According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a user may receive various information via a personal electronic device (“PED”), based in part on the individuals or contacts with whom the user associates and based in part on the activities, events, or locations with which the user has affiliated. In certain embodiments, the user may receive notifications to the user's PED without preselecting contacts, activities, events or locations. In other embodiments, the user may receive notifications relating to any one of the contacts, activities, events or locations that the user has preselected. Systems and associated methods for implementing and practicing the present disclosure are also described.

A variety of systems exist today for allowing a person to summon help, or otherwise raise an alarm. For example, home-based alarm systems sometimes have a panic button, which the homeowner can press to set off the alarm siren and/or to summon help, say from a police, fire or medial department. Prior art systems may comprise a transportable alarming device, particularly for use by persons who have a disability or potentially serious medical condition, which may be worn on the person and may communicate with a base unit in the home. If the person experiences an emergency or other difficulty, they may trigger the alarming device, which typically communicates via a base unit comprising a remote monitoring service. However, one disadvantage of these types of system is that their range of operations is generally restricted to within the person's home, or its immediate surroundings.
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States put into place on Jan. 1, 1997, and supersedes the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), which itself superseded the CONELRAD System. EAS messages are transmitted via AM, FM, Broadcast television, Cable television and Land Mobile Radio Service, as well as VHF, UHF, and FiOS (wireline video providers). Digital television, Satellite television and digital cable providers, along with Sirius XM satellite radio, IBOC, DAB and digital radio broadcasters have been required to participate in the EAS since Dec. 31, 2006. DirecTV, Dish Network and all other DBS providers have been required to participate since May 31, 2007. In 2008 the FCC began work on another system for public alerting designed and targeted at smart phones, meant to support the EAS. The Commercial Mobile Alert System made its debut in about early 2013 in select states for select events. While these systems enhance emergency event reporting, there presently are no systems available for an individual user to both access and supplement the content broadcast by these systems.
Many people today also have a personal cellular or mobile telephone, which allows them to summon help by calling another person or a police/emergency responder dispatch. In addition, many cellular telephones automatically report the location of the caller to the dispatch, as determined by a GPS feature in the telephone. However, a limitation of calling a 911 service is that it can only be used after an emergency, such as when an injury, risk or distress has occurred, and is only received by the dispatcher or other person contacted by the person experiencing the emergency.
Further aggravating these current limitations is the fact that many emergency responders and public agencies are underfunded, understaffed, and do not have the capacity to respond to a large number of people requesting their services, particularly during emergency events affecting more than a few individuals. Even when public agencies are able to respond quickly, people may also want to make their family and/or friends aware of potential danger, or potentially update their contacts with respect to their status or condition.
Using current systems, there is no effective way to send a targeted alert to people who need to be made aware of dangerous situations, acts of crime/terrorism, natural disasters or other emergency situations. Natural disasters, for example, include but are not limited to disasters that occur through natural means, such as blizzards, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, heat waves, landslide, etc. Other emergency situations may be non-naturally occurring situations, such as kidnapping, civil unrest, criminal activity and or terrorist activity, for example. These situations can and often do occur with little warning and early awareness to those individuals within the immediate area of danger. The immediate availability of pertinent information to emergency responders is also often critical to containing the damage or preventing escalation.
Thus, there is a long felt need to provide a customizable alert system that an individual or group of individuals within a community and/or geographic area may utilize to quickly and timely obtain relevant information regarding their community and/or geographic area. In addition, there is a need for such a system that also allows the individual users of an alert notification system to quickly and easily send out relevant information to the other individuals that are also members of the community and/or are located in specific geographic areas of choice, including to early responders or other emergency responders.

System and method for distributed messaging among members of a community


A sound processing apparatus includes: a first sound collecting unit placed in a sound field and configured to collect a sound signal which is speech of a talker; a second sound collecting unit arranged to be movable to a position which is closer to a talker than the first sound collecting unit and configured to collect the sound signal; a transfer function estimating unit configured to estimate a transfer function from a sound signal collected by the first sound collecting unit and a sound signal collected by the second sound collecting unit when a talker is at a predetermined position in the sound field; and a sound signal processing unit configured to perform a process of the sound signal by use of the transfer function estimated by the transfer function estimating unit.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sound processing apparatus, a sound processing method, and a sound processing program.
Background
A sound system has been proposed which adjusts sound quality and sound volume of a sound signal to be broadcasted to a room inside. In such a sound system, a plurality of predetermined band noise signals are output from a loudspeaker provided inside a room, and a noise signal detected by a microphone provided in a sound field of the loudspeaker is analyzed, to thereby measure a transfer function (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application, Publication No. 2002-328682A).
In this way, a sound signal emitted from a loudspeaker is collected by a microphone, and a transfer function is obtained from the collected sound signal. The obtained transfer function is used for noise suppression, or estimation of the direction and the position of a sound source.

Sound processing apparatus, sound processing method, and sound processing program


A conveyor system includes an elongated vacuum plenum having an interior defined between upwardly and downwardly facing surfaces between opposing ends. A slot defining a portion of a conveyor path is formed in the plenum and extends from one end of the plenum at the upwardly facing surface toward the other end and the downwardly facing surface. A plurality of conveyor modules forming part of an endless loop are received in the slot and move along the conveyor path. At least some of the modules have at least one opening in fluid communication with the interior of the plenum. An object disposed on at least one of the modules is held against the at least one module by a vacuum in the interior of the plenum as the at least one module moves along the conveyor path from the upwardly facing surface toward the downwardly facing surface.

The present invention relates to modular chain conveying systems, and more particularly to conveying systems that invert objects being conveyed.
Conveying systems that invert objects, such as cans or bottles for cleaning, typically include twisted guides that invert the object moving long a conveyor path. The guides keep the objects on the conveyor path and twist to invert the object. One advantage of this system is that it is an inline system that does not take up a lot of floor space or add to the conveyor path length. However, if the shape or size of the object being conveyed changes, the guides must be adjusted to accommodate the new shape or size. This is very time consuming and impractical for many applications.
Vacuum conveying systems do not require guides to invert objects, and thus can easily accommodate objects having different shapes and sizes. In one known prior art system, a conveyor chain wraps around a drum circumference. A vacuum in the drum retains objects on the conveyor chain as the chain travels around the drum circumference. Another known prior art conveying system includes a rotating cylindrical plenum having a vacuum. A conveyor chain wraps around the rotating cylindrical plenum which retains objects on the chain via the vacuum. Both of these known systems take a significant amount of floor space and increases the length of chain required to conveyor the objects. A need exists for an inverting conveyor system that does not wrap entirely around a drum and does not require reconfiguring when art object size changes.


An engine system includes an internal combustion engine having an engine block with one or more piston-cylinder arrangements communicating with an intake manifold and an exhaust manifold, a charge air passageway to the intake manifold, and an exhaust gas passageway that receives exhaust gas from the exhaust manifold. The engine system also includes one or more turbochargers each including a compressor to compress charge air and output the compressed charge air to the charge air passageway and a turbine that receives exhaust gas from the exhaust gas passageway and drives the compressor in response to the exhaust gas passing through the turbine. An air pump is positioned downstream of the compressor that supplies a portion of the compressed charge air into the exhaust gas passageway upstream of the turbine, such that the turbine receives both exhaust gas and compressed charge air.

An internal combustion engine may include one or more turbochargers that compress fluid that is supplied to combustion chambers within the engine. Each turbocharger typically includes a turbine and a compressor, with the turbine driven by exhaust gas from the engine and the compressor, in turn, being driven by the turbine. The compressor receives the fluid to be compressed, which may be in the form of air or a fuel and air mixture, and supplies the fluid to the combustion chambers. In operation of the engine at low speeds, the exhaust gas generated by the engine is reduced, and this reduced level of exhaust gas output by the engine can impact the driving of the turbine and reduce the rotational power generated thereby. The reduction of the rotational power generated by the turbine in turn reduces the volumetric flow rate of compressed fluid output from the turbocharger compressor that is driven by the turbine.

