Classifying packets is disclosed. In some embodiments, a packet can be classified once for a plurality of nodes. The classification of a packet can be used at a receiving node to determine the receiving node policy for the packet. In some embodiments, the classification of a packet is specified by a classification index associated with the packet. In some embodiments, the receiving node policy for the packet can be determined by performing a lookup in a data structure associated with the receiving node based at least in part on the classification index of the packet. In some embodiments, the classification of the packet is sufficient to specify not only the receiving node policy but also a plurality of policies of a plurality of nodes.

In typical gateway configurations, a packet is classified at each gateway node in order to determine the node policy to apply to the packet at each node. The same or a similar set of information is extracted from a packet to classify a packet at each node, and the packet may be classified with respect to some of the same rules or policies at multiple nodes. Thus, repeatedly classifying a packet at each gateway node results in redundant processing. It would be useful to eliminate such processing inefficiencies.
Thus, there is a need for a manner to classify a packet for multiple nodes in a single pass.


A system for testing a plurality of electrical circuits includes a first remote cooperative testing device including a testing component and a first transceiver and a second remote cooperative testing device including a conductive component and a second transceiver. In response to receiving instructions from a remote computing device, the first remote cooperative testing device locates a first electrical circuit and a second electrical circuit and selectively positions the testing component to electrically couple a first portion of the first electrical circuit to a first portion of the second electrical circuit at a first node, and the second remote cooperative testing device selectively positions the conductive component to electrically couple a second portion of the first electrical circuit to a second portion of the second electrical circuit at a second node, thereby forming a testing circuit between the first node and the second node.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Various methods may be implemented to deposit electrical circuits onto an object, such as a body of a motor vehicle. For example, a robotic arm may include one or more printing heads mounted thereon that deposit various electrical circuit components onto a vehicle body, such as conductive paths, discrete elements (e.g., resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, among others), diodes, semiconductors, a dielectric substrate and/or coatings, among others.
During and/or after the deposition of the electrical circuits onto the vehicle body, the electrical circuits may be subjected to various testing procedures to verify that the electrical circuits comply with various operational specifications. For example, an operator may test the electrical circuits for continuity, improper grounding, and the like, using a wiring test board. However, a wiring test board requires the implementation of various electrical interfaces to ensure that each node of the electrical circuits is properly tested. Furthermore, an operator is required to locate, identify, and manipulate the positioning of the wiring test board in order to execute the various testing procedures, which may be time-consuming and labor intensive. These issues with the use of wiring test boards, among other issues with testing circuits that are deposited onto an object such as a vehicle body, are addressed by the present disclosure.

System and method for circuit testing using remote cooperative devices


A heat resistant electronic component is disclosed, comprising an electronic component covered by a layer of ceramic thermal insulation material containing lithium molybdate Li2MoO4. A process for manufacturing the heat resistant electronic component comprises obtaining ceramic thermal insulation material containing lithium molybdate Li2MoO4 in a mouldable form, optionally mixing the ceramic thermal insulation material with at least one additive, covering an electronic component with the material, shaping the material covering the electronic component into a desired form, and drying the desired form at a temperature of from 20° C. to 120° C.

Electronic components may be active components such as semiconductors or power sources, or passive components such as resistors or capacitors. Many electronic components are sensitive to high temperatures. For example, electronic power sources such as batteries and accumulators do not withstand high temperatures. During manufacturing of an electronic product, the product may need to be exposed to an elevated temperature to carry out the manufacturing process. Examples of processes for manufacturing electronic products at an elevated temperature include overmolding, injection molding, and casting. In overmolding, electronic components are molded in plastic at an elevated temperature (e.g. 200-300° C.). Overmolding enables an increased reliability (e.g. increased physical strength, and/or increased impact tolerance) of the electronic product. Overmolding also enables a structure of the electronic product that is completely hermetically sealed. During overmolding, temperatures over 200° C. may quickly develop on the electronic component. A temperature this high may damage an electronic component or electrical interconnection so that it becomes useless. Therefore, the electronic components may be covered by thermal insulation that diminish heat entering the electronic component, thus preventing the damaging of the component by the heat exposure. To avoid the exposure of the electronic component to excessive heat during manufacture, the component may be enclosed in a housing. Thus, the electronic component is not exposed to heat during overmolding.


Systems, methods, and apparatus for use with at least one first virtual agent executing on a first device. In some embodiments, the at least one first virtual agent is programmed to: share information with at least one second virtual agent executing on at least one second device different from the first device, wherein the at least one first virtual agent is associated with a first user and the at least one second virtual agent is associate with a second user; and use the information shared between the at least one first virtual agent and the at least one second virtual agent to make a joint recommendation for the first and second users.

Some electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet computers include applications known as virtual agents. For example, the virtual agent Siri® is available on some devices from Apple Computers, Inc. and the virtual agent EVA (available from BulletProof Corp.) can be installed on devices running the Android™ mobile operating system developed by Google, Inc.
Some virtual agents are programmed to assist a user in performing various tasks. For example, a virtual agent may be programmed to send electronic messages, make appointments, place phone calls, and get directions. In completing such tasks, the virtual agent may interact with other applications (e.g., an email client) and may search for information either locally (e.g., from a user's electronic address book) or via one or more networks (e.g., from the World Wide Web, or the Web).

Systems and methods for sharing information between virtual agents


Methods and apparatus are provided for determining quantization parameter predictors from a plurality of neighboring quantization parameters. An apparatus includes an encoder for encoding image data for at least a portion of a picture using a quantization parameter predictor for a current quantization parameter to be applied to the image data. The quantization parameter predictor is determined using multiple quantization parameters from previously coded neighboring portions. A difference between the current quantization parameter and the quantization parameter predictor is encoded for signaling to a corresponding decoder.

Most video applications seek the highest possible perceptual quality for a given set of bit rate constraints. For example, in a low bit rate application such as a videophone system, a video encoder may provide higher quality by eliminating the strong visual artifacts at the regions of interest that are visually more noticeable and therefore more important. On the other hand, in a high bit rate application, visually lossless quality is expected everywhere in the pictures and a video encoder should also achieve transparent quality. One challenge in obtaining transparent visual quality in high bit rate applications is to preserve details, especially at smooth regions where loss of details are more visible than that at the non-smooth regions because of the texture masking property of the human visual system.
Increasing the available bit rate is one of the most straightforward approaches to improving objective and subjective quality. When the bit rate is given, an encoder manipulates its bit allocation module to spend the available bits where the most visual quality improvement can be obtained. In non-real-time applications such as digital video disk (DVD) authoring, the video encoder can facilitate a variable-bit-rate (VBR) design to produce a video with a constant quality on both difficult and easily encoded contents over time. In such applications, the available bits are appropriately distributed over the different video segments to obtain a constant quality. In contrast, a constant-bit-rate (CBR) system assigns the same number of bits to an interval of one or more pictures despite their encoding difficulty and produces visual quality that varies with the video content. For both variable-bit-rate and constant-bit-rate encoding systems, an encoder can allocate bits according to perceptual models within a picture. One characteristic of human perception is texture masking, which explains why human eyes are more sensitive to loss of quality at the smooth regions than in textured regions. This property can be utilized to increase the number of bits allocated to the smooth regions to obtain a higher visual quality.
The quantization process in a video encoder controls the number of encoded bits and the quality. It is common to adjust the quality through adjusting the quantization parameters (QPs). The quantization parameters may include the quantization step size, rounding offset, and scaling matrix. In the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) Moving Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG-4) Part 10 Advanced Video Coding (AVC) Standard/International Telecommunication Union, Telecommunication Sector (ITU-T) H.264 Recommendation (hereinafter the "MPEG-4 AVC Standard"), the quantization parameter values can be adjusted on a slice or macroblock (MB) level. The encoder has the flexibility to tune quantization parameters and signal the adjustment to the decoder. The quantization parameter signaling requires an overhead cost.

Methods and apparatus for determining quantization parameter predictors from a plurality of neighboring quantization parameters


A new and distinct variety of blueberry plant named ‘DrisBlueNine’ particularly distinguished by having a late harvest season, high productivity and large, firm berries, is disclosed.

The invention relates to a new and distinct blueberry variety designated 'DrisBlueNine' and botanically known as Vaccinium corymbosum L. This new blueberry variety was discovered in Clackamas County, Oreg. in August 2004 and originated from a cross between the proprietary female parent blueberry plant 'MS122' (unpatented) and the male parent blueberry plant 'G292' (unpatented). The original seedling of the new variety was first asexually propagated at a nursery in Monterey County, Calif. in 2004. 'DrisBlueNine' was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing at a nursery in Santa Cruz County, Calif. for six years (2007-2012). The present invention has been found to be stable and reproduce true to type through successive asexual propagations via softwood cuttings.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this variety have not been applied for. 'DrisBlueNine' has not been made publicly available or sold more than one year prior to the filing date of this application.


