A resonant strain gauge includes a silicon substrate, a polysilicon flexure beam attached at both ends to the substrate, and a polysilicon rigid cover cooperating with the substrate to enclose the flexure beam within a sealed vacuum chamber. An upper bias electrode is formed on the cover, and a lower bias electrode is formed on the substrate directly beneath and spaced apart from the flexure beam. A drive electrode is formed in or on the beam, centered between the upper and lower bias electrodes transversely with respect to the direction of beam elongation. The upper and lower electrodes are biased at constant voltage levels, of equal magnitude and opposite polarity. The drive electrode, ordinarily biased at ground, is selectively charged by applying an oscillating drive voltage, to cause mechanical oscillation of the beam. A piezoresistor element, formed on the beam, senses beam oscillation and provides a position indicating input to the oscillator circuit that drives the beam. The beam tends to oscillate at its natural resonant frequency. The piezoresistor thus provides the natural resonant frequency to the oscillating circuit, adjusting the frequency of the beam drive signal toward coincidence with the natural resonant frequency. A shield electrode can be formed on the flexure beam between the piezoresistor and the drive electrode, to insure against parasitic capacitance. In alternative embodiments, the drive signal is applied to one of the bias electrodes to oscillate the beam, and beam oscillation is sensed capacitively.

The present invention relates to transducers that utilize induced strain as a means for measuring acceleration, pressure, temperature and other variables, and more particularly to transducers employing resonant beams as sensors.
Resonant sensors have been used for many years to achieve high accuracy measurements. Vibrating transducers have been used in accelerometers, pressure transducers, mass flow sensors, temperature and humidity sensors, air density sensors and scales. These sensors operate on the principle that the natural frequency of vibration (i.e. resonant frequency of an oscillating beam or other member) is a function of the induced strain along the member. More particularly, tensile forces tending to elongate the beam increase its resonant frequency, while forces tending to compress the beam reduce the natural frequency. The frequency output of resonant gauges is readily converted to digital readings reflecting the measured quantity, requiring only a counter and a reference clock for this purpose. Thus, such gauges are simple and reliable, providing a high degree of discrimination while using a relatively simple sensor to digital interface.
An exemplary use of a vibrating beam transducer is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,383 (Riordan). A pair of parallel beams are employed to limit the angular movement of the gimbal of a gyro. Angular movement in one direction tends to compress the vibrating beams, while angular movement in the opposite direction tends to place the beams under tension. Changes in natural frequency of the beams provide a direct indication of gimbal angular movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,254 (Guckel et al) discloses a resonant beam transducer including a polysilicon beam mounted to a substrate for vibration relative to the substrate, and a polysilicon shell surrounding the beam and affixed to the substrate to form a cavity which is sealed and evacuated. The beam is oscillated by supplying an oscillating voltage to an electrode on the shell.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,667 (Nishikubo et al) discloses a mechanical vibrator having three parallel arms and three piezoelectric elements, one glued to each of the arms. The element on one of the outer arms is used to drive the vibrator, while the remaining piezoelectric elements provide a pair of sensors. The sensors provide an input to an amplifier, with the output of the amplifier being provided to the drive piezoelectric element.
Resonating members also have been driven magnetically. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,897 (Flecken), a magnet is mounted to each of two parallel fluid carrying tubes. A coil magnet, positioned between the two tube magnets, is actuated by an excitation circuit to oscillate the tubes. Optical sensors determine the positions of the oscillating tubes, and provide position information as input to the excitation circuit.
A dual vibrating beam force transducer is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,586 (Blake et al). A pair of parallel beams are positioned between a pair of electrodes. A drive circuit provides an oscillating voltage to the electrodes to electrostatically drive the beams, causing the beams to oscillate in a plane containing both beams. The mechanical resonance of the beams controls the oscillation frequency. In an alternative embodiment (shown in Blake's FIG. 7), one of two parallel beams is grounded while a drive circuit applies an oscillating voltage to the other beam, thus electrostatically oscillating both beams.
One of the primary advantages of resonant gauges is that the resonant frequency depends only on the geometrical and mechanical properties of the oscillating beam, and is virtually independent of electrical properties. As a result, precise values (e.g. resistance and capacitance) of drive and sense electrodes are not critical. A possible disadvantage is that any parasitic coupling between the drive and sense electrodes may diminish accuracy of the resonant gauge. Furthermore, in a conventional capacitive drive arrangement, the force between the oscillating beam and drive electrode is quadratic, resulting in an unwanted frequency pulling effect. While crystalline quartz piezoresistors have been satisfactorily employed in resonant gauge applications, their size limits their practical utility.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a resonant beam sensing device in which drive electrodes and sense electrodes are isolated from one another in a manner to virtually eliminate parasitic capacitance between them.
Another object of the invention is to provide a resonant gauge in which the force applied to the drive electrode is linear rather than quadratic, whereby the applied force can be varied in a manner that more closely approximates the behavior of the oscillating beam.
A further object of the invention is to provide a resonant beam strain sensing device with a high degree of discrimination for accurately sensing even slight changes in resonant frequency.
Yet another object is to provide a resonant gauge of microscopic dimensions for use in applications where space is severely limited.

Resonant gauge with microbeam driven in constant electric field


A method for cleaning a surface of an aluminum or aluminum alloy body by immersing the surface in a basic aqueous electrolyte formed essentially from dissolved trisodium phosphate, flowing DC current through the electrolyte and the body for cleaning, and then removing the body from the electrolyte. An additional cleaning step, which may include ultrasonic cleaning, may be performed to remove loose matter adhering to the body after the electrolytic cleaning.

Surfaces of aluminum bodies or components must be returned to a clean, bare surface for recycling and reuse ("aluminum" as used in this specification refers to aluminum and aluminum alloys).
Aluminum wheels of trucks and airplanes are exposed to brake dust, road grime, oil, and other surface contaminants or coatings that must be removed from the wheel before the wheel can be recycled and reused.
Aluminum wheels are conventionally cleaned for recycling by sanding the wheel surface that will be visible in use (typically only one side of the wheel). The production rate is low, and so the economics of recycling of aluminum wheels is often unfavorable. There is a limit to how many times a wheel can be sanded and still be fit for use, and so the number of times a sanded wheel can be recycled is limited.
Aluminum wheels may also be cleaned using an acid wash to remove surface contaminants. Care must be taken to prevent the acid from etching or pitting the aluminum. The acid must be carefully handled and safely disposed of.
There is a need for an improved method for cleaning aluminum bodies that does not remove aluminum, does not etch, pit, or stain the aluminum, and results in an aluminum having a commercially acceptable brightness after cleaning.

Method for electrolytic cleaning of aluminum


A forklift truck has front and rear wheeled sections coupled by a central pivot. The wheels of the rear section are driven independently of one another. In order to prevent tire scrub when the two sections are in an extreme position in which the center of turning lies under or close to one of the driven wheels, the driving of the rear wheels controlled to stop or reverse the drive of the wheel closer to the turning point.

When a fork lift truck is driven in other than a straight line, the wheels nearer the centre of turning travel a smaller distance than the outer wheels.
EP 0 303 413 shows a narrow aisle lift truck having a body and a mast structure which are pivoted together about a main vertical or king pin axis. The body has wheels on a first common axis and the mast structure has feet with wheels on a second common axis. When the axes are parallel the parts are pivotally related for straight ahead, or straight back, travel. The mast has a carriage for elevation of forks which are for insertion and retraction of a load to and from the stack in which the aisle extends. Steering is effected by driving the mast structure about the king pin by any suitable means. A truck having all of these mentioned features is herein called "of the kind referred to".
A truck of this kind may, in an extreme position, have the said axes at an angle of the order of 90 deg. to one another. This can result in skidding and tire wear.
DE 1049307B shows a truck having front wheels only driven by separate motors which can be controlled individually as to direction of speed. This provides a solution to the problem of the inner and outer wheels moving differently, but because those motors act as the only steering means, there are other problems introduced.
DE 1209450B uses two hydrostatic motors, one for each driven wheel, which can run at different speeds when the truck is in curvilinear motion, but this only goes some way towards solving the problem and does not cater for the possibilities of extreme movement of the steering such as those mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs.
GB 2 167 024 shows a vibratory trench roller with four rolls, which can be controlled by so-called tank steering in which two rolls on one side are driven in the same or the opposite direction as those on the other side. However, this does not give satisfactory steering possibilities for a wheeled forklift truck.
The object of the invention is to provide improvements.