Engine system with air pump for enhanced turbocharger air exchange


A band-pass filter having a body, a rectangular waveguide, and a dielectric insert, the dielectric insert has a dielectric plate and a high temperature superconductive film in line with a plurality of rectangular windows of the same height. The waveguide has a×b cross-section, a being length of the long side walls and b the length of the short side walls. Each long side wall has a fixing groove at the central portion and a rectangular recess in the fixing groove. The dielectric plate has two ends in the fixing grooves and is symmetric with a perpendicular bisecting plane of the long side wall. The rectangular recess is symmetric to the perpendicular bisecting plane and has the same length as that of the waveguide, with its width w satisfying t<w<a/2, and depth d satisfying d<λ/4, t being total thickness of the dielectric plate and the high temperature superconductive film, and λ the wavelength of the central frequency of the pass-band of the band-pass filter.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave technique, particularly, to a band-pass filter, which can be used in cryo-electronic units at a front end of a receiver used in radio telescopes and satellite communication lines.
Description of the Related Art
Band-pass filters that are installed at input ends of low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) are designed to provide electromagnetic compatibility for radio electronic facilities, i.e., to protect input circuits of a highly sensitive receiver from being affected by electromagnetic radiation outside the operating bandwidth. Currently, transistor LNAs are widely used and replace the previously developed parametric and quantum amplifiers because of their lower noise temperature, broad bandwidth, and operational advantages (stability, efficiency, and ability to operate at cryogenic temperature).
A main characteristic of highly sensitive receivers is the equivalent noise temperature TR of the receiver, which is mainly determined by noise temperature TA of the LNAs and noise temperature TF of passive circuits at the input of the LNAs (for example, a band-pass filter), that is, TR=TF+TA. To decrease the TR, the transistor LNA is cooled to cryogenic temperatures. The noise temperature of the band-pass filter depends on its physical temperature T0 and insertion loss LdB. In the case of the low insertion loss (LdB<0.5 dB), noise temperature of the band pass filter is defined by a simple formula: TF=(LdB/4.34)T0, see Siegman, A. E., Microwave Solid-State Masers, New York-San Francisco-Toronto-London, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1964. For an element with an insertion loss of 0.1 dB, the noise temperature is 7 K at an operation temperature of 300 K, and the noise temperature is decreased to 1.4K at an operation temperature of 60K. Therefore, the advantage of decreasing the temperature of the front end of the receiver is obvious.
The smaller the insertion loss LdB of the band-pass filter is, the lower the noise temperature TF is. It follows that band-pass filters, made of materials with high conductivity or low value of the microwave surface resistance Rs, have advantage. This is why high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) materials are used in the design of the band-pass filter. Further, the value of the surface resistance Rs of the HTS materials is lower than that of the surface resistance Rs of the conventional metals by several orders, and on the other hand, the HTS materials are in the superconductive state at a cryogenic temperature of or a temperature lower than the temperature of liquid nitrogen (about 77 K), and hence, reliable and economical cryo-coolers can be used in the cryo-electronic unit of the receiver. Currently, the technology of HTS materials has reached a high level such that HTS materials can be used in technical devices. The invention provides a band-pass filter, which uses HTS material in a form of HTS film deposited on the side surface of the dielectric plate (substrate) with low dielectric losses (e.g., superconductive layers of YBaCuO on MgO substrate).
Multi-pole band-pass filters with the so-called E-plane metal insert in a rectangular waveguide are well known. See Vahldieck, R., Bornemann, J., Arndt F., and Graueryolz, D., Optimized Waveguide E-Plane Metal Insert Filters for Millimeter—Wave Applications, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 31, No. 1, 1983, pp. 65-69. In the E-plane of the rectangular waveguide between the long side walls, a number of metal strips are installed, and regular rectangular waveguides are formed between the metal strips. The regular rectangular waveguides correspond to the resonators in the filter, and the resonators are coupled by means of two portions of the regular rectangular waveguide which are separated by the metal strips. End portions of the rectangular waveguide separated by the metal strips are elements of the filter for coupling with input and output transmission lines.
Fin-line filters, which are band-pass filters based on the principles used in band-pass filters with the E-plane metal insert, are proposed. Instead of an E-plane metal insert, an E-plane dielectric insert is used in the filter. Metal strips of the conventional metal are applied to one or both side surfaces of the insert, see, e.g., Arndt, F., Bornemann, J., Grauneryolz, D., and Vahldieck, R., Theory and Design of Low-Insertion Loss Fin-Line Filters, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 30, No. 2, 1982, pp. 155-163. Such designs have advantages in the millimeter wavelength range, because the photolithography technology for production which allows maintaining the exact dimensions of metal strips can be used.
The idea of using the inserts from HTS materials instead of the fin-line inserts in the E-plane of band-pass filters has been first expressed in the work of Mansour, R. R. and Zybura, A., Superconductive Millimeter-Wave E-Plane Filters, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. 39, No. 9, 1991, pp. 1588-1492. Experimental study of such a filter has been carried out in the work of Liang Han, Yiyuan Chen, and Yunyi Wang, Design and Performance of Waveguide E-Plane HTSC Insert Filters, 1992 IEEE MTT—S Digest, pp. 913-916. The inventors for the subject application investigated the characteristics of the band-pass filter with an E-plane insert of the HTS material in comparison with the characteristics of the band-pass filter with E-plane inserts of the conventional metal, see Skresanov, V. N., Barannik, A. A., Cherpak, N. T., Y. He, Glamazdin, V. V., Zolotaryov, V. A., Shubny, A. I., Sun L., Wang J., and Wu Y., Experience in Developing Ka-Band Waveguide Filter with HTS E-Plane Insert, the 8th International Kharkov Symposium on Physics and Engineering of Microwaves, Millimeter and Submillimeter Waves (MSMW '2013), Kharkov, Ukraine, Jun. 23-28, 2013. In particular, it has been shown that the advantages of the band-pass filters with the E-plane insert of the HTS material cannot be realized if the problem of providing high-quality contact between the HTS insert and the waveguide walls is not solved. Contact area should have small losses of the microwave power, good thermal contact between the HTS insert and the waveguide walls must be ensured, and the destruction of the fragile substrate plate in cooling-heating cycles of the filter must be prevented.
The closest analogue on the technical essence of the pass-band filter studied by Skresanov et al. is the pass-band filter which comprises a rectangular waveguide of a×b cross-section and a dielectric plate, and on both surfaces of the dielectric plate, high temperature superconductive films are placed with a number of windows. Specifically, the windows are symmetric relative to a dissecting plane of the rectangular waveguide in the height direction, and have the same height, different length, and at different distances relative to each other. The dielectric plate is mounted in an axial plane perpendicular to the long side walls of the waveguide, see Liang Han, Yiyuan Chen, and Yunyi Wang, Design and Performance of Waveguide v E-Plane HTSC Insert Filters, 1992 IEEE MTT—S Digest, pp. 913-916. Lengths of rectangular windows, as well as the distances between the windows, are calculated, and the lengths and the distances are different for different windows. These dimensions determine the Eigen frequencies of the resonators, coefficients of mutual coupling between the resonators and the coupling coefficient of the resonators with the transmission lines, which in turn are determined by the characteristics of the band-pass filter to be achieved. The pass-band filter is a natural development of the known band-pass filters with E-planar fin-line inserts, and can reduce insertion loss due to lower surface resistance Rs of microwave HTS materials compared to conventionally metals. Another technical solution for reducing the insertion loss, which can be combined with the technical solution for reducing the insertion loss by the known band-pass filters with E-planar fin-line inserts, is to redistribute the microwave currents in the waveguide walls by means of the currents in the conductive surfaces of the insert after the dielectric insert is inserted into waveguide.
However, the current band-pass filter has the following technical disadvantages. One of the components of the insertion loss, i.e, the scattering of the microwave power in the contact area between the HTS films and the waveguide walls, should be smaller as compared with the heat Joule loss in the HTS films. In the current band-pass filters, the requirement of the scattering of the microwave power being smaller than the heat Joule loss can be achieved if the surface of the filter housing is polished and thus mechanically in close contact with the HTS films of the insert. The dielectric plate (substrate) should be made of materials with low dielectric losses and a crystal lattice close to the crystal structure of the HTS film. Some single crystal dielectric plates, such as MgO, LaAlO3, and Al2O3, have the properties of low dielectric losses and crystal lattices close to the crystal structure of the HTS film, however, the dielectric plates are fragile and may be easily damaged in the cooling-heating cycles of the filter due to close mechanical contact with the filter body. The technical problem of the dielectric plate being easily damaged still cannot be solved, even if the filter body is made of a material with a coefficient of a linear expansion close to that of the dielectric plates, (for example, the filter body is made of titanium, while the filter body is made of MgO). The reason is that temperature gradients that are caused during the cooling in the filter body introduce unacceptable mechanical stresses in the dielectric plate.

Rectangular band-pass filter having recesses of less than one-quarter wavelength depth formed therein for fitting a dielectric insert with a superconductive film within the recesses

Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Beijing HuarontTianchuang Superconduct Tech Dev Co

University of Science and Technology Beijing

Usikov Inst Radiophysics & Electronics, NASU


Provided is a sustained-release microparticle preparation of a human growth hormone which combines biodegradability with sustained-release performance while avoiding the use of an organic solvent as much as possible, allows the sustained-release of a human growth hormone over 3 days or more and reduction in the initial burst release, can contain a human growth hormone at 10% or more, can quantitatively adsorb and encapsulate a human growth hormone at up to 20%, and has excellent dispersion and needle penetration properties. A process for producing the sustained-release microparticle preparation of a human growth hormone is also provided. The sustained-release microparticle preparation comprises a porous apatite derivative, a human growth hormone, and a water-soluble divalent metal compound.