An optical element includes a substrate and a pattern. The substrate has a top surface and a bottom surface. The pattern is provided on the top surface. The pattern includes multiple levels such that a thickness of the pattern is less than a design wavelength. The pattern is configured to focus an incident radiation, received at one of the top surface or the bottom surface of the substrate, at one or more prescribed focal locations on a detection plane. The one or more prescribed focal locations on the detection plane changes in proportion to a wavelength of the incident radiation. The detection plane is an achromatic focal plane when the incident radiation includes multiple wavelengths.

Spatial and spectral discrimination of electromagnetic radiation is the basic operation mechanism that enables spectroscopic and multispectral imaging devices. Malt spectral systems are essential tools in fields such as medical diagnostics, environmental conservation, and defense technologies. Moreover, implementing these multispectral systems on-chip requires miniaturization and the introduction of novel functionalities, which currently drive the development of novel compact photonic components.
For example, focal plane arrays are widely used in modern imaging and sensing technology. In an imaging system, focal plane arrays are an array of receivers or optical detectors placed in the focal plane of the imaging system, Typically, a focal plane array is two dimensional and can contain thousands if not millions of detectors. Focal plane arrays have found uses in photo cameras and video cameras. Another area where focal plane arrays can make an impact is in spectrometers. Microlenses have been proposed to work as optical concentrators for use with focal plane arrays in order to increase sensitivity and reduce crosstalk associated with the focal plane arrays. However, current microlens solutions have several drawbacks including optical losses, high manufacturing costs, and a lack of spectral discrimination. These drawbacks, and others, hinder development of highly integrated optical devices.
Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure provide diffractive optical elements that are scalable, avoiding some of the drawbacks associated with current solutions.


An integral heat sink-terminal structure for a hybrid circuit assembly includes a heat dissipating plate for bonding to a substrate of the hybrid integrated circuit and terminals for connection to the substrate. The heat dissipating plate and the terminals are unitary with a common frame in the same predetermined positional relationship relative to the substrate before and after they are connected to the substrate. When this structure is used in fabricating a hybrid integrated circuit assembly, the heat dissipating plate is first bonded to the substrate and then the terminals are connected to the substrate.

FIG. 1 shows the cross-section of a major portion of a conventional hybrid integrated circuit assembly. Various components (not shown) constituting a hybrid integrated circuit are packaged on a substrate 1. A heat sink 2 dissipates heat generated by the components on the substrate 1. The heat sink 2 comprises a land 21 to which the substrate 1 is bonded, portions or feet 22 to be soldered to a board on which the hybrid integrated circuit assembly is to be mounted, and legs 23. The heat sink 2 is bonded to the substrate 1 by a bonding agent 3. There are further provided a plurality of terminals 4 which are spaced in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the sheet of FIG. 1. Each of the terminals 4 comprises a distal portion 41 connected to the substrate 1, a proximal portion 42 soldered to the board 9, and an interconnecting portion 43 connecting the portions 41 and 42.
This hybrid integrated circuit assembly is fabricated by first packaging circuit components on the substrate 1, connecting the terminals 4 to the substrate, and after that, bonding the heat sink 2 to the substrate by means of the bonding agent 3. For connecting the terminals 4 to the substrate 1, a comb-shaped terminal member including a number of terminals 4 having respective base or outer ends of the proximal portions 42 connected to a lead body is used. After desired terminals 4 are connected to the substrate 1, the terminals 4 are separated from the lead body. Such a technique is described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. SHO 60-54341 published or laid open to public on Apr. 16, 1985.
The hybrid integrated circuit assembly shown in FIG. 1 is used with the heat sink feet 22 and the terminal proximal portions 42 soldered to the board 9. In this case, the surfaces of the feet 22 and the surface of each of the proximal portions 42 must be in the same plane. If they are not in the same plane, some areas will be detached from the board surface so that they cannot be soldered well to the board 9, resulting in inadequate connection. Conventionally, the terminals 4 are individually fabricated or fabricated in the form of a terminal member, and the heat sinks 2 are fabricated as individual members. That is, the terminals 4 and the heat sink 2 are fabricated separately. Therefore it occurs very frequently that the surfaces of the feet 22 of the heat sink 2 and the proximal portions 42 of the terminals 4 which are to be bonded to the board 9 are not in the same plane, due to dimensional errors of the respective parts, to which an assembling error is further added. In addition, if the substrate is warped, the warpage adds to the difference between the planes of the mounting surfaces of the portions 22 and 42, which results in inadequate connections to the board 9.
An object of the present invention is to provide a hybrid integrated circuit assembly free of the above-described disadvantage of the conventional assembly, by providing an integral heat sink-terminal member structure which is free of any difference in the planes of the surfaces of a heat sink and terminals which are soldered to a board.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of using such a structure or a method of manufacturing a hybrid integrated circuit assembly using such an integral heat sink-terminal member structure. According to this method, a resulting hybrid integrated circuit assembly is free of disconnection of the heat sink or terminals and the board.

Integral heat sink-terminal member structure of hybrid integrated circuit assembly and method of fabricating hybrid integrated circuit assembly using such structure


Described is a service visualizer that presents a high-level view of services currently running in a distributed operating system. The service visualizer, which itself may be a service, is visual-based and uses objects (e.g., spheres) suspended in space to represent the ports of services that are currently running. Messages sent between services are represented by particles. The visualizer creates a visual collection for each service port, which in turn creates a port monitor to watch for messages on the port. The resulting visualization may be interacted with, such as for purposes of debugging.

There are many types of computing services, resources and data that computer users and applications need to manage and otherwise access. Such resources and data include services and data maintained locally, and data maintained on corporate networks and other remotely accessible sites including intranets and the internet.
The concept of web services is generally directed to providing a computing service to clients via protocols and standards that are cross-platform in nature. In general, web services provide the basic tools for wiring the nodes of a distributed application together, regardless of the type of platform on which the requesting client is running. As there are many different computing platforms, various platform-independent mechanisms and protocols that facilitate the exchange of network information are becoming commonplace in web services, including HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), XML (extensible Markup Language), XML Schema, and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) XML. Traditional web services, in which businesses, organizations, and other providers offer services to users and applications, are presently based on these standards. Moreover, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/328,714, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a web service can represent other types of resources, such as hardware devices, databases and the like.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/856,399, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes an application model a method, system and mechanism including a web services application protocol (WSAP), that, among other things, formally represents the state and behavior of a service via a port, (e.g., URI), whereby the entities in a service may be contacted directly for interaction. In other words, unlike other protocols, WSAP describes the behaviors of a web service in a formalized manner, e.g., with each behavior of a service having its own port. The WSAP protocol also facilitates the usage of intermediaries by defining shared semantics on verbs, which identify what a message is, what the processing of message is, and how it affects the state/behavior of the receiver. Further, the ordering of messages and operations provides context to what is occurring.
Given the complexities of a distributed operating system in which portions of the operating system execute on separate processors, many traditional tools do not work very well. For example, traditional stack-based debuggers are not well-suited for the message-based world of a distributed operating system, including that it is nearly impossible to set traditional breakpoints on multiple recursive copies of a service written to manipulate messages from, for example, fifty or so remote services. Furthermore, since these services are effectively black boxes, it is meaningless to "step into" or "set a breakpoint" inside a remote service running across a corporate trust boundary.

Web service visualizer and display service


An amorphous soft magnetic alloy of the formula (Fe1-αTMα)100-w-x-y-zPwBxLySiz TipCqMnrCus, wherein TM is Co or Ni; L is Al, Cr, Zr, Mo or Nb; 0≤α≤0.3, 2≤w≤18 at %, 2≤x≤18 at %, 15≤w+x≤23 at %, 1<y≤5 at %, 0≤z≤4 at %; p, q, r, and s represents an addition ratio such that the total mass of Fe, TM, P, B, L and Si is 100, and 0≤p≤0.3, 0≤q≤0.5, 0≤r≤2, 0≤s≤1 and r+s>0; the composition fulfills one of the following conditions: L is Cr, Zr, Mo or Nb; or L is a combination of Al and Cr, Zr, Mo or Nb, wherein 0<Al≤5 at %, 1≤Cr≤4 at %, 0<Zr≤5 at %, 2≤Mo≤5 at %, and 2≤Nb≤5 at %; the alloy has a crystallization start temperature (Tx) which is 550° C. or less, a glass transition temperature (Tg) which is 520° C. or less, and a supercooled liquid region represented by ΔTx=Tx−Tg, which is 20° C. or more.

