, industrial use is currently not feasible unless antibiotics- or herbicide-resistance is utilized. Accordingly, it is highly desirable to establish a system which can dramatically increase the HDR efficiency in a plant.
Meanwhile, in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2017-0081268, "Nucleic acid construct for genome editing" relating to a plant cell comprising a tobacco rattle virus (TRV) sequence and a nucleic acid sequence construct encoding a single guide RNA (sgRNA) which mediates sequence-specific breakage in a target sequence of a genome of interest, and a use thereof for gene editing is disclosed. However, the method of the present invention which is directed to increasing the efficiency of homologous recombination-based gene editing in a plant is not disclosed.

Method for increasing efficiency of homologous recombination-based gene editing in plant

INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION GYEONGSANG NATIONAL UNIVERSITY


An imaging system disables pixel integration for images within frames that are identified as moving while enables pixel integration for images that are not moving. The system may implement a frame-averaging type of integration or recursive types of frame integration, or may refrain from performing frame integration. On a pixel-by-pixel basis, the system may compare a pixel from frame memory with a corresponding pixel of an input frame and may disable pixel integration for the pixel when a difference between the compared pixels exceeds a threshold. One of the integration processes may be performed on the pixels when the difference does not exceed the threshold. When frame integration is disabled or de-selected (e.g., for pixels having motion), the frame memory may be bypassed and a self-integration may be performed with corresponding pixels from a current frame effectively resulting in no integration. Some embodiments may use multiple thresholds, and may use different integration algorithms depending on conditions within a scene.

Many conventional video imaging systems use a frame integration process to help reduce the effects of noise and to help improve the resolution or the signal-to-noise ratio of an image. These conventional systems work well under most static scene conditions where there is little or no motion. However, when the scene is moving, or when a portion of the scene changes due to moving images or objects, these conventional systems may generate motion artifacts, such as an undesired smearing effect on the output image. In some situations, for example, when a bright target moves across a dark background, the intensity of the target may actually be lowered on the output display due to the averaging nature of the integration process. The effects of these artifacts make the displayed video less acceptable, especially to the human eye. In addition, these artifacts make it more difficult to detect targets on moving images, especially on fast moving images.
Thus there is a general need for an improved imaging system and method. There is also a need for an imaging system and method that reduces or eliminates artifacts caused by moving objects while reducing the noise effects on stationary objects.

Method and imaging system with intelligent frame integration


A digital tester includes a digital data pattern aligner. The digital data pattern aligner includes an alignment pattern source, a data shifter, and a data comparator. The alignment pattern source sends an alignment pattern to the comparator in a data stream. The comparator samples the data stream and compares the samples to a copy of the alignment pattern. The shifter shifts the data in the data stream so long as the comparator detects no match between a data stream sample and the copy of the alignment pattern. When a match is detected, the pattern source and the comparator are in alignment and other data, such as test patterns, may be sent to the comparator or associated components.

As the operational speed of electronics devices relentlessly increases, the testing of such devices becomes even more problematic. The testing of digital circuitry often involves the transmission of a known data pattern to a device under test (DUT), the creation of a data pattern by the DUT in response, and the comparison of the data pattern created by the DUT to an expected data pattern. A tester may search for a match with a test pattern or a pattern related in a known manner to the test pattern. When we indicate that a tester is searching for a match with a test pattern, the actual search may be for the test pattern or a pattern related in a known manner to the test pattern.
Synchronous serial communications devices operating at high speed are particularly difficult to test. One approach to aligning a test pattern with the output of the communications device (the output of either the device's receive or transmit side) is to set the clocks of the tester and device out of phase relative to one another. In this way, the test pattern will "slide by" the matching pattern the tester employs and the test pattern may thereby be aligned with a matching pattern the tester employs. However, synchronous communications devices often employ clock-tracking circuitry, so that a tester would not be able to communicate with such a device while their clocks are out of phase with one another.
Notwithstanding the performance afforded by conventional digital circuit testers, a digital tester that provides for high-speed alignment of data patterns would be highly desirable.

Apparatus and method for data pattern alignment


The present disclosure is directed to a system for generating a personality assessment that uses multimodal behavioral signal processing technology and machine learning prediction technology. This system takes a video as input, processes it through an artificial intelligence software built for extracting hundreds of behavioral features, and consequently generates an accurate and reliable personality assessment with its machine-learning predictive software. The personality assessment is based on the five-factor model (FFM), also known as the big 5 personality traits.