Investigation has heretofore been made on injections that provide the sustained release of a water-soluble drug for a long time, most of which comprise poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) as a base (see e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 11-286403, 2000-239104, and 2002-326960). Alternatively, sustained-release microcapsules that contain a human growth hormone (hGH) and comprise PLGA as a base have been reported (see e.g., Nature Medicine, 2: 795-799, 1996). Sustained-release microcapsules that contain leuprorelin, a LHRH agonist, and comprise PLGA as a base have also been reported (see e.g., Chemical Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 36: 1095-1103, 1988). PLGA is a biodegradable base that hydrolyzes and eliminates in the living body, and this property is preferable for a base of an injection.
Although an organic solvent that dissolves PLGA is generally used for producing a sustained-release preparation with PLGA, hGH is denatured in the organic solvent and a portion thereof is inactivated. Such reduction in activity not only impairs efficacy but poses the risk of adversely affecting a living body. Furthermore, hGH is highly soluble in water, and the use of a PLGA preparation inevitably results in the excessive release of hGH in the early stage after administration. In addition, although the use of hydrogel or the like has been reported, the hydrogel is difficult to administer by means of a typical injection. That is, a thick needle that permits the gel to pass therethrough must be used and is unfavorable for patients. Sustained-release particles using hydroxyapatite and a human growth hormone that is a bioactive drug have already been reported (see e.g., H. Gautier et al., Journal of Biomedical Material Research, 40,606-613,1998; and J. Guicheux et al., Journal of Biomedical Material Research, 34, 165-170, 1997). However, any of the sustained-release particles are two-component systems where apatite has a large particle size of 40 to 80 μm or 200 μm and is therefore difficult to inject. Moreover, their in vivo sustained-release effect is unknown. Besides, the amount of hGH adsorbed into the apatite particle (the amount of hGH encapsulated) was as low as 1% or less.
For a sustained-release preparation of hGH, a material having so-called biodegradability or a property of eliminating in the living body, which eliminates from a living body about the end of the release of a drug after administration, must be selected as a sustained-release base. In its production, a sustained-release preparation is prepared with the use of an organic solvent avoided as much as possible for preventing the denaturation of hGH. At the same time, the initial burst release (the release of an excessive drug in the early stage after administration) of hGH must be small. Moreover, the amount of a drug encapsulated in a microparticle preparation is brought to 10% or more by weight. The preparation capable of being easily administered with a thin injection needle must be prepared, wherein the duration of the sustained-release of a drug extends at least 3 days or more.
The present inventors have found that the use of fine particles of a porous apatite derivative for solving these problems achieves a preparation combining biodegradability with sustained-release performance, without the use of an organic solvent. The present inventors have further found that the use of hGH in combination with a water-soluble divalent metal compound achieves the sustained-release of hGH over at least 3 days or more and reduces initial burst release. In addition, the present inventors have found that a hGH content of 10% or more can be attained and hGH up to 20% can quantitatively be adsorbed and contained, and also found that the obtained fine granular preparation has excellent dispersion and needle penetration properties and easily passes through a 27 G injection needle.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a sustained-release fine granular preparation of a human growth hormone which combines biodegradability with sustained-release performance while avoiding the use of an organic solvent as much as possible, allows the sustained release of a human growth hormone over 3 days or more and reduction in the initial burst release, can contain a human growth hormone at 10% or more, can quantitatively adsorb and include a human growth hormone at up to 20%, and has excellent dispersion and needle penetration properties. The present invention is also intended to provide a process for producing the sustained-release fine granular preparation of a human growth hormone.

Sustained-release microparticle preparation of human growth hormone and process for producing thereof

Independent Administrative Institution, National Institute For Materials Science


A multilayered ferromagnetic laminate includes a first magnetic film having a cobalt alloy and a second magnetic film having an iron-nitrogen alloy. The films are deposited upon one another and laminated to provide a multilayered film structure having an alternating plurality of the first and second magnetic films. The cobalt alloy may be a cobalt-zirconium-tantalum alloy. The nitrogen is incorporated interstitially in the crystalline structure of the iron of the second magnetic film. The laminate forms the magnetic shields and the write poles of magnetic disk and tape heads. The lamination of the first magnetic film which has high electrically resistive, high mechanical hardness, and high magnetic moment characteristics with the second magnetic film which has lower electrically resistive and very high magnetic moment characteristics yields the laminate which has very high magnetic moment and very hard pole material characteristics and has the ability to write at high frequencies.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to magnetic heads and, more particularly, to a multilayered ferromagnetic laminate having alternating cobalt alloy and iron-nitrogen alloy films deposited upon one another for use as shield or pole material in magnetic disk and tape heads.
2. Background Art
Materials used as magnetic sensor shields and inductive write poles in magnetic transducers such as magnetic disk and tape heads require a variety of optimized physical, electrical, and magnetic properties to assure proper performance. These optimal properties include soft, stable magnetic properties, proper wear, high magnetic moment, and corrosion resistance. High frequency write capability is required for write pole materials.
A high saturation magnetization and high permeability alloy for the write pole of a magnetic transducer provides high density recording, especially with respect to the ability to write to high coercivity recording mediums.
The magnetic film structures may be constructed from a laminated structure having a plurality of magnetic layers as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,935. This patent describes a laminated thin film structure having a plurality of magnetic layers containing iron or cobalt (Co) as the principal constituent and an intermediate very thin layer of a nickel-iron alloy or an amorphous magnetic alloy. A plurality of the laminated layers can be placed together separated by a nonmagnetic isolation layer. Nitrogen (N) is not included as a component of any of the layers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,089 describes a magnetic head having at least a portion of its pole pieces formed of a multilayered laminate of main and spacer magnetic films. The main magnetic film is a binary system amorphous alloy with its principal constituent being a material selected from the group of cobalt, iron, and nickel. The spacer magnetic film is made from a polycrystalline or amorphous ferromagnetic material. Nitrogen is not included as a component of either magnetic film.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,049 describes a magnetic film having ferromagnetic layers of nickel and iron alternated with a layer of iron and nitrogen which is an element that is interstitially soluble in the iron.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,981 describes a multilayered ferromagnetic film having alternating layers of iron-nitrogen and nickel-iron-nitrogen alloys. The iron-nitrogen layer is an iron alloy having an element of up to ten atomic percent taken from nitrogen. The nickel-iron-nitrogen layer is a nickel-iron alloy ranging from thirty to hundred atomic percent of nickel with a nitrogen doping. The nitrogen doping level is greater than zero and up to ten atomic percent in nickel-iron.

Multilayered ferromagnetic laminate having alternating cobalt alloy and iron-nitrogen alloy films for use with magnetic heads


A closed loop bromosilane process is provided to provide semiconductor grade silicon through the thermal decomposition of tribromosilane. The resulting silicon tetrabromide byproduct from this thermal decomposition is recycled in a silicon tetrabromide converter to produce converted tribromosilane.

Electrical energy production through solar conversion is of ever greater need in light of global warming resulting from the use of fossil fuel. However, energy production from solar conversion is often more expensive than a comparable production from fossil fuels. One major factor in the balance between fossil fuel use and the cleaner and more environmentally friendly solar conversion is the cost of the necessary solar conversion modules and their efficiency. The highest efficiency solar modules use a silicon wafer substrate derived from semiconductor grade silicon. Given the need to reduce global warming and the resulting demand for solar modules, semiconductor grade silicon prices have increased markedly. Lower cost solar modules can be produced using thin-film techniques but so far such modules are neither as efficient nor as long-lived as traditional silicon-wafer-based solar modules. The lack of efficiency for thin-film solar modules is problematic during winter and cloudy conditions. Accordingly, there is a pressing need for more efficient and cost-effective semiconductor grade silicon production techniques. In this fashion, environmentally friendly solar conversion can compete with superficially less expensive fossil fuel uses.
Conventional semiconductor grade silicon production techniques are not only costly but often create environmental problems resulting from toxic waste byproducts. Production of ultrapure polysilicon commonly begins with a trihalosilane feedstock that is thermally decomposed into silicon and a tetrahalosilane byproduct. For example, in the Siemens process, trichlorosilane is reduced to produce silicon with tetrachlorosilane as the byproduct. This process was traditionally open loop and thus resulted in significant hazardous waste production. The production of polysilicon through the Siemens process in less-developed countries has lead to alarming environmental degradation with open and notorious dumping of the toxic byproducts. In addition to its polluting nature, the Siemens process also demands considerable use of energy because it is a relatively-high temperature process.
In contrast to the open-loop Siemens process, the tetrahalosilane byproducts are reused in a closed-loop process. A closed-loop process is thus inherently less polluting and uses less energy. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,942 (the '942 patent) discloses a closed-loop polysilicon production process in which tribromosilane (TBS) is thermally decomposed into silicon, silicon tetrabromide (STB) and hydrogen gas (H2). It may be observed that STB may also be denoted as tetrabromosilane but such a designation will have the same acronym (TBS) as tribromosilane and is thus avoided herein. As disclosed in the '942 patent, the tetra-halogenated byproduct STB along with the hydrogen gas byproduct are recycled in a converter using metallurgical grade silicon (MGSi, 95% pure) according to the reaction of:MGSi+3SiBr4+2H2→4SiBr3H  (1)to produce TBS, which may then be thermally decomposed as just described. In this fashion, the impure silicon in the converter transforms into ultra-pure polysilicon with no halogenated silane byproducts—these byproducts are entirely recycled such that STB becomes TBS, which is then produces STB as a byproduct during thermal decomposition, and so on. The resulting closed-loop reuse of the silicon tetrabromide byproduct is not only environmentally friendly, it is energy efficient as well in that TBS thermally degrades at lower temperatures as compared to those required for trichlorosilane techniques. In addition, TBS production of silicon advantageously produces a preferable granular form factor for the resulting silicon as compared to traditional chloro-silane approaches.
Although the closed loop process disclosed in the '942 patent is thus advantageous, some inefficiency results from the recycling of the STB and hydrogen byproducts in that these byproducts are in ultra-pure form yet they are reacted with relatively impure silicon to produce TBS. The resulting TBS must then be purified such as through distillation before it can be thermally decomposed into silicon. This purification requires a substantial amount of energy.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved closed-loop polysilicon production techniques.