This invention relates to an amorphous soft magnetic alloy and further relates to a strip or ribbon, a powder, a member, and a component using such an alloy.
Magnetic amorphous alloys have started from Fe—P—C and then there have been developed Fe—Si—B of a low-loss material, Fe—B—C of a high saturation magnetic flux density (Bs) material, and so on. These materials have been expected as transformer materials because of their low losses, but have not yet been spread because of their higher costs and lower Bs as compared with conventional materials such as silicon steel sheets. Further, since these amorphous alloys require a cooling rates of 105 K/sec or higher, it is only possible to produce ribbons thereof each having a thickness of only about 200 μm at maximum at the laboratory level. Therefore, it is necessary that the ribbon is wound into a magnetic core or the ribbons are laminated into a magnetic core, and this extremely limits the application of the amorphous alloys.
Since the latter half of 1980s, alloy systems called metal glasses have started to be developed in which, as opposed to amorphous alloys up to then, the glass transition is observed on the low temperature side of a crystallization temperature and a supercooled liquid region appears. The supercooled liquid region is considered to be related to the stability of a glass structure. Accordingly, such an alloy system is excellent in amorphous-forming ability, which was not present before then. For example, there have been discovered Ln-Al-TM, Zr—Al—Ni, and Pd—Cu—Ni—P based alloys have been discovered from which it is possible to produce metal glass bulk members each having a thickness of about several millimeters. Fe-based metal glasses have also been discovered since the middle of 1990s and there have been reported compositions that enable metal glass bulk members each having a thickness of 1 mm or more. For example, Fe—(Al, Ga)—(P, C, B, Si) (Non-Patent Document 1: Mater. Trans., JIM, 36 (1995), 1180), Fe—(Co, Ni)—(Zr, Hf, Nb)—B (Non-Patent Document 2: Mater. Trans., JIM, 38 (1997), 359; Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2000-204452), Fe—(Cr, Mo)—Ga—P—C—B (Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2001-316782), Fe—Co-RE-B (Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2002-105607), and so on are disclosed. However, while these alloys each improve the amorphous-forming ability as compared with the conventional alloys, a problem exists that the saturation magnetic flux density is low because of containing a large amount of nonmagnetic elements, and so on. It is difficult to satisfy both the amorphous-forming ability and the magnetic properties.
The conventionally known amorphous alloys, such as Fe—Si—B and Fe—P—C, are known as high-permeability and low-loss materials and thus are suitable for transformer cores, magnetic heads, and so on. However, since the amorphous-forming ability is poor, ribbons each having a thickness of about 20 μm and wire rods each having a thickness of about 100 μm have only been commercialized and further they should be formed into laminated or wound magnetic cores. Thus, the degree of freedom in shape is extremely small. On the other hand, it is possible to achieve three-dimensional formation by forming a low-loss amorphous powder with excellent soft magnetic properties into a dust core, which is thus considered to be promising. However, since the amorphous-forming ability is insufficient according to any of such compositions, it is difficult to produce a powder thereof by water atomization or the like. Further, if use is made of a low-priced ferroalloy material or the like containing impurities, it is expected that the amorphous-forming ability is lowered so as to cause a reduction in amorphous uniformity, thus leading to a reduction in soft magnetic properties. Also in the case of the Fe-based metal glasses, although the amorphous-forming ability is excellent in each of them, since it contains a large amount of metalloid elements while the content of iron family elements is low, it is difficult to simultaneously satisfy the magnetic properties thereof. Further, since the glass transition temperature is high, there also arises a problem of an increase in heat treatment temperature and so on.

Amorphous soft magnetic alloy and inductance component using the same


A method of burying a conductive metal into a contact hole formed in an insulation film formed over a silicon substrate. Within the contact hole a refractory metal silicide layer has been formed on the silicon substrate and a barrier metal layer has been formed on the refractory metal silicide layer and further a conductive metal film has been formed on the barrier metal layer. A top surface region of the conductive metal film is rapidly heated to a first temperature below a melting point of the conductive metal film and high enough so as to cause a semi-fluidization of only the top surface region of the conductive metal film so as to maintain an interface between the barrier metal layer and the conductive metal film at a second temperature which is lower than the first temperature and low enough so as to prevent any chemical reaction between the barrier metal layer and the conductive metal film and also maintain the refractory metal silicide layer and the silicon substrate to have temperatures lower than the second temperature so as to prevent silicon from being diffused through the barrier metal layer into the conductive metal film.

The present invention relates to a method of forming a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a method of burying contact holes with a metal for forming multilevel interconnections.
In recent years, requirements for a high density integration of a semiconductor device and multilevel interconnections have been on the increase whereby it is also required to reduce the width of internal interconnections. The reduction in width of the interconnections requires forming a contact hole of a high aspect ratio. In prior art, however, it was difficult to exactly bury the contact hole of a high aspect ratio with a metal without forming any void.
In order to settle the above problem, it was proposed to bury the contact hole with the metal as follows. First, a refractory metal film is formed over an insulation film with a contact hole already formed on a substrate for subsequent formations of a titanium nitride film and an aluminum alloy film over them before the substrate is heated up to a temperature of 300.degree. C. for receipt of irradiation of a laser beam to thereby cause a reflow of the aluminum alloy so that the contact hole is buried with the aluminum alloy. It is also possible to prevent the aluminum alloy. This technique is disclosed in the Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 3-131029.
As described above, the substrate is heated up to a temperature of 300.degree. C. for a laser beam irradiation thereonto. In this case, a barrier metal layer of titanium nitride is heated to a temperature of about 600.degree. C. which is above a critical temperature of 500.degree. C. over which a chemical reaction of aluminum alloy with nitrogen in titanium nitride for the barrier metal. As a result, an aluminum nitride film is formed, which is highly resistive, for which reason a highly resistive contact is formed.
There was proposed another technique which is disclosed in the Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2-271634. In this technique, a substrate is heated up to a temperature of not less than 450.degree. C. and below a melting point of aluminum or aluminum alloy so as to carry out a vacuum evaporation of aluminum or aluminum alloy onto a surface of the substrate whereby the contact hole is buried with the aluminum or aluminum alloy.
As described above, the substrate is heated up to a temperature of not less than 450.degree. C. for vacuum evaporation. However, the growth rate is slow and it is difficult to obtain a uniformity in level of substrate surface. Further, there is a possibility of a diffusion of an interconnection material into a semiconductor region. It is furthermore difficult to obtain a strong adhesion between the semiconductor region and the insulation film.
There was proposed still another technique which is disclosed in the Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 62-123714. In this technique, a substrate with a rough surface has been placed in an atmosphere including a steam of an organic metal before the substrate is cooled down so as to cause the organic metal to be adhered onto the rough surface of the substrate. A light is irradiated onto a predetermined portion of the organic metal film covering the rough surface of the substrate so as to cause a decomposition of the organic metal for formation of a metal interconnection layer.
As described above, the light energy is used for causing the decomposition of the organic metal, for which reason a reflective light from an interior of the contact hole results in locally insufficient or locally excessive decomposition of the organic metal. It is, therefore, difficult to bury the contact hole of a high aspect ratio, for example, 3-4 with a metal uniformly.
In the above circumstances, it had been required to develop a novel method of burying a contact hole having a high aspect ratio of about 4 with aluminum or aluminum alloy without formation of any void.
It had also been required to develop a novel method of burying a contact hole having a high aspect ratio with aluminum or aluminum alloy without formation of any highly resistive film such as titanium nitride film.
It had also been required to develop a novel method of burying a contact hole having a high aspect ratio with aluminum or aluminum alloy to ensure a high conductivity of a semiconductor region of a semiconductor substrate.
It had also been required to develop a novel method of burying a contact hole having a high aspect ratio with aluminum or aluminum alloy without heating the semiconductor region of the substrate up to a temperature of over 450.degree. C.
It had also been required to develop a novel method of burying a contact hole having a high aspect ratio with aluminum or aluminum alloy without causing any diffusion of an interconnection material into a semiconductor region of the substrate.
It had also been required to develop a novel method of burying a large number of contact holes, each of which has a high aspect ratio, with aluminum or aluminum alloy uniformly.
It had also been required to develop a novel method of burying a contact hole having a high aspect ratio to allow planarization of a surface of a lower level interconnection for realization of multilevel interconnections.
It had also been required to develop a novel method of burying a contact hole having a high aspect ratio to improve a reliability of electrode/interconnection processes for a device designed in accordance with the 0.25 .mu.m design rule to obtain a highly reliable semiconductor device.

Method of burying a contact hole with a metal for forming multilevel interconnections


Method of casting aluminum alloy ingot including lithium, including: preparing at least two molten aluminum based alloys in separate furnaces, first alloy with composition A free from lithium as purposive alloying element, and second alloy with composition B including lithium as purposive alloying element; transferring the first alloy via metal conveying trough from the furnace to a casting station; initiating casting an ingot and casting the first alloy to required length L1 in the casting direction; subsequently transferring the second alloy via metal conveying trough from the furnace to the casting station while simultaneously stopping transfer of the first alloy to the casting station; casting the second alloy from an end surface of the cast first alloy at length L1 to an additional required length L2 in the casting direction; cropping the cast ingot at a bottom thereof at a length greater than of equal to cast length L1.

As will be appreciated herein below, except as otherwise indicated, aluminium alloy designations and temper designations refer to the Aluminium Association designations in Aluminium Standards and Data and the Registration Records, as published by the Aluminium Association in 2013 and are well known to the person skilled in the art.
For any description of aluminium alloy compositions or preferred aluminium alloy compositions, all references to percentages are by weight percent unless otherwise indicated.
Aluminium alloys comprising lithium are very beneficial for use in the aerospace industry since the purposive addition of lithium may reduce the density of the aluminium alloy by about 3% and increase the modulus of elasticity by about 6% for each weight percent of lithium added. In order for these alloys to be selected in airplanes, their performance with respect to other engineering properties must be as good as that of commonly used alloys, in particular in terms of the compromise between the static mechanical strength properties and the damage tolerance properties. Over time a wide range of aluminium-lithium alloys have been developed with a corresponding wide range of thermo-mechanical processing routes. However, a key processing route remains the casting of ingots or billets for further processing by means of extrusion, forging and/or rolling. The casting process has proven to remain a problematic processing step in the industrial scale production of ingots and billets. There are amongst others issues with regard to oxidation of molten metal in the furnaces, the transfer troughs and during casting itself. And also safety issues remain as "bleed outs" or "runs outs" during casting of aluminium-lithium alloys can lead to much more violent reactions than with non-lithium containing alloys as lithium makes the molten aluminium much more reactive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,220 issued to Reynolds Metals Company discloses a method of direct chill casting of aluminium-lithium alloys under a salt cover to protect the molten metal from oxidation by ambient oxygen, which comprises (a) forming a protective molten salt cover comprising a lithium chloride salt composition in a furnace containing molten aluminium alloy, (b) adding at least one of lithium and a lithium-containing aluminium alloy to the molten aluminium alloy through the salt cover to form a molten aluminium lithium alloy in the furnace, (c) transferring said molten aluminium-lithium alloy to a casting station, and (d) direct chill casting said molten aluminium-lithium alloy into an ingot form such as a billet or a rolling ingot. The molten metal transfer trough may include a metal filter, e.g. a foam filter or a ceramic bed filter designed for both particulate removal and degassing of the molten metal passing through the transfer trough. The molten salt cover is said to be particularly useful in direct chill casting processes wherein a salt cover is added to the ingot head in the mould. The salt mixture includes LiCl, and preferred salt mixtures include LiCl in combination with other salts selected from KCl, NaCl, and LiF. Sodium chloride is less preferred in the melting vessel since the sodium component thereof has a tendency to exchange with the lithium in the aluminium alloy, thereby adversely affecting the alloy content with sodium as a highly undesirable impurity element therein.
The use of salts, or salt mixtures, in the casting of lithium containing aluminium alloys has several disadvantages. An important disadvantage is that the salts are very corrosive for the often applied ceramic foam filters ("CFF") for removing of any particulate in the molten metal.

Method of casting lithium containing aluminium alloys


A DBMS-based knowledge extension and inference service method recorded on a computer-readable medium includes creating knowledge represented as a triple by using ontology schemas and instances (first step); receiving the knowledge and extending the knowledge by using a knowledge extension rule (second step); and providing an inference service by using the extended knowledge, converting a user query, and processing the query (third step). Further, the third step includes receiving and converting a user query to create the converted query (31st step); determining whether the query is a previously-input query (32nd step); receiving the converted query and the determination result to create a query result (33rd step); receiving the query result of the 33rd step and performing post-processing to create a post-processing result (34th step); and creating a message and protocol suitable for a user interface by using the post-processing result and then presenting an inference result.

Recently, the age where the web is used to simply show information to a user has changed into a new age where the software of a user receives a result so as to automatically process a lot of tasks. When a web service technology is applied to various services such as electronic commercial transaction and information searching which are currently achieved on the web, a lot of tasks which have not been automatically processed so far can be automated. Then, it is possible to maximize the productivity and effectiveness of information systems as well as the convenience of users.
Recently, the structure of information existing on the web is being changed. That is, information having a new form, which can be analyzed and processed by computers, is being added to the existing information. The information is referred to as meta data. When the meta data is added into the current web, computers can analyze the meaning of information through the meta data and processes the information, which is referred to as 'Semantic Web'.
Particularly, when the Semantic Web is applied to electronic commercial transaction, a lot of tasks which have not been able to be processed can be automatically processed. In a typical type of Internet shopping, a purchaser visits Internet shopping malls, sees products, and selects a product to purchase. On the Semantic Web, however, meta information on a product standard, a transaction condition and the like as well as product information is provided in each Internet shopping mall. In such an environment, computers can perform price negotiation as well as searching of a desired product in place of people.
The Semantic Web can be effectively utilized in a B-to-B system integration field and a value-added searching field as well as in the electronic commercial transaction. Further, the Semantic Web is considered to be a core technology which can change the paradigm of information communication in the near future.
In the existing web service, the WSDL (Web Service Description Language) based on XML (extensible Markup Language) is used. In the Semantic Web service, however, a web service description language such as DAML-S (DAPRA Agent Markup Language-Service) based on an ontology language is used. Researches on the Semantic Web service are performed in view of web service searching, web service driving, web service configuration, web service execution monitoring and the like. Particularly, the Semantic Web service searching is a base field for achieving an ultimate purpose of the Semantic Web service and has different features from the existing information searching. That is, a storage system and a searching method are required, which are suitable for the Semantic Web description language.
Conventionally, attempts to use a DMBS in the Semantic Web service have been made at a research level once in a while. In such attempts, however, the DMBS serves as only a storing place. Therefore, the DMBS is not closely combined with the overall information flow including knowledge creation, knowledge extension, and knowledge provision.
In conventional similar systems for the Semantic Web service, the DMBS is partially utilized, which means there is a limit in the performance of inference service.
Accordingly, in the present invention, the overall process of creating an inference result from an ontology schema is consistently constructed so as to maximize the performance.

DBMS-based knowledge extension and inference service method recorded on computer-readable medium

Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information


The helical fractionating column according to the invention falls into the field of oil separation apparatus for the petroleum refining industry, which includes a column body (8), and is characterized in that the inside of the column body (8) is divided into three sections, the lower section being jet tray section, the middle section being packing section, and the upper section being floating valve section. The helical fractionating column has many advantages, such as having enhanced integrity of separation, decoloration and deodorization, simple structure, convenient manufacturing and maintenance, and low investment cost as well as high product quality etc. Thus, the present invention is worthy to be extended in the petroleum refining industry which uses waste plastics and rubbers as raw materials.

Fractionating columns include two groups in general: plate-type column and packed column. The function of the fractionating column is only to separate components, wherein the little impurities in the product, which brings an unconventional color and odor to the product, need to be removed by using specific technologies and devices for decoloration and deodorization. This requires complicated devices, and huge investment cost, especially in the petroleum refining process utilizing waste plastics and rubbers as raw materials. In addition, there is no up-to-grade oil product till now.


A contrast agent useful for imaging a sample comprising a suspension in a medium acceptable for imaging (a) particles of a contrast agent possessing paramagnetic characteristics and (b) particles of a contrast agent possessing diamagnetic characteristics. Also disclosed is a method of imaging a sample which comprises introducing into the sample the above-described contrast agent and generating a substantially artifact-free image thereof. The combination of diamagnetic barium sulfate and superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) in one suspension produces a macroscopic cancellation of positive and negative magnetic susceptibility components which eliminates susceptibility artifacts even with gradient echo pulse sequences. The relaxation properties which make the SPIO suspension a useful negative contrast agent are retained.

Research leading to the completion of the invention was supported, in part, by IRB Grant No. 70-91 provided by Advanced Magnetics, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., and IRB Grant No. 457-90 provided by E-Z-EM, Inc. of Westbury, N.Y.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to imaging contrast agents, in particular, NMR imaging contrast agents.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is well known to enhance NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) images by, prior to conducting the imaging, introducing into the sample to be imaged ferromagnetic, diamagnetic or paramagnetic particles which shadow the image produced to intensify and contrast the image generate by the NMR sensitive nuclei. See, for example, the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,731,239; 4,863,715; 4,749,560; 5,069,216; 5,055,288; 5,023,072; 4,951,675; 4,827,945 and 4,770,183, the entire contents and disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
A disadvantage associated with the use of NMR image contrast agents, however, resides in the fact that the internal magnetic properties of the various contrast agents employed heretofore affect the applied external field during the imaging process. These interactions of the paramagnetic or diamagnetic properties of the contrast agents with the applied external magnetic field give rise to irregularities in the resulting image, commonly referred to as imaging artifacts.
The application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to abdominal imaging is potentially revolutionary, but currently is seriously limited by the inability to distinguish tumors, abscesses and other abnormalities from normal structures, e.g., bowel. As for computed tomography, the use of oral or rectal contrast agents is expected to dramatically improve the diagnostic value of MRI for abdominal diseases. Currently, superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) is the best oral contrast agent available for use in MRI.
Iron oxide acts as a gastrointestinal (GI) MRI contrast agent primarily due to the dipolar interaction of the unpaired electrons of iron with the water protons in the body. In addition, its internal magnetization aligns parallel to an applied external field, increasing the magnetic field strength nearby. This is known as positive magnetic susceptibility, and also leads to large field gradients near the articles. Both of these mechanisms cause loss of signal intensity within the bowel. This loss of signal causes the desired enhancement of the difference in the appearance of bowel and other normal and abnormal structures in magnetic resonance images.
A problem with SPIO suspensions in the past has been that they not only affect the volume that actually contains the suspension (i.e., bowel), but also lead to artifactual signal loss in the region surrounding this area. This phenomenon is called susceptibility artifact and is more pronounced with greater field strength and with gradient recalled echo pulse sequences. This artifact reduces the diagnostic usefulness of SPIO, especially for gradient echo sequences which otherwise have many advantages for MRI of the abdomen.
Barium sulfate suspensions are also used as oral contrast agents for GI MRI. Barium sulfate is a diamagnetic substance; its paired electrons interact with an external magnetic field to produce internal magnetization oriented opposite to the applied field. This is known as negative magnetic susceptibility, and also produces loss of signal intensity due to diffusion of water molecules through the field gradients around the particles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide imaging contrast agents which do not suffer from the above-noted disadvantages and a method of imaging which produces an image substantially artifact-free.