Measuring personality traits and developing personality assessments has a long history in psychology, where analysis has been done by asking sets of questions. These question sets have been designed by investigating, among other things, lexical terms that are used in daily communications. Whether consciously or unconsciously, thoughts and behaviors are expressed when communicating with others, either verbally, non-verbally, or using visual expressions. Attempts to develop a knowledge base for personality assessments has led to the field of psychometrics, consisting of the quantitative measurement practices in psychology, behavioral studies, and social sciences. Recently, research in behavioral signal processing (BSP) has focused on automatically measuring personality traits using different behavioral cues that appear in daily communications. BSP is an emerging interdisciplinary research domain that consists of deriving human behavioral informatics from speech, language, video, and audio cues in video.
Currently, those attempting to derive useful and valid behavioral constructs and methodologies have been trained professionals who approach their work in a largely manual, and often time-consuming, method. These attempts result in data and parameters that are difficult to extract, process, and interpret for a single trained professional. This difficulty increases significantly as the quantity of data to analyze increases and/or as the number of individuals whose personality traits are being measured becomes larger. Additionally, issues such as potential biases, lack of expertise, or limited resources can affect trained professionals and result in assessments that are inaccurate and misleading.
Machine learning constitutes the study and computer modeling of learning processes. The advancement of recent technology has allowed for powerful machine-learning prediction models that continue to improve, and learn from, their output, as the data that it obtains and analyzes increases in quantity and quality. While relatively new, many are attempting to apply this technology to solve a host of problems found throughout various fields, such as improving cybersecurity, enhancing recommendation engines, and optimizing self-driving cars.
Thus, what is needed is a new and/or improved system that generates an accurate and time-efficient personality assessment of a person using the research of behavioral signal processing, the data of psychometrics, and the technology of artificial intelligence.

Multimodal video system for generating a personality assessment of a user


A video cassette recorder incorporating therein a cassette loading device for loading a manually inserted tape cassette to its operative position on a deck, of the type including a bracket on the deck having a "L" shaped slot formed therethrough, a slider pin fixed to a cassette holder and slidably retained in the slot, and a linkage lever rectilinearly movable having a rack at one end. Further, the device comprises a loading arm being engaged with the linkage lever and a pressing member including a pressing member pinion partially formed on the pressing member and engaged with the rack, a centripetal slot formed with the pressing member in such a way that it pivotally engages and depresses the slider pin when the loading arm pinion and the rack are disengaged from each other, an elastic part for elastically pressing the slider pin against the deck.

A conventional video cassette recorder ("VCR") incorporates therein a cassette loading device for loading a manually inserted tape cassette to its operative position, and for unloading the loaded tape cassette therefrom. Typically, as shown in FIG. 1, the cassette loading device is provided with a cassette holder 20, a loading arm 30, a linkage lever 40, a bracket 12, and a deck 10.
The bracket 12 is mounted on the deck 10 and has a "L" shaped guide slot 50. The loading arm 30 is provided with a longitudinal slot 32, the longitudinal slot 32 having at one side thereof a cutout 33, a protrusion 38 integrally formed on one side of the loading arm 30, a shaft 34, a pinion 36 partially formed on the loading arm 30 to be engaged with the linkage lever 40, and a torsion spring 39. One end of the spring 39 is supported by the protrusion 38 and the other end of the spring 39 extends across the cutout 33. The shaft 34 protrudes perpendicularly from the center of rotation of the pinion 36 of the loading arm 30. The shaft 34 is rotatably supported by the bracket 12.
The cassette holder 20 is provided with a slider pin 22 fixed to the cassette holder 20 and slidably retained in the guide slot 50 and in the longitudinal slot 32.
The linkage lever 40 is provided with a rack 46 and a lever plane 42. The rack 46 engaged with the pinion 36 is formed on an end part of the linkage lever 40. The lever plane 42 is formed to the right side of the rack 46 on the linkage lever 40. A level of the lever plane 42 is higher than that of a top land of the teeth of the rack 46 on the linkage lever 40.
The linkage lever 40 translates a rotary movement of a motor(not shown) into a rotary movement of the loading arm 30 by traveling leftward rectilinearly, enabling the cassette holder 20 to move from a tape cassette receiving position toward the operative position.
In such a cassette loading device, however, after the tape cassette has been loaded, there is an additional rectilinear movement of the linkage lever 40, allowing the lever plane 42 to additionally rotate the loading arm 30 by pushing the last tooth 37 of the pinion 36. During the additional rotation of the loading arm 30, the slider pin 22 is stopped, when the cassette holder 20 is completely seated on the operative position, and then is resiliently depressed by the torsion spring 39. The resilient depression by the torsion spring 39 prevents the slider pin 22 from further moving or fluctuating.
However, the cassette loading device constructed in this manner has shortcoming in that if it is operated for a long time, the last tooth 37 and a portion of the lever plane 42 coming into contact with the last tooth 37 may become easily worn out due to the friction therebetween, decreasing the force being exerted on the torsion spring 39, which, in turn, reduces the effectiveness of the torsion spring 39.

