A method and system provide microelectric devices on fields on a substrate. Each field includes at least one microelectric device having a critical device feature and remaining device feature(s) distal from the critical device feature. The method and system include providing a photoresist layer for fabricating the microelectric devices and exposing the photoresist layer using a dark field mask. The dark field mask is for defining a critical mask feature corresponding to the critical device feature and exposing a first portion of the fields. The first portion includes not more than five percent of each field. The method and system further include exposing the photoresist layer using a clear field mask. The clear field mask is for defining remaining mask feature(s) corresponding to the remaining device feature(s). The clear field mask exposes a second portion of the fields that is different from the first portion.

FIG. 1 depicts a conventional method 10 for fabricating conventional magnetic devices, such as read or write transducers. A photoresist layer is provided, via step 12. In some structures, for example for fabrication of poles, the photoresist layer may be desired to be thick, on the order of one to two microns or more. In other structures being fabricated, the photoresist layer may be thin. For example, the photoresist layer may be one-quarter to one-half micron. The photoresist layer typically covers substantially all of the substrate.
The substrate on which the magnetic device is fabricated includes a number of fields. The fields are typically aligned in an array of rows and columns. The fields of the magnetic device are exposed using a single mask in a particular sequence of fields, via step 14. The fields are generally exposed in groups in step 14. Typically, a single exposure using the single mask is performed for each group of fields. Thus, a pattern is defined in the conventional photoresist layer. Stated differently, the conventional photoresist mask is formed. For example, the mask features for structures including a main pole such as a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) pole, a shield, pads, connections, test markers, and other features may be formed in step 14.
The pattern in the conventional photoresist mask is transferred to form the magnetic device, via step 16. Step 16 might include removing a portion of the underlying magnetic recording device layer(s) and/or depositing additional layers for the features to be fabricated. For example, the PMR pole, shield, pads, connections, test markers, and other features may be formed while the appropriate mask remains in place. Thus, steps 12-16 may be taken when utilizing conventional photolithography in forming structures in the conventional magnetic recording device. Fabrication of the conventional PMR head 30 may then be completed.
Although the conventional method 10 may be used to form the conventional magnetic device, there may be drawbacks. In particular, there may be variations in the overlay of layers in the conventional magnetic device. For example, during fabrication of a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) pole, it is generally desirable for the main pole tip to be aligned with other structures in magnetic recording transducer. However, there may be some misalignments or offsets in the structures. For certain critical features, such as the PMR pole and shield, misalignments in the overlays may adversely affect performance of the conventional magnetic recording device.

Method and system for exposing photoresist in a microelectric device


A method for measurement of fructosamines in an aqueous liquid characterized by including the steps of:. (a) bringing an aqueous liquid sample into contact with one or more active oxygen producing substances; PA1 (b) bringing the product of said step (a) into contact with a reagent producing a detectable change in the presence of hydrogen peroxide derived from the active oxygen, and PA1 (c) detecting an occurrence of the detectable change of said step (b).

When glucose and protein react in the blood, stable fructosamines are formed through the unstable Shiff bases. The concentration of fructosamines in the blood has correlation with the concentration of glucose in the blood. Further, it is hardly affected by even short-term variations in the glucose concentration. Therefore, it is known to be extremely effective to measure the concentration of fructosamines in the blood so as to diagnose diabetes and monitor the progress of treatment of diabetics.
Japanese Examined Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 1-13062 describes a method for measuring the concentration of fructosamines in a blood sample by using the fact that fructosamines have reducing activity under alkaline conditions and cause a color agent (for example, a tetrazolium salt) to produce color. This method is preferable in the point that it can be applied to an automatic measurement apparatus. However, blood samples contain reducing substances (for example, ascorbic acid, glutathione, and uric acid) in addition to fructosamines. Therefore, it was necessary to perform the measurement after a certain time elapses from the start of the reaction so as to reduce or avoid the effects of these nonspecific reducing substances.
Various proposals were made on techniques for eliminating the influence of coexisting substances. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-15168 describes a method for removal of the nonspecific reducing components and turbidity inducing components by making use of a neutral pH value. Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-304999 describes a method for removing the nonspecific reducing components and turbidity inducing components by uricase or a surface active agent and performing the measurement in a single stage. Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-182567 describes a method for measuring fructosamines after performing a step for removing interfering substances in advance and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-108997 describes a method for removing interfering substances by an agent oxidizing enzymes, etc.
However, in the methods described in the above patent publications, a tetrazolium salt is used as the optimal coloring agent in the same way as the method described in said Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-13062. This tetrazolium salt produces the water insoluble coloring substance, formazane, as a result of a reaction. Formazane easily adheres to equipment of a measuring apparatus and is difficult to remove. Further, the surface active substances coexisting in a liquid sample (for example, lipids and proteins) result in a change of the apparent absorbance of formazane, so the measurement results are affected by lipids and proteins and there was the problem of a reduction in the measurement precision.
The present inventors engaged in studies to resolve the above problems and as a result discovered that if a specific compound is brought into contact with fructosamines, active oxygen is produced and hydrogen peroxide is derived from that active oxygen, so by measuring the amount of the hydrogen peroxide, it is possible to measure the fructosamines. The present invention is based on this discovery.

Method for measurement of fructosamines using 1,2-quinones


The present invention is related to a device for vertical galvanic metal, preferably copper, deposition on a substrate, a container suitable for receiving such a device and a substrate holder, which is suitable for receiving a substrate to be treated, and the use of such a device inside of such a container for galvanic metal, in particular copper, deposition on a substrate.

Production of semi conductive integrated circuits and other semi conductive devices from semiconductor wafers typically requires formation of multiple metal layers on the wafer to electrically interconnect the various devices of the integrated circuit. Electroplated metals typically include copper, nickel, gold and lead. Electroplating is effected by initial formation of a so-called seed layer on the wafer in the form of a very thin layer of metal, whereby the surface of the wafer is rendered electrically conductive. This electro conductivity permits subsequent formation of a so-called blanket layer of the desired metal by electroplating in a reactor vessel. Subsequent processing, such as chemical, mechanical planarization, removes unwanted portions of the metal blanket layer formed during electroplating, resulting in the desired patterned metal layer in a semiconductor integrated circuit or micro-mechanism being formed. Formation of a patterned metal layer can also be effected by electroplating.
Subsequent to electroplating, the typical semiconductor wafer or other work piece is subdivided into a number of individual semiconductor components. In order to achieve the desired formation of circuitry within each component, while achieving the desired uniformity of plating from one component to the next, it is desirable to form each metal layer to a thickness which is as uniform as possible across the surface of the work piece. However, because each work piece is typically joined at the peripheral portion thereof in the circuit of the electroplating apparatus (with the work piece typically functioning as the cathode), variations in current density across the surface of the work piece are inevitable. In the past, efforts to promote uniformity of metal deposition have included flow-controlling devices, such as diffusers and the like, positioned within the electroplating reactor vessel in order to direct and control the flow of electroplating solution against the work piece.
In a typical electroplating apparatus, an anode of the apparatus (either consumable or non-consumable) is immersed in the electroplating solution within the reactor vessel of the apparatus for creating the desired electrical potential at the surface of the work piece for effecting metal deposition. Previously employed anodes have typically been generally disk-like in configuration, with electroplating solution directed about the periphery of the anode, and through a perforate diffuser plate positioned generally above, and in spaced relationship to, the anode. The electroplating solution flows through the diffuser plate, and against the associated work piece held in position above the diffuser. Uniformity of metal deposition is promoted by rotatable driving the work piece as metal is deposited on its surface.
However, there is still a high demand in the market to provide amended devices and methods using such new amended devices for the galvanic metal deposition, in particular for the vertical galvanic metal deposition.
In particular, system maintenance, replacements and services require commonly, making use of devices known in the prior art, a high amount of manpower, while it is at the same time very time consuming, which makes the whole process inefficient and costly. Such work leads to a build-down of the entire device for galvanic metal deposition in order to be able to replace essential system components, such as anodes. Thus, during these time-periods, which comprise normally at least one working day, the entire device has to be stopped.