University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


A collaborative computing method can include the step of providing a collaborative computing system that includes at least one instant messaging client. The instant messaging client can be initialized within a graphical user interface. A search initializing action can be performed within the graphical user interface. A search view can be presented responsive to the search initiating action. A search pattern can be specified within the search view. A search result can be displayed within the search view, wherein the search result can include at least one online entity, such as a user and/or group.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer software and, more particularly, to collaboration software.
2. Description of the Related Art
Collaboration software is software that permits people to exchange ideas and work products in real-time from geographically disperse locations. Collaboration software components can include Web conferencing, video and telephony teleconferencing, instant messaging, chatting, co-browsing, and the like. Effective use of collaboration software can result in substantial time and cost savings because collaboration software can result in effective communications among individuals without requiring the individuals to be located in the same physical location. Communication conducted utilizing collaboration software can be referred to as software-enhanced communication.
At present, conventionally implemented collaboration software lacks the robustness to substitute for interpersonal interactions that occur between geographically proximate people, especially in regards to informal interactions. Informal interactions can refer to interpersonal contacts between people that are conducted without extensive preparation or planning, such as interactions where two or three colleagues exchange ideas in passing. A number of informal interactions are quick affairs, which may involve only a few minutes of time. Informal interactions are made possible through presence awareness inherent whenever individuals are proximately located to each other.
Presence awareness refers to knowing whether an individual is available for communication in a network. When individuals are geographically close, their proximity will afford numerous opportunities for quick communications. For example, interpersonal communications often occur around a coffee machine, during a lunch break, in a hallway, within a smoking area, and the like. Traditionally, collaboration software includes few, if any, features to provide geographically disperse individuals with presence awareness capabilities. Accordingly, coordination overhead for arranging software-enhanced communication can result in an overhead barrier that prevents collaboration software from providing interactions that substitute for proximate interactions. Further, as the number of people involved in a communication session increases, the coordination overhead for establishing software-enhanced communications can increase significantly.
One notable exception to the presence awareness shortcoming of conventional collaboration software is the LOTUS SAMETIME™ application produced by International Business Machines, Inc. (IBM) of Armonk, N.Y. The LOTUS SAMETIME™ application integrates a multitude of collaborative software components together, including instant messaging components, chat components, Web conferencing components, co-browsing components, e-mail components, and the like. The instant messaging component of LOTUS SAMETIME™ application can provide a degree of presence awareness, as all online users can be registered with an instant messaging service. This presence awareness is indicated through the presentation of currently online users within an instant messaging graphical user interface (GUI). The integrated nature of LOTUS SAMETIME™ application permits any of a variety of software-enhanced communications that include instant messaging as well as Web conferencing, chatting, co-browsing, and the like to be initiated from the instant messaging GUI.
The presence awareness capabilities of LOTUS SAMETIME™ application, however, are limited by the manner in which online users are presented within the instant messaging GUI. At present, online individuals registered for instant messaging communications appear within the instant messaging GUI in a haphazard fashion. That is, online users are not presented alphabetically or in a manner which is easily searchable by a user. This shortcoming has generally not been noticed, as typical instant messaging GUIs only display a limited number of registered contacts, i.e. those that have a point of presence. As this number grows, however, the usefulness of the inherent presence awareness capabilities provided within instant messaging GUIs diminishes since online users become increasingly difficult to locate within the GUI. This is especially true in situations involving potentially vast numbers of people, such as the people contained within a large organization, customer base, and/or large scale project. Consequently, the presence awareness capability of LOTUS SAMETIME™ application does not inherently result in usable, large scale presence awareness capabilities that can be applied to large organizations. At present, no other conventional collaboration software or software application extension includes presence awareness capabilities that can be used to enable user friendly, software-enhanced communications between people within a large organization.

Personnel search enhancement for collaborative computing

International Business Machines Corporation


A swivel electric plug includes a base block having three annular terminal grooves concentrically provided in a recessed surface and a coupling groove around the recessed surface. Three annular metal plates are fastened in to the annular terminal grooves and connected to a respective wire in an electric wire being fastened to the base block. A circular cover plate is rotatably mounted on the recessed surface of the base block, the circular cover plate having a peripheral bottom coupling flange coupled to the coupling groove on the base block and holding two metal blades and a grounding prong. The metal blades and the ground prong each have an inner contact end respectively disposed in contact with the annular metal plates in the annular terminal grooves of said base block.

The present invention relates to electric plugs, and more specifically to a swivel electric plug which, when installed in an electric socket, can be rotated to the desired angle.
Regular electric plugs include two types, one having two metal blades, the other having two metal blades and one grounding prong. Because the angular positions of the metal blades (and the grounding prong) of an electric plug can not be adjusted relative to the electric wire of the electric plug, the installation direction is limited. FIG. 6 shows a swivel electric plug according to the prior art which can be rotated to the desired angle after its installation in an electric socket. This swivel electric plug is comprised of a bottom cover shell, a top cover shell, a rotary cap, two metal blades, a grounding prong, and two annular metal plates of different sizes. Because this swivel electric plug consists of a number of parts, its installation is complicated, and its manufacturing cost is high. Another drawback of this structure of swivel electric plug is that the parts tend to be damaged or forced out of place when vibrated, causing an electric contact error. Furthermore, the mounting arrangement of this structure of swivel electric plug can not prohibit water from passing to the inside of the swivel electric plug. Because the top cover shell is fastened to the bottom cover shell by screws, water can easily pass through gaps in between the cover shells to wet the electric circuit, causing a short circuit.

No. 19, Alley 12, Lane 210, Ding Kan Street


A group I intron-derived ribozyme which binds RNA in trans, excises an internal segment from within the RNA, and splices the remaining 5′ and 3′ ends of the RNA back together (the trans-excision-splicing reaction) is disclosed. The excised segment can be as long as 28 nucleotides, or more, and as little as one nucleotide. The ribozymes of the invention are easily modified to alter their sequence specificity. Such ribozymes represent a new and potentially powerful class of generally adaptable genetic therapeutics.

The discovery of catalytic RNA fundamentally changed the course of science. The subsequent realization that catalytic RNAs could be tailored to suit individual needs has been nothing less than inspiring. Indeed, the past ten years has seen the creative development of numerous RNA catalysts. Concurrently, the diversity of applications for these catalytic RNAs has been escalating. For example, catalytic RNAs are being developed for detection protocols, for therapeutic intervention of diseases, and for use as biochemical tools. As we continue to exploit the steadily increasing knowledge base of RNA structure, folding, and catalysis, designing and applying novel and effective RNA catalysts is becoming more and more tractable.
Ribozymes are RNA molecules having an enzymatic activity, which enables the ribozyme to repeatedly cleave other separate RNA molecules in a nucleotide base sequence-specific manner. Such enzymatic RNA molecules can be targeted to virtually any RNA transcript, and efficient cleavage achieved in vitro. Kim et al., 84 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 8788, 1987; Haseloff and Gerlach, 334 Nature 585, 1988; Cech, 260 JAMA 3030, 1988; and Jefferies et al., 17 Nucleic Acids Research 1371, 1989.
Ribozymes act by first binding to a target RNA. Such binding occurs through the target RNA binding portion of a ribozyme, which is held in close proximity to an enzymatic portion of the RNA that acts to cleave the target RNA. Thus, the ribozyme first recognizes and then binds a target RNA through complementary base-pairing, and once bound to the correct site, acts enzymatically to cut the target RNA. Strategic cleavage of such a target RNA destroys its ability to direct synthesis of an encoded protein. After a ribozyme has bound and cleaved its RNA target it is released from that RNA to search for another target and can repeatedly bind and cleave new targets.
Six basic varieties of naturally-occurring enzymatic RNAs are known presently. Each can catalyze the hydrolysis of RNA phosphodiester bonds in trans (and thus can cleave other RNA molecules) under physiological conditions. In general, enzymatic nucleic acids act by first binding to a target RNA. Such binding occurs through the target binding portion of an enzymatic nucleic acid which is held in close proximity to an enzymatic portion of the molecule that acts to cleave the target RNA. Thus, the enzymatic nucleic acid first recognizes and then binds a target RNA through complementary base-pairing, and once bound to the correct site, acts enzymatically to cut the target RNA. Strategic cleavage of such a target RNA will destroy its ability to direct synthesis of an encoded protein. After an enzymatic nucleic acid has bound and cleaved its RNA target, it is released from that RNA to search for another target and can repeatedly bind and cleave new targets.
A catalytic RNA that can excise a specific RNA sequence out of a larger RNA (the trans-excision-splicing reaction), although not previously discovered or engineered, would be very useful as a biochemical tool and also as a potential new therapeutic strategy. For example, multiple turnover catalytic RNAs, or ribozymes, with this activity could be used to excise a disease-causing RNA region out of a native transcript, to remove a premature stop codon, or to restore a frameshift mutation, for example.