A packaging fill material for electrical packaging includes a base material, and a plurality of frangible capsules distributed in the base material. Each frangible capsule includes a liquid penetrant contrast agent therein having a different radiopacity than the base material. In response to a crack forming in the packaging fill material, at least one of the plurality of frangible capsules opens, releasing the liquid penetrant contrast agent into the crack. Cracks can be more readily identified in an IC package including the packaging fill material. The liquid penetrant contrast agent may have a radiopacity that is higher than the base material. Inspection can be carried out using electromagnetic analysis using visual inspection or digital analysis of the results to more easily identify cracks.

The present disclosure relates to integrated circuit (IC) chip package fabrication, and more specifically, to structures and methods for identifying cracks in packaging fill material (underfill and/or overmold) using an encapsulated liquid penetrant contrast agent.
An integrated circuit (IC) chip package couples one or more IC chips to a substrate that allows scaling of the circuitry. The IC chip(s) may be electrically coupled to circuitry in the substrate using any of a variety of electrical solder connections such as a ball grid array (BGA). An underfill material is positioned between the IC chip and the substrate and surrounding the solder connections to provide additional support between the IC chip and the substrate. The underfill material may include a plastic such as a glass/silica/alumina bead or particle filled epoxy.
Cracks in the underfill material can jeopardize the integrity of the IC chip package, and in some cases, may lead to failures. The cracks can be created and/or enlarged by thermal cycling during assembly or during use. In order to detect cracks, the IC chip packages may be inspected using non-invasive, electromagnetic techniques such as X-ray tomography. The difference in radiopacity of the gas in the cracks and the underfill material ideally makes the cracks visible using the results of the electromagnetic analysis. However, it is very difficult to detect small cracks in low-contrast IC chip packaging underfill materials, e.g., plastics. Current approaches to improve crack detectability include improvements to the X-ray systems or data analysis. Other approaches increase the radiopacity of the underfill materials, making the gas filled voids of the cracks more readily recognizable using X-ray tomography compared to the adjacent un-cracked underfill material. In this approach, the underfill material chemistry is typically modified, e.g., by incorporating a radiopaque isotope therein that increases contrast of the base underfill material adjacent a gas-filled crack. Despite the increased radiopacity of the underfill materials, the gas-filled voids created by small cracks are still very difficult to identify in the underfill materials. Overmolded chip packages suffer from similar issues with the overmold material.

Crack identification in IC chip package using encapsulated liquid penetrant contrast agent


An apparatus is disclosed for an improved air conditioning system for admitting air from an exterior space, adjusting the temperature and humidity of the exterior air and delivering the adjusted air to an interior space of a structure. To compare the energy levels of these two air streams an improved device brings both air streams to the same temperature, so just the relative humidity has to be measured to know which of these two air streams has the higher or the lower energy level. Using the device in a control system for a desiccant wheel, at least two temperature sensors are eliminateable.

Air treatment systems, such as air conditioning and cooling systems, preferably include some means for controlling air humidity. Air humidity can be just as important to personal comfort as air temperature, especially in sunny regions close to open water. Also, air humidity control can be important for the protection of sensitive electronics, ancient art treasures etc.
Whereas raising air humidity is a relatively straightforward operation, it takes a lot more to bring it down for the purposes described above.
Various methods exist for bringing down air humidity. The spraying of certain chemicals is an non-repeatable and comparatively expensive method with many additional disadvantages. In general, a repeatable method is preferred, in the sense that no refuelling is needed, other than a possible energy supply. Air cooling means may indeed effect a repeatable drying of air, but since that is inevitably coupled to the cooling thereof, it will in itself not allow enough flexibility and fine-adjustment to meet the needs of most applications described above. On top of that, it makes for a relatively inefficient and therefore expensive air drying process.
More sophisticated desiccant means have therefore been developed, that are often but not always used as part of an air cooling system. Best described are the so-called desiccant wheels, that can for instance be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,606, U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,761, U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,860, U.S. Pat. No. 3,488,971, U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,679 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,684, all deemed to be incorporated by reference. The thermodynamic process involved in operating these desiccant wheels are also described therein. Examples of the active chemical compound used in such desiccant wheels are silica-gel and lithium chloride.
Most air humidity controlling systems need some form of control over the level of activity employed at any given time. When drawing outside air, the humidity and temperature thereof vary and influence the end result. Also, the end result itself may have to be adjusted from time to time, for instance depending on personal preference in the case of comfort control. All forms of level control in an air humidity controlling system require measurement of air humidity, be it of the end result, be it at some intermediate stage, be it of the outside air.
Air humidity measurement is usually performed by comparing the air humidity in two different areas that indicate the air humidity before and after treatment with the desiccant means. The comparison in turn gives an indication of the preferred level of activity. For instance, one area could be somewhere within a duct for transporting outside air to the inside of a building, and the other area in another duct serving the opposite purpose. Or one area could be the inside of the building itself, so that the end result of the air humidity control is being measured, and the other measurement could then possibly be performed outside, in order to give the system an indication of the difference that should be bridged. In theory, one humidity sensor placed in between the two different areas of measurement may do the job. However, the most practical solutions so far make use of two separate humidity sensors, each located with either of the two measuring areas.

Desiccant device and humidity measuring means


A method of forming a lithographic pattern consists in establishing a charged beam, isolating such charged particles that have the energy dispersion falling within 0.1 and 5.0 eV, and removing such particles from the beam that have the energy dispersion lying outside said range. Then the thus-established charged beam is subjected to primary focusing until the beam divergence value of from 5.10.sup.-2 to 10.sup.-4 rad is attained, a mask having a pattern stencil is irradiated with the focused charged beam. Thereupon the charged beam that has been modulated while passing through the mask is subjected to secondary focusing in order to form on the radiation-sensitive layer under processing a lithographic pattern corresponding to the stencil of a scaled-down mask pattern.

Up till now the modern microelectronics has been developing by way of successively reducing the microcircuit elements from micron to submicron size range. But ever increasing urgent demands in developing nanometric-size elements leads to search for novel techniques of lithographic formation of a conducting structure that assure high resolution which herein implies a minimum size of the elements of the conducting structure under development, that determines a limiting permissible density of a conducting structure elements per unit length or unit area without a contact therebetween.
One prior-art method of forming a pattern by lithographic imaging (cf. U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,505). The method consists in that a substrate carrying a radiation-sensitive material is irradiated, through a mask, with a beam of charged particles, with the result that said material is transformed to form on the substrate a pattern corresponding to the mask pattern stencil. The charged particles are accelerated to a velocity corresponding to de Broglie wavelength and having its maximum value below the preset projection accuracy. The beam is established by particles which move within a certain solid angle along different paths, whereby said particles get incident upon the substrate surface at different angles, too. To attain a preset accuracy of forming a lithographic pattern, resort is made to scanning some mask areas so that the beam changes its position in passing from transparent areas (i.e., mask pattern stencil) to shaded ones, and vice versa.
The beam particles differ widely from one another as to the mean charge value thereof, otherwise speaking, there occurs dispersion as to energy of charged particles. Insofar as such particles are incident on the mask at different angles, the image of the transparent mask areas (i.e., mask pattern stencil) on the substrate becomes blurred. These phenomena prevent high resolution to be attained, that is, make it impossible to obtain separate pattern elements having linear dimensions on the order of unities of nanometers. Moreover, mask scanning provided in the known method sophisticates the process and affects adversely its production output.
Another method of forming a lithographic pattern on a radiation-sensitive surface is known (cf. U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,008) to consists in that a mask with a pattern stencil made therein is once-through exposed to the effect of a beam of charged particles. Once having passed through the mask, said charged beam is focused on a surface (i.e., substrate) carrying a radiation-sensitive material deposited thereon, with the result that said material is transformed to form on the substrate a pattern corresponding to the mask pattern stencil.
It is common knowledge that any source of charged particles is far from being an ideal one because the particles may feature dispersion as to their energy, and the beat itself may have a finite angular divergence. The presence of energy dispersion in charged particles is a source of chromatic aberrations in the image-forming systems and the presence of angular divergence in a charged beam is a source of spherical aberrations. The aforementioned aberration types are, apart from de Broglie wavelength corresponding to the charged particles, a factor which controls a limiting resolution that is attainable in image forming systems.
Thus, high resolution required in microelectronics for fabricating integral circuits and other such products is unattainable unless special restrictions are placed upon the parameters of energy dispersion of a charged beam (chromatic aberrations) and of divergence of a beam incident upon a mask (spherical aberrations).