Device for vertical galvanic metal, preferably copper, deposition on a substrate and a container suitable for receiving such a device


A set of rulers for teaching the concept of measurements includes a first ruler having a first group of incremental division lines corresponding to a first group of measured lengths, each line of the first group having a first length and a first color. A second ruler in the set adds a second group of incremental division lines corresponding to a second group of measured lengths, each line of the second group having a second length and a second color, the second group of lines extending from an distal end portion of the first group where the second group of measured lengths corresponds to the first group. A third ruler of the set adds a third group of incremental lines corresponding to a third group of measured lengths, each line of the third group having a third length and color and, where the third group of measured lengths corresponds to the first and second groups, extends from the distal ends of the second group of lines. A method of using the set of rulers to teach is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to the field of instructional materials. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a set of rulers which can be used to assist teachers in imparting the concept of measurements, particularly to educationally-challenged students.
Use of a ruler to take measurements is a particularly difficult concept for certain educationally-challenged students to embrace. Such students include autistic children. Distinguishing between a group of similarly-colored, closely-spaced lines is all but impossible for such students and produces a great deal of frustration for both the student and the teacher and, seldom, if ever, produces the desired learning.
The set of rulers used in the present invention, available under the trade name RAINBOW RULER!!, has shown remarkable success in overcoming the learning barrier incurred when conventional rulers are used in an attempt to teach educationally-challenged children. The teaching tools of the present invention comprise a set of rulers for teaching educationally-challenged students to read measurements, the set including a) a first ruler having a first group of incremental division lines for a first group of measured lengths, each of the lines of the first group having a first length extending from a proximal end to a distal end and being of a first color; b) a second ruler having the first group of incremental division lines of the first length and the first color and a second group of incremental division lines for a second group of measured lengths, each of the lines of the second group having a second length and a second color, the second group of lines having a proximal end extending from a distal end of the lines of the first group when the second group of measured lengths correspond to the first group of measured lengths; c) a third ruler having i) the first group of incremental division lines of the first length and the first color, ii) the second group of incremental division lines of the second length and the second color and, iii) a third group of incremental division lines for a third group of measured lengths, each of the lines of the third group having a third length and a third color, the third group of lines having a proximal end extending from a distal end of the lines of the second group when the third group of measured lengths correspond to the second group of measured lengths.
Each of the three rulers has a fourth group of incremental division lines for a fourth group of measured lengths, each of the lines of the fourth group having a fourth length and fourth color, the fourth length being greater than the first, second and third lengths. Most preferably, the fourth length is greater than a combination of the first, second and third lengths for measured lengths where the third group of lines extend from the distal end of the second group of lines.
An alternate aspect of the present invention is directed to the method of teaching children to read fractions of inches using this series or set of rulers.
Various other features, advantages, and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following detailed description.


A valve arrangement includes a housing with pump and consumer connections, and first and second actuators arranged symmetrically. Each first and second actuator includes one base plate; one actuating element having first and second end sections, and a sealing element in the first end section; one connecting element; and one SMA element having a U-shape with first and second ends, and a middle section between the ends. The actuating element is at least partially arranged on and connected to the base plate via the second end section. The connecting element is conductively connected to two points of the SMA element. The middle section is connected to the first end section of the actuating element so that shortening the SMA element causes a stroke of the sealing element. A related pump mechanism is disclosed.

A valve with a valve housing enclosing a pressure chamber is known, for example, from DE 10 2005 060 217, whereby a tappet is arranged inside the pressure chamber for opening and closing a valve opening. Here, an SMA element—electrically connected to a printed circuit board arranged inside the valve housing so current can be applied to it—actuates the tappet so it can move the valve opening. Since the SMA element is arranged inside the pressure chamber, it is directly exposed to the volume flow of the valve, i.e. to the air flowing in and out of the pressure chamber through the valve openings. In this case, the SMA element extends on both sides of the tappet, so that it is V-shaped.
A valve with an actuating element that includes a leaf spring is known from DE 10 2012 222 570 A1. The actuating element is actuated with an SMA element having an elongated design.
Pumps for seating comfort systems are known from US 2007/023089 or US 2016/363230A1, for example.
Such a valve or valve arrangement can be used in the area of automobile seats for filling media reservoirs, which can be fluid bubbles, especially air bubbles or air cushions. The known valves with only one actuating element can be used either for filling or emptying the bubble. Individually, they are not suitable for holding the pressure inside the bubble. To achieve this, a combination of two of the known valves is necessary. These valve arrangements consisting of two valves have a large structural size.

Valve assembly and pump with integrated valve for lumbar support


A method, computer program product and system for archiving data from an operational database. Data to be archived from the operational database may be stored either as received or transformed in a manner that allows the transformed archived data to be retrieved bit-for-bit identical to the original input received. Further, the data stored in the archive storage is read-only meaning that the data cannot be updated, deleted or modified. Further, backup copies of each of the storage units, which store the archived data, in the archive storage are created for disaster recovery purposes. Additionally, hash values are computed for each of the storage units in the archive storage which are used to detect unauthorized changes to the data stored in the storage units. In this manner, the authenticity of the data stored in the archive storage may be substantially guaranteed.

Operational data may refer to data collected by organizations in the normal course of business. For example, in the case of an organization collecting commercial data, the operational data may include the identity of the purchaser; an invoice number; a credit card number, if used; and the purchaser's contact information. Operational data may be stored in a database, referred to herein as the "operational database," managed by a database management system, such as IBM™ Information Management System (IMS) or IBM™ DataBase 2 (DB2). An operational database may refer to a database that contains up-to-date, modifiable data. A database management system may refer to software that controls the organization (structure of the data), storage, retrieval, security and integrity of the data in the database.
The data in the operational database is generally the organization's official record of the business event or object described by the data. The structure and meaning of the data may be defined by what is referred to as "meta-data." Meta-data may be stored separately from the data and, in some cases, separately from the database management system. Meta-data for an operational database may or may not exist, may or may not be complete, and may or may not be accurate.
The user may have an application program that is needed to retrieve and provide meaning to the data stored in the operational database. In order for the application program to retrieve and provide meaning to the data stored in the operational database, the application program requires that the data conform to the structure definition (the organization of the data as determined by the database management system). The application program depends on the specific version of the operating system and the database management system in order to operate properly.
Data retention is the act of keeping data for a longer period of time. It may exceed the time it is needed in the operational database for business purposes. Data archiving, on the other hand, refers to moving data from the operational database to a different data store or "archive storage" for better management over longer retention periods.
In recent years, there have been various legislative actions of the United States government, United States' state governments, and several other governments across the world, that require organizations of operational data to retain operational data for many years (e.g., seventy years) as well as to be able to interpret the data correctly and testify as to its authenticity. Severe penalties may accrue to the organization if they cannot produce the data if needed during the retention period for any legitimate reason or if they cannot defend the data as being authentic.
In the past, organizations generally did not archive data stored in an operational database. Instead, organizations would maintain the data in the operational database until the retention requirements were exceeded. That is, once the data was no longer needed to be maintained, the data would be deleted from the operational database. However, now that retention requirements are longer, the amount of information that needs to be maintained is greater, and the importance of preserving the original content and meaning of the data is more important, data cannot be practically maintained in an operational database until the retention period ends.
As a result, software products have been developed to archive the data from the operational database into an archive storage. Typically, these software products store data in application format (same format of the application program as discussed above) without sufficient additional information to satisfy retrieval requests to retrieve data directly from the archive storage. For instance, in order to properly query the requested data, the application environment used to generate the archived data may be required in order to retrieve and provide meaning to the archived data. This also requires copying the data back to the application storage in order to use it. If the application environment is no longer available or no longer recognizes the old form of data, the data in archive storage becomes useless. Therefore, there is a need in the art to be able to store data in the archive in a format that can be read and interpreted correctly without resorting to the original application environment. The application environment includes the application programs, database management system, operating system, and hardware.
Further, these archiving software products typically delete the data in the active operational database that is moved from the active operational database to the archive storage. Often these operational databases are part of an application that must run 24 hours 7 days a week and will have periods of very high activity as measured by several thousand transactions per second. By deleting the data in the active operational database that is moved from the active operational database to the archive storage, the application may not be able to handle or service the transactions in a satisfactorily manner. Therefore, there is a need in the art for archiving software that can perform its tasks without stopping the online activity nor slowing it down to the point it cannot service transactions within the required timeframe. That is, there is a need in the art for achieving minimum disruption of the operating environment when moving data from the operational database to the archive storage.
Another problem with typical software products that have been developed to archive data from operational databases is that they do not properly handle data structure changes that frequently occur in the operational environment. The data stored in the operational database has meta-data associated with it. Meta-data may refer to data that describes the content of the data and the relationship the data has with one another. For example, suppose that a field in a business record stores the zip code. Meta-data associated with that field may describe the length of the field storing the zip code. Operational databases can only support a single version of the data structure at any specific time. When there is a change in the meta-data (referred to herein as a "meta-data break"), such as changing the length of the field, these archive software products would simply overwrite the stored data associated with the previous version of the meta-data with the data associated with the latest version of the meta-data. This may be referred to as "rolling the data forward." For example, after 1985, the zip code was extended to contain an additional four digits. These software products may then append the zip codes stored prior to 1985 with four zeroes in order for the data to be commensurate with the latest version of the meta-data. Hence, by rolling the data forward, the data associated with the previous version of the meta-data is no longer maintained in its original form. Hence, if a user desired to retrieve the archived data over a period of time which included a change in the meta-data, then the user would not be able to retrieve the data in its original form prior to the change to the meta-data. Anytime archived data is modified, such as when meta-data changes, the archived data becomes unreliable and there is chance that information will be lost. Consequently, these software products cannot guarantee authenticity of the stored data as the data is not maintained in its original form. Authenticity of data stored in archive storage can further be eroded if the storage method permits updates by several people and does not provide sufficient recording of update activity. The archive system needs to protect from both authorized and unauthorized changes to data to ensure that years later the data will be identical to what it was at the time of archive. Therefore, there is a need in the art to be able to preserve the original form of data when a meta-data break occurs, and to prevent loss of data authenticity due to unauthorized changes.
Further, there is a need in the art to be able to access, via a query (e.g., SQL query), the archived data in its original form that has been archived over a period of time where data structure changes have occurred as discussed above. That is, there is a need in the art for providing standalone query access against archived data containing multiple variations of the data stored over different time periods.
As a result of the above, there is a need in the art for guaranteeing the authenticity of the data stored in the archive storage.