Trans-excision-splicing ribozyme and methods of use

University of Kentucky Research Foundation


In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a media signal associated with a session established based on a session request. The session request is defined at a session exchange device associated with a media over internet protocol (MoIP) network. The method also includes sending a portion of the media signal to a dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) analysis module during a sampling time period after a non-sampling time period.

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to dual-tone multi-frequency signal processing, and, in particular, to methods and apparatus for dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signal processing within a media over Internet Protocol (MoIP) network.
Dual-tone multi-frequency signals can be transmitted between endpoints via a media signal within a MoIP network based on one or more media-layer protocols associated with a variety of conventions and standards. For example, several known public and proprietary media-layer protocol configurations can be used to transmit DTMF signals via a media signal. Typically, network equipment and/or network software vendors support only a small subset of media-layer protocols that can be used to transmit DTMF signals. This poses a significant interoperability challenge to not only network equipment/software providers, but also to service providers who integrate network equipment from various vendors to implement services and applications. Accordingly, detecting DTMF signals in real-time (e.g., as they are being transmitted and/or received) so that the interoperability challenges can be resolved may be desirable. Known detection techniques, however, can be computationally expensive and unscalable despite advances in hardware/software processing capabilities. Thus, a need exists for methods and apparatus for processing media signals that have information associated with DTMF signals.

Methods and apparatus for dual-tone multi-frequency signal analysis within a media over internet protocol network


Blow molding tools and a method of blow molding which provide that the tool have a retractable push up section in the base which allows for the article molded by the tool to have a recessed base internal to an otherwise hollow structure. As the push up is moveable, adjustment of the push up portion can be performed during an automated blow molding operation so as to allow release of the blow molded article.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to the field of blow mold tooling for use in blow molded plastics, particularly to a blow mold tool including a moveable component which allows for the blow molding of a container with a deeply indented base.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because of the various competing desires in packaging, a large number of products are changing from being packaged in glass or metal to being packaged in plastics. Plastics are generally lighter and more resilient than other packing alternatives, and can be recycled. There are also a wide variety of plastics available which can be selected depending on properties desired to properly hold the products sold in the container. The most common type of plastic containers are probably polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers which can be blow molded and can provide for a clear finish in the final product which resembles glass.
It is generally well established that it is almost always less expensive to store products packaged in plastic containers in a taller vertical space than over a greater horizontal space. Storing items in a vertically efficient manner means that more items can be stored on a smaller surface area—i.e., less space is needed to store items in a warehouse or retail location. Further, when stacked vertically, items can be transported more efficiently on a smaller surface area resulting in fewer trips. Thus, the ability to easily and stably stack containers is very important and in most storage and transport scenarios, there are always a number of containers of the same size and shape stacked on top of each other.
The stacking of plastic containers, however, is often much more complicated than the placement of one container on top of another container. Most plastic containers provide for an extended neck which is taller than the main body of the container structure. This neck allows for a lid to easily be screwed, snapped, connected or otherwise positioned on and off. At the same time, however, when containers are stacked, generally the higher container in the stack will rest on the lower container's lid or neck due to this vertical extension. When this happens, the weight of that upper container is only distributed across the lid of the lower container (or the rim of the neck if the container is empty). Thus, the weight of the upper container is displaced on a smaller surface area comprised of just the lid (or neck) of the lower container. In this unstable orientation, the shoulder between the neck and the top surface of the container bears significant weight from the stack.
In some cases, the neck is simply unable to bear the necessary weight of the stacked containers above it. For example, in narrow necked containers, the lid or rim is so small when compared to the base of the upper container that the stack is unstable; i.e., the surface area of the base of the higher container is so large that it cannot be supported in a balanced manner by the lid of the lower container, which has a much smaller surface area. Thus, the stacking of these types of containers is generally not possible without supplemental support. One common practice is to place a cardboard or other sheet or support around the necks and between the rims of supporting containers in a stack in order to distribute the force of the containers resting above. Because of the problems inherent to stacking these types of containers, the containers are often distributed in packing boxes which only hold a single layer of containers, but can themselves be stacked, or with sheets of cardboard or another segregating material between the layers of the stack to provide for force distribution.
Even in container designs with wider necks, and thus broader surface areas for stacking, segregating sheets between layers of the stack are often still necessary to prevent the mass of the above containers from being focused too narrowly on the shoulder of the lower container, resulting in overall instability in the stacked container structure and possible malformation of the lower mass-bearing containers in the stack. Thus, even when these wider necked containers have traditionally been stacked for storage or transport, supports are utilized. For example, generally these wider neck containers are positioned to form a first layer. This first layer then has a piece of segregation material placed on it (usually a cardboard sheet), and a second layer is placed on the segregation layer. This process of sandwiching supplemental supports between the layers of containers in the stack is repeated until a desired stack height is obtained. Because of the use of the supplemental supports, stacks in these arrangements could result in containers at the second layer being positioned directly over containers in the first layer, or could result in offsets in the containers between the stacks to further distribute force.
While this form of transport and storage is effective, it has numerous inherent problems. First, this method tends to result in the production of a lot of excess packing material (used as segregation sheets and supports) which are discarded by the end user of the containers. The problem can exist at possibly three different points. The problem exists first when empty containers are stacked and shipped from the packaging manufacturing plant to the plant where they are to be filled. The problem exists again when the containers are filled and shipped to end retailers. The problem can also exist in the transport of used containers to a recycling or refilling facility. Thus, there is a possibility that segregation supports are created and discarded three times for the same load of containers. Second, this method results in excess costs and a loss in efficiency in the moving and storage of containers. The necessary supplemental supports add to the cost of storing and transporting the containers. Further, stacking the containers in this manner with supplemental supports can complicate the stacking and storing process.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/087,883, incorporated herein by reference, describes a container which provides for a recessed portion of the base. This portion allows for a the neck of a lower container in a stack to be placed in the recessed portion of the base of the higher container, resulting in the bottom of the higher container being generally flush with the top of the lower container. This lid-within-base orientation among the stacked containers improves the stackability of the containers and, in eliminating the need for supplemental supports, remedies many of the problems inherent to traditional stacking methodologies (e.g., increased cost, increased waste and decrease efficiency).
However while this lid-within-base design provides numerous benefits for the storage and transportation of containers, currently there are problems in the art in the manufacturing of these recessed base containers.
One problem with the manufacture of these recessed base containers is that it is generally hard, if not impossible, to form the legs of the container around the recessed base. In a traditional blow-molding technique, the two- or three-part mold is closed and the parison or preform is blown into the final container form in the mold. Generally, in currently utilized blow-molding techniques, the neck of the container is associated with the portion of the mold that blows the air into the mold. Further, the base of the container is associated with the portion of the mold opposite from the point where the air is blown into the mold. Because of the trajectory of the air pressure into the preform, which creates the resultant container, it is generally difficult to attain the sharp corners needed to create the legs of the container around the recessed base; the air pressure inserted into the preform simply cannot make the sharp corners in the legs such that the blown-out preform completely fills the legs of mold. The top left and right ninety degree corners of the indent which comprise the recessed base block the air pressure applied at the neck of the container from causing the preform to stretch to this portion of the mold. Accordingly, it can be difficult, if not impossible, with the currently utilized blow-molding technologies to create the fully formed recessed base and legs shown in FIG. 3.
Further, the recessed base of these containers does not lend itself to traditional blow molding techniques with either a two or three part mold. Generally, when the mold is in the forming position (i.e., when the multi-part mold is closed and the parison or preform is being blown into final container form in the mold) there is a sufficient amount of support to retain the integrity of the container.
In this forming orientation, there is usually a raised step portion in the mold which forms the corresponding recessed base in the container. Notably, when the mold is separated into its component parts to release the container, there is an enormous amount of pressure and mechanical stress on the newly formed container. This is especially true for the area of the container surrounding the raised portion of the mold at the base. For example, although it is partially cooled in some processes after being blown into the form, the newly formed blow-molded container generally has not been fully set and stabilized (e.g., it has generally not been completely cooled into a set position and is generally still malleable). Stated differently, although partially cooled, the newly formed container is still vulnerable to malformation.
It is generally impossible to create a recessed blow molded container with a two-part mold. As demonstrated in prior art FIG. 1, the split in two-part molds which opens to the blow mold cavity where the hot parison or preform is placed is generally vertical in orientation. Thus, as seen in FIG. 1, the mold opening and closing action which is necessary to close the mold for container formation and release the formed container after blow-molding is a horizontal action that presses the internal portion of the vertically oriented molds together and apart. In molds which have a raised portion of the blow mold cavity (to create a recessed base in the formed container) the horizontal mold opening action necessary to release the formed container from the mold cavity would tear the base and the container apart.
The formation of recessed blow mold containers is also difficult with traditionally utilized three-part molds. Generally, traditionally utilized three-part molds are comprised of the same component parts of a two-part mold, with the addition of a third part of the mold which is located at the base of the two vertically oriented parts of the mold. Similar to the two-part mold, the cavities of the vertically oriented parts of the mold form the top, neck and side-body portions of the resultant container. The third component part of the mold, the base, forms the base of the resultant container. In order to create a recessed base in the resultant container, the base cavity of the mold generally contains a raised portion or step. In order to release the newly formed container, the base portion of the cavity usually falls vertically from the container. Then, the vertically oriented portions of the container are separated via a horizontal opening action. Alternatively, the vertically oriented portions of the container can be separated first via a horizontal opening action followed by the dropping of the base. One embodiment of a three-part mold of the prior art is depicted in prior art FIG. 2.
Due to the high pressure and mechanical stress exerted on the mold bottom when the container is released, even though there is no a direct conflict between the mold and recessed bottom portion of the container as is present in a two-part mold, the recessed base of the resultant container is subject to stripping and disorientation from the raised step and the rest of the bottom mold cavity retracting simultaneously. Due to the sensitive condition of the recently formed container, and its fragility to malformation and disorientation at this stage, the retraction of the raised step and bottom portion of the mold at the same time places extreme tensile pressure on the newly formed base of the container, increasing the likelihood that the recessed base could become stuck in the blow molding machine or could be unduly and improperly altered. The deeper this recess is, the greater the mechanical forces applied and therefore the increased likelihood of deformation. Thus, even with the traditional three-part mold, there is a high likelihood of malformation of the resultant bold molded container when a container with a recessed base is attempted, if the three-part mold even has the ability to create a mold with a sufficiently deep foot "channel" around the central indent.

Blow mold tool with retractable base portion


A hydrocyanation process produces adiponitrile and other dinitriles having six carbon atoms. The process involves forming a reaction mixture in the presence of at least one Lewis acid. The reaction mixture includes ethylenically unsaturated nitrites having five carbon atoms, hydrogen cyanide, and a catalyst precursor compositions. The reaction mixture is continuously fed while controlling the overall feed molar ratio of 2-pentenenitriles to all unsaturated nitriles and the overall feed molar ratio of hydrogen cyanide to all unsaturated nitrites. In the reaction product mixture, including adiponitrile, the ratio of the concentration of 2-pentenenitriles to the concentration of 3-pentenenitriles from about 0.2/1 to about 10/1. Included in the catalyst precursor composition is a zero-valent nickel and at least one multidentate phosphorus-containing ligand. The multidentate phosphorus-containing ligand may be a phosphite, a phosphonite, a phosphinite, a phosphine, and a mixed phosphorus-containing ligand or a combination of such members.

Hydrocyanation catalyst systems, particularly pertaining to the hydrocyanation of ethylenically unsaturated compounds, have been described. For example, systems useful for the hydrocyanation of 1,3-butadiene (BD) to form pentenenitrile (PN) isomers and in the subsequent hydrocyanation of pentenenitriles to form adiponitrile (ADN) are known in the commercially important nylon synthesis field.

The hydrocyanation of ethylenically unsaturated compounds using transition metal complexes with monodentate phosphite ligands is recited in the prior art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,496,215; 3,631,191; 3,655,723; and 3,766,237, and Tolman et. al., Advances in Catalysis, 1985, 33, 1. Improvements in the zero-valent nickel catalyzed hydrocyanation of ethylenically unsaturated compounds with the use of certain multidentate phosphite ligands are also disclosed. Such improvements are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,821,378; 5,981,772; 6,020,516; and 6,284,865.
The hydrocyanation of activated ethylenically unsaturated compounds, such as with conjugated ethylenically unsaturated compounds (e.g., BD and styrene), and strained ethylenically unsaturated compounds (e.g., norbornene) proceed at useful rates without the use of a Lewis acid promoter. However, hydrocyanation of unactivated, ethylenically unsaturated compounds, such as 1-octene and 3PN, requires the use of a Lewis acid promoter to obtain industrially useful rates and yields for the production of linear nitriles, such as n-octyl cyanide and ADN, respectively.
The use of a promoter in the hydrocyanation reaction is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,496,217. This patent discloses an improvement in hydrocyanation using a promoter selected from a large number of metal cation compounds as nickel catalyst promoters with a wide variety of counterions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,496,218 discloses a nickel hydrocyanation catalyst promoted with various boron-containing compounds, including triphenylboron and alkali metal borohydrides. U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,353 discloses a process for the preparation of dinitriles, including ADN, from unsaturated nitriles, including pentenenitriles, in the presence of a zero-valent nickel catalyst and a triorganotin promoter. Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,884 discloses a process for producing ADN by the zero-valent nickel catalyzed hydrocyanation of pentenenitriles in the presence of a synergistic combination of promoters selected in accordance with the desired reaction kinetics of the ADN synthesis. Furthermore, the use of Lewis acids to promote the hydrocyanation of pentenenitriles to produce ADN using zero-valent nickel catalysts with multidentate phosphite ligands is also disclosed. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,512,696; 5,723,641; 5,959,135; 6,127,567; and 6,646,148.
It is reported in the prior art that, concomitant with the hydrocyanation of 3PN and 4PN to produce ADN, some isomerization of 3PN to cis- and trans-2PN can occur. However, in the process of hydrocyanating 3PN and 4PN using nickel catalysts derived from monodentate phosphite ligands, such as Ni[P(OC6H5)3]4, U.S. Pat. No. 3,564,040 states that the presence of 2PN, even in low concentrations, is detrimental to catalyst efficiency and the production of 2PN is undesirable since they constitute a yield loss as well as a poison for the catalyst.
In order to address this issue, U.S. Pat. No. 3,564,040 describes a method to maintain the steady-state concentration of 2PN below 5 mole percent as based on the nitriles present in the reaction mixture. Because trans-2PN is difficult to separate from a mixture of 3PN and 4PN by distillation due to their close relative volatilities, the disclosed method involves the catalytic isomerization of trans-2PN to cis-2PN followed by fractional distillation of the mixture of pentenenitrile isomers to remove the more volatile cis-2PN isomer. The catalyst systems used to isomerize trans-2PN to cis-2PN are those that also serve to hydrocyanate pentenenitriles to ADN, in particular, nickel catalysts derived from monodentate phosphite ligands as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,496,217 and 3,496,218.
Alternative catalyst systems for the isomerization of trans-2PN to cis-2PN are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,852,325 and 3,852,327. The primary advantage of the catalyst systems described therein is in avoiding appreciable carbon-carbon double bond migration in the pentenenitrile isomers, which allows for the isomerization of trans-2PN to cis-2PN without substantial further isomerization of the 3PN to 2PN. The catalysts described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,325 are compounds of the general formula R3C—X, such as triphenylmethyl bromide, wherein R is an aryl radical having up to 18 carbon atoms and —X is of the group consisting of —H, —Cl, —Br, —I, —SH, —B(C6H5)4, —PF6, —AsF6, —SbF6 and —BF4, while the catalyst systems described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,327 are Lewis acid/Lewis base compositions, such as combinations of zinc chloride with triphenylphosphine.
A different method of removing the 2PN from mixtures of pentenenitrile isomers containing 3PN and 4PN is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,865. The 2PN and/or 2-methyl-2-butenenitriles (2M2BN) can be selectively separated from a mixture of pentenenitrile isomers containing 3PN and 4PN by contacting the mixture of nitriles with an aqueous solution of a treating agent comprising sulfite and bisulfite ions and ammonium or alkali metal cations to produce an aqueous phase containing the bisulfite adduct of the 2PN and/or 2M2BN and an organic phase containing the 3PN and 4PN, substantially free of 2PN and 2M2BN. The recovered organic phase can provide a feed material of pentenenitriles for further hydrocyanation to produce ADN with greatly reduced amounts of the undesired by-product 2PN that is detrimental to catalyst efficiency.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,567 discloses nickel catalyst precursor compositions derived from bidentate phosphite ligands and processes for the hydrocyanation of monoethylenically unsaturated compounds which are more rapid, selective, efficient, and stable than prior processes using nickel catalysts derived from monodentate phosphites. U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,986 discloses that at least one member of this class of catalysts is capable of hydrocyanating olefins conjugated to nitriles, for example 2PN. The present invention provides novel processes for the hydrocyanation of pentenenitriles to produce dinitriles, in particular ADN, using certain catalyst precursor compositions described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,567 as well as other catalyst precursor compositions. Such processes can overcome the detrimental effect of 2PN on catalyst efficiency and can greatly reduce or eliminate yield losses to 2PN in the pentenenitrile hydrocyanation reaction.

Hydrocyanation process with reduced yield losses


A control system for a first window lifter adjusts a first window pane of a motor vehicle having a first drive, and for a second window lifter for adjusting a second window pane of the motor vehicle having a second drive, having a control device. The control device may be electrically connected both to the first drive and to the second drive for the purpose of energization. The control device may have a first sensor for determining a first adjustment position of the first window lifter, and a second sensor for determining a second adjustment position of the second window lifter, the first sensor and the second sensor being based on different physical operational principles.

Window lifters in motor vehicles serve to adjust the position of a window pane within a vehicle bodywork, within a swing door, within a tailgate or within a sliding door. In order, for example, to obtain a desired speed profile, a motor current of a drive of the window lifter is controlled by means of a power driver, for example a power semiconductor. Furthermore, it is desirable to sense the position of the window pane in order to control the adjustment movement and/or a collision protection means as a function of the sensed position.
An example of a window lifter having a drive is described in German laid-open patent application DE 43 02 143 A1. In this window lifter, the drive motor has a rotor which can be displaced axially. When the drive current for the drive motor is switched off, the rotor is moved into a locked position as a result of which the drive motor and thus the drive as a whole can be blocked.
DE 102 53 643 A1 is based on the basic idea of preventing a plurality of window lifters simultaneously closing completely the window pane assigned to them. Instead, only the window lifter which first closes the window pane is allowed to close the window pane to an extent at which the window lifter motor is blocked and the blocking current flows. All the other window lifter motors are switched off with timing such that the window pane does not reach its completely closed position, but rather only an approximately closed position. As soon as a window pane enters this end region, a blocking signal is emitted by a control unit of the corresponding window lifter and is transmitted via a bus system to all the other control units of the window lifters.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,135 B1 discloses a method for controlling a plurality of window lifters of a motor vehicle. DE 102 08 323 A1 relates to a motor-operated window system for a vehicle. The motor-operated window system comprises a window which can move between an open position and a closed position. The motor-operated window system also comprises a motor which is coupled to the window, the motor selectively causing the window to move. The motor-operated window system also comprises at least one switch and a communications bus which is coupled to the motor. The motor-operated window system also comprises a processor that is connected at least to the switch or the communications bus and is designed to selectively transmit at least one closing signal or opening signal to at least the switch or the communications bus. The motor-operated window system also comprises a sensor which is connected to the processor and which senses states on which automatic closing of the window is based.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Control system for window lifters of a motor vehicle

Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft


A method for correcting measuring values when measuring liquid scintillation samples deposited on sample plates by a photodetector which will be affected by scintillation photons from other samples in the plate in addition to the sample being measured. Said correction is done by pre-determining affection of the other samples of the plate as a function of quench level and correcting observed measuring values using this information.

Liquid scintillation counters are commonly used for measuring the count rate or activity of samples containing low energy beta particles or corresponding particles emitting radionuclides such as tritium and carbon-14.
The range of the low energy beta particles in the sample is generally few tens of micrometers at the most. As a consequence, the sample to be measured has to be placed in direct contact with the scintillation medium, which comprises a solvent or solvents and a solute or solutes present in a few percent by weight of the solutions. In this interaction process most of the kinetic energy of the interacted beta particle is absorbed by the solvent and then transferred to the solute which emits scintillation photons, whose amount is proportional to the energy of the interacted beta particle. These scintillation photons are detected usually by two, in coincidence operating, photomultiplier tubes producing electric pulses. The height of the pulses are proportional to the amount of emitted scintillation photons and thus proportional to the energy of the interacted beta particle.
When measuring sample activities with liquid scintillation counters, the basic problem is the reduction of the counting efficiency due to the quenching of the sample.
It is known in the liquid scintillation counting that the reduction of the counting efficiency due to the quenching of the sample can be corrected by a means of a quench curve which describes the relationship between the counting efficiency and the amount of quench of the sample.
Normally liquid scintillation counters are provided with one detector and they are designed to measure samples in 7 ml or 20 ml glass or plastic vials.
A novel liquid scintillation counter, which counts samples, directly from multi-well sample plates is described in International Patent Publication Number WO 89/12838 (Lehtinen et al.). The apparatus counts liquid scintillation or corresponding samples directly from sample plates which comprise several separate sample wells or vials. The apparatus has one or several detectors in order to count one or several samples at a time. The sample plate is placed in the counting position or pre-counting position manually or automatically on a rigid plate holder made of photon attenuating material and having holes for the wells of the sample plate. The walls of the holes are reflecting or scattering in order to guide the photons from the liquid scintillation sample to the detectors, built of two photomultiplier tubes operating in coincidence and situated on the opposite sides of the holes of the plate holder. The wells of the sample plate can be closed by an adhesive transparent tape. The apparatus can be used also for counting gamma radiation emitting samples if the holes of the sample plate are surrounded by gamma radiation sensitive detectors.
Another novel scintillation counting system for in-situ measurement of radioactive samples in a multiple-well plate is presented under European Patent Publication Number 0425767A1 (VanCauter et al.). This apparatus is provided with multiple photomultiplier tubes positioned adjacent to the sample wells containing the scintillator for simultaneously measuring the radioactivity of multiple samples with only a single photomultiplier tube sensing the scintillations from each well and converting the sensed scintillations into corresponding electrical pulses. The electrical pulses from each photomultiplier tube are processed to discriminate between pulses attributable to sample events within the wells and pulses attributable to non-sample events such as photomultiplier tube noise. The discrimination is effected by determining whether a selected number of electrical pulses occurs with a prescribed time interval, the occurrence of the selected number of pulses within the prescribed time interval signifying a sample event. Only the electrical pulses attributable to sample events are supplied to a pulse analyzer.
The multi-well sample plates have typically eight rows of wells, whose diameter is 7-8 mm arranged in twelve columns with d distance of 9 millimeters between the center points of the wells. The typical volumes of the sample wells of such 96-well sample plates are 200-400 microliters depending on the height of the plate. When the wells of the multi-well sample plate are separate, the plate can be placed for counting on a rigid sample plate holder made of photon attenuating material and having thru-holes for the wells of the sample plate as shown in the patent application published under international publication number WO 89/12838. As a consequence, an optically isolated compartment is formed around each sample well of the sample plate. Unfortunately most of the commercially available multi-well sample plates are transparent and the wells are joined together with ribs or the like in order to stiffen the sample plate. As a consequence of this it is impossible to isolate the wells optically. As a further consequence of this some amount of the scintillation photons produced by the absorption of the beta particle in a certain sample well may travel to other sample wells and thus produce an undesired increase in observed count rates in those wells. This phenomenon is called optical crosstalk. It is known that the use of opaque multi-well sample plates can reduce optical crosstalk as mentioned in TopCount Topics PAN0005 6/91, published by Packard Instrument Company, Meriden USA 1991. Unfortunately in many applications transparent multi-well sample plates are preferred, and most of the commercially available multi-well sample plates are transparent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,588 (Yrjonen et al.) shows a crosstalk correction method applied in gamma counting. This method is not suitable for liquid scintillation counting because it does not take into account the variation of the quench of the samples, and it is limited to correcting only affection of samples, which are in pre-determined locations.

Method for measuring liquid scintillation samples deposited on multi-well sample plates


Embodiments of a method and apparatus for performing an adaptive transmission scheme in a frequency division duplexing communication system based on channel state information estimated using an open-loop mode are described herein. In one example, the method includes estimating an impulse response of a channel using a signal received over a first frequency band of the channel from a device, transforming the impulse response into a frequency response of the channel, and subsequently performing the adaptive transmission scheme using the frequency response to transmit a signal to the device over a second frequency band of the channel that is different from the first frequency band.

Transmit beamforming is a signal processing technique that uses two or more antennas at a transmitter to increase the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) at a receiver and, thereby, the reliability and/or rate at which data can be communicated from the transmitter to the receiver. The basic operation of transmit beamforming is to send the same signal to the receiver from each of the two or more antennas at the transmitter. However, a different complex scaling factor (or set of complex scaling factors) is applied to the signal sent from each antenna.
In order to improve the SINR at the receiver, the values of the different complex scaling factors (or sets of complex scaling factors) should be determined based on state information (e.g., the frequency or impulse response) of the wireless channel used to convey signals from the transmitter to the receiver. In a time division duplexing (TDD) system, the frequency band of the wireless channel used to convey signals from the transmitter to the receiver is the same frequency band used to convey signals in the opposite direction, from the receiver to the transmitter. Therefore, because the frequency bands are the same, the transmitter can form an estimate of the state information of the wireless channel based on a signal it receives from the receiver and use that estimate to perform transmit beamforming.
In a frequency division duplexing (FDD) system, however, different frequency bands are used to send signals in each direction between the two devices over the wireless channel. As a result, rather than the transmitter forming an estimate of the state information of the wireless channel based on a signal it receives from the receiver and using that estimate to perform transmit beamforming, such a system would conventionally operate in a closed-loop mode to form an estimate of the state information of the wireless channel for use in transmit beamforming. More specifically, in such a system, the receiver would estimate the state information of the wireless channel based on a signal it receives from the transmitter and then feed this estimated state information (or some compressed indication of this estimated state information) back to the transmitter for use in transmit beamforming. Although the closed-loop mode provides a viable solution for estimating the state information of the wireless channel in a FDD system for use in transmit beamforming, such a closed loop mode can be slow to adapt to changing channel conditions (e.g., due to movement of the transmitter and/or receiver) and further increases overhead.
Therefore, what is needed is a method and apparatus that can more quickly and/or more efficiently estimate state information of a wireless channel in a FDD system for transmit beamforming.
The present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawing in which an element first appears is typically indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.

Adaptive transmit beamforming for frequency division duplexing systems