Method of forming a lithographic pattern utilizing charged beam particles between 0.1 and 5.0 ev

Leningradskoe shosse, d. 94, kor. 1, kv. 32

Marshsla Vasilevskogo ul., d.1, kor.2, kv. 40

Marshala Vasilevskogo ul., d.15, kor.1, kv.32

16-aya Parkovaya ul., d.55, kor.2, kv. 146

Vasiliya Petushkova ul., d. 21, kor. 2, kv. 146


A spark plug including: a cylindrical insulator having an axial hole extending through the insulator in an axial direction; a center electrode inserted in the axial hole; a metal shell provided around an outer periphery of the insulator and having a leading end surface, from which a leading end surface of the insulator protrudes; a ground electrode having a base end bonded to the leading end surface of the metal shell; and a noble metal tip disposed on a distal end of the ground electrode, an end of the noble metal tip protruding toward the center electrode in a radial direction, wherein: the spark plug forming a spark discharge path upon application of a discharging voltage between the protruding end of the noble metal tip and an end of the center electrode, the spark discharge path including an aerial discharge gap between a part of the protruding end of the noble metal tip and a part of the end of the insulator and a surface-creeping discharge path beginning at a part of the end of the insulator and a part of the center electrode and extending along the end surface of the insulator; and the noble metal tip protruding from the leading end of the ground electrode by a protruding length of more than 0.2 mm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spark plug for use in an internal combustion engine and, more particularly, to a spark plug for an internal combustion engine having a semi-surface discharge gap.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semi-surface discharge type spark plugs have been known as spark plugs for internal combustion engines having improved anti-fouling properties. Such a semi-surface discharge type spark plug (hereinafter also referred to as a semi-surface spark plug) is similar to a normal aerial discharge type spark plug in that it includes a center electrode, an insulator provided around the outer periphery of the electrode, a cylindrical metal shell provided around the outer periphery of the insulators and a ground electrode having a base end bonded to the leading end of the metal shell. The semi-surface spark plug is configured such that application of a voltage between the center electrode and the ground electrode forms a spark discharge path (spark discharge gap). The spark discharge path is constituted by an aerial discharge gap between a part of a leading end of the ground electrode and a part of a leading end of the insulator and a surface-creeping discharge path beginning at a part of the leading end of the insulator and a part of a region of the center electrode in the vicinity of the leading end surface of the insulator.
It is known that when a spark plug is operated over a prolonged period of time in a low temperature environment, the spark plug enters what is called a "smoldered" or "covered" state in which a leading end surface of the insulator is covered by a conductive fouling substance such as carbon. This results in a state called "fouling" that disables proper firing at the spark discharge gap. In this regard, a semi-surface spark plug as described above has improved anti-fouling properties as compared to an aerial discharge type spark plug. This is because fouling substances are burned off by spark discharge which takes place along the leading end surface of the insulator (for example, see JP-A-2003-22885).
3. Problems to be Solved by the Invention
The durability of a spark plug must be maintained by extracting sufficient heat from the ground electrode. In order to maintain the durability of the ground electrode at a predetermined level, a somewhat large size ground electrode is used in practice.
However, when attempting to satisfy the demand simply by using a large-sized ground electrode, a space for allowing the flame kernel to spread can be obstructed. Also, the beat of the flame is likely to be removed by the ground electrode, which can worsen the quenching effect. As a result, the ignition capability may be reduced.
Compared to an aerial discharge type spark plug, a semi-surface spark plug tends to exhibit a higher possibility of fuel bridging. This is because the ground electrode in such a structure necessarily faces the insulator over a large area. When the size of the ground electrode is further increased as described above, the risk of fuel bridging further increases.
JP-A-2003-22885 discloses a noble metal tip provided on a ground electrode. However, a reduction in ignition capability and the risk of fuel bridging still remains when the countermeasure is to simply provide a tip, although a certain level of durability can be achieved.

Spark plug for internal combustion engine


A digital wireless transmitter and a method of transmitting a high-power modulated RF signal using a digital wireless transmitter are provided. In one embodiment, the transmitter includes: a digital system-on-a-chip configured to receive a complex digital input signal and having: an all-digital phase-locked loop and digital pulse modulator configured to modulate a phase and frequency modulation signal based on the complex digital input signal to yield a modulated complex signal, a driver configured to generate a pulse-position-modulated and pulse-width-modulated pulse train based on an instantaneous phase and amplitude of the modulated complex signal and a power supply modulation control block configured to develop an amplitude modulation control signal based on the complex digital input signal that defines a non-constant-envelope for an output signal of the transmitter.

Wireless telemetry systems are automated networks for making measurements using sensors of various kinds and transmitted data reflecting the measurements using relatively wideband wireless transmitters to receiving equipment for monitoring. Because they are typically placed at remote or inaccessible locations, the sensors and transmitters are often battery-powered. Thus, transmitter power consumption is an important consideration. For this reason, most telemetry systems use constant-amplitude modulation schemes for their wideband wireless transmitters, where saturated/switched amplifiers may be used in the final high-power stage to provide relatively high power efficiency.

Power efficient digital wireless transmitter and method of operation thereof


A method of measuring fluid properties such as flow velocity, flow rate, and fluid composition comprises positioning a heat exchange element with a temperature sensor, such as an optical fiber temperature sensor, arranged centrally inside the element in thermal contact with a fluid of interest, heating or cooling the heat exchange element to cause a temperature difference and exchange of thermal energy between the element and the fluid, using the temperature sensor to measure the temperature of the heat exchange element during the exchange of thermal energy, and determining properties of the fluid from the temperature measurement. A second temperature sensor can be provided offset from the first sensor to provide additional measurements to improve accuracy, and a plurality of heat exchange elements with temperature sensors can be used together to determine fluid properties over a large region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring properties of fluids, particularly, but not exclusively, fluids within oil wells, the properties including fluid flow and fluid composition.
2. Description of Related Art
A known device for measuring fluid flow is the hot wire anemometer described in L. V. King, "Precision measurement of air velocity by means of the linear not-wire anemometer", Phil. Mag., Series 6, 29, p. 599-604 (1915), the operating principle of which depends on the cooling effect of a fluid flowing past a heated object, so that a measurement of the temperature change of the object gives an indication of the rate of flow of the fluid. A thin wire, typically a few millimeters long, is placed orthogonally to the direction of the flow to be measured. A voltage is applied across the wire, and the resulting current flow through the wire, which is inversely proportional to the resistance according to Ohm's law, heats the wire. This heat is transferred to the fluid at a rate which is dependent on the flow rate of the fluid, until a final equilibrium temperature of the wire is reached. The wire resistance depends on its temperature, so the current can be related to the flow velocity. Measurement of the current can therefore be used to calculate the flow rate.
Flow rate measurement techniques are widely used in the oil industry to determine the rate of flow of oil, gas, and water within oil wells. The hot wire anemometer is disadvantageous in this situation. The device provides a single localized measurement, whereas wellbores can be hundreds or thousands of meters deep, with the fluid flow at all or many depths being of interest. Further, it is preferred not to use electric current in oil industry sensors because of the risk of explosion. Also, the thin wire is fragile, and hence unsuited to the rigors of the downhole environment.
In contrast, optical fibers are known to be well-suited for downhole sensing applications. They are robust enough to withstand the high temperatures and pressures, and operate without electric current. Distributed measurements can be obtained representing the whole length of a fiber, thus providing a more complete picture than individual discrete measurements. In particular, optical fibers have been shown to be of use for downhole temperature sensing. A technique known as distributed temperature sensing detects changes in backscattered light from within the fiber caused by changes in temperature.
Consequently, a number of flow measurement methods have been proposed which exploit the proven technology of optical fiber temperature sensing. A first technique, described in PCT Patent Application WO 00/11317, uses the cooling effect of flowing fluid exploited in the hot wire anemometer. A heater cable is disposed within the production tubing of an oil well, and is heated by current being passed through it. Optical fibers are arranged adjacent to the cable, and operate as temperature sensors to measure the temperature of the heated cable as it is cooled by flowing oil. This gives temperature measurements at spaced locations over the extent of the cable, from which the fluid flow is determined. Thus a pseudo-distributed measurement is possible.
A further technique relies on the transfer of heat from a heat source to the fluid and is described in PCT Patent Application WO 99/45235. A thermal sensor, which may have the form of an optical fiber, is arranged downhole adjacent to a thermal source. The source is heated, and the sensor is used to measure changes in the fluid caused by the transfer of heat to the fluid. The flow rate is calculated from the amount of heat transferred. This two-part arrangement of sensor and source is complex to deploy, operate, and maintain, and the results require the distance between source and sensor to be considered.
A similar arrangement of equipment is used in a more recent approach which, however, is less mathematically complex. As described in PCT Patent Application WO 01/75403, a fiber temperature sensor is deployed in the wellbore together with one or more cooling stations arranged upstream with respect to the direction of oil flow. A quantity of oil is cooled by the cooling station, and the temperature sensor detects the presence of this oil at two or more positions as it flows up the wellbore. From this, the flow velocity is calculated. This is a simple approach, but requires the cooling station to be arranged in the passage of the oil, which then can disturb the flow.
An alternative method, described in PCT Patent Application WO 01/04581, relies in the long term only on a fiber temperature sensor, with no other downhole equipment being required. A model is used to calculate flow from the temperature measurements. The method is mathematically intensive, because many parameters describing the well are required to obtain an accurate model.
In addition to the disadvantages outlined above, the various methods described are intended for the measurement of fluid flow rate only. However, other fluid characteristics and parameters are often of interest. Hence there is a requirement for an improved fluid measurement technique capable of measuring fluid properties including fluid flow.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for measuring fluid properties


A method, system, and program product for saving a state of a task and executing the task by processors such that following the termination of execution of the first task in a first processor, at least a portion of a state of the first task is maintained in registers of the first processor until the first processor executes a second task. Prior to executing the first task on the second processor, a determination is made as to whether the state of the first task is at least partially stored in the registers of another processor, such as the first processor. If the state of the first task is at least partially stored in the registers of the first processor, then contents of said registers in the first processor are stored into a memory system. Thereafter, the first task is executed in the second processor.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a multiprocessor data processing system, and in particular to a method, system, and program for saving a state of a task by a processor in a multiprocessor system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system, and program for selecting and executing the task by the processor in the multiprocessor system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A data processing system may be a multiprocessor system having a plurality of processors. Each processor has a number of register sets. These register sets may be, for example, general purpose registers or floating point registers.
Generally, when a processor in a multiprocessor system finishes a last task and is switching to execute a next task, the state of the last task must be saved into a memory system by saving the states of all of the register sets and all other volatile data for the processor into the memory system. Generally, a state of a task is defined by all of the contents of the registers and all other volatile data for the processor that is executing the task. This save operation is performed for all of the register sets, including registers that may only be occasionally or rarely accessed for some tasks, such as the floating point registers. A considerable amount of overhead and processing time may be required for saving and setting the states for these registers that are only occasionally or rarely accessed by tasks of various application programs. Performing save operations for these registers in instances in which these registers are not even used is extremely wasteful of the processing time of the processor.
For example, in an Intel-based multiprocessor system, the state of the floating point registers for a running thread or task execution must be saved when a task switch is made. Similarly, in a multiprocessor system running under OS/2, save operations are performed on the floating point registers every time a task switch occurs for a processor in the multiprocessor system. Saving and restoring these floating point registers involves a considerable amount of overhead. However, most application programs do not use the floating point registers. Thus, the present invention recognizes that saving floating point registers, especially for the task switches in the applications that do not use the floating point registers, is extremely inefficient. Improvements in efficiency for saving these registers in a uni-processor system have been made, but the present invention recognizes the need to improve the efficiency for saving these registers in a multiprocessor system. In improving the efficiency of saving these registers, the present invention also recognizes the need to continually improve the efficiency of executing a task by a processor within the multiprocessor system.

Method, system, and program for saving a state of a task and executing the task by a processor in a multiprocessor system

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods are provided for forming a structure that includes an air gap. In one embodiment, a method is provided for forming a damascene structure comprises depositing a porous low dielectric constant layer by a method including reacting an organosilicon compound and a porogen-providing precursor, depositing a porogen-containing material, and removing at least a portion of the porogen-containing material, depositing an organic layer on the porous low dielectric constant layer by reacting the porogen-providing precursor, forming a feature definition in the organic layer and the porous low dielectric constant layer, filing the feature definition with a conductive material therein, depositing a mask layer on the organic layer and the conductive material disposed in the feature definition, forming apertures in the mask layer to expose the organic layer, removing a portion or all of the organic layer through the apertures, and forming an air gap adjacent the conductive material.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the fabrication of integrated circuits. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to methods for forming damascene structures, including damascene structures that include an air gap.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuit geometries have dramatically decreased in size since such devices were first introduced several decades ago. Since then, integrated circuits have generally followed the two year/half-size rule (often called Moore's Law), which means that the number of devices on a chip doubles every two years. Today's fabrication facilities are routinely producing devices having 0.1 μm feature sizes, and tomorrow's facilities soon will be producing devices having even smaller feature sizes.
The continued reduction in device geometries has generated a demand for layers having lower dielectric constant (k) values because the capacitive coupling between adjacent metal lines must be reduced to further reduce the size of devices on integrated circuits. In particular, insulators having low dielectric constants, less than about 4.0, are desirable. Examples of insulators having low dielectric constants include spin-on glass, fluorine-doped silicon glass (FSG), carbon-doped oxide, and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which are all commercially available.
More recently, low dielectric constant organosilicon layers having k values less than about 3.5 have been developed. One method that has been used to develop low dielectric constant organosilicon layers has been to deposit the layers from a gas mixture comprising an organosilicon compound and a compound comprising thermally labile species or volatile groups and then post-treat the deposited layers to remove the thermally labile species or volatile groups, such as organic groups, from the deposited layers. The removal of the thermally labile species or volatile groups from the deposited layers creates nanometer-sized voids in the layers, which lowers the dielectric constant of the layers, e.g., to about 2.5, as air has a dielectric constant of approximately 1.
However, in view of the continuing decrease in integrated circuit feature sizes and increase in circuit density, there remains a need for a method of forming devices that have dielectric layers with even lower dielectric constants.


An earth boring drill bit having an alternate path to allow cuttings to be ejected or evacuated from the drill bit and up the bore hole is disclosed. The evacuation hole of the present disclosure allows larger sized cuttings to evacuate from the bit without having to be continually ground by rolling cone cutters until the cuttings are small enough to follow a path around the edge of the shirttail of the bit and up the borehole. A cuttings restrictor is disposed at the inlet of the evacuation hole. The cuttings restrictor ensures that only cuttings that are sized to move completely through the evacuation hole and exit the drill bit are allowed to enter the evacuation hole.

Roller cone or rotary cone bits are well known in the art of earth boring drilling operations. The most common design of a roller cone bit consists of three roller cones, each rotatably mounted on a downwardly and radially inwardly extending bearing pin. Each roller cone supports a plurality of cutting elements, which are referred to as cutters. Each of the bearing pins is spaced approximately 120 degrees apart with the three pins formed as a part of a bit body. The entire structure is rotated at the end of a drill string. Boring is accomplished by applying weight to the drill bit and rotating the drill string, thereby causing the roller cones to roll and crush the rock formation beneath the bit. As the bit is rotated and moves through a formation, the cutter elements contact and disintegrate portions of the formation in order to form the desired bore hole. The earth separated from the formation become cuttings that are removed from the bottom and sides of the bore hole and washed away by a drilling fluid, such as air or drill mud, that is supplied to the drill bit from the surface through the hollow rotating drill string. The cuttings are suspended in the drilling fluid and carried to the surface in the space between the bore hole and the drill string.
The cuttings produced by the drilling operation are abrasive and with continued use will erode the cutters and other portions of the bit. The grinding and re-grinding of the cuttings produced by the drilling operation slows the formation penetration rate of the bit and shortens the life of the bit. The re-ground cuttings tend to dull the cutters and the finely ground particles may enter the bearing surfaces formed between the roller cones and the journals supported by the bit, restricting cutter cone rotation and further limiting bit life.
Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,473 to Dickey, which is incorporated herein by reference and discloses a self-cleaning polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit.
Reference is also made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,128 to Gray, which is incorporated herein by reference and discloses a cutter bit having a passageway for cuttings to escape to the surface of the hole.
Further reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,692,117 and 3,099,324 each to Kucera which disclose drill bits having passageways through the bit for the evacuation of cuttings.

Roller cone drill bit with cuttings evacuator


A dual-bearing reel includes a reel body, a spool, a spool shaft, a one-way clutch, and an operating lever. The spool is rotatable relative to the reel body. The spool shaft is configured to integrally rotate with the spool. The one-way clutch comprises an outer ring that is rotatable relative to the reel body and a rolling body configured to transmit rotation of the spool shaft in the casting direction to the outer ring, the one-way clutch being attached to the spool shaft. The operating lever is attached to the reel body, extends in a radial direction, and is configured to adjust a braking force that brakes rotation of the outer ring.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dual-bearing reel.
Background Information
In general, a dual-bearing reel includes a casting control mechanism (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-104958). A casting control mechanism is a mechanism for braking a rotation of a spool shaft by applying frictional force to the spool shaft. Accordingly, the rotation speed of the spool shaft is suppressed at the time of line delivering to prevent backlash.


A method of applying for a communication service and a communication terminal thereof are discussed. According to an embodiment, the method includes generating, by a terminal, at least one message including information necessary for the opening; transmitting the generated message to a server that supports the opening of the communication service; connecting a call for the opening between the server and the terminal based on the message received by the server; and performing an opening process of the communication service through the connected call.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an application for a communication service, and more particularly, to a method of applying for a communication service and to a communication terminal thereof. Although the present invention is suitable for a wide scope of applications, it is particularly suitable for making an application for an opening of a communication service.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a communication service provider has provided a wireless communication service for transferring data requested by a communication terminal subscriber. And, a representative one of the wireless communication services is the OTA (over-the-air) service.
In the OTA service, once a subscriber makes a request for data to a service customer center via a communication terminal of the subscriber, the requested data is transferred from the service customer center to the communication terminal of the subscriber.
For the OTA service, the subscriber needs to make an OTA call to the service customer center directly and inform, through the OTA call, the service customer center of information about specific data that the subscriber desires.
In the case of using the OTA service, the service provider provides the subscriber with the requested specific data through the communication terminal of the subscriber. In addition, the service provider takes advantage of providing various kinds of advertisements to the subscriber's communication terminal via the OTA service.
Meanwhile, to be provided with a communication service in the related art, a subscriber needs to make an application for an opening for the communication service to a service customer center. In the case of making an application for an opening for a communication service using an OTA service, a subscriber has to make the application for the opening by making an OTA call to a service customer center directly as mentioned.
However, if the subscriber is located in an area of poor signal transmission/reception, the subscriber's communication terminal is unable to transmit the OTA call. Hence, the subscriber cannot make the application for an opening for a communication service and thus cannot receive desired specific data.

Method of applying for communication service and communication terminal thereof


Upon detecting a current balise, an onboard system of a train calculates a speed curve based on measured traveling speed at a timing of the detection and sets a minimum required time period for traveling to each of a next balise and a balise subsequent to the next balise. Upon detecting the next balise, the onboard system compares a traveling time period from the timing of detecting the current balise to the timing of detecting the next balise with the set minimum required time period. The onboard system activates an emergency brake when the elapsed time period is shorter than the minimum required time period to stop the train.

A method of detecting traveling speed and traveling position of a train on the train includes a method of performing measurement based on a rotation detection signal from a detector such as a Pulse Generator (PG) and a Tachogenerator (TG) that detect rotation of a wheel or an axle. A traveling position measured based on the rotation detection signal includes a tolerance due to slip or skid of wheels. Thus, it is a common practice to measure the traveling position as a travel distance from a disposed position of a balise detected.
Then, on the train, speed control is performed including comparing the traveling speed measured with a checked speed defined by a speed check pattern, and activating a brake when the traveling speed exceeds the checked speed. JP-A-1994-327105 discloses one method for performing speed control, under a precondition that the traveling speed measured on the train is accurate. Specifically, an interval between detection timings for two balises is measured when a train stops to determine whether or not overspeed has occurred, and an emergency brake is activated when the overspeed has occurred.
The traveling speed and the traveling position is inaccurately measured on the train mainly due to the tolerances described above. The inaccurate measurement also occurs due to an abnormality of the detector, or an abnormality such as breakage of an axle or a propeller shaft to which the detector is attached. If occurrence of the abnormality cannot be detected, the traveling would be based on traveling control relying on measured traveling speed and traveling position, and this could be risky. For example, if the traveling speed measured on the train is slower than the actual traveling speed, overspeed which could even lead to derailment of the train might occur with the actual traveling speed exceeding the checked speed. The traveling position might be inaccurately measured and thus might be recognized as a position before the actual traveling position. As a result, the train might collide with a train ahead or the end of the track (car stop), of might enter an un-opened turnout to result in derailment. In this context, for example, a preferably employed method uses other means such as a Global Positioning System(GPS) or an acceleration meter, to monitor whether or not an abnormal value of the traveling speed and the traveling position overwhelming a tolerance is measured. However, the GPS cannot be used in a tunnel section or the like. Furthermore, additional equipment such as GPS and the acceleration meter would lead to a cost increase in the first place.

Onboard system and emergency brake control method


Disclosed are methods of inspecting semiconductor wafers, inspection systems for performing the same, and methods of fabricating semiconductor devices using the same. A method of inspecting a semiconductor wafer including preparing a wafer including zones each having patterns, obtaining representative values for the patterns, scanning the patterns under an optical condition to obtain optical signals for the patterns, each of the optical signals including optical parameters, selecting a representative optical parameter that is one of the optical parameters that has a correlation with the representative values, obtaining a reference value of the representative optical parameter for a reference pattern, and obtaining a defect of an inspection pattern by comparing the reference value with an inspection value of the representative optical parameter for the inspection pattern.

The present inventive concepts relate to methods of inspecting a semiconductor wafer, inspection systems for performing the same, and/or methods of fabricating a semiconductor device using the same.
Semiconductor devices may be manufactured by various fabrication processes such as photolithography, etching, deposition, ion implantation, and cleaning. After performing the fabrication processes for manufacturing semiconductor devices, an inspection process may be executed to determine whether or not defects are present on patterns included in semiconductor devices. Such inspection process may optimize conditions of the fabrication processes by ascertaining defects of semiconductor devices at an early stage. With the high integration of semiconductor devices, patterns of semiconductor device become increasingly finer and inspection methods and/or systems having improved reliability are desired.

Method of inspecting semiconductor wafer, inspection system for performing the same, and method of fabricating semiconductor device using the same


Apparatus and methods are disclosed for inspecting masks, reticles, and other patterned samples used in microlithography. The apparatus and methods are useful for detecting, at high speed and high accuracy, any defects in the pattern defined by the sample. Multiple charged-particle beams (e.g., electron beams) scannably irradiated simultaneously on respective loci in an irradiation region of a surface of the sample. A charged-particle detector is situated so as to detect charged particles propagating, during the irradiation, from the loci. The charged-particle detector produces data on whether or not the pattern in the irradiated region has any defects compared to a reference pattern. The detectors can be situated so as to receive charged particles reflected from the irradiated region, charged particles passing through the irradiated region, or secondary electrons produced from irradiating the loci. An electrode plate, preferably defining multiple apertures each dedicated to receiving charged particles originating at a respective locus, is used to attract the charged particles toward the detectors.

After fabrication, a mask or reticle ("mask") should be inspected before use to make sure that the mask accurately defines the desired pattern. This is because any defects in the mask pattern will be transferred to the substrate (e.g., wafer) during use of the mask in microlithography. It is also desirable to perform an inspection of a wafer at suitable moments during manufacture of devices on the wafer. As used herein, a "sample" for inspection purposes can be a wafer, mask, reticle, or analogous structure having a pattern that is the subject of the inspection.
Conventionally, a type of scanning electron microscope (SEM) has been used to inspect samples to detect pattern defects. The surface of the sample is scanned using a single finely drawn electron beam. Impingement of the beam on the sample generates secondary electrons. A pattern defect at a location on the sample is detected by comparing an intensity signal of the secondary electrons to, for example, a reference signal corresponding to the same location on the pattern.
The conventional SEM as summarized above exhibits high resolution compared to an optical microscope. However, because only one very narrow electron beam is used for scanning, a long time is required to scan the entire surface of the sample. This undesirably results in low throughput. If the scanning speed of the electron beam is increased to reduce the scanning time per sample, the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) of the secondary electron signal sensed by the detector can be too small for reliable detection of errors on the sample.
Many masks define patterns made up of identical portions repeated many times at a fixed pitch over the entire pattern. Each identical portion can be scanned relative to a reference signal. However, because the mask is conventionally scanned by one electron beam, the periodicity of the pattern defined by the mask cannot be exploited and throughput is not improved.

Apparatus and methods for inspecting wafers and masks using multiple charged-particle beams


A binding has a carrier arrangement having at least one elongated portion, which extends in the longitudinal direction of the ski, is flexurally rigid and/or can be subjected to shearing. A first region of the carrier arrangement, is fixed to the ski, a second region is spaced apart from said first region in the longitudinal direction of the ski and is coupled, or can be coupled, compliantly to the ski. The carrier arrangement alters the bending properties of the ski to change the stiffness of the ski and/or damp vibrations of the ski.

Bindings which permit the bending behavior of the ski to be changed are commercially available. For this purpose, one end of an elongated part, which can be subjected to shearing, is arranged on the upper side of the ski, in the central region of the ski, such that it is fixed to said ski. The other end of the elongated part is guided displaceably in the longitudinal direction of the ski and interacts with an adjustable stop.
During "flexing" of the ski, i.e., when the ski ends are bent upward relative to the central region of the ski, the free end of the elongated part is displaced in the direction of the stop. As soon as the elongated part and stop butt against one another, further bending of the ski is counteracted by an increased additional resistance.
Moreover, various ski bindings with carrier plates extending in the longitudinal direction of the ski are already known, these carrier plates being mounted on the ski by a cushion layer consisting of elastomer material of greater or lesser thickness. Some portions of the carrier plates (e.g., a central longitudinal region), may be firmly connected to the ski. The carrier plate serves as a supporting surface for the ski boot, which may be secured releasably on the carrier plate by means of conventional binding elements.
In the case of such bindings, the ski boot is retained at a comparatively large vertical distance from the underside of the ski. Many skiers regard this as advantageous for effective edging. This is because the ski boots are typicall considerably wider than the skis, i.e., the ski boots project over the ski in the sideward direction. When the ski boot is secured at a relatively large vertical distance from the underside of the ski, the ski can then tilt a large degree to the side with respect to the underlying surface. Accordingly, a high degree of edging is possible without a ski-boot region which projects sideward and downward over the tilted ski causing the ski boot to come into contact with the ground.
Furthermore, the elastomer material mentioned above can influence the vibration or bending behavior of the ski and, in particular, can damp vibrations, which task is quite often desired by skiers.
This vibration damping is based, inter alia, on the fact that, during longitudinal bending of the ski, as takes place, for example, when the ski is traveling over dips in the ground, the elastomer material is compressed vertically because the vertical spacing between the carrier plate and the ski is reduced, and/or shearing takes place, because relatively large longitudinal relative movements between the carrier plate and ski take place at a relatively large longitudinal distance from the region of the carrier plate which is fixed to the ski.


A thermostable cellobiohydrolase including a cellobiohydrolase catalytic domain, the cellobiohydrolase catalytic domain including:

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to thermostability of a cellobiohydrolase enzyme. A cellobiohydrolase is one of glycoside hydrolyzing enzymes involved in a process of hydrolyzing lignocellulose such as cellulose and hemicellulose and generating monosaccharides. More specifically, the present invention relates to a novel thermostable cellobiohydrolase, a polynucleotide encoding the aforementioned thermostable cellobiohydrolase, an expression vector for expressing the aforementioned thermostable cellobiohydrolase, a transformant into which the aforementioned expression vector has been incorporated and a method for producing a cellulose degradation product using the aforementioned thermostable cellobiohydrolase.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-050084, filed Mar. 13, 2014, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Description of the Related Art
Plant biomass or lignocellulose is the most abundant renewable energy source on the earth and is expected as an alternative resource to petroleum. Main components of the biomass based on the dry weight are polysaccharides, such as cellulose and hemicellulose, and lignin. For example, polysaccharides are hydrolyzed to monosaccharides, such as glucose and xylose, by glycoside hydrolases collectively called as cellulase enzymes, and are then used as biofuels or materials for chemical products.
Lignocellulose having a complex structure is persistent and is difficult to degrade or hydrolyze with a single enzyme. For the complete degradation of lignocellulose, in general, three types of enzymes, i.e., an endoglucanase of glucoside hydrolase (cellulase or endo-1,4-β-D-glucanase, EC 18.104.22.168), an exo-type cellobiohydrolase (1,4-β-cellobiosidase or cellobiohydrolase. EC 18.104.22.168, EC 22.214.171.124), and a β-glucosidase (EC 18.104.22.168) are believed to be required. For the hydrolysis of lignocellulose, it is considered that appropriate formulation of multiple enzymes is necessary, including, in addition to the above, a xylanase serving as a hemicellulase (endo-1,4-β-xylanase, EC 126.96.36.199) or other plant cell wall degrading enzymes. On the other hand, it is thought that it is possible to significantly reduce the enzyme costs by using a thermostable enzyme and performing a lignocellulose hydrolysis process at a high temperature, thereby considerably reducing the enzyme amount and hydrolysis time. For this reason, for various cellulases, development of enzymes that are more excellent in terms of thermostability has been desired.
For thermophilic filamentous fungi that are eukaryotes, as compared with thermophilic bacteria and hyperthermophilic archaea that are prokaryotes, their threshold temperature for survival is as low as about 55° C. Therefore, in general, the thermostability of glycoside hydrolases expressed and secreted by thermophilic filamentous fungi is not so high. Cellobiohydrolases CBHI and CBHII of a thermophilic filamentous fungus Chaetomium thermophilum exhibit optimum temperatures of 750° and 70° C., respectively (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1), and a cellobiohydrolase CBHI of Thermoascus aurantiacus exhibits an optimum temperature of 65° C. (for example, see Non-Patent Document 2), which are the highest thermostability that has been reported so far for the cellobiohydrolases derived from filamentous fungi. Although there is a method of further improving the thermostability by substituting one or more amino acids in the cellobiohydrolase (for example, see Patent Document 1 or 2), the thermostability of the thus obtained mutant cellobiohydrolase is still at an insufficient level.
On the other hand, thermophiles growing at or above 55° C. and hyperthermophiles growing at or above 80° C. have been isolated and cultured from the extreme environments such as hot springs, hydrothermal vents, oil fields and mines. The majority of thermostable glycoside hydrolases derived from these thermophilic bacteria and hyperthermophilic archaea are enzymes with an endoglucanase activity, xylanase activity, xylosidase activity or glucosidase activity. Only a few cellobiohydrolases that play the most important role in the lignocellulose hydrolysis process have been isolated from three kinds of thermophilic bacteria belonging to the genera Clostridium, Thermobifida and Thermotoga. For example, a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium Clostridium thermocellum presents an enzyme complex cellulosome with a high lignocellulose hydrolytic activity extracellularly. The main enzymes of a cellulosome are cellobiohydrolases, and the three types thereof consisted of CelO belonging to GH5 family and CbhA and CelK belonging to GH9 family have been isolated, all of which have an optimum temperature (Topt) of 60 to 65° C. (for example, see Non-Patent Documents 3 to 5). Two types of cellobiohydrolase genes; i.e., E3 belonging to GH6 family (for example, see Non-Patent Document 6) and Cel48A belonging to GH48 family (for example, see Non-Patent Document 7) have been isolated from a thermophilic actinomycete Thermobifida fusca. These cellobiohydrolases exhibit relatively high thermostability, exhibit a 50% activity of the maximum value within a temperature range from 40 to 60° C. and exhibit stable activity at 550° for at least 16 hours. However, these two types of cellobiohydrolases exhibit insufficient activity at 70° C. or higher, thus in the case of carrying out a hydrolysis process of cellulose by using these, the upper limit for the temperature of hydrolysis process will be from 60 to 65° C. It has been reported that a cellobiohydrolase derived from a thermophilic bacterium belonging to the genus Thermotoga exhibited the highest thermostability, with an optimum temperature (Topt) of 105° C. and a half life of activity (Thalf) of 70 minutes at 108° C. (for example, see Non-Patent Document 8). However, the above enzyme exhibits endoglucanase-like substrate specificity and exhibits a degradation activity only against amorphous cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). Further, since the hydrolytic activity of the filter paper is weak, efficient hydrolysis of crystalline lignocellulose by the above enzyme cannot be expected.

Thermostable cellobiohydrolase and amino acid substituted variant thereof

Abstract: (A) a polypeptide including an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1;

Abstract: (B) a polypeptide including an amino acid sequence obtained by deletion, substitution or addition of at least one amino acid of the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1, and having at least a cellobiohydrolase activity under conditions of 75° C. and pH 5.5;

Abstract: (C) a polypeptide including an amino acid sequence having at least 85% sequence identity with the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1, and having at least a cellobiohydrolase activity under conditions of 75° C. and pH 5.5;

Abstract: (D) a polypeptide including an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 3;

Abstract: (E) a polypeptide including an amino acid sequence obtained by deletion, substitution or addition of at least one amino acid (with a proviso that cysteine residues at positions 291 and 296 in the amino acid sequence are excluded) of the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 3, and having at least a cellobiohydrolase activity under conditions of 75° C. and pH 5.5; or

Abstract: (F) a polypeptide including an amino acid sequence (with a proviso that cysteine residues are present at positions 291 and 296) having at least 85% sequence identity with the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 3, and having at least a cellobiohydrolase activity under conditions of 75° C. and pH 5.5.


The automatic telephone answering apparatus of this invention is capable of connection to a plurality of telephone lines. The user registers in this apparatus the telephone number of a telephone equipment where the user will be staying (destination telephone number) and telephone numbers of desired calls. This apparatus detects the telephone number data indicative of the caller's telephone sent from an exchange. When the detected telephone number data agrees with the registered object telephone number, this apparatus automatically calls the telephone of the destination using the registered destination telephone number. If this automatic call succeeds, this apparatus connects the being called telephone line to the telephone line automatically called by the automatic telephone answering apparatus. Therefore, an important call is directly transferred to the user staying at another place, so that the user can directly communicate with the important caller. In addition, the frequency of response to the transferred calls is reduced because the transferred calls are limited to only calls from telephones whose telephone numbers have been registered previously.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automatic telephone answering apparatus using the telephone number data of a caller sent from an exchange.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A system is known which sends a caller's telephone number to a subscriber's terminal together with a ring signal from an exchange. Therefore, the subscriber can know who is calling before his response.
Moreover, a telephone terminal is generally known which comprises a plurality of communication interface circuits for communicating with a plurality of telephone lines respectively. This telephone terminal can individually communicate with each line.
Further, an automatic telephone answering apparatus is known which is capable of transferring a message. This transferring function is as follows:
The automatic telephone answering apparatus records an incoming message (ICM) received from a caller in the absence of the called subscriber or user and then transfers the recorded message to a registered transfer destination by automatic dialing, reproducing, and sending the recorded message through the same telephone line. This function enables the called user to know who was called him and what the caller said, at a place where he is staying.
As mentioned above, the prior art automatic telephone answering apparatus with the message transferring function records an incoming message from the caller when there is a call in the absence of the called user; calls a telephone of which a telephone number is registered, that is, a destination telephone number, after recording of the caller's message; and then reproduces and sends the recorded incoming message to a telephone at the destination. This operation is performed for each of the calls.
However, there is a problem that the telephone lines of the automatic telephone answering apparatus and the telephone of destination will be busy if calls are relatively frequent because all messages are transferred to the transfer destination. Moreover, because all messages are sent to the destination where the user is staying, a message which includes no urgent matter will be also transferred. Thus, if the user is very busy because of business, such indiscriminate transferring would interfere with his business.

Automatic telephone answering apparatus with call forwarding arrangement

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.