Guaranteeing the authenticity of the data stored in the archive storage


There is provided a terminal apparatus including: a photographing portion configured to photograph a subject which is present in a reality space; an additional information acquiring portion configured to acquire additional information which is made to correspond to an object an image of which is recognized within a photographed image; and an additional information storing portion configured to store therein the acquired additional information in relation to either user identification information or photographing apparatus identification information.

The present disclosure relates to a technique for providing additional information associated with a photographed object. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a terminal apparatus, an additional information managing apparatus, an additional information managing method used in the same, and a program used in the same.
When a reality space is photographed with a camera built in a smartphone, a tablet terminal or the like, and the photographed image is displayed on a touch panel, an Augmented Reality (AR) technique is used with which additional information which is absent in the reality space is displayed with the additional information being superimposed on the photographed image to thereby provide sense of the augmented reality. The augmented reality offers an effect of augmenting a reality environment which a human being perceives by providing virtually the additional information to the real world. The display performance of a display panel of the mobile apparatus such as the smartphone or the tablet terminal has been improved. Thus, a virtual object is displayed for the photographed image by using the augmented reality to thereby cause a user to interact with the virtual object, so that a new user's way of taking pleasure is created.

Terminal apparatus, additional information managing apparatus, additional information managing method, and program


A Unit of Work object class for an object oriented database management system provides concurrent processing through Unit of Work levels and instances while maintaining the integrity of the data in the database. Each new Unit of Work assigned to a task is an instance of the Unit of Work object class. A Unit of Work manager controls each step such that manipulation of the data occurs to the copies at that particular level for that particular instance. Only after all levels have been completed satisfactorily will a "Commit" occur to the data in the database. If completion is not satisfactory, Rollback of the levels occur, thus preserving data integrity. The Unit of Work manager can also switch control between Unit of Work instances, thus permitting simultaneous performance of tasks.

Computer based database management systems are widely used for storing and manipulating large sets of related data. Database management systems may be implemented on a personal computer, microcomputer or mainframe computer, using a computer program called a database management program or database manager. Although many database management systems are implemented using conventional programming techniques, state-of-the-art database management systems have been designed, and are now beginning to appear commercially, using object oriented programming systems and processes.
Object oriented programming systems and processes have been the subject of much investigation and interest in state of the art data processing environments. Object Oriented Programming is a computer program packaging technique which provides reusable and easily expandable programs. In contrast with known functional programming techniques which are not easily adaptable to new functional requirements and new types of data, object oriented programs are reusable and expandable as new requirements arise. With the ever increasing complexity of computer based systems, object oriented programming has received increased attention and investigation.
In an object oriented programming system, the primary focus is on data, rather than functions. Object oriented programming systems are composed of a large number of "objects". An object is a data structure and a set of operations or functions that can access that data structure. The data structure may be represented as a "frame". The frame has many "slots", each of which contains an "attribute" of the data in the slot. The attribute may be a primitive (i.e. an integer or string) or an Object Reference which is a pointer to another object's instance or instances (defined below). Each operation (function) that can access the data structure is called a "method".
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic representation of an object in which a frame is encapsulated within its methods. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an object, in which the data structure relates to employee data and a number of methods surround this data structure. One method, for example, obtains the age of an employee. Each defined object will usually be manifested in a number of "instances". Each instance contains the particular data structure for a particular example of the object. For example, an object for individual employee named Joyce Smith is an instance of the "employee" object
Object oriented programming systems provide two primary characteristics which allow flexible and reusable programs to be developed. These characteristics are referred to as "encapsulation" and "inheritance". As may be seen from FIG. 1, the frame is encapsulated by its methods (functions). A wall of code has been placed around each piece of data. All access to the frame is handled by the surrounding methods. Data independence is thereby provided because an object's data structure is accessed only by its methods. Only the associated methods know the internal data structure. This ensures data integrity.
The "inheritance" property of object oriented programming systems allows previously written programs to be broadened by creating new superclasses and subclasses of objects. New objects are described by how they differ from preexisting objects so that entirely new programs need not be written to handle new types of data or functions.
FIG. 3 illustrates the inheritance property. For ease of illustration, the objects are illustrated as rectangles rather than as circles, with the object name at the top of a rectangle, the frame below the object name and the methods below the frame. Referring to FIG. 3, three object classes are illustrated for "salesperson", "employee" and "person", where a salesperson is a "kind of" employee, which is a "kind of" person. In other words, salesperson is a subclass of employee and employee is the superclass of salesperson. Similarly, employee is the subclass of person and person is the superclass of employee. Each class shown includes three instances. B. Soutter, W. Tipp and B. G. Blue are salespersons. B. Abraham, K. Yates and R. Moore are employees. J. McEnro, R. Nader and R. Reagan are persons. In other words, an instance is related to its class by an "is a" relation.
Each subclass "inherits" the frame and methods of its superclass. Thus, for example, a salesperson frame inherits age and hire date objects as well as promote methods from the employee superclass. Salesperson also includes a unique quota attribute and a pay commission method. Each instance can access all methods and frames of its superclass, so that, for example, B. G. Blue can be promoted.
In an object oriented system, a high level routine requests an object to perform one of its methods by sending the object a "message" telling the object what to do. The receiving object responds to the message by choosing the method that implements the message name, executing this method and then returning control to the calling high level routine, along with the results of the method.
Object oriented programming systems may be employed as database management systems which are capable of operating upon a large database, and which are expandable and adaptable. In an object oriented database management system, the data in the database is organized and encapsulated in terms of objects, with the instances of the objects being the data in the database. Similarly, the database manager may be organized as a set of objects with database management operations being performed by sending messages from one object to another. The target object performs the requested action on its attributes using its methods.
Whether a database management system is implemented using object oriented programming or conventional programming, a major concern of a database management system is preserving data integrity. Preserving data integrity is difficult as the size and complexity of the data increases. Moreover, for a very large database it is desirable to have multiple tasks performed concurrently, thereby further impacting data integrity.
More specifically, a database manager typically controls the performance of tasks on data in the database. Each task includes a number of steps, each step of which may result in modification of data in the database. Data integrity is lost when a task is aborted before completion. When a task is aborted before completion, the preceding steps in the task may have modified data in the database, thereby resulting in a loss of database integrity. The task may be aborted because a step has failed or because, under control of the database manager, a task is suspended in order to perform a second task to provide "concurrent" task processing. In such a concurrent scenario, the original task may never be completed, yet the database may have been modified as a result of completed steps in the original task. Moreover, each concurrently performed task may operate on the same elements from the database, thereby causing a second task to modify erroneous data placed in the database by the first task. Again, data integrity is lost.

Unit of work for preserving data integrity of a data-base by creating in memory a copy of all objects which are to be processed together

International Business Machines Corporation


A cooling system, the system comprises a housing having an inlet and an outlet, a liquid to be flown from the inlet into the housing and out of outlet to exit the housing. The housing further has an interior portion for an electronic device to reside therein and a vibration transducer coupling to the housing. The liquid is flown across the electronic device to dissipate heat from the electronic device. The vibration transducer causes turbulent or agitation in the liquid as the liquid is flown across the electronic device.

Aspects of the present invention pertain to a cooling system and a method for cooling electronic devices such as a hard drive, an optical device, a battery, a central processing unit (CPU) or other integrated circuit device of a computer and more particularly, of a laptop/notebook computer.
Advances continue to be made in the manufacture of solid-state electronic devices, resulting in increasing functionality, density, and performance of the integrated circuits (ICs). The amount of heat generated, and accordingly the amount of power needed to be dissipated, by modern integrated circuits generally increases with increases in the density and speed of the circuits. Removal of heat produced by the integrated circuits therefore continues to be of a significant concern in modern integrated circuit package and system designers. For instance, a loss of performance and the degradation in reliability of integrated circuits may occur and often does when the circuits operate at elevated temperatures.
In addition, the trend toward more compact electronic systems is also continuing, thus exacerbating the thermal problem produced by the high-complexity and high-performance integrated circuits. For example, laptop or notebook sized computers have recently become quite popular, with continuing market pressure toward even smaller computer systems such as personal digital assistants (PDA). However, these small computer systems eliminate many of the traditional techniques for heat removal available for large-scale computer systems, such as the use of fans for convection cooling of the integrated circuits.
Many methods and apparatuses have been developed to remove heat from heat generating components located within the confines of a computer system enclosure. Many methods employ a fluid flow model to dissipate heat generated from the components such as immersing the components in a pool of inert dielectric liquid, using thermosyphons where a liquid evaporates with applied heat and condenses dissipating that heat elsewhere in a closed system, and using heat pipes where the liquid evaporates, condenses at another region and reaches the hot area through wick structures that line the heat pipes.
FIG. 1 illustrates a direct liquid cooling system. An electronic device that generates heat such as a central processing unit (CPU) 102 is cooled by a direct liquid cooling device 100. The CPU 102 is coupled to a substrate 104 which is typically placed on a printed circuit board (PCB) 104. Methods to attach the CPU 102 to the substrate 104 and to the PCB 106 are well known in the art. A manifold 108 is placed over the CPU 102. The manifold 108 includes a liquid inlet 110 and liquid outlets 112A and 112B. Gaskets 114 may be included to attach or place the manifold 108 over the CPU 102. The gaskets 114 also function to seal the manifold 108 over the CPU 102 to prevent liquid from leaking out of the device 100. In the cooling device 100, liquid is injected and dispensed or flown over the CPU 102 via the inlet 110. Liquid is flown out of the manifold 108 via the outlets 112A and 112B taking the heat transferred from the CPU 102 to outside of the system. The liquid is typically recycled back into the cooling device 100 via a pump action.
FIG. 2 illustrates another cooling device 200 which is similar to the device 100 with the addition of a plate 116 having a plurality of orifices 118 to increase the surface area that the liquid can contact the CPU 102. The plate 116 can be placed below the liquid inlet 110. Liquid passing through the inlet 110 is distributed over the plate 116 and dispensed over the CPU 102 via the orifices 118. The liquid thus can contact a wider area of the CPU 102 more uniformly. A pump is typically used to cause the liquid to jet through the orifices 118, hence, the cooling device 200 is often termed a jet impingement cooling device.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a cooling device 300. The device 300 employs a cross flow configuration to flow liquid across an electronic device. As shown in FIG. 3, an electronic device (e.g., a CPU 102) is placed on a substrate 104 which is typically placed on a PCB 106. A manifold 120 is placed over the CPU 102 using gaskets 114 to couple and seal the manifold 120 over the CPU 102. A liquid inlet 122 and a liquid outlet 124 are included in the manifold 120. Liquid is flown across the CPU 102 and out of the outlet 124. The liquid travel path can be configured to be recycled so that the liquid is recycled for the cooling device 300.
The cooling devices described have several disadvantages. Devices similar to the cooling devices 100 and 200 tend to be too large and thus not practical for small electronic devices where spaces are limited and electronic devices need to be cooled are typically placed in small confines of a slim/small design (e.g., laptop or notebook computer). Devices similar to the cooling devices 100 and 200 use a jetting device to accelerate the liquid over the CPU 102 and that may exert too much pressure on the CPU 102. Devices similar to the device 300, on the other hand, can be small but do not have the liquid flowing fast enough to increase efficiency of the cooling devices. Additionally, the liquid tends to stay stagnant above the CPU thus heat generated by the CPU is not transferred or removed quick enough

Cooling system for electronic devices utilizing fluid flow and agitation


A method of blasting in which rock pile profile associated with a blast field is controlled by precise control of the detonation delay times between and/or within individual blastholes in the blast field, in combination with the control of one or more other blast parameters. One or more of the blast parameters may by blasthole geometry, explosive charge or blast initiation location.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of blasting using an adjustable, highly precise blasthole initiation system in combination with specific aspects of blast design to provide improved blast results, more specifically to control the rockpile (muckpile) profile associated with a blast.
2. Description of the Related Art
Blasting operations produce rockpiles of material which is thrown (or displaced) by the blast. The characteristics of the rockpile profile (e.g. shape and displacement) produced influences the extent of excavation subsequently required, as well as the productivity of that excavation. It would be desirable to provide a method of blasting which allows the rockpile profile associated with a blast to be controlled and optimised, thereby allowing the efficiency associated with the blasting operation to be significantly enhanced by improved excavator productivity. It would also be desirable to control and tailor the particular rockpile profile associated with a blast to the mine excavation system associated with a particular blast site.


A cuvette carrier comprising: a plurality of walls defining a holding volume for a cuvette; a first and second transmissive region included in the plurality of walls; and a first optical polariser arranged to polarise light passing through the first transmissive region.

Dynamic light scattering (DLS) is a powerful technique for measuring the size of particles, for example nanomaterials and nanoparticulates. Typically, a suspension or solution containing the particles is placed in a transparent sample cuvette and is illuminated with a vertically polarised laser beam. Light scattered from the particles along a particular direction is detected in a plane orthogonal to the polarisation of the incoming light, and analysed using well known methods to determine properties of the particles. Light that is scattered in any direction from the particles may be detected, such as forward-scattered light, back scattered light and/or side-scattered light (e.g. scattered light at an angle of 90° to the incoming light).
A further development of dynamic light scattering, depolarised dynamic light scattering (DDLS), seeks to quantify the anisotropy in scattering from particles that deviate from a sphere of uniform refractive index, such as rods, ellipsoids, discs, or spherical Janus particles. In DDLS, a particular polarisation of scattered light is detected. For example, a sample may be illuminated with vertically polarised light, and the correlation function of the scattered light detected in each scattered polarisation, separately, along the detection path.
There are many laboratory instruments available that can perform dynamic light scattering, such as the Malvern Zetasizer® range. However, these instruments may not be able to measure different polarisation states of the scattered light, and so cannot perform depolarised dynamic light scattering measurements. Upgrading system hardware, or replacing a system altogether in order to perform DDLS may be undesirably expensive.


The present embodiments disclose processes for preparing a polyester latex containing an amount of residual organic solvent which is less than 100 ppm by weight of the total weight of the polyester latex.

Polyester latex toners have been prepared utilizing amorphous and crystalline polyester latex. The incorporation of the polyester resin into toner requires that the polyester resin first be formulated into emulsions prepared by solvent containing batch processes, for example, solvent-based phase inversion emulsification (PIE). See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 8,192,913 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/917,475, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. PIE is the procedure whereby the phases of a liquid-liquid dispersion interchange such that the dispersed phase spontaneously inverts to become the continuous phase and vice versa under conditions determined by the system properties, volume ratio and energy input. The phase inversion process involves the solubilization of resin and other components in an organic solvent such as methylethylketone (MEK). A phase inversion organic solvent is also added, which is typically chosen such that it is soluble with both the organic and aqueous phase, such as isopropanol (IPA).
There exist certain product specifications for the polyester resin to satisfy. For example, the solvent residuals are generally controlled to be less than 300 ppm by weight of the total weight of the polyester latex. Currently, companies are facing difficulties in efficiently removing the solvents from the polyester latex produced from the conventional PIE. One of the process challenges is to provide enough heat to evaporate the solvents, and another challenge is to provide effective mass transfer for the solvent evaporation to below a certain low solvent residual level, such as 50 ppm level. Specifically, co-solvent removal by distillation is difficult and time consuming. Some of the solvents that have good miscibilty with water, e.g., IPA, are particularly difficult to remove. In sum, the conventional PIE process is relatively time consuming, labor intensive, and has some lot-to-lot variability.
Significant amount of efforts and time have been invested in speeding up the emulsification and solvent removal processes, but satisfactory results have not been achieved. Therefore, a new emulsification process with significantly reduced cycle time and higher efficiency in co-solvent removal is highly desirable for overcoming the PIE process issues and thus achieving lower processing cost to make a polyester latex.

Steam injection process for preparing polyester latex and apparatus thereof


A liquid-sealed anti-vibration device comprising: an inner tube (1), an outer tube (2); rubber bodies (3), (4) interconnecting the inner and outer tubes (1), (2) in a liquid-tight manner at two positions spaced in an axial direction; a partition wall disposed between the rubber bodies (3), (4) to divide a space between the inner and outer tubes into two parts in the axial direction, the partition wall having an annular rigid member (5a) and an elastic member (5b); liquid chambers (8), (9) configured in such a way that the spaces partitioned by the partition wall (5) are filled with non-compressible liquid; and a limiting passage (7) provided in the partition wall (5) to allow the liquid chambers (8), (9) to communicate with each other, wherein the annular rigid member (5a), protrudes from the inner tube (1) toward the outer tube, the elastic member (5b) connects the annular rigid member (5a) to the outer tube (2), and the limiting passage (7) is formed by at least one passage groove (5c), the passage groove being formed on the outer circumferential surface of the annular rigid member (5a) and extending at least one time around the annular rigid member, and by a circumscribed rigid tube member (6) fixed to the elastic member (5b) so as to close opening of the passage groove (5c) via a seal member (5d) in a liquid-tight manner.

Conventional anti-vibration devices of this type are disclosed in Patent Documents 1-5. Patent Document 1 discloses "a liquid-sealed mount comprising an inner circumferential tube and an outer circumferential tube interconnected by a spring member and a diaphragm made of elastomer, liquid chambers defined by a partition wall arranged between the spring member and the diaphragm, and a limiting flow passage formed in the partition wall for communication between the liquid chambers, wherein the inner circumferential tube is provided with a window section facing the first liquid chamber, and the window section is sealed by an elastic membrane 14 made of elastomer." Accordingly, "without a complicated structure, at the lower frequency range, the dynamic spring coefficient is increased due to the flow resistance of the operating liquid flowing through the limiting flow passage, and thereby an excellent vibration-damping ability may be achieved, while at the higher frequency range, the operating liquid does not flow through the limiting flow passage, the dynamic spring coefficient is decreased, and thereby an excellent vibration-absorbing effect may be achieved."

Liquid-sealed anti-vibration device and method for manufacturing the same


Acoustic absorption or attenuation of ultrasound is measured. To estimate acoustic absorption or attenuation, the displacement of tissue caused by stress at different frequencies is measured. The absorption or attenuation is calculated from the displacements. The incorporation of different frequencies provides another variable for solving for attenuation or absorption despite unknown tissue stiffness.

The present embodiments relate to measuring attenuation of ultrasound. As acoustic energy propagates through tissue, the acoustic energy attenuates. The amount of attenuation may be indicative of properties of the tissue.
Attenuation may be measured with ultrasound. The change in echo intensity (e.g., B-mode amplitude) is measured to estimate the attenuation. However, speckle noise may affect the accuracy of estimates from echo intensity.
Acoustic radiation force may be used to measure attenuation. Displacements at different depths are determined in response to a constant lateral focal configuration. The displacements are used to estimate the attenuation. However, the displacement is also a function of tissue stiffness. Relying just on displacement at different depths may be inaccurate.

Measuring acoustic absorption or attenuation of ultrasound


Methods and systems are disclosed to facilitate creating the sensation of vibrotactile movement on the body of a user. Vibratory motors are used to generate a haptic language for music or other stimuli that is integrated into wearable technology. The disclosed system in certain embodiments enables the creation of a family of devices that allow people such as those with hearing impairments to experience sounds such as music or other input to the system. For example, a “sound vest” or other wearable array transforms musical input to haptic signals so that users can experience their favorite music in a unique way, and can also recognize auditory or other cues in the user's real or virtual reality environment and convey this information to the user using haptic signals.

An aspect of the present disclosure is a system that uses vibratory motors to generate a haptic language for audio (or other stimuli) that is integrated into wearable technology. The inventive "sound vest" is intended as an assistive device for the hearing-impaired in certain embodiments. The disclosed system enables the creation of a family of devices that allow people, such as those with hearing impairments, to experience sounds such as music, or other inputs, to the system. The functionality of vests according to aspects of the present invention could include transforming sound/music/game input to haptic signals so that users can experience their favorite music in a unique way, and also systems that can recognize auditory cues in a user's everyday environment and convey this information to the user using haptic signals. Such pertinent auditory inputs could include a loud siren, someone calling out the user's name, etc.
It is desirable to address the limitations in the art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Vibrotactile control systems and methods


An improved method for recovering the protein expressed by open reading frame 2 from porcine circovirus type 2 is provided. The method generally involves the steps of transfecting recombinant virus containing open reading frame 2 coding sequences into cells contained in growth media, causing the virus to express open reading frame 2, and recovering the expressed protein in the supernate. This recovery should take place beginning approximately 5 days after infection of the cells in order to permit sufficient quantities of recombinant protein to be expressed and secreted from the cell into the growth media. Such methods avoid costly and time consuming extraction procedures required to separate and recover the recombinant protein from within the cells.

1. Field of the Invention
One aspect of the present invention is concerned with the recovery of a protein expressed by open reading frame 2 (ORF2) of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2). More particularly, the protein is a recombinant protein expressed by a transfected virus containing recombinant coding sequences for porcine circovirus type 2, open reading frame 2. Still more particularly, the transfected virus is permitted to infect cells in growth media and the protein expressed by open reading frame 2 is recovered in the supernate, rather than from inside the cells. Even more particularly, the method involves the steps of amplifying the open reading frame 2 gene from porcine circovirus type 2, cloning this amplified portion into a first vector, excising the open reading frame 2 portion from this first vector and cloning it into a transfer vector, cotransfecting the transfer vector with a viral vector into cells in growth media, causing the cells to become infected by the viral vector and thereby express open reading frame 2, and recovering the expressed recombinant protein coded for by open reading frame 2 in the supernate.
In another aspect, the present invention is concerned with an immunogenic composition effective for inducing an immune response against PCV2, and methods for producing those immunogenic compositions. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with an immunological composition effective for providing an immune response that protects an animal receiving the composition and reduces, or lessens the severity, of the clinical symptoms associated with PCV2 infection. Still more particularly, the present invention is concerned with a protein-based immunological composition that confers effective protection against infection by PCV2. Even more particularly, the present invention is concerned with an immunological composition comprising ORF2 of PCV2, wherein administration of PCV2-ORF2 results in protection against infection by PCV2. Most particularly, the present invention is concerned with an immunological composition effective for conferring effective immunity to a swine receiving the immunological composition, and wherein the composition comprises the protein expressed by ORF2 of PCV2.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is a small (17-22 nm in diameter), icosahedral, non-enveloped DNA virus, which contains a single-stranded circular genome. PCV2 shares approximately 80% sequence identity with porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1). However, in contrast with PCV1, which is generally non-virulent, swine infected with PCV2 exhibit a syndrome commonly referred to as Post-weaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS). PMWS is clinically characterized by wasting, paleness of the skin, unthriftiness, respiratory distress, diarrhea, icterus, and jaundice. In some affected swine, a combination of all symptoms will be apparent while other swine will only have one or two of these symptoms. During necropsy, microscopic and macroscopic lesions also appear on multiple tissues and organs, with lymphoid organs being the most common site for lesions. A strong correlation has been observed between the amount of PCV2 nucleic acid or antigen and the severity of microscopic lymphoid lesions. Mortality rates for swine infected with PCV2 can approach 80%. In addition to PMWS, PCV2 has been associated with several other infections including pseudorabies, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), Glasser's disease, streptococcal meningitis, salmonellosis, postweaning colibacillosis, dietetic hepatosis, and suppurative bronchopneumoma.
Open reading frame 2 (ORF2) protein of PCV2, having an approximate molecular weight of 30 kDa when run on SDS-PAGE gel, has been utilized in the past as an antigenic component in vaccines for PCV2. Typical methods of obtaining ORF2 for use in such vaccines generally consist of amplifying the PCV2 DNA coding for ORF2, transfecting a viral vector with the ORF2 DNA, infecting cells with the viral vector containing the ORF2 DNA, permitting the virus to express ORF2 protein within the cell, and extracting the ORF2 protein from the cell via cell lysis. These procedures generally take up to about four days after infection of the cells by the viral vector. However, these procedures have a disadvantage in that the extraction procedures are both costly and time-consuming. Additionally, the amount of ORF2 recovered from the cells is not very high; consequently, a large number of cells need to be infected by a large number of viral vectors in order to obtain sufficient quantities of the recombinant expressed protein for use in vaccines and the like.
Current approaches to PCV2 immunization include DNA-based vaccines, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,703,023. However, such vaccines have been ineffective at conferring protective immunity against PCV2 infection and the clinical signs associated therewith.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a method of obtaining ORF2 protein, which does not require extraction of the ORF2 protein from within infected cells. What is further needed are methods of obtaining recombinant ORF2 protein in quantities sufficient for efficiently preparing vaccine compositions. What is still further needed are methods for obtaining ORF2 protein which do not require the complicated and labor-intensive methods required by the current ORF2 protein extraction protocols. Finally, with respect to compositions, what is needed in the art is an immunogenic composition which does confer protective immunity against PCV2 infection and lessens the severity of or prevents the clinical signs associated therewith.

PCV2 immunogenic compositions and methods of producing such compositions


A coaxial conductor includes a BNC coax connector, a coaxial cable and a sleeve. The coaxial cable has a center conductor, a braided outer conductor, a dielectric which separates the center conductor from the braided outer conductor and an insulating jacket which is provided around the braided outer conductor. One end of the insulating jacket is stripped so as to expose a portion of the braided outer conductor. The exposed portion of the braided outer conductor is pulled over the insulating jacket so as to expose a portion of the dielectric. The exposed portion of the dielectric is stripped so as to expose a portion of the center conductor which is extended into a tubular inner conductive portion of the coax connector so as to connect electrically therewith. The sleeve has a front end with a wide tubular part which engages a tubular outer conductive portion of the coax connector and a rear end with a narrow tubular part. The narrow tubular part of the sleeve is crimped to the coaxial cable such that the cross-section of the narrow tubular part deviates from a larger circle to a substantially smaller circle with a pair of diametrically opposite flattened radial outward portions so as to cause the narrow tubular part to contact tightly a large part of the exposed portion of the braided outer conductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a coaxial conductor, more particularly to a coaxial conductor which includes a coaxial cable and a BNC coax connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional coaxial conductor is shown to comprise a BNC coax connector (10), a coaxial cable (20) and a sleeve (30). The coax connector (10) includes a stationary seat (11), a tubular inner conductive portion (12) and a tubular outer conductive portion (13) which is insulated electrically from the inner conductive portion (12). Referring to FIG. 2, the coaxial cable (20) includes a center conductor (21), a braided outer conductor (22), a dielectric (23) which separates the center conductor (21) from the braided outer conductor (22) and an insulating jacket (24) which is provided around the braided outer conductor (22). The sleeve (30) covers the electrical connection between the coax connector (10) and the coaxial cable (20) and has a wide tubular part (31) at a front end and a narrow tubular part (32) at a rear end.
FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate the assembly of the conventional coaxial conductor shown in FIG. 1. One end of the insulating jacket (24) is stripped so as to expose a portion of the braided outer conductor (22). The exposed portion of the braided outer conductor (22) is then pulled over the insulating jacket (24) so as to expose a portion of the dielectric (23). One end of the dielectric (23) is stripped so as to expose a portion of the center conductor (21). During assembly, the stripped end of the coaxial cable (20) is extended through the sleeve (30) via the narrow tubular part (32), as shown in FIG. 3. The center conductor (21) is then extended into the inner conductive portion (12) of the coax connector (10) and is welded or riveted thereto. The wide tubular part (31) of the sleeve (30) is in tight frictional engagement with the outer conductive portion (13) of the coax connector (10). A crimping tool (not shown) is then used so as to crimp the narrow tubular part (32) of the sleeve (30) to the coaxial cable (20). The drawbacks of the conventional coaxial conductor shown in FIG. 1 are as follows:
1. Referring to FIG. 5, the cross-section at the crimped portion of the narrow tubular part (32) of the sleeve (30) deviates from a circle to an oval when the narrow tubular part (32) is crimped to the coaxial cable (20). Thus, only two opposite portions of the exposed portion of the braided outer conductor (22), which was pulled over the insulating jacket (24), are in tight contact with the sleeve (30). This results in an unstable engagement between the sleeve (30) and the coaxial cable (20).
2. Deformation of the dielectric (23) similarly occurs because the crimping force is applied on only two opposite portions thereof. This can affect the insulating characteristics of the dielectric (23), thereby affecting correspondingly the signal transmission characteristics of the coaxial cable (20).
3. The sleeve (30) contacts only two opposite portions of the exposed portion of the braided outer conductor (22), thereby resulting in a relatively small electrical contact area.
Referring to FIG. 6, it is also known in the art to crimp the sleeve (30) to the coaxial cable (20) in such a manner that the cross-section of the former is changed to a hexagonal structure. Such a structure, however, cannot sufficiently overcome the above mentioned drawbacks.


Methods and systems for assessing the effects of therapy on a patient include obtaining baseline and treatment ultrasound scans of a treatment area of a patient where the treatment ultrasound scans are taken subsequent to the baseline scan and at various times during a course of radiotherapy treatment sessions. The baseline and treatment ultrasounds are compared, and as a result a damage map representing cell death within the treatment area can be constructed.

In radiotherapy, radiation dosages are typically defined in terms of the energy absorbed per unit mass of tissue. However, relating the prescribed physical dose to the biological effect the radiation will have on the actual tissue being treated is not straightforward. FIG. 1, for example, illustrates these potential dose-response curves 100 indicating the surviving fraction of cells during a treatment protocol versus the administered dose. The dose-response curves can vary among patients, and even at various locations or times for a particular patient. The actual dose-response curve for a particular patient and/or organ, however, is typically not well known in-vivo.
Typically, radiotherapy treatment for deep-seated tumors (as well as to some superficial organs such as the skin) is delivered in a number of fixed sessions, or fractions (e.g., one fraction a day for 30 days) and the dosages are prescribed primarily based on physician and/or institutional experience. For a given total dose, the dose-response curve of a fractional scheme is affected, for example, by the effect of DNA repair and biological damage due to ionizing radiation (or by other therapies such as cryotherapy and chemotherapy). In particular, radiation can directly or indirectly cause breaks in DNA strands, which under some circumstances may be repaired, but in other cases may not be, resulting in cell death.
More particularly, two primary types of cell death occur as a result of radiation exposure—mitotic cell death and apoptosis. In mitotic cell death (which may occur at any time following irradiation), damaged chromosomes cause cells to die as they attempt to divide. Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, occurs normally, and although not typically as prominent as mitotic cell death, can also be induced by radiation and correlate with radiosensitivity.
Because cell death occurs at different rates for different patients, cells, tissues, organs and tumors, dose-response curves for any individual treatment can vary significantly. Therefore, it is difficult to determine, a priori, the proper dose that will kill a given patient's tumor without exposing healthy tissue to unacceptable levels of radiation. Further, the effects of each treatment fraction (both immediately following the fraction and prior to a subsequent fraction) can impact the dose-response curve for a particular treatment. What is needed, therefore, is a way to determine the amount (or lack of) damage caused by therapy dosages, thus giving the physician the ability to determine appropriate adjustments to the therapeutic dosages throughout the treatment cycle that account for the effects of previous radiation fractions on an individual patient's anatomy.

Radiotherapy treatment monitoring using ultrasound


A circuit and method for controlling a switching voltage regulator having (1) a switch including one or more switching transistors and (2) an output adapted to supply current at a regulated voltage to a load including an output capacitor. The circuit and method generates a control signal to turn said one or more switching transistors OFF under operating conditions when the voltage at the output is capable of being maintained substantially at the regulated voltage by the charge on the output capacitor. Such a circuit and method increases the efficiency of the regulator circuit particularly at low average current levels.

The present invention relates to a switching regulator circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a control circuit and method for maintaining high efficiency over broad current ranges in a switching regulator circuit.
The purpose of a voltage regulator is to provide a predetermined and constant output voltage to a load from a poorly-specified and fluctuating input voltage source. Generally, there are two different types of regulators: series regulators and switching regulators.
The series regulator employs a pass element (e.g., a power transistor) coupled in series with a load and controls the voltage drop across the pass element in order to regulate the voltage which appears at the load. In contrast, the switching regulator employs a switch (e.g., a power transistor) coupled either in series or parallel with the load. The regulator controls the turning ON and turning OFF of the switch in order to regulate the flow of power to the load. The switching regulator employs inductive energy storage elements to convert the switched current pulses into a steady load current. Thus, power in a switching regulator is transmitted across the switch in discrete current pulses, whereas in a series regulator, power is transmitted across the pass element as a steady current flow.
In order to generate a stream of current pulses, switching regulators typically include control circuitry to turn the switch on and off. The switch duty cycle, which controls the flow of power to the load, can be varied by a variety of methods. For example, the duty cycle can be varied by either (1) fixing the pulse stream frequency and varying the ON or OFF time of each pulse, or (2) fixing the ON or OFF time of each pulse and varying the pulse stream frequency.
Which ever method is used to control the duty cycle, switching regulators are generally more efficient than series regulators. In series regulators, the pass element is generally operated in its linear region where the pass element conducts current continuously. This results in the continuous dissipation of power in the pass transistor. In contrast, in switching regulators, the switch is either OFF, where no power is dissipated by the switch, or ON in a low impedance state, where a small amount of power is dissipated by the switch. This difference in operation generally results in reduced amounts of average power dissipation in switching regulators.
The above difference in efficiency can be more apparent when there is a high input-output voltage difference across the regulator. For example, it would not be unusual for a series regulator to have an efficiency of less than 25 percent when a switching regulator could perform an equivalent function with an efficiency of greater than 75 percent.
Because of their improved efficiency over series regulators, switching regulators are typically employed in battery-operated systems such as portable and laptop computers and hand-held instruments. In such systems, when the switching regulator is supplying close to the rated output current (e.g., when a disk or hard drive is ON in a portable or laptop computer), the efficiency of the overall circuit can be high. However, the efficiency is generally a function of output current and typically decreases at low output current. This reduction in efficiency is generally attributable to the losses associated with operating the switching regulator. These losses include, among others, quiescent current losses in the control circuitry of the regulator, switch losses, switch driver current losses and inductor/transformer winding and core losses.
The reduction in efficiency of a switching regulator at low output current can become important in battery-operated systems where maximizing battery lifetime is desirable.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a high efficiency switching regulator.
It would also be desireable to provide a control circuit and method for maintaining high efficiency over broad current ranges, including low output currents, in a switching regulator circuit.

Control circuit and method for maintaining high efficiency over broad current ranges in a switching regulator circuit


A print media feeding apparatus is disclosed that can convey both thin documents and thick documents. By a simple manual manipulation, additional pressure can be exerted between the knock up plate and the pick up roller when thick documents are positioned therebetween. When thin documents are to be fed, less pressure is exerted by the knockup plate on the pick up roller. When thick sheets of paper are being conveyed, a bell crank is positioned to increase spring pressure on the documents. When thin papers are being conveyed, a bell crank is rotated to another position where the bell crank decreases from the spring pressure exerted on the knock up plate. By adjusting the pressure exerted on the documents, documents having varying thicknesses can be conveyed by the same feeding tray.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a media feeding control apparatus for an ink-jet printer. More particularly, it relates to an apparatus for controlling the pressure acting on print media that is fed by an automatic paper feeding apparatus of an ink-jet printer according to the thickness of the print media.
2. Description of the Related Art
The prior art contains many examples of individual feeders capable of feeding both thick documents and thin, or regular thickness documents using a single apparatus. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,899 for an Apparatus And Method For Automatically Adjusting Sheet Feeding Pressure to Golicz discloses a high speed sheet feeder that automatically adjusts for a wide variation in sheet thickness during operation. When a thick sheet of paper is encountered, less pressure is exerted on the pick-up roller. When a thin sheet of paper is encountered, a greater amount of pressure is exerted to convey the sheet of paper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,245 for a Sheet Feeder Suitable For Feeding Thick Sheets to Shimogawara discloses a sheet feeder that can feed both thin and thick sheets of paper. An attach rent attaches to the conventional sheet storage cassette to enable both thin and thick sheets to be conveyed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,283 for a Sheet Feeding Apparatus Having Sheet Separating Means With Adjustable Feeding Force to Yanagi, et al. discloses a sheet feeding apparatus having a sheet separating means with adjustable feeding force. The apparatus allows for thicker sheets such as postcards, envelopes and the like as well as plain sheets of paper to be manually inserted or to be automatically inserted into the sheet feeding apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,535 for a Sheet Feeding Device With Detachable Holder Means For Thick Cut Sheets to Yokoi, et al. discloses sheet feeding device with a detachable holder means for thick cut sheets. A holder containing thick cut sheets such as postcard is detachably mounted on the supporting structure. Yokoi '535 is intended to be compact in design, easy to operate, and does not require any exclusive driving means for thick paper feed, thus reducing manufacturing cost.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,780 for a Sheet Feeding Apparatus For Separating Individual Sheets From Stacks of Sheets Of Different Relative Stiffness to Lohrmann, et al. discloses a sheet feeding apparatus for separating individual sheets from stacks of sheets having a different relative stiffness. The invention uses a space saving arrangement for effectively accommodating to and separating individual sheets of various thicknesses from stacks of sheets in a sheet feeding apparatus.
What is needed is a simplified sheet feeder that allows for both the feeding of regular thickness sheets and extra thick sheets into an image formation device. By a single manual manipulation, the sheet feeder can convert from conveying thick sheets to conveying of regular sheets and vice versa.

Paper feeding pressure control apparatus for ink-jet printer


A sender-driven framework for enhancing the categorization of emails, wherein the sender is able to create or define rules that refine or augment those at the receiver's end. Particularly, the sender is enabled, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention, to add information relating to the context of an email, which can help streamline categorization at the receiver's end.

In today's era of information overflow, email users face a side effect, which is the difficulty in managing pile of emails to use them effectively. It is a common task to categorize mails into mail folders so that mail searches can be performed on a subset of mails present in the mail box, for effective mail search results.
Generally, it is important to categorize emails efficiently so that it provides convenient subsets of intended or desired emails while leaving unwanted or unintended emails out of such categorization. However, while many methods have been developed to categorize mails, but none has proven efficient enough to take the actual context from the mail and use it for storing mails in a folder.
Apart from performing mail categorization manually into various folders, one of the known methods for categorizing mails is based on 'rules'. Here, users define rules to redirect the incoming, mails into one of the folders based on a criterion, such as sender, subject, mail contents, etc. However, no matter how refined the rules are, there are always some incoming mails which do not satisfy the rules and users end up needing to define additional rules for them. This process continues and number of rules grows without leading to a definite end. As number of rules relax to include more mails (which were not otherwise reaching "target" folders), the risk of inviting an even greater number of unwanted emails clearly increases.
Chief among the problems with known systems is that only very basic metadata and data/contents of mails are used for mail categorization. However, this misses out on the context of different entails, which can often be even more important in achieving successful categorization. However, context is often missed when something as rudimentary as a subject line is different between emails.
Another problem is that a mail sender does not have a role to play in mail categorization at the receiving end, even though the sender will likely be aware of context of the email reasonably accurately.
Accordingly, a compelling need has been recognized in connection with providing even more efficient and effective email categorization, to the point of keeping such categorization virtually seamless at the receiver's end.

Automatic categorization of email in a mail system

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A golf swing aid constrains the swing of an associated headless golf club to provide a golf student with proper golf club swing notion. Flanged backswing and downswing rails are intermediated by a continuous curved rail and supported by a rail support. The curved shape of the rails is derived from the proper "inside out" professional-type golf swing and may be determined on a theoretical or experimental basis. A headless golf club has a rolling clevis that engages the flanged rails to roll thereupon. The golf student so engaging the headless golf club is then constrained in the golf swing to follow the shape of the rails. This requires the student to use the back muscles rather than the wrists, arms and shoulders to develop the proper swing action. The flanged rails have open ends so that when the point of impact is reached at the completion of the downswing, the student may follow through on the shot with the headless golf club leaving the downswing rail. The open end on the backswing rail then allows for quick reengagement of the backswing rail by the rolling clevis. The golf student may also benefit by visual contemplation of the shape of the golf swing aid of the present invention as visual memory will complement the muscle memory achieved through use of the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to golf swing training devices, and more particularly to the type in which a student stands adjacent to the device and swings a golf club shaft, which maintains contact with a guide surface of the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Golf is a simple game. The object is to hit a small ball into a small hole in the ground from distances of inches to several hundred yards. The balls are struck with a variety of clubs depending on the distance to the hole, where the hole is positioned on the green, and the ground surface conditions underneath the ball and on the green. The clubs vary in weight, shaft length and face angle. Since the object of the game is to get the ball in the cup in the fewest number of strokes over 18 holes, the ability to consistently strike the ball with a strong, controlled swing action is a highly desired trait. All professional golfers and a few gifted amateurs have such a swing, few others do.
Casual observation of touring professional golfers gives the impression that they all have different golf swings, but closer analysis proves this assumption wrong. What is disguised by the individual mannerisms of each player is the fact that they all have the same swing: an "inside out" swing that is controlled by the back of the golfer's body. This axiom is the basis for the present invention.
If one were to mark a spot on the shaft of any professional's golf club and then watch only that spot when the pro hits a shot, he would see that the club makes two distinct arcs: a separate one during the backswing and a separate one during the downswing. Connecting these two major arcs is a small backward drop in the loop that corresponds to the back of the body initiating the downswing by starting to unwind the hips. The arc of the club in the backswing is more vertical than that of the downswing and is generally aligned with the intended flight path of the ball. The arc of the downswing is less vertical and of a shorter radius than that of the backswing and is aligned slightly to the inside of the intended flight path. The professionals call this an "inside out" swing, and, unless they are intentionally playing a "slice", their club never approaches the ball from outside of the intended flight path of the ball.
The vast majority of people playing the game of golf, however, do not have a swing is action pattern that will allow them to approach the ball from the inside of its intended flight path. The amateur swing is an "outside in" swing. The amateur downswing is initiated in the front of the body by the hands, arms, or shoulders and the club approaches the ball from outside of the intended flight line. Just before impact, the amateur's hands will usually attempt to correct this problem by opening the clubface and the result is a "slice" of the unintentional variety. Over 90% of the people playing golf cannot complete a round in less than 100 strokes. The professional averages 71.5 strokes per round. With an "outside in" swing, the typical amateur just does not have a chance.
The professional has constructed, usually by trial and error at a very young age and often unknowingly, a patterned golf swing action based in the back of the body that will consistently repeat in all circumstances and situations. In golf, the foundation of this patterned action is in the body's back. The human body has been endowed with a dominant and powerful muscle structure in the back. The back also has a very strong and secure bone structure to support these active and vital muscles. To further reinforce this rear body capability, the back has been supplied with a solid stabilizing force that sustains the body's equilibrium: the spinal column which acts as an "axis" of the entire body. It is because of the presence of these powerful and stable structures that good balance and coordination are primarily determined by the back.
In all athletic activities, whether bowling, playing tennis, or throwing a baseball, the initial move made by the athlete is a "turn into the back". Right from the outset of the motion, the athlete transfers the object that he is rolling, stroking, or throwing into his back or behind him. When hitting a baseball or shooting a hockey puck, the hands are placed well around to the back of the body at the starting position. The best athletes have learned to use the back of the body to swing the arms.
The distance between the hand-held object (bowling ball, tennis racket, baseball, etc.) and the powerful back muscles creates an extended moment between the turning source (the back) and the action object (the bowling ball, etc.). This distance enables the athlete to transmit a greater angular momentum to the action object, creating greater force or velocity. Consequently, by making controlled use of the back muscles, the athlete brings more power to the game.
The same is true in golf. The professional golfer has learned to think of the club head, hands and arms as mere extensions of the body; they are not allowed to make independent actions of their own. All professionals utilize a one-piece body swing that keeps the club head and hand action captives of a proper body rotation. During the downswing, the return to the ball is initiated from the back with the hips and legs. The arms and shoulders remain steady as if securely fastened to the back throughout the entire swing action. As the hips and big muscles of the back turn round and through to the ball, the arms, hands and club are then powerfully released at the ball in a definite "inside out" path.
The average golfer cannot conceive of turning the club from the back of the body because the hands and arms are felt to be so securely fastened to the club in front. Therefore, the club is swung around from the front of the body with the arms and shoulders instead of properly winding from the back. This type of incorrect turn places the body in a very poor position to return the club properly to the ball. It creates a hacking action rather than a swinging dynamic. As the body turns back to the ball from the front it causes the club to swing around from outside of the intended flight line of the ball. This outside swing action is the cause of the dreaded "slice".


A system for collecting and channeling wind energy includes funnel-shaped wind collectors rotatably attached to elevated platforms for collecting wind streams at higher initial velocities. A fantail assembly rotates the inlet end of the funnel into the face of the wind. The funnel is slidably connected to a railing atop the platform to maintain the inlet of the funnel at a desired relationship with the wind stream as well as to preclude separation of the funnel from the platform. Wind entering the inlet of the funnel-shaped collector flows toward a reduced outlet end of the collector resulting in an increased velocity. The collected air is channeled through a tubular branch conduit and merged into a transmission conduit of equal diameter for delivery to a transmission assembly. The transmission assembly includes a nose rotor which compresses and directs air away from the central axis of rotation of a downstream propeller and onto the propeller blades at increased velocity for rotation of an attached drive shaft. Upon use of a plurality of wind collectors, the respective branch conduits are merged into the transmission conduit at spaced intervals therealong so as to increase the velocity of the air stream delivered to the transmission conduit and downstream transmission assembly.

This invention relates to a wind energy conversion system and, more particularly, to a system which increases the velocity of collected wind for downstream use.
Wind power as an energy source has become increasingly popular in the present era of environmental consciousness and concern over pollution resulting from energy production. Wind energy is desirable in that its production is economical, environmentally non-polluting, and it conserves the limited supply of other natural resources. Apparatus for the collection of wind energy and conversion of the same to another form of energy exist in the prior art. Windmills anti other wind power conversion devices obtain power by converting a wind stream into a mechanical motion capable of driving a downstream mechanical device or an electrical power generator.
Although assumably effective in operation, known devices do not maximize the potential energy output available from wind energy. The methods and apparatus for conversion of wind energy described in the prior art are inadequate for two primary reasons: (1) wind energy is inefficiently collected and channeled to the ultimate conversion mechanism, and (2) insufficient wind velocity is available for maximum energy conversion. It is known in the art that the power generated by a propeller type windmill is directly proportional to the square of the diameter of the propeller blade tips and the cube of the wind velocity. An increase in the velocity of wind engaging a propeller, therefore, will exponentially increase the power generated by a propeller-type windmill. Thus, it is desirable to have an apparatus which uses a plurality of efficient wind collectors to collect and channel wind to a propeller-type assembly in a manner which increases the velocity of the collected wind stream prior to downstream conveyance and passage across a downstream propeller associated with a conversion assembly.


A lock device includes a receiver having an outer peripheral surface that is attached to a side surface of a gear (rotating body) and rotates together with the gear (rotating body) and a solenoid pin whose tip is able to be in pressure contact with the outer peripheral surface of the receiver upon reception of the solenoid pin on the outer peripheral surface. The outer peripheral surface of the receiver includes a groove (recess) wider than the tip of the solenoid pin and projections projecting from the groove (recess). The solenoid pin has a tapered face at the tip. The height of the tapered face is at least at a level at which the tapered face is in contact with a corner of the projection with the tip being in contact with the groove (recess).

The actuator expands and contracts by using a motor and a feed screw mechanism. A proposal has been made to provide a lock device for preventing inverse transfer of a driving force along a power transmission path connecting the motor and the feed screw mechanism together (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-173192).
FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a typical lock mechanism of a pin-insertion type using a solenoid. As illustrated in FIG. 5, a shift lock mechanism 100 using a solenoid is typically used in such a manner that a solenoid pin 101 is inserted in a groove 103 of a rotating body 102 so as to control the position of a counter part of the solenoid. In the case of using the shift lock mechanism 100 as a mechanism for locking the rotating body 102 such as a gear (not shown) of an actuator, a stroke of the actuator can be controlled by inserting the solenoid pin 101 into the groove 103 of the rotating body 102.
On the other hand, another type of such lock mechanism is a friction brake type mechanism in which an end surface of a pin is pressed against a rotating body to generate a frictional force so that the stroke can be controlled by using the frictional force. FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a typical lock mechanism of the friction brake type. As illustrated in FIG. 6, in a lock mechanism 110 of the friction brake type, a pin end surface 111a of a pin 111 is pressed against a rotating subject 112 with an appropriate spring force to generate a frictional force so that the stroke can be controlled by using the frictional force.


Provided is a method of fabricating a semiconductor device. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device includes preparing a substrate in which a scribe lane region and a chip region are defined, forming a trench in the scribe lane region of the substrate, forming a stopper layer in a part in the trench, and forming an alignment mark material on the stopper layer.

In a process of fabricating a superjunction power device, a process using selective epitaxial growth which is advantageous in terms of cost has increased in recent years.
A planarizing process is required in a process of forming a deep trench, a process of forming an epitaxial layer in the deep trench by using the selective epitaxial growth, a process of forming an MOSFET structure on the epitaxial layer, and the like.
Further, in a postprocess, an alignment mark is used for accurate alignment during layer to layer matching; however, the alignment mark may be damaged by the planarizing process. Therefore, a technology of fabricating a semiconductor device is required so as to prevent the alignment mark from being damaged during the planarizing process.

Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same