A computer monitoring system includes a processor and sensors electrically thereto that are positioned beneath the playing surface directly below a boundary line. The sensors are connected in series to the processor such that each sensor is independently activated and generates an analog output signal when a predetermined weight limit is detected thereon. The sensors are positioned below a three-point and a free-throw line. An analog-to-digital converter is coupled to the processor and sensors that receives and converts the analog signals to digital signals. A memory includes programmable software instruction that cause the system to perform a series of operations. The processor generates and transmits audible and visual notification signals for each of the consecutive digital signals when the time span is greater than the threshold interval.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to detection systems and, more particularly, to an automated detection system for sports fields and the like.
2. Prior Art
In basketball, like many other sporting events having boundaries of play, judgment calls must be made continually as to whether events have taken place "in" or "out" of the boundary. Since the game play occurs at a rather rapid speed and the basketball is often obscured by the player's body, such judgment calls are extremely difficult because of the inherent inability of the human eye to follow an object moving at such a speed, and relate the relative position of impact on or over a line.
Prior to this time, a number of devices have been proposed which replace human judgment with a mechanical or optical sensor. The shortcomings of these devices, however, have prevented the widespread acceptance of any of these devices. Many of the previous devices require modification of the ball to plot its position relative to electrical conductors provided beneath the court and or its boundaries. This may be unacceptable in regulation play, and greatly increases the cost of basketballs and of modifying existing courts.
A second type of device is one which is laid on the playing surface and senses the impact of the ball or player on the critical boundary. These sensors are made of materials that are not well suited to withstand the strain of multiple impacts over a long period of time. One example shows a pressure switch, known as a "membrane" switch, which is comprised of foil conductors separated by a dielectric with holes. The weight of the impact presses the foil together within holes formed in the dielectric material.
The switches depend on plastic deformation of the conductors. Repeated deformations of this type, particularly under heavy pressure, tend to stretch the conductors, which over time may cause an electrical failure. Typically, the onset of failure is indicated by intermittent or multiple switching contacts per actual impact on the sensing device. This unreliability over time is unacceptable. Finally, a serious problem is "shadowing." This is the masking of one impact by another. For example, if a foot is already on the line when the ball hits, the sensor must be able to still detect the second impact, even if the two events are quite close together or simultaneous.
Accordingly, a need remains for an automated detection system for sports fields and the like in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a detection system that is automatic in design, provides accurate pressure measurements and allows for improved flow and regulation of a game. Such a system automatically detects if a basketball player's foot or the basketball itself has touched the sideline or end-line markings of a basketball court. This allows game officials to referee a game more accurately, as well as reduce the instances of incorrect calls, which results in a more fair and balanced game between the opposing teams. Such a system thus also reduces the frequency of debates and heated arguments between players, coaches and the officials regarding questionable calls. The detection system can easily be incorporated to assist referees in sports other than basketball, like baseball, football and tennis, to name a few.

Automated detection system for sports fields and the like


Video and sensor data from multiple locations in a venue, in which multiple individuals are engaged in athletic performances, is stored and edited to create individualized video programs of athletic performances of individuals. Each camera provides a video feed that is continuously stored. Each video feed is stored in a sequence of data files in computer storage, which data files are created in regular time intervals. Each file is accessible using an identifier of the camera and a time interval. Similarly, data from sensors is continuously received and stored in a database. The database stores, for each sensor, an identifier of each individual detected in the proximity of the sensor and the time at which the individual was detected. Each sensor is associated with one or more cameras.

There is an increasing demand among individuals who participate in a variety of athletic and other activities to have access to video and other data about their performance. This demand is especially increasing for activities in large venues with large numbers of people, such as skiing, snowboarding, bicycling, running and the like. Creating edited videos of individuals participating in such activities can be time consuming. It can be difficult to efficiently capture and store video data for such activities, and then compile edited video programs for each of multiple individuals in such activities, especially given multiple video feeds, data feeds and participants.

Storage and editing of video and sensor data from athletic performances of multiple individuals in a venue


Method for protecting plants against fungal or bacterial attack, which comprises applying a 1-phenyl-pyrazole or 1-(2-pyridyl)pyrazole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for treating plants or wood against fungal or bacterial attack.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various 1-phenylpyrazoles and 1-(2-pyridyl)-pyrazoles are known as insecticides. For example, International Patent Publication No. WO 87/03781 and European Patent Publication No. 0295117 describe insecticidal 1-(substituted phenyl)pyrazoles. Also, International Patent Publications No. WO 93/06089 and WO 94/21606 describe insecticidal 1-(4-SF.sub.5 substituted phenyl)-heterocycles which may be pyrroles or imidazoles or pyrazoles.


An electrical connector having a housing comprising a first elongated slot and a second elongated slot for receiving a generally U-shaped latch camming slide. A first resilient latch and a second resilient latch are associated with the first and second elongated slots and, respectively, and they become deflected into the slots and when a locking insert is mounted on the housing, thereby locking the generally U-shaped latch camming slide in housing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly, it relates to an electrical connector having a latch camming slide in the electrical connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, some electrical connectors had a latch camming slide which was used to latch the connector to a mating connector under a camming action. For example, German Patent DE 3845179 C2, teaches of this camming Slide concept, and as shown in FIG., a camming slide 8 having camming guides 88, 82 cooperate with plugs 80 on complementary connector 6 to pull or cam the complementary connector 6 into mating engagement with the connector 20. In the past, the camming slide 8 was retained in the connector by providing barbs, such as barbs 106 in FIG. 1 of Klunker, which cooperate with the housing of the connector to retain the camming slide 8 in the housing.
A disadvantage of this design is that the latch camming slide can be easily pulled out of the housing. In addition, when the latch camming slide is in a retracted position (for example, when the posts of the complementary connector 6 are being inserted into the camming grooves in the camming slide 8), the latch camming slide had a tendency to get caught on wiring which, in turn, caused the camming slide to be pulled out of the housing.


Systems and methods are disclosed for determining shortest route(s) or path(s) to one or more destination nodes from one or more origin nodes. In accordance with one implementation, a computer-implemented method is provided that includes identifying a plurality of origin nodes associated with a route based on a threshold distance from at least one destination node, the origin nodes being options for a departure from the route to the at least one destination node. Further, the method may include calculating, using a processor, a cost associated with travelling from each of the origin nodes to at least one common intermediate node between the route and the at least one destination node, and determining a path to the at least one destination node based on the origin node having the lowest calculated cost.

Graphs are often used in the fields of mathematics and computer science. A graph may include nodes, as well as edges connecting the nodes. An edge between two nodes may be associated, for example, with a cost to travel or traverse between the two nodes.
Graphs may be used to model many types of relationships. For example, a graph may be used to model a social network or a telecommunication network. Graphs may also be used to represent maps. For example, a graph may represent a road map, where each node of the graph represents a road intersection, and each edge of the graph represents a road segment linking two intersections. The cost associated with each edge may correspond to a distance and/or time it takes to travel between the two intersections. A mapping program may use the graph to calculate directions between two points or nodes.
It may be desirable to calculate a route between two points on a map. For example, a user may use the mapping program to determine a route for driving directions between two points. Using the map, the corresponding route may be highlighted or otherwise displayed. The route in the map can correspond to a route in a graph having nodes and edges connecting the nodes.
A user may also be interested in making one or more detours from a determined route to one or more points of interest (POIs) on the map, such as a hotel, restaurant, hospital, gas station, or historical landmark. The POIs can be viewed as destination nodes in the graph that are not part of the route. The user may want to determine the fastest or shortest path to get from the determined route to the POIs. For example, if the user is driving, the user may seek the closest gas station or fast food restaurant off the route.
There are several known algorithms for calculating distances between nodes of a graph, such as: Dijkstra's algorithm, Moore's algorithm, Floyd-Warshall's algorithm, Bellman-Ford's algorithm, and Johnson's algorithm. However, these algorithms perform multiple iterations and are too costly or inefficient for the purpose of calculating costs or a shortest path from points along a route in a graph to a destination node (POI). Indeed, there may be a very large number of origin nodes from which a user may depart from the route, and a large number of destination nodes.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems and methods for analyzing one or more destination nodes, including the ability to analyze costs and determine a shortest distance from points along a route to at least one destination node or point. More generally, there is also a need to provide more efficient algorithms for calculating costs or distances between nodes on a graph when determining a route or path.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Computer-implemented systems and methods for planning a route


A material to be frozen is fed to an immersion bath having a recirculating flow of liquid nitrogen thereinside and at least partially frozen material is withdrawn from the bath downstream of where it is fed.

The freezing of discrete portions of food or non-food materials using liquid nitrogen has been practiced on a commercial scale for several years. While a wide variety of cryogenic apparatuses have been used to accomplish the freezing, many of them can be grouped into five typical types of apparatuses: batch freezers, immersion freezers, tunnel freezers, spiral freezers, and pelletizers.
Batch freezers are typically closed cabinets utilizing a combination of fans and liquid nitrogen sprayers to achieve rapid cooling of products on racks. As the name implies, batch freezers are not used for continuous freezing processes, but are often used to complete freezing initiated by a different upstream freezing process.
Immersion freezers utilize a conveyor belt that is loaded with primarily solid product that travels through a bath of liquid nitrogen. Typically, it is used for individually quick frozen (IQF) applications to partially or fully freeze food products. Typically, partially or fully frozen products are directed from the freezer conveyor to another conveyor for further freezing in another cryogenic apparatus.
One special type of immersion freezer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,549 B1 utilizes the same conveyor belt and bath configuration, but instead of loading solid product upstream of the bath, injectors inject a liquid or semi-solid dessert confection pre-mix into the bath from above the bath surface. The resultant solid particles are collected by the conveyor belt as it travels out of the bath and transferred to another conveyor belt.
Another special type of immersion freezer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,237 drops products into an inlet side of an open-ended U-shaped tube filled with liquid nitrogen. A flow of the liquid nitrogen directs the products down and towards the bottom of the outlet side of the tube. An auger screw directs the products up the opposite side and deposits them along with an amount of liquid nitrogen onto a cross-wise traveling conveyor belt. The conveyor belt captures the frozen products while holes in the belt allow liquid nitrogen to drip down and into a downwardly sloping chute that extends to the inlet side of the tube.
Tunnel freezers typically utilize a conveyor belt loaded with product that travels past fans which recirculate cold nitrogen gas from an overhead liquid nitrogen spray header. The cold nitrogen gas is directed to all surfaces of the product. Some of these freezers are adapted to rapidly freeze the top surface of the product through direct contact of the product with the liquid nitrogen spray. Three examples of this type of freezer include the ZIP FREEZE™ 3 available from Air Liquide, the ColdFront™ Ultra Performance Tunnel Freezer available from Praxair, and the Freshline® CQ Tunnel available from Air Products. Some tunnel freezers pass the conveyor belt through a bath of liquid nitrogen upstream of product loading to enable quick freezing of the bottom surface (crusting) of the product. One example of this variation is available from Air Liquide under the name CRUST FLOW® V2. Another example of this variation is available from Linde Industrial Gases under the name Cryoline® SC—Super Contact Tunnel Freezer. The Cryoline® SC passes the conveyor belt over liquid nitrogen-cooled plates for bottom crusting of the product instead of immersing the belt in a liquid nitrogen bath.
Spiral freezers typically utilize a conveyor belt loaded with product that travels past fans which recirculate cold nitrogen gas from an overhead liquid nitrogen spray header. The cold nitrogen gas is directed to all surfaces of the product. In contrast the straight-line path taken by the conveyor belt in tunnel freezers, spiral freezers run the belt in a spiral fashion around a center core.
Some freezers are hybrids of the immersion and tunnel types. In one example, a tunnel freezer conveys the conveyor belt through a liquid nitrogen bath upstream of product loading for achieving rapid bottom freeze-crusting. After loading, the belt is conveyed through a separate liquid nitrogen bath for overall freezing and then underneath a series of fans recirculating cold nitrogen gas from an overhead liquid nitrogen spray header. Such a hybrid is available under the name CRUST FLOW® P2 from Air Liquide. In another example disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,227, a turbulent flow of liquid nitrogen is provided along a downwardly sloped trough. Solid food supplied to the trough travels through the turbulent liquid nitrogen flow from the head of the trough and along the trough underneath a liquid nitrogen spray header. After passing underneath the spray header, the food and turbulent flow of liquid nitrogen cascades off the end of the trough as a waterfall onto a perforated conveyor belt. The perforated conveyor belt captures the food items and conveys them for further processing. The cascading waterfall of liquid nitrogen is collected in a sump and pumped back to weir at the head of the trough. Liquid nitrogen cascades over a top of a wall of the weir and into the trough. The height of the wall is set to ensure a drop from the top of the wall down to the trough such that turbulent flow is created in the trough.
Pelletizers typically allow droplets of liquid or semi-solid material to drip or be injected into either a static bath of liquid nitrogen or into a flow of liquid nitrogen in a sluiceway, in either case of which the droplets freeze into pellets. In the case of static baths, the frozen pellets settled at the bottom of the bath is typically conveyed up and out of the bath by means such as a rotating auger and directed to further processing. In the case of a sluiceway, the flow of liquid nitrogen cascades off the end of the sluiceway as a waterfall onto a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt captures the solid pellets while the waterfall of liquid nitrogen is typically collected in a sump.
Pelletization of liquid or semi-solid food can also be achieved by a freezer available from Linde Industrial Gases under the name Cryoline® DE Pellet Shooter. The Cryoline® DE Pellet Shooter conveys the belt through a bath of liquid nitrogen. The belt contains cavities into which liquid or semi-solid food is injected downstream of the bath and thereby frozen. The frozen pellets can then be ejected from the belt onto another belt for further freezing.
While the above immersion and tunnel freezers utilizing conveyor belts have been used with much success in freezing various products, many of these freezers experience difficulty handling a variety of different types of materials to be frozen and/or experience difficulty handling different production rates. Typically, the residence time (the time that the material remains immersed in the bath of liquid nitrogen or remains in a tunnel) is controlled by controlling the belt speed. When a relatively high residence time is necessary, a relatively low belt speed can produce the desired residence time. However, such a speed may lower the production rate below a point which is acceptable. In order to boost the production rate for such high residence time products, the belt loading can be increased but the loading density of the material on the belt quickly reaches a maximum where product-to-product sticking will occur. When the production rate is limited by the belt loading density, the size of the immersion bath can be increased or the length or the tunnel or number of tunnels can be increased. This can quickly increase the capital cost of the cryogenic device.
On the other hand, relatively high belt speeds through the liquid nitrogen bath in the above immersion freezers can result in a significant amount of liquid nitrogen carryover (also called "belt slinging"). The carryover liquid nitrogen can accumulate in the freezer exhaust system or be spilled on the facility floor. This can result in an environment unsafe for personnel, damaged floors, and excessive use of liquid nitrogen. While the belt slinging cannot be completely eliminated, it can be ameliorated by providing a suitable liquid nitrogen "catch" system at the end of the freezer. However, this can still result in an excessive use of liquid nitrogen.
The depth of the liquid nitrogen in the above-described immersion freezers with conveyor belts often must be limited. Raising the level beyond this limit can eliminate the necessary intimate contact between the belt and the product to be frozen. Thus, it has a detrimental effect on consistent product transfer. Because the depth is limited, if a greater degree of freezing is desired, the belt speed can be decreased or the length of the bath can be increased. As discussed in greater detail above, decreasing the belt speed can negatively impact the production rate. Decreasing the length of the bath can quickly increase the capital cost of the cryogenic device.
The above immersion freezers and freezing tunnels utilizing a conveyor belt can often negatively impact the shape of the product. Some products can stick to the belt resulting in a damaged bottom surface. While other products might not stick, contact with the belt can leave a belt-shape impression on the product's bottom surface.
The above immersion freezers utilizing conveyor belts also often exhibit difficulty handling frozen products whose density in the liquid nitrogen causes them to float above the surface of the conveyor belt. As a result, the to-be-frozen and already frozen products remain in a relatively static position that causes product to product sticking as more and more product is introduced by the belt into the bath. This problem can be alleviated to a certain extent by using a conveyor belt with cleats. However, unless the cleats are tall enough to stick out of the top surface of the bath, this is a partial solution at best.
Depending upon the porosity of the conveyor belt, these immersion and tunnel freezers often do not have the ability to freeze liquids or semi-solids. Those freezers having a belt with sufficiently low porosity or freezers of the Cryoline® DE Pellet Shooter kind can pelletize liquids and semi-solids, but the product density per square foot of conveyor belt is limited to the fact that only one layer of products can be frozen on the belt.
While the above-described pelletizers have also been used with much success in pelletizing liquids or semi-solids, they often waste liquid nitrogen in that too much liquid nitrogen boils off in the attempt to freeze the product. One way to decrease the waste of liquid nitrogen is to render the residence time fairly constant. This can be accomplished by having liquid nitrogen flow at a relatively constant rate along a downwardly sloping ramp or sluiceway, where it can flow until it reaches a reservoir or sump. The amount of time taken for the liquid nitrogen to travel the ramp or sluiceway is fairly constant and controllable, depending on the length and slope of the ramp or sluiceway. It is therefore possible to control the residence time of the product in the nitrogen by introducing the product onto the sluiceway at a given point, and removing the frozen product at a given point. However, there are problems associated with the apparatus as described above in that there is a greater amount of liquid nitrogen exposed to the air than necessary, which allows for greater evaporation of the liquid nitrogen. Furthermore, the movement and general agitation of the liquid nitrogen will also cause greater vaporization/evaporation. Since liquid nitrogen is quite expensive, it is undesirable to have any more vaporization/evaporation of liquid nitrogen than is necessary.
The production rate achievable by the above-described pelletizers is limited by the need to clear the space below the injector or dropper so that the droplets or partially frozen pellets do not freeze together.
Because a relatively large amount of the total liquid nitrogen in known pelletization systems is flowing through the sluiceways during operation, a small variation in the flow of liquid nitrogen returning to the reservoir can create a widely varying level of liquid nitrogen in the reservoir. These known pelletizers typically utilize a liquid nitrogen level sensor in order to replenish liquid nitrogen consumed during operation. Because the liquid nitrogen level can widely vary, control of the liquid level can be complicated, inefficient, and not well controlled. This can sometimes lead to an insufficient amount of liquid nitrogen in the reservoir which starves the pump and causes it to lose prime. When prime is lost, the flow of liquid nitrogen down the sluiceways is interrupted, the liquid nitrogen drains off the sluiceways and product jams occur. These product jams can effectively result in several hours of delay and hundreds of pounds of damaged product before normal operation can resume.
As discussed above, the prior art exhibits several disadvantages. Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide solutions to one or more of the following problems:
difficulty handling a wide range of production rates while keeping capital expenses in check,
difficulty handling a wide range of production rates without losing intimate contact between the material to be frozen and the conveyor belt,
difficulty handling relatively high production rates for pelletization of liquid or semi-solid materials,
difficulty pelletizing liquids or semi-solids with high product loading densities for liquids or semi-solids,
excessive vaporization of liquid nitrogen from heat sources other than the product to be frozen
product jams.

Recirculating liquid nitrogen immersion bath and method for freezing a product therein


An improved anti-lock brake control method adaptively determines exit criteria for terminating anti-lock brake control based on rate of brake pedal release and estimates of the brake torque and road surface coefficient of friction. The brake torque and road surface coefficient of friction are estimated based on a periodically updated characterization of the relationship between brake pedal position and vehicle deceleration.

This invention relates to motor vehicle anti-lock brake systems, and more particularly to a control method that adaptively determines exit criteria for terminating anti-lock brake pressure modulation.
A motor vehicle anti-lock braking system (referred to herein as an ABS system) repeatedly releases and re-applies hydraulic brake pressures during conditions of wheel lock to maximize the tractive force between the vehicle tires and the road surface. Typically, the control is initiated in response to insipient wheel lock detection, and is exited when the driver fully releases the brake pedal or the vehicle deceleration vs. wheel slip operating point is in an exit region for at least a predetermined exit time interval. This strategy can unnecessarily delay the termination of ABS control when the driver only partially releases of the brake pedal, which is undesirable, particularly when the road surface coefficient of friction is relatively high. Accordingly, what is needed is method of exiting ABS control that reduces the exit delay, consistent with the road surface coefficient of friction, when the brake pedal is only partially released.
The present invention is directed to an improved ABS control method in which exit criteria for terminating ABS control are adaptively determined based on rate of brake pedal release and estimates of the brake torque and road surface coefficient of friction. In the preferred embodiment, the brake torque and road surface coefficient of friction are estimated based on a periodically updated characterization of the relationship between brake pedal position and vehicle deceleration. In one aspect of the invention, an exit time interval is adaptively adjusted based on the estimated road surface coefficient of friction, and a control value used to determine if ABS control should be exited is adaptively biased toward exiting ABS control based on the brake pedal release rate and the estimated brake torque. In another aspect of the invention, ABS control is exited independent of the timer when the control value indicates that ABS control should be exited and the brake pedal release rate exceeds a threshold, provided the vehicle deceleration is higher than expected, based on the estimated road surface coefficient of friction. In another aspect of the invention, the ABS control is exited independent of the timer if the control value indicates that ABS control should be exited and the brake torque corresponding to the pedal position is significantly less than the maximum possible brake torque, given the estimated road surface coefficient of friction.

Anti-lock brake control method having adaptive exit criteria


A method and system adapt scheduling priorities in a wireless communications system to conserve battery power in mobile stations operating within the system. A base station, within the system, receives battery power level information and other setup information from mobile stations operating within the service area of the base station during call setup procedures. Based on the battery power level information and other setup information, the base station assigns frequency channels to the mobile stations so that those mobile stations having battery power levels below a threshold value are assigned frequency channels that have lower interference levels than frequency channels assigned to other mobile stations. The frequency channel assignments are transmitted to the mobile stations.

Currently, battery power conservation for mobile stations operating in a wireless communications system is a significant concern, especially for wireless service providers. This is due primarily to the significant amounts of power expended for wireless transmission by the mobile station transmitter. Revenue cannot be generated if mobile stations cannot complete calls due to their battery power being exhausted. One manual solution is the use of auxiliary power adapters to provide the power source needed for operation of the mobile station. However, this solution burdens wireless subscribers with additional costs and requires them to maintain a close proximity of the mobile station to the power source, to guarantee wireless service. Passive solutions to the problem involve scheduling the mobile station for sleep mode operation. The mobile station is instructed by the servicing base station to "wake up" at predetermined intervals to receive RF transmissions from the base station and to transmit RF signals to the base station. Although this solution does provide some relief, it also leads to significant over-the-air delays in the communications link since the base station and mobile station must continually buffer messages for longer periods. This delay is magnified further in a wireless communications system that operates on a reservation based protocol. Such a protocol directs mobile stations to use a limited number of channels at specific times to reduce interference and collisions in the wireless link.
Due to the limitations of the prior art, there is a need for a solution that takes a more active, direct role in managing mobile stations operating with low battery power levels.

Adaptive frequency channel assignment based on battery power level in wireless access protocols


A process for preparing fertilizer from fish, and a fertilizer prepared from said process, is disclosed. The fertilizer is for use on soil and plants. The process involves hydrolysis of fish with a phosphorus containing acid, preferably an inorganic phosphorus based acid, under normal ambient conditions. Typically, phosphoric acid is used. The fertilizer prepared from the disclosed process contains 1 to 10% by weight of the phosphorus based acid.

In the past, soil additives and plant fertilizers have been made synthetically from petroleum by-products and mineral salts. However, increasing public awareness of the environmental drawbacks of using chemical-based fertilizers has created a demand for safe, natural and more environmentally friendly fertilizers.
Waste organic materials such as waste from the food industry can be used to produce plant and soil fertilizers. Such fertilizers are relatively cheap to produce, and are also environmentally friendly, as they are made from a renewable resource, rather than non-renewable petroleum products. Another important advantage of such fertilizers over petroleum-based fertilizers is that they can improve the health of the soil, which in turn improves the health and yield of the plants. Organic fertilizers contain micronutrients and macronutrients that are not found in chemical fertilizers. The most important macronutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Secondary macronutrients include calcium, magnesium and sulfur. Micronutrients are elements essential for plant growth that are required in trace quantities. Important micronutrients include boron, copper, iron, chloride, manganese, molybdenum and zinc. In addition to these essential elements, "organic" fertilizers (e.g. not petroleum-based or otherwise chemical fertilizers) contain amino acids that aid plant and soil health. Organic fertilizers replenish the nutrient level of the soil and feed important soil organisms, such as nematodes, earthworms and microorganisms, which are essential for overall plant and soil health.
Chemical fertilizers do not contain the micronutrients and macronutrients found in organic fertilizers. As such, chemical fertilizers can only treat plants but not the soil. Also, chemical fertilizers may kill important soil organisms and tend to be readily leached from the soil, as they are usually composed of water soluble inorganic compounds that are easily washed away. Thus, chemical fertilizers are not retained long enough to have a significant effect on plant growth, while the chemicals leached from the soil can cause environmental damage, by pollution of nearby bodies of water.
A type of organic fertilizer is fertilizer produced from fish or fish by-products, which utilizes whole fish or fish parts left over from food processing. The use of the term "fish" throughout the application will be used to refer to whole fish, fish parts or by products of fish processing, unless stated otherwise. Fish fertilizer can be produced in two ways: (a) the formation of a fish emulsion; and (b) the hydrolysis of whole fish or fish parts to produce hydrolyzed fish fertilizer.
To produce a fish emulsion, whole fish or fish by-products are heated to extract oils and the solid material is pressed into a cake and dried to make fish meal, which can then be used for livestock feed. The liquid residue that has been pressed out of the fish cake is the fish emulsion used for fertilizer. There are two main drawbacks associated with fish emulsion fertilizer. Fish emulsion has a very strong, unpleasant odour due to the presence of decomposing proteins, caused by the high temperatures used during the fish extraction process. As fish emulsion is composed of the liquid pressed out of the fish cake, fish emulsion is primarily composed of water soluble nutrients and contains a relatively low concentration of oil-soluble nutrients. Therefore, fish emulsion is lacking in a number of macro and micro nutrients including oils, proteins and vitamins that are beneficial for optimal plant and soil health.
The second method of preparing fertilizer from fish involves the hydrolysis of whole fish or fish parts to produce hydrolyzed fish fertilizer. In this method, the starting material is ground into meal and then digested or hydrolyzed. There are numerous methods of hydrolyzing fish protein to break down solid fish into a liquid form, which fall into two categories: (1) enzymatic hydrolysis and (2) chemical digestion.
Fertilizer produced by the fish hydrolysis process has a number of advantages over fertilizer produced by the fish emulsion process. The hydrolysis process retains much more of the nutrients than the emulsion process, as the hydrolysate utilizes all of the starting material. In particular, hydrolyzed fish fertilizer retains the oil soluble nutrients which are excluded from fish emulsion. Therefore, hydrolyzed fish fertilizer provides superior results to fish emulsion fertilizer, as it contains the full spectrum of nutrients. Hydrolyzed fish fertilizer contains essential oils, vitamins, trace minerals, enzymes, and amino acids, which feed important soil organisms and are taken up more easily by the plant roots. Another advantage of the hydrolysis process is that it usually does not involve high temperatures. Consequently, the hydrolysate has very low odour as it does not contain decomposing proteins.
In some instances, consumers may wish to continue using chemical fertilizers as they are cheap and easy to apply. Organic fertilizer, including fertilizer prepared from fish, can also be used as an additive to regular chemical fertilizer. By using organic fertilizer as an additive, the chemical fertilizer is supplemented with nutrients found in organic fertilizer but not in chemical fertilizer.
In enzymatic hydrolysis, either preparations of enzymes or microorganisms are used to hydrolyze proteins into smaller peptides. The digested fish meal is then filtered to produce a whole fish hydrolysate composition. An example of enzyme hydrolysis is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,318.
Enzymatic hydrolysis of fish can be carried out using preparations of enzymes such as papain, which break down proteins into smaller peptides and individual amino acids. However, enzymes are sensitive to pH and temperature, as well as the presence of inhibitors and denaturants. Enzymes will only catalyze reactions within a specific pH and temperature range. Therefore, the hydrolysis reaction must be carefully monitored and controlled. As enzymes must be isolated and refined from natural sources without destroying their catalytic activity, this further increases the manufacturing cost. Enzymatic hydrolysis of fish can also be carried out with microorganisms, e.g. anaerobic digestion as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,665 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,106.
Hydrolysis of fish protein can also be effected with chemicals. However, due to the strength of the peptide bond, stringent conditions, i.e. concentrated acid or base and heat are usually required to completely hydrolyze the fish protein. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,788, fish is hydrolyzed with potassium hydroxide and heating, and then neutralized with phosphoric acid. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,845, fish solids are digested with ammonia under 300 psi with steam. Chinese Patent 1207380 uses formic acid, sulfuric acid and propionic acid at 80-90° C. Japanese Patent No. 4037679 describes refluxing defatted fish skin in 4 to 8 N phosphoric acid. However, as noted above, the application of heat causes the decomposition of fish protein, which produces unpleasant odours. Moreover, the application of heat to fish protein generally results in a reduction in the concentration of micronutrients such as molybdenum.
A common drawback of hydrolyzed fish fertilizers is inefficient hydrolysis or uneven mechanical breakdown of the fish protein during processing, which creates a mixture of liquid and solid fish particles. This creates a fertilizer product of high viscosity that is difficult to handle, such as measuring and mixing to desirable strengths for spraying from commonly available agricultural equipment.
Accordingly, there is a need for alternative processes that overcome the above-noted drawbacks.

Process of preparing soil additive of fertilizer from fish


A method is taught for protecting the surface of a nickel, cobalt, or titanium alloy from fretting wear by coating said surface with a copper-aluminum alloy.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for increasing the high temperature fretting wear resistance of many nickel, cobalt, and titanium alloys.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fretting wear occurs on the mating surfaces of two parts in contact which are designed to be static, but, through transmitted forces such as vibration, oscillate relative to each other with a high frequency, low amplitude motion. Since each surface contains many microscopic asperities in contact, the fretting motion tends to cause local adhesion at these junctions, which may fracture, producing material transfer, wear debris, or both. If the metals in contact are similar, or their constituent elements have good mutual solubilities, the majority of the fretting wear will be adhesive in nature. Elevated temperature will greatly accelerate the process, as may large loads and high frequencies. If the mating surfaces become extremely abraded and gnarled, stress concentrations will result in wear scarring, and a reduction in fatigue strength will result (known specifically as fretting fatigue), causing failure of the part(s). Specific examples of materials subject to fretting wear include turbofan airfoil bladeroots, friction dampers, bearings on shafts with loose fits, and drive-coupling components.
Prior art efforts to overcome the onset of fretting have included providing anti-fretting coatings on the surfaces of the materials in contact. These coatings behave as soft metallic films, keeping the substrate surfaces from coming in contact and dissipating vibrational energy by intracoating shear mechanisms. Such prior art anti-fretting coatings for nickel, cobalt, and titanium alloys have been based on Cu-Ni or Cu-Ni-In compositions. Their success is well documented. However, at temperatures above about 1000.degree. F., accelerated oxidation will rapidly deteriorate the coatings, allowing the substrate surfaces to come in contact and fret.
In addition, conventional application methods rely primarily on thermally spraying the constituents onto the desired part. This has further disadvantages due to the line-of-sight nature of thermal spraying, and the detrimental effects this type of operation has (e.g. warping) on thin-gauge materials.

Method for reducing fretting wear between contacting surfaces


An optical signal receiver is provided which is capable of making an optical signal receiver come into common and shared use even when a plurality of transmission methods is to be performed and of constructing a simplified optical transmission system. In a performance monitoring circuit, a switching control section transmits a connecting control signal to make a switching section operate so that the switching section selects a monitoring section to be connected based on bit-rate information corresponding to information about a transmission method type fed from a frequency detecting circuit and the selected monitoring section is connected to a clock/data regenerating circuit. The monitoring section extracts alarm information from a data signal fed from the clock/data regenerating circuit and transfers the alarm information to the selection connecting section. When the switching control section receives alarm information, the alarm information is transferred to devices mounted on a downstream side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical signal receiver, an optical signal monitoring unit, and an optical signal monitoring method, and more particularly to the optical signal receiver having a function of monitoring optical signals according to a bit rate of an input signal, to the optical signal monitoring unit making up the optical signal receiver, and the optical signal monitoring method without depending on bit rate information.
The present application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-082613 filed on Mar. 22, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in an optical transmission system, various transmission path networks having different specifications are employed and bit rates to be used for transmission are various. For example, a plurality of types of transmission networks is employed for transmission, which includes a SONET (Synchronous Optical Network)/SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) network, FC (Fiber Channel) network, GbE (Gigabit Ethernet) network, or a like. Therefore, in an optical signal transmitter and an optical signal receiver serving as signal transmission devices connected through a transmission path using an optical fiber, for example, it is made necessary to use a device designed specifically for every bit rate.
As shown in FIG. 6, for example, in the SONET/SDH network, an optical signal transmitter 102 for the SONET/SDH network and an optical signal receiver 103 for the SONET/SDH network are connected to each other through a transmission optical fiber 101. In the GbE network, an optical signal transmitter 105 for the GbE network and an optical signal receiver 106 for the GbE network are connected to each other through a transmission optical fiber 104. In the FC network, an optical signal transmitter 108 for the FC network and an optical signal receiver 109 are connected to each other through a transmission optical fiber 107.
Each of the optical signal receivers 103, 106, and 109 has a function of monitoring optical communications, which includes a photoelectric converting circuit 202 to convert an input optical signal into an electrical signal, a clock/data regenerating circuit 203 to extract a clock signal, based on the input electrical signal, to identify a data signal and to regenerate the data signal, and a performance monitoring circuit 204 to receive the clock signal and data signal from the clock/data regenerating circuit 203 and to monitor alarm information. In each performance monitoring circuit 204 included in each of the optical signal receivers, an operation of detecting the alarm information differs depending on, for example, every specification corresponding to a bit rate and, therefore, the optical signal receivers cannot be used in a shared manner.
For example, in the SONET/SDH network, in order to achieve effective signal transmission, an overhead used to transfer operation and maintenance information (error monitoring signal, alarm transferring signal, synchronization signal) is predetermined and, by using the overhead, a parity check called a "Bit Interleaved Parity" is made among repeaters or among multiplexing terminal stations to identify a failure section.
In response to demands of a recent multi-media service providing market and in order to perform such the diversified transmission methods as described above, a conventional optical signal receiver being able to receive signals irrespective of types of adopted protocols (bit rates) is disclosed in Patent Reference 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-053814) and Patent Reference 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-509927). In these conventional optical signal receivers, when alarm information contained in a transmitted signal is to be extracted from a data signal regenerated by a clock/data regenerating circuit, optical signal receivers each having a different performance monitoring circuit that can correspond to a different bit rate must be prepared, thus making configurations expensive and complicated.

Optical signal receiver, optical signal monitoring unit, and optical signal monitoring method


A tactic for notifications of an alarm event occurring in automated machinery and systems is created by constructing a diagrammatic representation of a logical workflow of processing operations by dragging and dropping icons representing instructions for controlling processing operations on to a workspace of a GUI, and converting the diagrammatic representation into a sequence of executable instructions for controlling a computer system to process alarm event notifications in accordance with the logical workflow.

Automated machinery is used in a variety of industries, such as manufacturing, water treatment, energy production and distribution, and other settings. The chief advantage of automated machinery is that the amount of oversight, labor, and expertise is reduced, as compared with machinery that is not automated. Automated machineries are typically controlled by low level standalone processors (such as PLCs) running operating systems like Ladder Logic, which open and close circuits in order to manipulate machinery. Labor requirements are further reduced when the low level standalone processors are integrated into a high level network which synergistically gathers and distributes data from all automated machinery via a software platform capable of large scale control. Such a platform can conduct tasks like archiving historical trends, monitoring operating conditions, and evaluate alarm events. Monitoring programs and related hardware control devices integrated with the automated machinery are often referred to in the industry as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.
The SCADA industry developed the concept of alarm events that are designed to monitor operating conditions and alert the appropriate responders to "out-of-tolerance" conditions in order for corrective action to take place. These alarm events initially consisted of data values like "On" or "Off" or a numeric limit that a value was not to exceed. When the responder is made aware of the alarm event he or she would acknowledge the alarm, marking it as a condition whose responsibility for resolution has been accepted. Over the years the alarm event concept has been significantly enhanced to include a vast range of attributes like priority, elapsed time, severity, etc., resulting in an unlimited range of ways to process such events.
Situations arise where appropriate responders to alarm events are not easily located, especially in plants that are not manned on a 24-hour basis. In such an instance a plant may have to cease production at the close of business unless there is a mechanism in place capable of alerting key personnel about operationally critical issues that require a response. Hence, the development of a class of products whose sole purpose is to notify appropriate personnel regardless of their physical proximity to an event. It is critical for the notification product to "find" the appropriate person wherever he or she is located, to have a backup notification plan in case the first person is not available to respond, and to provide essential requisite data necessary to resolve the alarm event. Such software is referred to as "remote alarm notification software."
Known remote alarm notification software products allow designation of personnel to be notified in a sequential fashion (i.e., if person A does not respond to the alarm, notify person B). However, these alarm notification products typically have predetermined alarm strategies and their underlying logic pre-coded and embedded into the product, and lists of personnel to be notified in response to alarms listed in sequential order in a table. Changing the logic of the strategies or the ordered listing of personnel typically requires cryptic line-by-line changes to the embedded coding. This results in a long development and deployment cycle as well as intensive maintenance during the lifetime of the product. Once deployed, making modifications to the table is resource and time intensive, and incurs significant risk due to the mission-critical nature of the application. Moreover, complex systems may require a variety of different strategies and tactics to handle different types of events, and these may have to be changed frequently. Creating multiple strategies and tactics and changing them once created are also very resource and time intensive tasks that are not easily done.
What is needed is an improved system and method that address these and other problems of known products and methods by providing more flexible workspace environment systems and methods that allow a user to create, develop, configure and test complex notification strategies and tactics workflow processes quickly and easily, that afford escalation rules that are flexible and enable the workflows to be easily altered to accommodate changing circumstances, and that afford a user interface and underlying logic that makes the system and method easy to learn and use. It is to these ends that the invention is directed.

Method and system for remote alarm event notifications for automated machinery


Disclosed herein are cement compositions and methods of using set-delayed cement compositions in subterranean formations. A method of cementing in a subterranean formation, may comprise providing a set-delayed cement composition comprising water, pumice, hydrated lime, and a set retarder, activating the set-delayed cement composition with a cement set activator, wherein the cement set activator comprises at least one activator selected from the group consisting of nanosilica, a polyphosphate, and combinations thereof, introducing the set-delayed cement composition into a subterranean formation, and allowing the set-delayed cement composition to set in the subterranean formation.

The present invention relates to subterranean cementing operations and, more particularly, in certain embodiments, to set-delayed cement compositions and methods of using set-delayed cement compositions in subterranean formations.
Cement compositions may be used in a variety of subterranean operations. For example, in subterranean well construction, a pipe string (e.g., casing, liners, expandable tubulars, etc.) may be run into a well bore and cemented in place. The process of cementing the pipe string in place is commonly referred to as "primary cementing." In a typical primary cementing method, a cement composition may be pumped into an annulus between the walls of the well bore and the exterior surface of the pipe string disposed therein. The cement composition may set in the annular space, thereby forming an annular sheath of hardened, substantially impermeable cement (i.e., a cement sheath) that may support and position the pipe string in the well bore and may bond the exterior surface of the pipe string to the subterranean formation. Among other things, the cement sheath surrounding the pipe string functions to prevent the migration of fluids in the annulus, as well as protecting the pipe string from corrosion. Cement compositions also may be used in remedial cementing methods, for example, to seal cracks or holes in pipe strings or cement sheaths, to seal highly permeable formation zones or fractures, to place a cement plug, and the like.
A broad variety of cement compositions have been used in subterranean cementing operations. In some instances, set-delayed cement compositions have been used. Set-delayed cement compositions are characterized by remaining in a pumpable fluid state for an extended period of time (e.g., at least about 1 day to about 2 weeks or more). When desired for use, the set-delayed cement compositions should be capable of being activated whereby reasonable compressive strengths are developed. For example, a cement set activator may be added to a set-delayed cement composition whereby the composition sets into a hardened mass. Among other things, the set-delayed cement composition may be suitable for use in well bore applications, for example, where it is desired to prepare the cement composition in advance. This may allow, for example, the cement composition to be stored prior to its use. In addition, this may allow, for example, the cement composition to be prepared at a convenient location and then transported to the job site. Accordingly, capital expenditures may be reduced due to a reduction in the need for on-site bulk storage and mixing equipment. This may be particularly useful for offshore cementing operations where space onboard the vessels may be limited.
While set-delayed cement compositions have been developed heretofore, challenges exist with their successful use in subterranean cementing operations. For example, set-delayed cement compositions prepared with Portland cement may have undesired gelation issues which can limit their use and effectiveness in cementing operations. Other set-delayed compositions that have been developed, for example, those comprising hydrated lime and quartz, may be effective in some operations but may have limited use at lower temperatures as they may not develop sufficient compressive strength when used in subterranean formations having lower bottom hole static temperatures. In addition, it may be problematic to activate some set-delayed cement compositions while maintaining acceptable thickening times and compressive strength development.

Cement set activators for set-delayed cement compositions and associated methods


Provided is an antenna for receiving radio waves including frequencies in the L6 band unique to QZSS to realize accurate positioning by QZSS. A substrate-type antenna 1 comprises an arcuate antenna element 20 including a long arcuate antenna element 22 and a short arcuate antenna element 24, each of which includes an integral antenna element compatible with three frequency bands and a single antenna element compatible with one frequency band and arranged with a space from the integral antenna element. Each of the integral antenna element and the single antenna element extends from an outer peripheral part of the arcuate antenna element toward an inner peripheral part thereof. The substrate-type antenna 1 further comprises a plurality of connection units 34 connected to the long arcuate antenna element 22 and the short arcuate antenna element 24, respectively, and a coupler 30 to which the plurality of connection units 34 is coupled.

Recently, in the field of mobile communication such as mobile phones, for example, automatic driving technology for self-driving vehicles and remote control systems allowing an operator to remotely control mechanical facilities placed at a work site while monitoring images thereof from a remote location have been realized. These technologies can be realized by a combination of high-speed, high-capacity, and reliable low-latency communication introduced by a fifth-generation mobile communication system (hereinafter referred to as "5G or 5G services") and accurate positioning capable of suppressing mobile communication positioning errors to a few centimeters. The accurate positioning above can be delivered by the Japanese Quasi Zenith Satellite System "Michibiki" (hereinafter referred to as "QZSS"), which has been fully in operation with the global navigation satellite systems (hereinafter referred to as "GNSS").
Patent Literature 1 discloses a spiral antenna comprising: an upper insulation layer and a lower insulation layer that are interposed between an upper external conductor and a lower external conductor; an opening that is formed by removing an appropriate range portion of the upper external conductor, a radiation element that is formed by a spiral conductor, whose shape corresponds to the opening, and provided between the lower insulation layer and the upper insulation layer; and an internal conductor that is interposed between the upper insulation layer and the lower insulation layer and is connected to the radiation element formed by the spiral conductor for communication using high-frequency. In Patent Literature 1, the spiral antenna makes use of a dipole antenna element shape employing two antenna elements to receive circularly polarized waves, however, it does not take measures for being compatible with multi-band by combining a plurality of frequency bands, which is necessary to realize accurate positioning, and measures for reducing the phase difference between each frequency band.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a substrate type antenna comprising: a loop-like first joint pattern one spot of which is divided, said first joint pattern being formed in one substrate surface of a substrate comprised of a dielectric material; antennas respectively connected to both end terminals of the first joint pattern at a position where the first joint pattern is divided; a loop-like second joint pattern which is formed at a position opposite to the first joint pattern and has feeding points, and one spot of which is divided, said second joint pattern being formed in a backside substrate surface of the substrate; at least another loop-like joint pattern one spot of which is divided, said loop-like joint pattern being formed at a position opposite to the second joint pattern; and other antennas respectively connected to both end terminals of said another joint pattern at a position where said another joint pattern is divided, wherein the antennas connected to the first joint pattern and said other antennas connected to said another joint pattern are made different in resonant frequency. The substrate type antenna according to Patent Literature 2 is an antenna compatible with multi-band, however, it does not take measures for being compatible with multi-band by combining a plurality of frequency bands, which is necessary to realize accurate positioning, and for reducing the phase difference between each frequency band.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a substrate type antenna for conducting signal transmitting/receiving with using two antennas, each having almost same resonance frequency, wherein each of those two antennas applies therein a spiral antenna having an antenna side coupling pattern, which is positioned to face to a power supply point side coupling pattern, and a spiral antenna having a spiral antenna pattern, which is coupled to said side coupling pattern, and wherein those two antennas are positioned in such a manner that extending directions of the facing end portions, being closest to each other in said spiral antenna patterns of those two antennas, are not aligned to each other, but are shifted in different directions. The substrate type antenna according to Patent Literature 3 takes measures for preventing the interference from occurring between each antenna by using spiral shaped multi-band compatible antenna, however, it does not take measures for being compatible with multi-band by combining a plurality of frequency bands, which is necessary to realize accurate positioning, and for reducing the phase difference between each frequency band.

Substrate-type antenna for global navigation satellite system


The present invention provides methods and compositions for analyzing nucleic acid sequences. In some aspects, the methods utilize clonal objects, such as DNA balls, that have been captured on beads. Using the methods described here, compositions are fabricated wherein a bead and one clonal object are affinity bound or hybridized to each other through an affinity binding patch or hybridization patch on the surface of the bead. The invention also provides a population of beads having affinity bound or hybridized clonal objects at a ratio of 1:1. The invention additionally provides methods for amplifying a target nucleic acid molecule utilizing the compositions described herein.

The task of cataloguing human genetic variation and correlating this variation with susceptibility to disease is daunting and expensive. A single genome sequence has a price tag of approximately $50,000. A drastic reduction in this cost is imperative for advancing the understanding of health and disease. The near term goal in genomics analysis is to resequence the human genome at a cost of approximately $1,000 dollars. A reduction in sequencing costs will require a number of technical advances in the field. Fortunately, the same basic principles of readout parallelization and sample multiplexing that proved so powerful for gene expression and SNP genotyping analysis are also being successfully applied to large-scale sequencing. Technical advances that could reduce the cost of genome analysis include: (1) library generation; (2) highly-parallel clonal amplification and analysis; (3) development of robust cycle sequencing biochemistry; (4) development of ultrafast imaging technology; and (5) development of algorithms for sequence assembly from short reads.
The ability to specify the content of the DNA library in a targeted manner is extremely useful for a number of applications. In particular, the ability to resequence all exons in the cancer genome would greatly facilitate the discovery of new cancer genes. The comprehensive resequencing of cancer genomes is a major objective of the Cancer Genome Atlas Project (cancergenome.nih.gov/index.asp) and would greatly benefit from a reduction in sequencing price. Unfortunately, creating a targeted library of the 250,000 exons from the genome is cumbersome using current methods. The approach of single-plex PCR for each exon is clearly cost prohibitive. As such, parallelization of the sample preparation is of paramount importance in reducing sequencing costs.
In addition to library generation, the creation of clonal amplifications in a highly-parallel manner is also important for cost-effective sequencing. Sequencing is generally performed on clonal populations of DNA molecules traditionally prepared from plasmids grown from picking individual bacterial colonies. In the human genome project, each clone was individually picked, grown-up, and the DNA extracted or amplified out of the clone. In recent years, there have been a number of innovations to enable highly-parallelized analysis of DNA clones particularly using array-based approaches. In the simplest approach, the library can be analyzed at the single molecule level which by its very nature is clonal. The major advantage of single molecule sequencing is that cyclic sequencing can occur asynchronously since each molecule is read out individually. In contrast, analysis of clonal amplifications requires near quantitative completion of each sequencing cycle, otherwise background noise progressively grows with each ensuing cycle severely limiting read length. As such, clonal analysis places a bigger burden on the robustness of the sequencing biochemistry and may potentially limit read lengths.
Thus, there exists a need to develop methods to improve genomics analysis and provide more cost effective methods for sequence analysis. The present invention satisfies this need and provides related advantages as well.

Solid-phase clonal amplification and related methods


An improved leaf spring side bearing assembly for railway freight cars is provided that achieves improved tracking and curving by the limitation of rock of the railway freight car. The side bearing comprises a base with two raised end sections. A leaf spring assembly is provided on the base that extends to the underside and support channel of the freight car. A top wear plate and a bottom travel stop are also included with the leaf spring side bearing assembly.

The present invention relates to an improved side bearing for mounting on a railway car truck bolster that provides improved control to limit rock and roll characteristics of the railway car in service.
As shown in FIG. 1, a typical railway freight car truck 64 includes a pair of side frames 30, 32 supported on axle-wheel sets 34, 36. Bolster 38 extends between and is supported on springs 40 mounted on side frames 30, 32. Bolster center plate 28 includes a central opening 42. Side bearing pads 60 are provided laterally to each side of the center plate 28 on bolster 38. Side frames 30, 232 comprise a top member 44, compression member 46, tension member 48, column 50, pedestal 54, pedestal roof 56, wheel axle bearings 58, and bearing adapter 62. Side bearings are commonly used on railroad car trucks. Such side bearings are typically located on the truck bolster such as on side bearing pads 60, but may be located elsewhere on the bolster. Bolster 38 and side frames 30, 32 are usually unitary cast steel structures.
Typical side bearing arrangements are designed to control hunting of the railroad car. As a railroad car travels along the railroad track, a yaw excess motion can be induced in the railroad car truck. As the truck yaws, part of the side bearing is made to slide across the underside of a wear plate bolted to the railroad car body bolster. The resulting friction produces an opposing torque that acts to prevent such yaw motion. Another purpose of railroad car truck side bearings is control or limit the rock or roll motion of the car body. Most prior side bearing designs limited vertical travel of the side bearings.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved side bearing which will limit the vertical rock or roll motion of the railway freight car.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved side bearing which will provide improved control over the rock or roll motion of an empty railway freight car.


A novel gene encoding P. pastoris orotate-phosphoribosyl transferase (URA5) is disclosed. Methods for producing and selecting yeast strains capable of stable genetic integration of heterologous sequences into the host genome are also provided.

Yeast strains, such as Pichia pastoris, are commonly used for the production of heterologous proteins. P. pastoris has become a popular model system for the study of peroxisome biogenesis (Gould et al., Yeast 8:613-628 (1992)), autophagy (Tuttle and Dunn, J. Cell Sci. 108:25-35 (1995); Sakai et al., J. Cell Biol. 141:625-636 (1998)) and the organization and biogenesis of the organelles of the secretory pathway (Rossanese et al., J. Cell Biol. 145:69-81 (1999)). The development of simple DNA transformation systems (see Cregg et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 5:3376-3385 (1985)) and the availability of selectable marker genes have been of great importance in conducting the above experiments. Currently, the biosynthetic marker genes ADE1, ARG4, HIS4 and URA3 are used in conjunction with the corresponding auxotrophic host strains to select for transformed cells. Lin Cereghino et al., Gene 263:159-169 (2001). The use of dominant selectable markers to identify transformants is also possible, but markers are limited to the Sh ble gene from Streptoalloteichus hindustanus, which confers resistance to the drug Zeocin (Higgins et al., Methods Mol. Biol. 103:41-53 (1998)), and the blasticidin S deaminase gene from Aspergillus terreus, which confers resistance to the drug blasticidin (Kimura et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 242:121-129 (1994)).
Stable integration of cloned DNA segments into the yeast genome through homologous recombination is well known in the art. See e.g., Orr-Weaver et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78:6364-6358 (1981). More recently, methods have been developed in S. cerevisiae to generate yeast strains containing DNA integrated at multiple unlinked sites by homologous recombination using molecular constructs containing the URA3 marker gene. See e.g., Alani et al., Genetics 116: 541-545 (1987). In this approach, a construct is generated in which the S. cerevisiae URA3 gene is flanked by direct repeats of a Salmonella hisG DNA. This construct is inserted into a cloned target gene of interest and the linear cassette, containing the complete URA3 gene flanked by direct repeats from hisG and further flanked by 5′ and 3′ segments from the target gene, is introduced into a Ura3− mutant yeast strain by transformation. Stable integrants arising from homologous recombination at the genomic locus of the target gene linked to the URA3 marker gene are then isolated by selection for growth in the absence of uracil. Excision of the URA3 gene through a recombination event between the flanking hisG direct repeat segments restores uracil auxotrophy (Ura−) but leaves behind a disrupted genomic copy of the target gene. Ura+ strains of S. cerevisiae are unable to grow on medium supplemented with the pyrimidine analog 5-fluoroorotic acid (5-FOA) whereas Ura− cells survive such treatment. Cells lacking the URA3 gene are thus readily identified using a positive counterselection on 5-FOA. Boeke et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 197:345-346 (1984). Through repeated use of the recyclable URA3 marker construct, multiple different genes of interest can be disrupted within a single strain. Similar approaches have been used in other fungi. Wilson et al., Yeast 16:65-70 (2000).
Extensive genetic engineering projects, where several genes in parallel have to be expressed and several others have to be eliminated, require the use of counterselectable markers and plasmids for stable genetic integration of heterologous proteins into the host genome. Recently, a new counterselectable marker based on the T-urf13 gene from the mitochondrial genome of male-sterile maize has been described for P. pastoris. Soderholm et al., BioTechniques 31:306-312 (2001). Toxicity of the T-urf13 gene appears to be a host specific problem, however, as the gene may be conditionally lethal with certain gene disruptions that are otherwise not lethal. In addition, the gene is also toxic in the absence of the counterselecting agent methomyl, therefore, the counterselection step must be performed immediately. In addition, a separate gene is required for the initial positive selection step, and the agent used for the counterselection step, methomyl, is light sensitive and breaks down rapidly in aqueous solutions. The system is therefore more complicated than the URA3 system described above, in which the same gene is responsible both for the initial selection of Ura+ prototrophs and for the subsequent counterselection of Ura− auxotrophs. It would be useful to find new marker genes in the yeast pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway in which selection of auxotrophs and counterselection using 5-FOA or similarly acting agents may be used to select and counterselect a single marker gene in multiple rounds of genetic transformation at different loci.
Five structural genes providing six enzymatic steps are responsible for endogenous pyrimidine biosynthesis in S. cerevisiae. Montigny et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 215:455-462 (1989). The last two steps in this pathway, the conversion of orotic acid to orotidine 5′-phosphate and the conversion of orotidine 5′-phosphate to uridine 5′-phosphate, are catalyzed by orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (OPRTase) and orotidine-5′-phosphate decarboxylase (OMPdecase). These enzymes are encoded by the URA5 gene and the URA3 gene, respectively. Both genes have been cloned, characterized and used for genetic integration in S. cerevisiae, but only the URA3 gene has been cloned in P. pastoris.
The S. cerevisiae URA5 gene was cloned by complementation of a non-reverting E. coli pyrE mutant that was blocked in orotate-phosphoribosyl transferase activity. Montigny et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 215:455-462 (1989). Yeast cells lacking this gene displayed a leaky phenotype, however, indicating that, in S. cerevisiae, another protein possesses orotate-phosphoribosyl transferase activity. See Jund and Lacroute, J. Bacteriol. 109:196-202 (1972). The URA5 gene has also been identified in Kluyveromyces lactis. Bai et al., Yeast 15:1393-1398 (1999). The gene order around the URA5 gene has been examined in S. cerevisiae, K. lactis, C. albicans and Y. lipolytica. Sánchez and Domínguez, Yeast 18:807-813 (2001). In all four organisms, the URA5 gene and a gene which functions in the secretory pathway (the SEC65 gene) are arranged adjacent to one another and in the opposite relative orientation.
A selection system based on disrupting the URA3 gene in P. pastoris has recently been disclosed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,419. The methods described therein also provide "pop-in" (site-directed integration of the transforming DNA by gene addition) and "pop-out" (recombination between functional and nonfunctional genes resulting in the loss of one of these genes and the URA3 gene) in what is referred to as a "bidirectional selection process." "Pop-in/pop-out" gene replacement using S. cerevisiae URA3 is a convenient method because, as described above, the selection marker can be recycled. See Boeke et al., Meth. Enzymol. 154:164-175 (1987). P. pastoris ura3 auxotrophs, however, grow slowly. U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,419. In addition, because the sequences responsible for homologous recombination in the "popping out" step are the same as those responsible for the "popping in" step in a single-crossover recombination process, the genetic material inserted by "pop-in" is likely to be lost by "pop-out". The method is thus more suitable for generating point mutants or gene disruptions than for stably incorporating expressable heterologous genes of interest into the genome.
Currently available auxotrophic strains of P. pastoris suffer the further disadvantage that the respective auxotrophic marker genes have the potential to revert. A high reversion rate decreases the usefulness of auxotrophic strains, because revertant colonies are misidentified as false-positive transformants.
Given the utility of the URA3 selection and counterselection system in S. cerevisiae and the limitations on using these and other current methods in other yeast and fungi, the identification of a URA5 gene in P. pastoris and the development of a system for selecting stable genetic integration events using URA5 would be useful.

URA5 gene and methods for stable genetic integration in yeast


A new cultivar of Colocasia plant named ‘Tea Party’ that is characterized by its smaller plant habit reaching 76 cm to 91 cm in height, its foliage that is dark to black in color with a reflective sheen, its leaves with a cup-like aspect, its petioles that are red to pink in color, and its clumping growth habit.

The present invention, Colocasia 'Tea Party', relates to a new and distinct interspecific hybrid of Colocasia, hereinafter referred to by its cultivar name, 'Tea Party'. 'Tea Party' is a new tropical plant used as a landscape and container plant in tropical and subtropical areas.
The new cultivar was derived from a controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor at his nursery in Louisville, Ky. The overall purpose of the breeding program is to make selections of Colocasia plants with colorful leaves with cupped leaf habits with possible improved cold hardiness. 'Tea Party' arose from a cross made in June of 2007 between Colocasia esculenta 'Bikini-tini' (not patented) as the female parent and an unnamed and unpatented plant of Colocasia of hybrid origin as the male parent. 'Tea Party' was selected as a single unique plant in August of 2018 from amongst the seedlings derived from the above cross.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by root cuttings under the direction of the Inventor in Louisville, Ky. in August of 2018. Asexual propagation by root cuttings and tissue culture using meristematic tissue has determined that the characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A surgical hand support apparatus comprising a base block with a finger securing assembly comprising two uprights slidably mounted on tracks defined in the base block, a cross member connected to the uprights. A thumb securing assembly is also slidably mounted to the base block, the thumb securing assembly comprising a standard support member secured to the base block and a hook shaped rod mounted in the standard support member, the standard support member defining a slot through which a post extending from the side of the base block allowing the standard support member and associated hook shaped rod to be reciprocated for selective positioning around the thumb of the patient. A wrist securing assembly, is incorporated comprising a plurality of brackets slidably mounted to the base block and a cylindrical cross bar defining a plurality of instrument receiving holes is mounted to the uprights. A lock screw is connected to the cylindrical cross bar to lock the cross bar in place to secure the wrist of the patient and allow selective positioning of surgical instruments with respect to the hand.

The present invention is directed towards a device for immobilizing a patient's hand while holding the hand on a specially constructed support board in order to facilitate various surgical procedures including endoscopy carpal tunnel release, percutaneous carpal tunnel-plasty and arthoscopy of the hand and wrist.
The human hand is the site of a large number of operative procedures and prior art hand restraints have not been able to fully immobilize the hand during a number of surgical procedures.
A number of restraint devices have been used to support and restrain a patient's hand for intravenous administration and various surgical procedures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,744 discloses an immobilizing apparatus including a composite sheet and arm board. The composite sheet includes an adhesive surface on one side and loop fastener on the other side. The arm board includes a fabric hook fastener which engages and holds the hook fasteners of the composite sheet. The patient's hand and/or forearm is secured to the composite sheet by placing the hand and/or forearm on the adhesive surface, the hooked surface of the composite sheet having been previously mounted to the hooked surface of the arm board. A hand belt constructed of fabric loop fasteners, can be used with the restraining device to immobilize the hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,998 discloses a surgical hand restrainer device with a flat mitt shaped base member, a spring finger trap and a slidable rigid thumb loop. The spring finger trap is in the form of a mouse trap type spring biased bar and it does not contain any wrist cross bars or guides for the insertion of instruments for performing any operative procedures inside the hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,401 discloses a paddle shaped base with a strap hand restraint. The wrist of the patient's hand is held by an optional wrist band and the individual fingers and thumb are held by elastic finger bands. The open wound is held open by a plurality of hooks mounted to a ball and link chain. The chains are mounted to the paddle base by inserting a link in one of a number of notches cut along the periphery of the paddle base.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,743 discloses an apparatus for positioning the distal radioulnar joint for medical examination and is constructed with a platform and a pair of upright blocks mounted on the platform in a spaced relationship to each other. Each of the blocks defines a plurality of slots which hold the posts of plexiglass stabilizing blocks. A post located near the forward end of the platform for selective insertion into anyone of a number of positioning holes cut into the platform provides a gripping surface by the subject.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,976 discloses a cast type device made of a soft resilient two piece hinged foam cast which closes together to hold the hand and forearm in a fixed position and is held together by straps.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,480 discloses a splint for immobilizing an patient's arm consisting of a three sided plastic foam support which is secured to the patient's arm with a series of VELCRO.RTM. straps.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,025,801; 4,909,264; 4,672,955; 4,453,933; 3,901,227; 3,476,108; 3,762,401; and 2,266,230, each disclose devices which temporarily restrain or support the hand and/or forearm using straps or bands to secure the hand for surgery or intravenous therapy. The use of straps is disadvantageous in that the straps are difficult to secure and also limit accessibility of the patient's hand and/or forearm.


Disclosed is a method for forming a non-volatile memory device, comprising the steps of: successively depositing a gate oxide and a floating gate material on a semiconductor substrate; depositing and selectively etching a first dielectric on the floating gate material to form a first dielectric pattern; forming a first floating gate oxide on the floating gate material; selectively etching the floating gate material with using the first dielectric pattern as a mask to form a floating gate pattern; forming an insulating layer on the floating gate pattern; etching a portion of the semiconductor substrate between neighboring floating gate patterns to form a trench in the substrate; depositing a control gate oxide on surfaces of the trench; depositing a control gate material to fill the trench and to cover the substrate surface; depositing a second dielectric on the control gate material; selectively etching the second dielectric and the control gate material to form a control gate pattern and a second dielectric layer; selectively removing the control gate pattern to form a source line pattern which extends from the substrate surface exposed in the trench to top surface of the second dielectric layer on the control gate pattern; forming an insulating layer on surface of the source line pattern; and forming source region in portion of the substrate, which is exposed by the source line pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to non-volatile memory technologies, and more specifically, to a method for fabricating electrically erasable programmable read only memories (EEPROM) having split gate memory cells.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flash memory, which is capable of retaining the stored data without continued supply of electrical power, has a stacked gate structure of a floating gate and a control gate. The floating gate, which is placed between the control gate and the semiconductor substrate, is isolated by an insulating oxide layer. When electrons are on the floating gate, they modify the electric field coming from the control gate, which modifies the threshold voltage of the cell. Thus, when the flash memory cell is "read" by applying a specific voltage to the control gate, electrical current will either flow or not flow, depending on the threshold voltage of the cell, which is controlled by the electrons on the floating gate. The presence or absence of current is sensed and translated into 1's and 0's, reproducing the stored data.
The flash EEPROM cells can be classified, according to their gate structure, into: stack gate cells and split gate cells.
FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of conventional stack gate flash EEPROM cell, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of the conventional split gate flash EEPROM cell.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the flash memory cell of either stack gate or split gate comprises tunnel oxide 2, floating gate 3, interlayer dielectric 4, control gate 5, drain and source regions 6 and 7 formed in and on a P-type semiconductor substrate 1. The split gate flash memory cell has additional select gate oxide 8 as shown in FIG. 1B.
The stack gate cell of FIG. 1A occupies small area because of its three-dimensional stacked structure but has problems with over-erase when the cell is in an erase operation. The split gate cell of FIG. 1B can avoid the over-erase problem but occupies a larger area, which fails to meet the high integration trend of semiconductor microcircuit devices.
Moreover, the conventional horizonal control gate has a channel length that is formed by overlay control in photolithographic process, and hence variations in threshold voltage or current are observed when driving the control gate. Further, the control gate is formed in parallel to the surface of substrate or wafer, which requires consideration of the overlay margin mentioned above.

Method for forming split gate flash nonvolatile memory devices


Embodiments may relate to a radio frequency (RF) front-end module (FEM). The RF FEM may include an integrated die with an active portion and an acoustic wave resonator (AWR) portion adjacent to the active portion. The RF FEM may further include a lid coupled with the die. The lid may at least partially overlap the AWR portion at a surface of the die. Other embodiments may be described or claimed.

Form-factor reduction and performance improvement of radio frequency (RF) front-end modules (FEMs) may be desirable. Specifically, RF FEMs may be used in a variety of mobile devices or other devices where size of the device, size of the RF FEM, or performance of the RF FEM are considered important design considerations.

Monolithic die with acoustic wave resonators and active circuitry