Cassette loading device in a video cassette recorder using a pressing member having a gear structure


Disclosed are multi-purpose polymers that are the polymerization product of a monomer mixture comprising at least one amino-substituted vinyl monomer; at least one nonionic vinyl monomer; at least one associative vinyl monomer; at least one semihydrophobic vinyl surfactant monomer; and, optionally, comprising one or more hydroxy-substituted nonionic vinyl monomer, crosslinking monomer, chain transfer agent or polymeric stabilizer. These vinyl addition polymers have a combination of substituents, including amino substituents that provide cationic properties at low pH, hydrophobic substituents, hydrophobically modified polyoxyalkylene substituents, and hydrophilic polyoxyalkylene substituents. The polymers provide surprisingly beneficial rheological properties in acidic aqueous compositions, and are compatible with cationic materials. The multi-purpose polymers are useful in a variety of products for personal care, health care, household care, institutional and industrial care, and industrial applications.

Formulations having an acidic pH, (i.e., <7), containing cationic components, such as cationic surfactants and salts thereof or active acidic components are commonly referred to as "low pH" formulations. Stable low pH viscous emulsion and gel formulations are difficult to obtain. Most commonly used thickeners are synthetic associative thickeners that are frequently anionic and hence typically are incompatible with the cationic component, especially quaternary ammonium salts, or are ineffective thickeners at low pH.
Consequently, the formulator of low pH compositions, especially emulsions, has a limited choice of either nonionic thickeners, such as nonionic surfactants, or cationic thickeners. Nonionic thickeners are uncharged and thus are assumed to be less reactive, but nonionics tend to inactivate preservatives and in some cases promote microbial growth. While some cationic polymeric rheology modifiers, such as hydrophobically modified aminoacrylate copolymers, are available commercially, their rheological properties are unpredictable, or aesthetically unsatisfactory.
Thus, there is an ongoing need and desire for a cationic compatible polymeric rheology modifier for low pH formulations.

Multi-purpose polymers, methods and compositions


The invention relates to new 2,2,3,3-tetramethylcyclopropane carboxamide derivative compounds, pharmaceutical compositions thereof and uses thereof for treating psychotic disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy and pain.

Four major antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are used for the treatment of epilepsy (epileptic seizures and convulsions): phenytoin, carbamazepine, phenobarbital and valproic acid (VPA). However, about 25% of the patients do not respond to the current medications. Furthermore, AEDs are administered repetitively as chronic treatment and the adverse effects associated with antiepileptic therapy are of a major concern. The major established AEDs are associated with some rare but severe side effect such as teratogenicity. In addition, all the AEDs have other adverse effects that limit their use. Valproic acid itself has considerable adverse effects including fatal hepatotoxicity.
One approach to obtain improved antiepileptic agents has been to prepare the primary amide derivatives of valproic acid and its analogs. Valnoctamide (VCD) and propyl-isoproylacetamide (PID) are analogous of the amide derivative of valproic acid, valpromide (VPD). They have improved anticonvulsant activity when compared to VPA. These amide analogues of valproic acid have been shown to be non-teratogenic, O. Spiegelstein, M. Bialer, M. Radatz, H. Nau and B. Yagen Chirality, 11:645–650 (1999).
Amide derivatives of tetramethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid have also been previously evaluated for their anticonvulsant activity (M. Bialer, S. Hadad, B. Kadry, A. Abdul-Hai, A. Haj-Yehia, J. Sterling, Y. Herzig and B. Yagen Pharm Res. 13:284–289 (1996); J. Sterling, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,157, issued March. 1999; N. Isoherranen et al, Epilepsy 43: 115–126 (2002)). These derivatives had good anticonvulsant activity and superior brain penetration than VPA. The N-methyl-tetramethylcyclopropyl carboxamide has a wide spectrum of anticonvulsant activity and is approximately 10 times more potent than VPA in animal models of epilepsy. In addition, N-methyl-tetramethylcyclopropane carboxamide and tetramethylcyclopropane carboxamide were not teratogenic in mouse model.
Currently 25% of epileptic patients are not seizure free with existing medications and thus are considered as therapy resistant or refractory epileptic patients.
Thus, there is still a substantial need for new anti epileptic and central nervous system (CNS) drugs that will be effective in refractory epileptic patients.
Furthermore, an urgent need still exists in the art for anti epileptic agents with an improved efficacy and a wider margin between the dose which is therapeutic and that which is neurotoxic.
Additionally, it would be highly advantageous to have new compounds effective against pain, psychotic disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.

Amide derivatives of 2,2,3,3-tetramethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid

Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem