A method of, and apparatus for, decoupling a defective or otherwise non-operational memory block from the power lines of a memory device is disclosed. Defects which cause excessive current consumption in defective memory blocks can be repaired through this approach. Mass-production yields can be improved significantly.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to repair of memory by redundancy. The invention relates more specifically to a method of reducing power consumption in a memory having a redundancy-based repair system.
2. Description of the Related Art
High density memory devices typically include a redundancy-based repair system for substituting redundant rows or columns of memory cells for use in place of non-operational or defective primary rows or columns.
When a defective primary row or column (hereafter, primary memory block) is detected within a memory device, the row or column addressing mechanism of the device is reprogrammed to select an operative redundant memory block in place of the defective primary block.
This reprogramming or "select-substituting" step works by disabling all requested couplings of the local data read and/or data write lines of the defective memory block to the global read and/or write lines of the memory device. The select-substituting step also enables a substitute coupling of the local data read and/or write lines of the redundant memory block to the global read and/or write lines of the memory device in response to access requests directed at the defective memory block. Data which would have been stored in or read from the defective primary block is instead written to or fetched from the redundant memory block.

Method and apparatus for repair of memory by redundancy


In some aspects, lead connector assemblies for plasma arc torches for providing electrical and fluid connections can include male and female connectors. The female connector can include a current conductive member, a sealing member, clearance region, binding region, and a locking ring having a locking flange. The male connector can include a body defining an internal fluid passage, an electrical contact region, a sealing region, a locking trough, and a driving lip. The male connector, when assembled to the female connector, typically has an engaged configuration and a disengaged configuration. In the engaged configuration, the male connector is locked within the female connector, the electrical contact region forms an electrical connection with the current conducting member, the sealing region forms a seal against the sealing member, the locking trough receives the locking flange, and the locking flange is positioned between the driving lip and the binding region.

Some conventional torch systems (e.g., plasma torch systems) can include one or more electrical and gas delivery lead lines having torch lead connectors to transfer electrical current, seal liquid/gas, and/or provide a securing method between a torch and a power supply. Some conventional torch connections utilize threaded connections to achieve these connections. In some cases, some plasma torch power supplies have multiple threaded connections to fluidly and electrically connect a torch to the power supply.

Thermal torch lead line connection devices and related systems and methods


Implantable seeds, comprising rod-shaped ferromagnetic elements with end caps that contain radioactive pellets, designed for,delivering both thermal radiation and ionizing radiation for treatment of tumorous tissue are described. The implantable seeds can also contain additional radioactive pellets positioned in hollow tubular sleeves that connect a series of ferromagnetic elements. The ferromagnetic material may be a palladium-cobalt (Pdxe2x80x94Co) alloy with a Curie temperature between about 40 C. and 100 C., and the end caps and tubular sleeves may be made of titanium. Alternatively, the ferromagentic elements may comprise rods with longitudinal channels in their outer surfaces, into which radioactive sources are positioned. This assembly is held together by an outer tubular sleeve or coating. The radioactive pellets comprise either palladium-103 or iodine-125. Methods of making the seeds and of delivering treatment to a patient are also described.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an apparatus for treating malignant tumors, and, more specifically, to metal seeds that are implanted by injection into tumorous tissue for simultaneous application of thermal energy and radioactive emissions to such tissue.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a journal article entitled xe2x80x9cPractical Aspects of Ferro-magnetic Thermoseed Hyperthermia,xe2x80x9d published in the Radiologic Clinic of North America, Vol. 27, No. 3, dated May 1989, Ivan A. Brezovich and Ruby F. Meredith, both with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, presented a general treatise on a method of treating tumors by interstitially implanting small pieces of ferromagnetic alloy wire into the tissue and then exposing the subject to an externally applied, oscillating, magnetic field of a predetermined frequency and field strength so as to cause inductive heating of the thermoseeds within the body. This paper points out that by selecting a ferromagnetic material having a suitable Curie point, such a thermoseed becomes self-regulating when the temperature of the seed approaches the Curie point, at which temperature the material becomes non-magnetic. The Carter U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,710 relates to the same technology.
The Paulus et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,583, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application, describes the use of a palladium-cobalt (Pdxe2x80x94Co) alloy as an improved material for such thermoseeds. By properly adjusting the percent by weight of Pd and Co in the alloy, a Curie point temperature (between 40 C. and 100 C.) can be chosen that lies within a range of therapeutic temperatures. Upon exposure to an oscillating magnetic field, the temperature of the thermoseed is self-regulating. The temperature increases until the Curie temperature is reached, at which point, the material becomes non-magnetic, and no additional heating occurs.
It is also known in the art that seeds to be implanted in tumorous tissue can be coated or otherwise treated so as to emit ionizing radiation effective in killing cancerous tissue without excessive damage to surrounding healthy tissue. In this regard, reference is made to Kubiatowicz U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,055, Russell, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,702,228 and 4,784,116, Suthanthiran U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,165 and Carden Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,309, each of which describes techniques for making and utilizing radioactive seed implants and are incorporated by reference herein.
For more than a decade, medical investigators have discussed the synergy of hyperthermia and ionizing radiation in the treatment of several types of tumors. The synergism is believed to be due to some form of combined damage on a cellular level, but increasingly, investigators are theorizing that the increase in blood flow during hyperthermia facilitates the radiation dose by lowering the percentage of hypoxic cells in the tumor. It has been widely known that poorly oxygenated tumors are much more resistant to ionizing radiation than normally oxygenated cell populations. Before the patents cited above, no one appears to have disclosed a combination implant that could produce both thermal and ionizing radiations simultaneously. An implant capable of delivering truly simultaneous thermal and ionizing radiation was a unique advancement, as most clinical research in this area had used separate therapies spaced as close together as possible. The present invention provides just that type of desired implant.
The combination of ionizing radiation and thermal radiation in the seed implants of the related patents cited above offers the further advantage that even when the ionizing radiation given off by the implants has been virtually expended, the magnetic properties of the implants remain intact, allowing for continued hyperthermia or ablation therapy. In normal brachytherapy seeds, after the ionizing radiation has dissipated, the implants are completely inert and have no therapeutic value whatsoever.
The present invention provides an improved implantable seed device, a method of producing the seed and a method of treating a patient with the seed wherein radioactive pellets with sufficient source strength are positioned under encapsulation at least at the ends of the seed and preferably at intervals along the seed providing several improvements over the prior art, as will be discussed below.
The present invention provides implantable seeds for treating soft tumorous tissue. The seeds comprise rod-shaped ferromagnetic alloy elements with end caps configured as hollow tubes that are closed on one end and open on the other end and contain radioactive pellets and optional spacers. The implantable seeds can further comprise hollow tubular sleeves that connect a series of ferromagnetic alloy elements and also contain radioactive pellets and optional spacers therein. The ferromagnetic alloy may be palladium-cobalt (Pdxe2x80x94Co) with a Curie temperature between about 40 C. and 100 C., and the end caps and tubular sleeves may be made of titanium. The radioactive pellets may comprise palladium-103 or iodine-125. Preferably each Pdxe2x80x94Co element comprises one piece of solid material.
In another embodiment the rod-shaped ferromagnetic element has at least one axially-extending channel along its outer surface. A radioactive source is configured to fit into the channel, and an outer tubular sleeve is positioned coaxially over the rod-shaped ferromagnetic element, thus holding the radioactive source in place.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of making an implantable seed for supplying thermal and ionizing radiation to cancerous tissue, comprising providing at least one rod-shaped ferromagnetic alloy element with radioactive sources held in place adjacent to the ends of the element(s) with cylindrical tubes. An external oscillating magnetic field is supplied to act on the ferromagnetic alloy element(s) to produce heat therein. The ferromagnetic alloy may be palladium-cobalt. Preferably the oscillating magnetic field has a maximum flux density of between 25 gauss and 100 gauss and a frequency between 25 kHz and 200 kHz.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of treating a patient comprising positioning a plurality of implantable seeds in cancerous tissue so that the longitudinal axes of the seeds are aligned substantially in parallel. The seeds comprise a ferromagnetic material, such as Pdxe2x80x94Co, whose Curie point temperature is in a therapeutic range, preferably between 40 C. and 100 C. Heat is provided by exposing the implantable seeds to an external oscillating magnetic field aligned generally parallel to the longitudinal axes of the implantable seeds. Ionizing radiation is provided from radioactive sources, such as palladium-103 or iodine-125, positioned in cavities enclosed by end caps attached over the ends of the implantable seeds. Additional ionizing radiation may be provided from radioactive sources positioned in cavities within hollow, tubular sleeves that connect adjacent sections of each implantable seed. The spacing between the radioactive sources may be chosen to provide a uniform or predetermined non-uniform dose profile around each implantable seed. Preferably the implantable seeds are exposed to the oscillating magnetic field in a plurality of sessions over a course of treatment, the length of which will be related to the half-life of the radioactive sources.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of preferred embodiments below, when considered together with the attached drawings and claims.


The present invention provides a bed sheet attachment system that allows a user to quickly and easily change bed sheets. In one embodiment, the fitted sheet of a bed comprises an upper surface and at least one attachment member disposed on the upper surface. A quick-change sheet having upper and lower surfaces also is provided, wherein at least one attachment member is disposed on the lower surface of the quick-change sheet. In use, the attachment member of the quick-change sheet is configured to releasably mate with the attachment member of the fitted sheet, thereby facilitating the changing of the quick-change sheet. Further, at least one pocket member may be releasably coupled to the fitted sheet, thereby providing one or more storage locations in close proximity to the bed.

The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for changing bed sheets and accessories that may used in a bedding system, and more particularly, to a system of bed sheets and accessories that may be assembled and changed in a relatively fast and convenient manner.
Conventional bedding systems typically employ a frame and mattress arrangement. The mattress is disposed on the frame, and a fitted sheet may be disposed over the mattress. Typically, the fitted sheet comprises one or more elastic bands that must be placed over the four sides of the mattress, then positioned underneath the mattress to secure the fitted sheet. Subsequently, a top sheet may be disposed over the fitted sheet. One or more comforters, quilts, blankets or other coverings may be disposed over the top sheet, thereby completing the bedding system.
One drawback associated with such conventional bedding systems is that it may be difficult and/or time consuming to change the sheets. For example, in the system described above, a user may sleep directly on the fitted sheet, i.e., between the fitted sheet and the top sheet. If the fitted sheet becomes dirty or soiled, then typically the user must remove the fitted sheet by pulling the elastic bands of the fitted sheet over the four corners of the mattress. If a bed is located adjacent to a wall, it may become difficult or time consuming to pull the bed away from the wall in order to pull the fitted sheet over the mattress. Similarly, when making the bed, it may be difficult and/or time consuming to pull the bed away from the wall, secure the fitted sheet over the mattress, and subsequently push the bed against the wall. In short, many users may experience difficulties in removing and attaching a fitted sheet over a mattress.
Problematically, many users may need to change the fitted sheet relatively often. For example, infants may frequently soil bed sheets, thereby requiring frequent changing of the sheets. Similarly, elderly persons may soil the sheets, and may have difficulty removing and attaching the fitted sheets. Further, college-aged students and other individuals may tend to change sheets less frequently, in part due to the difficulty of removing a fitted sheet that may be pressed against a wall in relatively small dorm room. Finally, menopausal women and other individuals may have frequent night sweats, thereby necessitating frequent changing of the bed sheets.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an easy-to-use bed sheet system that employs a fast, easy-to-use attachment system to facilitate removal of a soiled sheet and attachment of a clean sheet.


A system of recycling exhaust heat from an internal combustion engine may include an EGR line circulating a portion of exhaust gas generated from the engine to an intake side, a working fluid circulating line configured to have a working fluid satisfying a Rankine cycle, which is circulated therein, and an EGR side heat exchanging unit configured to perform a heat-exchange between an EGR gas flowing in the EGR line and the working fluid flowing in the working fluid circulating line. When a temperature of the EGR gas is equal to or greater than a reference temperature T1, the EGR gas is circulated to the intake side via the EGR side heat exchanging unit, and when the temperature of the EGR gas is less than the reference temperature T1, the EGR gas is circulated to the intake side without passing through the EGR side heat exchanging unit.

Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a system of recycling exhaust heat from an internal combustion engine, and more particularly, to a system of recycling exhaust heat from an internal combustion engine including a recycling scheme circulating a working fluid using exhaust heat from the internal combustion engine.
Description of Related Art
An internal combustion engine is widely used in a vehicle, a ship, a small generator, and the like, and an attempt to increase efficiency of the internal combustion engine has been continuously conducted. The internal combustion engine generally discharges much heat as exhaust heat, and several systems collecting the exhaust heat to increase entire efficiency of the internal combustion engine have been developed.
When considering an apparatus and parts, an increase in load, and the like necessary to configure a system of collecting an exhaust heat, it is more efficient to mount a system of recycling exhaust heat in a large vehicle having large displacement and capable of carrying many people or cargo rather than a small vehicle having small displacement and which is light.
In a case of the vehicle, the system of recycling the exhaust heat includes a system using a turbo-compound and a system using a thermoelectric element.
The system using the turbo-compound is a scheme by attaching an exhaust turbine to an exhaust line and rotating the exhaust turbine by exhaust pressure to obtain an output, wherein this scheme may increase thermal efficiency of the entire system having the internal combustion engine installed therein, but may decrease the output of the engine itself due to the exhaust turbine acting as an exhaust resistance.
The system using the thermoelectric element uses a scheme of charging electric using the thermoelectric element generating electric using a temperature difference or assisting the engine by driving an auxiliary motor using the generated electric. However, since cost of the thermoelectric element itself is negligible and a space in which the thermoelectric element may be mounted is narrow, it is difficult to significantly increase thermal efficiency of the engine even though the thermoelectric element is actually mounted in a mass-produced vehicle.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem and/or other problems, inventors of the present invention have developed a system of recycling exhaust heat circulating a working fluid using heat transferred from an exhaust side of the internal combustion engine and rotating the turbine using the working fluid. However, it is noted that the system of recycling the exhaust heat is not published to those without having the duty of confidentiality based on the point of time at which the present invention is filed.
It was expected that it is necessary to maximally increase an operating time of the turbine by circulating the working fluid as long as possible in order to increase efficiency of the system of recycling the exhaust heat and an experiment was performed accordingly. However, in the case in which the working fluid is circulated even when a temperature of the engine is low, it was found that fuel efficiency of the vehicle having the engine mounted therein is deteriorated. Therefore, a necessity of optimally setting a section in which the turbine is operated by circulating the working fluid has been increased.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

System of recycling exhaust heat from internal combustion engine


Rapid production of thermoplastic sandwich structures containing fiber-reinforced or non-reinforced thermoplastic core, such as honeycomb, materials adhered to skins or facing sheets is accomplished by fusion bonding the skins or facing sheets to the core by means of thermoplastic film(s) heated to the melt temperature and applying sufficient pressure to fusion bond the skins or facing sheets to the core, followed, when necessary, by cooling the assembly to prevent overheating of the core and/or skins or facing sheets.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention pertains to the preparation of thermoplastic sandwich structures wherein facing sheets or skins are applied to a fiber-reinforced or non-reinforced thermoplastic core in a rapid and cost-effective manner. More particularly, the invention relates to the fabrication of thermoplastic honeycomb sandwich structures wherein facing sheets or skins having a layer of thermoplastic film are applied to thermoplastic honeycomb core substantially simultaneously with application of the pressure bonding.
2. Description of the Related Art
Honeycomb sandwich panels and foam core sandwich panels are used in the transportation, aerospace and recreation industries where a planar or modestly curvilinear structure which is also exceptionally light is needed. In copending application Ser. No. 07/531,184 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,596, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein, by reference thereto, a continuous method for the production of thermoplastic honeycomb is disclosed which should enable increased utilization of these structural components.
Following production of honeycomb or foam core by whatever method, the finished core is sawn or slit into planar segments of the required thickness and typically, a heat-curable thermosetting film adhesive, for example an epoxy resin is used to bond the skin, which is generally a film, or a fiber reinforced prepreg or laminate, to the core. The core assembly, with facing sheets and film adhesives, is heated while pressure is applied to the assembly. Following a curing time which is generally several hours long, the assembled sandwich panel may be cut into appropriate size for its intended application.
The typical processes of bonding the honeycomb or foam core to the facing sheets as practiced by prior art processes are time consuming and often utilize relatively expensive film adhesives whose adhesion, viscosity, and cure cycles must often be tailored for each specific application. Typically, if either a thermoplastic, thermoset or other type of facing is desired, then a heated platen press is used with press stops. The heat for fusion or for advancing the thermoset adhesive is transferred from the platen through the skin material (thereby, sometimes limiting the thickness of the skin material) to the underlying core material, the adhesive fused or cured, whereupon the sandwich structure is then cooled under pressure before removing the assembled and bonded sandwich structure. When bonding facing materials with this aforementioned method to a thermoplastic core material such as a thermoplatic honeycomb or thermoplastic foam core, the thermoplastic core material has a tendency to collapse while the skin is bonded to the surface. This is due to excessive heat transfer through the skin to the core, thus raising the temperature of certain portions of the core beyond the T.sub.g (or softening point) of the thermoplastic core material with a resulting distortion or collapsing of the thermoplastic core during the skin bonding process. This is particularly a problem when one tries to bond a skin material with a T.sub.g nearly the same as or higher than that of the core material itself. The method taught by Hudson (U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,976) is typical of the art practiced today in sandwich panel construction wherein a skin material is adhesively bonded to the core wherein the adhesive layer is a thermoplastic adhesive (see column 3, lines 23-30) or for that matter, more typically, an epoxy thermoset film adhesive, a method which has been in use for decades. The Hudson method comprises; a) layering a sheet of thermoplastic (or thermoset for that matter) onto the core; b) laying a skin thereon; c) heating the assembly to soften (or cure) and bond the skin to the core; and d) cooling the assembly (see column 4, lines 27-29 and column 4, lines 64-column 5 line 2). Westlake (U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,365), Zaima (U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,943) and Wolf (U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,024) all teach methods of fabrication which are similar to that of Hudson's. The common factor to all of the aforementioned patents is that essentially the entire sandwich panel assembly is heated to the bonding temperature while under pressure. If a thermoplastic core were used in any of the aforementioned methods, the collapse or distortion of the core would occur if the temperature required for bonding exceeds the T.sub.g of the honeycomb material.
Umeda (U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,498) and Landi (U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,567) describe alternative methods for heating the entire honeycomb structure. Both, however, describe a multiple step method which requires that the heat required for bonding be applied down through the facing material while simultaneously applying pressure through the heat transfer device, typically a platen. This pressure is maintained until adequate heat has been transferred to the underlying honeycomb material through the skin material and is sufficient to cause either (in the case of Landi), the melting of the cell edges of the honeycomb material, whereupon, the pressure device is then rapidly cooled before removal of the pressure, or (in the case of Umeda), curing of a thermoset adhesive attached to the honeycomb cell edge.
In the case of Landi, the core cell edges are first deformed prior to bonding a skin in place (column 5, lines 39-47), thus, most likely, increasing the thermal mass of the cell edges relative to the thermal mass of the facing material and thereby, possibly reducing the probability of honeycomb collapse. Umeda is, essentially, just a continuous, stepwise progression of any of the methods described above (column 3, line 63 to column 4, line 47).
Additionally, all of the aforementioned methods, using a thermoplastic or thermoset facing material, require the use of a release substrate between the heating/pressure device and the facing material during the bonding cycle.
Additional prior art of note concerns the continuous lamination of plastic materials. Kajikawa (U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,930) (column 4, lines 20-37) and Williams (U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,129) (column 2 lines 9-14) describe the continuous application of thermoplastic materials in layer form upon some other entity. They are typical in that they describe the heating of the thermoplastic material in its entirety, usually from the outside surface to the inner surface, prior to the consolidation and cooling steps.
Finally, the known art of bonding facing materials to honeycomb for structural panels has generally been limited to either all thermoset materials, combinations of metal facings and thermoset cores, thermoplastic facings glued with thermoset adhesives or lower melting thermoplastic adhesives to thermoset and more recently, thermoplastic honeycombs or multiple step processing of similar thermoplastic materials. The use of facings made of material the same or higher T.sub.g as the honeycomb core or foam core materials themselves, or film layers of the same or higher T.sub.g than the facings and/or core materials has not been done before on a continuous basis nor has it been taught elsewhere how one would overcome the problems of core collapse that the use of these same materials would cause.

Process for the preparation of thermoplastic sandwich structures


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for localized routing. In some example embodiments, there is provided a method. The method may include receiving, by a target base station, localized routing context information for a user equipment, wherein the localized routing context is received from at least one of a user gateway or a controlling mobility gateway; and sending, by the target base station, updated localized routing context information to at least one other base station, wherein the updated localized routing context information is sent via a local interface between the target base station and the at least one other base station. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.

Today's cellular networks enable mobility by providing a centralized core including home agents, border Internet Protocol (IP) gateways, mobility anchors, and/or other devices. For example, the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) and the Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) can be used to provide tunnel switched mobility in mobile networks and, in particular, the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). This centralized gateway approach may provide a central anchor that follows a user equipment as it moves by re-routing the packets over tunnels from the mobility anchor to a terminating base station (eNB) serving the user equipment. In this way, the user equipment may be mobile and handed over from base station to base station in a seamless manner.


An integrated circuit with buried control line structures. In one embodiment, the control lines are subdivided into sections, wherein regions free of switching transistors are provided at intervals along the control lines. Connections for feeding the control potentials into the sections of the control lines are provided at least in a subset of the regions free of switching transistors. The isolations lines are connected to one another by an interconnect running transversely with respect to the control lines.

Memory components contain, as memory medium, a multiplicity of memory cells which form one or more blocks and can in each case store a binary datum (data bit), to be precise by assuming in each case one of two possible cell states, which are usually designated by the logic symbols "0" and "1". The memory cells in the state of the art are predominantly formed by electrical capacitances or capacitors and store the data by alternative distinguishable charge states, e.g., charged and uncharged. In each of the memory blocks, the memory cells are arranged in the manner of a matrix in rows and columns.
In conventional DRAM components, a plurality (e.g., 23=8) of memory blocks each containing many rows (e.g., 28=256 rows) and columns (e.g., 212=4196 columns) are combined in row-parallel arrangement to form a bank, wherein the component contains a plurality (usually 22=4) of such banks.
In order to write data bits to the cells or read them from the cells, each cell is assigned an individual cell switch via which the cell can be connected to a read/write line. These lines are referred to as bit lines. The cell switches, which are usually formed by field effect transistors and are referred to as selection transistors, can be driven selectively via word lines in order optionally to switch them on (that is to say make them conducting) or to keep them turned off. A respective common word line is provided for each matrix row of a memory block, and a respective common bit line is provided for each matrix column. If a word line is selectively activated, therefore, which is usually effected by a row decoder by the decoding of an externally applied row address, all the cell switches of the relevant row are closed.
This row selection is followed by the column selection, by one or more bit lines of the memory block being selectively connected to assigned data lines leading to an external data connection of the memory component. These connections are usually produced by selectively switching on read/write amplifiers on the bit lines by a column decoder that decodes an externally applied column address.
The word lines pass through the memory block in the row direction, also referred to hereinafter as the "x direction". The bit lines pass through the memory block in the column direction, also referred to hereinafter as the "y direction". These two directions are generally (but not necessarily) orthogonal to one another and each run in a plane parallel to the basic area of the semiconductor substrate. The direction pointing perpendicularly to these "horizontal" planes is referred to hereinafter as the "vertical" direction or "z direction". The expressions "top" (or "over" or "above") and "bottom" (or "under" or "below") relate to the spatial position along the z direction, the substrate being "bottommost".
In general it is desirable to make the horizontal packing density of the components of memory matrices on a chip as high as possible in order to accommodate as many components as possible on a given chip area. One way of increasing the horizontal packing density consists in arranging each memory cell and the assigned selection transistor vertically one above another rather than horizontally alongside one another. Since the channel zone and the drain and source zones of the selection transistors are formed by doping regions of the semiconductor substrate, it is recommended to integrate the memory cells in a level above the transistors.
In a known integration scheme, the selection transistors are shaped in such a way that their drain and source zones representing the "main connections" in each case form elevated regions on both sides of a groove in which is arranged the gate insulated from the bottom and walls of the groove. The gates of all the selection transistors for the respective same matrix row are formed by a common word line which extends in the x direction. The upper edges of the word lines lie below the upper edges of the grooves, and the space of the grooves that remains over the word lines is filled with insulating material, such that the word lines are "buried" in the grooves. The bit lines extending in the y direction are integrated in a level above the selection transistors, with interposition of an insulator layer. Each bit line is connected via vertical conductive feedthroughs to the first main connections of all those selection transistors which are respectively assigned to the same matrix column. The memory cells are integrated in a cell layer above the bit line level, likewise with interposition of an insulator layer. Each memory cell is contact-connected via a vertical conductive feedthrough to the second main electrode of the assigned selection transistor. In order to keep the horizontal extent of the memory cells as small as possible, the cells are shaped in such a way that large constituent parts of them extend in the vertical direction. Therefore, the cell layer is of necessity rather thick.
Since all the selection transistors are formed on the same semiconductor layer, particular measures are needed to decouple spatially adjacent transistors from one another. Particularly good decoupling or isolation is needed in each case between adjacent selection transistors assigned to different columns. For this purpose, it is known to integrate between the selection transistors in each case an "isolation transistor", which is formed in exactly the same way as the selection transistors and is kept constantly turned off by the application of a suitable gate potential. All isolation transistors oriented along the same row have as gate a common "isolation line", which is formed in a manner similar to the word lines and runs parallel thereto. All the isolation lines are permanently connected to a source of the reverse-biasing potential mentioned.
It is often desirable to segment a memory block in the row direction, particularly when the rows are very long. The longer a word line, the higher its RC time constant and the longer the duration of the row selection phase, that is to say the time until, after activation of the word line, all selection transistors connected thereto are fully turned on. In order to shorten this response time, it is known per se to subdivide the word lines into individual sections and to drive each section by a separate word line driver. These drivers are connected on the one hand to the assigned word line sections and on the other hand to interconnects which extend in an upper metallization level above the cell layer in the row direction, to be precise over the entire row length.
The segmentation of the word lines of a memory block is difficult if the word lines are buried in the manner described above and in addition buried isolation lines are present. The word line drivers require a relatively large amount of integration area, and all those parts of the drivers which are not contact-connected to the assigned word line must remain decoupled both from the word line and from an adjacent isolation line. It is not known or suggested how this could be achieved without increasing the "pitch" of the word and isolation lines (that is to say the spatial period of the lines in the y direction). Moreover, the question remains open as to via which paths the isolation lines in all their parts should be connected to the permanent reverse-biasing potential.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

Integrated circuit with buried control line structures


A computing device for displaying procedures for an aircraft is provided. The computing device includes a presentation interface, a user input interface, and a processing device coupled to the presentation interface and to the user input interface. The processing device is configured to cause the presentation interface to display an initial procedure display, and in response to a triggering event, cause the presentation interface to display an adjusted procedure display that emphasizes a predetermined portion of a procedure.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to in-flight navigation procedures, and more specifically, to methods and system for use in displaying these procedures in a graphical form.
In-flight navigation procedures are typically depicted on a cockpit display or paper charts to a pilot and/or co-pilot as pre-composed and non-interactive images. Such images typically contain relatively large quantities of information which may be applicable to multiple procedures and multiple flight paths.
The pilot, co-pilot, and/or other personnel may be required to visually and mentally digest and filter non-relevant information from the displayed procedures to focus on information that applies specifically to the operational situation at hand. For example, if the aircraft being flown is a category "C" aircraft, then information pertaining to the category "A", "B" and "D" aircraft is not needed by the pilot or co-pilot. As will be appreciated, this can significantly add to the cognitive workload of the pilot and/or co-pilot during normal flight operations and/or when performing a flight maneuver, such as a landing approach, in the aircraft.
Even within digital Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) devices, at least some known chart displays do not allow real-time user interaction to filter information, to alter displayed data, or to use real-time and current operational parameters to declutter displayed procedures automatically and dynamically. Thus, such charts still require users to cognitively filter out a relatively large amount of information that is not pertinent to the instant situation.

Systems and methods for displaying in-flight navigation procedures


To connect an external fuel line to an internal fuel line feeding an internal fuel manifold in a combustor of a gas turbine engine, a fitting includes a first joint half terminating the internal fuel line and a second joint half terminating the external fuel line; the joint halves being united to provide a threaded fluid joint. The first joint half is integrally formed with a cup-shaped reservoir containing the fluid joint and having an outwardly turned brim which is affixed to a combustor casing in surrounding relation to a casing hole. The reservoir thus serves to shunt mechanical loadings from the fluid joint and to collect any fuel leakage therefrom.

Conventional gas turbine engines include an annular combustor having a plurality of circumferentially spaced carburetors disposed in one and sometimes two domes positioned at the upstream end of the combustor. The combustor is mounted within an annular combustor casing and receives high temperature, high pressure air discharged by a compressor for mixture with fuel delivered by the carburetors and then ignited.
Typically, the fuel manifolds are mounted circumferentially about the exterior of the combustor casing with fuel stems penetrating the casing to convey fuel to the fuel injectors of the carburetors. The fuel manifolds feeding the individual fuel stems are necessarily large to accommodate their virtual 360.degree. extension about the casing periphery. Consequently, engine weight is increased due to the large diameter manifolds and elongated fuel stems. Additionally, the extensions of the fuel stems within the engine cause aerodynamic pressure drops as air flows through the outer liner passageway past the fuel stems.
To avoid these penalties, it has been proposed, as disclosed in the commonly assigned MacLean et al. pending application entitled "Gas Turbine Engine Fuel Manifold", Ser. No. 07/891,925 which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/642,780, filed Jan. 18, 1991, to mount the fuel manifolds internally of the combustor casing. Aside from the high temperature problems addressed by this copending application, there are other important considerations such as the mounting of the internal fuel manifolds, the attendant mis-matches in thermal growths, the reliability of the fluid couplings in the manifold feed lines, and the potential for fuel leaks and spillage which could lead to engine fires.


Voice instant messaging between mobile and computing devices is described. In an embodiment, a messaging service receives a recorded voice clip from a mobile communication-enabled device via a wireless communication link. The messaging service then processes the recorded voice clip for communication via a data network to a computing-based device that renders an audio message from the recorded voice clip. A virtual connection protocol manages and sequences transmission control protocol (TCP) connection events to provide reliable wireless transfer of recorded voice clip(s) via wireless communication link. The mobile communication-enabled device logs a first instant messaging contact into the messaging service, and the computing-based device logs a second instant messaging contact into the messaging service to enable two-way voice instant messaging between the first instant messaging contact and the second instant messaging contact at the respective devices.

Wireless wide area networks (WANs) pose considerable problems to providing efficient and reliable transport connection protocol (TCP) connectivity between a mobile device and an Internet service. A wireless connection can be unreliable and may frequently be lost due to poor wireless reception, lack of wireless coverage, a drained battery (in the mobile device), wireless WAN congestion, and other similar reasons. Additionally, the available bandwidth for a wireless connection is typically low (e.g., 20-30 kbps in 2.5G networks) and latency is typically high (e.g., greater than 700 ms in 2.5G networks).
When a wireless connection is lost while transferring a file or posting a photo from a camera-enabled phone to a blog, for example, the wireless connection needs to be re-established to complete the wireless transfer. In such a case, the wireless transfer needs to be re-started from the beginning after the wireless connection is re-established when the connection is lost. If the wireless connection is then lost multiple times, the wireless transfer has to be started over from the beginning multiple times in order to complete the transfer.
Binary large objects in a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) message can be separated utilizing SOAP Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM) which then uses Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) to package the XML and binary parts of the SOAP message for transfer. A SOAP message requires base64 encoding and the MIME encoding format allows for the transmission of binary rather than base64 encoded data. With MTOM, the base64 encoded binaries that are part of a SOAP message packet are transmitted separately. The MIME protocol is used to separate and then combine the separate binaries and the SOAP message. However, the MIME encoding format creates large encoded files which transfer slowly and are subject to interruption when a wireless connection is lost.


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device having electrodes penetrating a semiconductor substrate, the method includes the steps of forming a concave portion extending from an active surface of a semiconductor substrate on which an integrated circuit is formed to an interior of the semiconductor substrate, forming a first insulating layer on an inner surface of the concave portion, filling an inner side of the first insulating layer with an electroconductive material so as to form an electrode, exposing a distal end portion of the first insulating layer by etching a rear surface of the semiconductor substrate, forming a second insulating layer on a rear surface of the substrate, and exposing the distal end portion of the electrode by removing the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer from a distal end portion of the electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor, a semiconductor, a circuit substrate and an electronic apparatus and, in particular, to a semiconductor chip suitable for three-dimensional packaging and to a method of manufacturing the same.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Applications No. 2003-72337, filed Mar. 17, 2003, and No. 2003-76111, filed Mar. 19, 2003, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Reductions in size and weight are demanded in portable electronic apparatuses such as mobile telephones, notebook computers, and personal digital assistance (PDA).
Accompanying this, packaging space for semiconductor chips in the aforementioned electronic apparatuses is extremely restricted, and high density semiconductor chip packaging is a problem. Therefore, three-dimensional packaging technology such as that shown in, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-25948 has been devised. Three-dimensional packaging technology is a technology that achieves high density packaging of semiconductor chips by stacking semiconductor chips together, and connecting each semiconductor chip by wiring.
Here, FIG. 20 is a side cross-sectional view of stacked semiconductor chips, FIG. 21 is an enlarged view of the portion A in FIG. 20.
As shown in FIG. 20, a plurality of electrodes 234 are formed in each semiconductor chip 202 used in three-dimensional packaging technology. The electrodes 234 are formed so as to penetrate the semiconductor chip 202 from an electrode pad (not shown) formed in an active surface 210a of the semiconductor chip 202 to a rear surface 210b of the semiconductor chip 202. The portion of the electrode 234 that fills the through hole in the semiconductor chip 202 is called a plug portion, while the portion that protrudes at a front surface of the semiconductor chip 202 is called a post portion. Note that, in order to prevent short-circuits between signal wires and an earth, as shown in FIG. 21, an insulating film 222 is formed at an inner surface of the through hole 232 in the semiconductor chip.
As shown in FIG. 21, a solder layer 240 is formed at a top end surface of the post portion 235 of the electrode 234. The semiconductor chips 202a and 202b are stacked in a position such that the bottom surface of the plug portion 236 of the electrode 234 of the upper semiconductor chip 202a is placed on a top surface of the post portion 235 of the electrode 234 of the lower semiconductor chip 202b. Here, the semiconductor chips 202a and 202b are mutually compressed while the solder layer 240 is melted by reflow. As a result, a solder alloy is formed in the portion of contact between the solder layer 240 and the electrode 234, so that the two are mechanically and electrically bonded. The semiconductor chips 202a and 202b are thus connected by wiring.
However, there is a concern that the solder layer 240 that is melted by reflow will be deformed upwards along the outer circumference of the plug portion 36 of the electrode 234 of the upper semiconductor chip 202a, and will make contact with the rear surface 210b of the upper semiconductor chip 202a. This would cause the problem of short-circuiting occurring between the signal wiring and the ground as the signal wiring is connected to the solder layer 240 while the ground is connected to the rear surface 210b of the semiconductor chip 202a.
Moreover, the bottom surface of the plug portion 236 of the electrode 234 is exposed to the air in the semiconductor chip 202a before it is stacked. Therefore, if there is a lengthy time between the formation and the stacking of the semiconductor chip 202a, it is possible that the bottom surface of the plug portion 236 of the electrode 234 will become oxidized, and that the wettability thereof will deteriorate. In addition, if the semiconductor chip 202a is stacked with the electrode 234 in an oxidized state, it is difficult for solder alloy to be formed in the bond portion between the solder layer 240 and the electrode 234, thereby creating the problem of conduction failures occurring between electrodes. This results in there being a reduced yield of three-dimensionally packaged semiconductor devices.
The present invention was conceived in order to solve the above described problems and it is an object thereof to provide a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, a semiconductor device, a circuit substrate, and an electronic apparatus in which short circuiting between signal wiring and a ground is prevented, and in which the problem of conduction failures occurring between electrodes during stacking is prevented.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device, semiconductor device, circuit substrate and electronic apparatus


Disclosed are a simulation platform and a simulation method for leakage detection and treatment. The simulation platform includes a water tank open at the top, which is a holding device; simulation sand, which is laid at the bottom of the water tank, and the upper area of the simulation sand is the experimental water filling area for filling simulation water; a leakage simulation device, which is buried in the simulation sand; a plurality of electrodes, which are distributed on the simulation sand for collecting and sending potential and current signals to a data processing terminal; a hydraulic brake, which is arranged in the experimental water filling area and used for stirring the simulation water; the hydraulic brake is not turned on in the static water environment simulation, and is turned on in the dynamic water environment simulation.

There are many drinking water irrigation and natural rivers in China. In areas with freeze-thaw cycles and flood-prone areas, problems such as hollowing and cracks in riverbanks and riverbeds are easy to occur. Since 1990s, China began to build quite many hydropower stations. At present, there are more than 30 large-scale and super-large hydropower stations in operation, which more or less have problems such as leakage and side leakage during the 30 years of operation. There are many natural reservoirs and artificial reservoirs in China, which will lead to more or less inhomogeneity and incomplete geological conditions of address selection during the construction of artificial reservoirs, resulting in disasters. When natural reservoirs are affected by storms, earthquakes and other disasters, there will be cracks, uneven settlement and other problems.
At present, the detection technology and treatment methods for leakage in rivers, power stations, reservoirs, etc. are not perfect, especially the underwater detection technology needs to be further improved. However, laboratory simulation and experimental underwater detection technology for leakage in rivers, power stations, reservoirs, etc. are rarely mentioned. The patent with patent number CN202010242448.X discloses a simulation platform, an experimental system and a method for reservoir leakage detection experiment. The disclosed experimental platform for reservoir leakage detection cannot simulate the dynamic water environment such as rivers, but can only simulate the leakage at the bottom of reservoirs, and can't simulate the leakage at any position on the bottom and four walls of rivers, reservoirs, power stations, etc.; only simulates the leakage at the bottom of the reservoir, but does not involve the detecting test system of the leakage position, or the experimental simulation of the treatment of the leakage problem.

Simulation platform and simulation method for leakage detection and treatment


A card control unit for controlling a line card includes a detecting section, a collecting section, and an estimating section. The detecting section detects mounting of a module into a mounting port in the communication card equipped with multiple cages that each have a mounting port into which a module is removably mounted. When mounting of a module has been detected, the collecting section collects an environmental temperature around a mounting port into which the module has been mounted, a power consumption and specified temperature of the module, and thermal resistance information of a cage mounted with the module. The estimating section estimates an environmental temperature after activation of the module on the basis of the collected environmental temperature, power consumption, specified temperature, and thermal resistance information before the module of which the mounting has been detected is activated.

In recent years, with the increase in traffic, for example, on the Internet or the like, optical transmission devices are expected to achieve increase in data capacity and reduction in size. Line cards housed in an optical transmission device are each equipped with a cage, and multiple optical pluggable modules (hereinafter, referred to simply as "modules") are mounted in the cage. There are multiple types of modules, such as SFP (Small Form-factor Pluggable) modules, XFP (10G Form-factor Pluggable) modules, and CFP (100G Form-factor Pluggable) modules.
Standard specifications for the structure of a cage mounted with modules and the shape of the modules are defined, for example, in INF-8077i in the case of XFP modules and in CFP-MSA in the case of CFP modules. Therefore, modules compliant with standard specifications can be removably mounted into mounting ports in a cage.
However, there exist a variety of modules depending on support conditions, such as a transmission distance and an internal function. For example, XFP modules range in power consumption from 1 to 6 W depending on specifications. Furthermore, CFP modules range in power consumption from 8 to 32 W depending on specifications. Therefore, an amount of generated heat varies according to power consumptions of modules mounted on a line card housed in an optical transmission device, and thus internal device environmental temperature also varies significantly.
Furthermore, a tolerable standard temperature of internal device environmental temperature is set in the optical transmission device, and the optical transmission device adjusts the environmental temperature to be less than or equal to the standard temperature. Specifically, the optical transmission device is equipped with an air-cooling fan for cooling the inside of the device, and adjusts the internal device environmental temperature by controlling the fan. Incidentally, the flow of air from the fan in the optical transmission device depends on the structure and installation position of a cage regardless of whether a module has been mounted in the cage or whether the module has been activated. An example of related art is described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-157305, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-182786 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-18309.
In an optical transmission device, internal device environmental temperature varies according to a power consumption of a mounted module; however, it is difficult to determine whether the internal device environmental temperature is less than or equal to a specified internal device temperature, until the module is actually mounted and activated.

Monitoring control device, monitoring control method, and recording medium


A method of routing an interconnect metal layer of an integrated circuit, wherein single-width nets are replicated and routed in parallel to reduce the total resistance on the net; wide wires are decomposed into a several single-width wires routed in parallel to improve uniformity of metal interconnect routing and therefore manufacturability of metal interconnect layers. The decomposition step is performed during a preliminary wire route after initial physical placement. Access to pin shapes is ensured through a branching and a recombination of the parallel single-width wires. Separate wire segments are rejoined at the source and sink of the net. The parallel wire segments do not change the logic behavior of the circuit.

The present invention is applicable in manufacturing various types of semiconductor devices, which comprise a semiconductor wafer substrate, usually of doped monocrystalline silicon (Si), having at least one active device region or component (e.g., an MOS type transistor, a diode, etc.) formed thereon, and a plurality of sequentially formed inter-layer dielectrics (ILDs) and patterned conductive interconnect layers. With the above mentioned components, an integrated circuit is formed containing a plurality of patterns of conductive lines separated by interwiring spacings, and a plurality of interconnection lines, such as bus lines, bit lines, word lines, and logic interconnect lines. Typically, the conductive patterns of vertically spaced metal layers are electrically interconnected by a vertically oriented conductive metal plug structure known as a "VIA." A via is formed in the ILD separating the metal layers, while another conductive plug filling a contact area hole establishes Ohmic contact with an active region, such as a source or drain region of an MOSFET formed on the semiconductor substrate. Conductive lines formed in groove or trench—like openings in overlying dielectric layers extend substantially parallel to the semiconductor substrate and may include five or more metal levels in order to satisfy device geometry and scaling requirements.
In sub-micron process technologies, automated router tools are used to produce the physical routing structures in the metal layers. However, a number of design constraints limit the wireability of many chip designs due to redundancy requirements and various post processing steps intended to increase manufacturing yield. For example, to reduce the incidence of non-planar metal shapes in a design, a wide wire may be decomposed into several narrower wires. Post processing steps may include "cheese" and "fill," which address manufacturing problems associated with non-planarity and metal density. EP 0 982 774 describes a problem known as "dishing," which occurs in wide metal shapes. Dishing is a condition where an indentation, depression or dip is formed in the central portion of the wire. In the case where a wire shape includes a large lateral extension, the solution proposed by EP 0 982 774 replaces the wide wire with a plurality of narrower wires to achieve improved planarity of the wire surfaces. For some cases the narrower wires have lateral extensions that are still quite large and may still be characterized as "wide" wires for a given process technology. However, decomposition of a wide wire into a plurality of narrower width wires consumes additional wiring channels because the same overall current density and electro-migration requirements must be met for the decomposed wire.
Of course, the routed metal structures become more complex as more wires are routed per unit area. In many current designs, the majority of internal signals are routed using narrow single width wires. Consequently, new technical problems in manufacturing emerge in far smaller scale than mentioned above in context with EP 0 982 774. Very often the above-referenced metal shapes in a given plane are quite irregular in sub-micron process technologies. Those skilled in the art recognize that an irregular routing structure in small geometries is detrimental to manufacturing yield. This is due to optical effects, which reduce the resolution of the wire edge shapes. This is particularly true of wire ends, corners, or in metal shapes having complex geometries included in the routing structure. In short, manufacturing yield improves dramatically when metal layers exhibit uniform and predictable layout patterns. Accordingly, EP 0 982 774 does not address the critical manufacturing concerns associated with current process technologies.
One ideal solution would be to cover every routing track with a wire of identical width and spacing to its neighbours, thereby creating very regular metals structures. This, of course, is not possible as it would defeat the very purpose of routing a chip, which is to connect certain pins with each other, without creating electrical connections to pins that are not meant to be connected to a given wire.
FIG. 1 depicts a schematic zoom view of an exemplary section of chip wiring, in which the wiring structure shows wide wire 10, first signal wire 12, and second signal wire 14. All wires are arranged in parallel to each other. In general, wide wire 10 is typically about 50 times wider than the narrow signal wires 12 and 14. Two empty wiring tracks 16E-F are depicted adjacent to wires 12 and 14, and shown in FIG. 2 as fill shapes 21-23, as discussed infra.
FIG. 1A illustrates an isolated section of a wiring grid with wires 10, 13 and 14; wiring channels 16A-D; and spaces between wires 15. The term "wiring" is meant to comprise any collection of wire elements. A single "wire" is understood to be a single segment and mostly longitudinal conductive layer. The narrowest width wires for a given process technology and yield requirement form a characteristic geometric unit defined in the design ground rules for chip wiring. Such wires are considered as "single" objects, and are referred to as "single width wires," which are depicted as 12 or 14 in FIGS. 1 to 6. Wide wires may also be defined as, for example, wire 10, which is intended to be a "double-wide" wire as compared to wire 12.
Wiring tracks 16A-F represent imaginary lines associated with the physical wire shape—whether for a single width wire or larger. The wire tracks typically form a grid having constant minimum space between adjacent wire pairs as defined in the design ground rules for a given process technology. The grid layout of the tracks corresponds to the maximum attainable density for single width wires. However, wide wires, such as wire 10 consume multiple wiring tracks.
A wire grid consisting of an array of single width wires exhibits identical spacing between adjacent wires as shown in FIG. 1A. Wire space 15 represents the minimum space allowed between the edges of adjacent wires 12 and 14. The separation between adjacent, parallel wirings tracks is often twice the width of the wire as measured from the centerline to centerline of the wire tracks. The wire pitch is defined as the minimum distance between adjacent wire tracks.
FIG. 2 shows a prior art approach to eliminating irregular routing structures that fill up unused wiring tracks 16 with "fill" patterns, which are sometimes connected to ground or to the supply voltage. In FIG. 2, the wiring shapes include fill patterns 21-23, to illustrate how fill shapes are combined with wire shapes to achieve uniform density in regions of the metal layer where not all wiring channels are utilized for signal routing.
The drawback of the approach shown in FIG. 2 is that fill patterns 21-23 may add switching capacitance to signal wires 12 and 14 and therefore increase the signal propagation time for the adjacent signal wires. Another disadvantage in the case of grounded fill patterns, is that shorts between signal wires and the adjacent grounded fill patterns can lead to a physical defect on the chip, which can limit manufacturing yield.

Regular routing for deep sub-micron chip design

International Business Machines Corporation


Unnecessary moment in a vibrator is remarkably reduced and the power generation efficiency in capacitance-type vibrational power generation is remarkably improved. A vibrator provided in a variable-capacitance type vibrator has a structure in that one ends of oscillation plates extending in a longitudinal direction thereof sandwiches a mass and the other ends thereof sandwiches a spacer, respectively, wherein the oscillation plates are arranged parallel to each other. A space portion between the oscillation plates and in which the mass and the spacer are not in contact with each other functions as a spring. By holding the mass by the two oscillation plates, the mass can be oscillated while it is in parallel to an opposing electrode. Therefore, generation of unnecessary moment in a direction other than an oscillation direction can be remarkably reduced.

The present invention relates to a power generation technology for converting mechanical vibrational energy into electric energy, and particularly to a technique effectively applied to variable-capacitance type vibrational power generation in which variable capacitances are changed by the vibrational energy to perform power generation.
For example, IEEE Trans. VLSI Systems, pp. 64–76, Vol. 9, no. 1, 2001 (Non-patent Document 1) discloses a technique for performing power generation by the vibrational energy, the technique in which: electrodes are provided at a fixed end of a vibrator operating in resonance with the vibrational energy; a variable capacitance capable of realizing valiance of capacitance by changing a distance between the electrodes depending on the operation of the vibrator is used; electric charges are applied to the electrodes of the variable capacitance; the Coulomb attraction is exerted between the opposing electrodes through the electric charges; and energy obtained by its work which the operation of the vibrator does against the attraction is converted into electric energy.
[Non-patent Document 1]
IEEE Trans. VLSI Systems, pp. 64–76, Vol. 9, no. 1, 2001.

Vibrational power generation device vibrator


An antenna may include a volume polarization current radiator and a feed network. The volume polarization current radiator, includes a dielectric solid (such as a dielectric strip), and a plurality of closely-spaced excitation elements (24), each excitation element (24) being configured to induce a volume polarization current distribution in the dielectric solid proximate to the excitation element when a voltage is applied to the excitation element. The feed network is coupled to the volume polarization current radiator. The feed network also includes a plurality of passive power divider elements (32) and a plurality of passive delay elements (d1-d6) coupling the first port (30) and the plurality of second ports (108, 109, 164), the plurality of power divider elements (32) and the plurality of phase delay elements (d1-d6) being configured such that a radio-frequency signal that is applied to the first port (30) experiences a progressive change of phase as it is coupled to the plurality of second ports (108, 109, 164) so as to cause the volume polarization current distribution to propagate along the dielectric solid.

Passive feed networks have been known to be combined with discrete-element antenna arrays. These known antenna arrays typically have dipole or patch radiating elements. By providing a progressive, constant-difference phase shift to the point-source radiating elements, a beam pattern produced by the antenna may be steered from perpendicular with respect to the antenna face.
Such known steerable arrays typically have from 5-15 discrete radiating elements. Some antenna arrays may have more radiating elements. However, the dipole or patch radiating elements are discrete radiating elements. They are typically driven separately, and operate as point sources. Additionally, the dipole or patch radiating elements generate an electromagnetic field by surface current.
Another type of antenna comprises a strip of dielectric with a series of polarization devices. Each polarization device may comprise, for example, a pair of electrodes separated by the dielectric. As the electrodes are driven, a displacement current occurs in the dielectric. This displacement (or volume polarization) current within the dielectric radiates an electromagnetic field. Thus, this type of element is considered a volume polarization source of electromagnetic radiation. The volume polarization current distribution may be caused to propagate by appropriate sequencing of the energization of the polarization devices. Known volume source arrays have elements that are driven by individual amplifiers. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,125,385, which is incorporated by reference.
Volume polarization current sources of electromagnetic radiation whose distribution patterns move faster than light in vacuum have been experimentally realized. One example of a superluminal source that has already been constructed and tested functions by producing a polarization current with a rotating distribution pattern in a ring-shaped dielectric (such as alumina); by a phase-controlled excitation of voltages applied to electrodes that surround the dielectric, the polarization pattern can be set in motion with superluminal speed and centripetal acceleration. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2006/0192504; see also, U.S. application Ser. No. 13/368,200, titled "Superluminal Antenna" and filed on Feb. 7, 2012, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference. These devices produce tightly-focused packets of electromagnetic radiation fundamentally different from the emissions of conventional sources.
Once a source travels faster than light with acceleration, it can make contributions at multiple retarded times to a signal received instantaneously at a distance. For those volume elements of an extended source that approach the observation point, along the radiation direction, with the speed of light and zero acceleration, these multiple contributions coalesce and give rise to a focusing of the received waves in the time domain: the interval of observation time during which a particular set of wave fronts is received is considerably shorter than the interval of retarded time during which the same set of waves is emitted by such source elements. As a result, part of the emitted radiation possesses an intensity that decays nonspherically with the distance d from the source: as 1/d rather than as the conventional inverse square law, 1/d2. This does not contravene the conservation of energy. The constructively interfering waves from the particular set of elements responsible for the nonspherically decaying signal at a given observation point constitute a beam that narrows with distance. The area subtended by the beam increases as d, rather than d2, so that the flux of energy remains the same across all cross sections of the beam. In that it consists of caustics and so is constantly dispersed and reconstructed out of other waves, the beam in question is, of course, radically different from a conventional radiation beam.
Another example of a superluminal source is one for which the polarization distribution pattern moves rectilinearly. In one example, the polarization distribution pattern moves with an acceleration that increases linearly with its displacement from a negative to a positive value. When its speed exceeds the speed of light in vacuo on the plane where its acceleration vanishes, this source, too, generates an emission whose intensity diminishes as 1/d. The morphology of the nonspherically decaying radiation beam generated by the present source is very different from that of the radiation beam that is generated by a centripetally accelerated superluminal source. While the beam generated by a rotating superluminal source consists of a collection of nondiffracting subbeams that are observable over a wide solid angle, in the present case, the nonspherically decaying component of the radiation propagates into a narrowing beam at a fixed angle relative to the direction of motion of the source. This beam is nondiffracting in one dimension: its angular width normal to the direction of motion of the source decreases as 1/d, instead of being constant, so that its cross sectional area increases as d, rather than d2, with the distance d from the source.
Heretofore, these examples of superluminal sources were generated by amplifiers individually driving each polarization device of a radiating source. The large number of amplifiers increases the cost and may adversely affect mean time before failure (MTBF) of such sources.

Feed network and electromagnetic radiation source


The present invention provides methods and compositions comprising at least one isoprene synthase enzyme with improved specific productivity. In particular, the present invention provides variant plant isoprene synthases for increased isoprene production in host cells.

Isoprenoids are isoprene polymers that find use in pharmaceuticals, neutraceuticals, flavors, fragrances, and rubber products. Natural isoprenoid supplies, however, are limited due to ecological concerns. For this reason, and to provide isoprenoid compositions having fewer impurities and greater uniformity, isoprenoids such as rubber are often produced synthetically.
Isoprene(2-methyl-1,3-butadiene) is a volatile hydrocarbon that is insoluble in water and soluble in alcohol. Commercially viable quantities of isoprene can be obtained by direct isolation from petroleum C5 cracking fractions or by dehydration of C5 isoalkanes or isoalkenes (Weissermel and Arpe, Industrial Organic Chemistry, 4th ed., Wiley-VCH, pp. 117-122, 2003). The C5 skeleton can also be synthesized from smaller subunits. It would be desirable, however, to have a commercially viable method of producing isoprene that was independent of nonrenewable resources.
Biosynthetic production of isoprene occurs by two distinct metabolic pathways (Julsing et al., Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 75:1377-1384, 2007). In eukaryotes and archae, isoprene is formed via the mevalonate (MVA) pathway, while some eubacteria and higher plants produce isoprene via the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway. Isoprene emissions from plants are light and temperature-dependent with increases linked to leaf development. An isoprene-producing enzyme, isoprene synthase, has been identified in Aspen trees (Silver and Fall, Plant Physiol, 97:1588-1591, 1991; and Silver and Fall, J Biol Chem, 270:13010-13016, 1995) and is believed to be responsible for the in vivo production of isoprene from whole leaves. Bacterial production of isoprene has also been described (Kuzma et al., Curr Microbiol, 30:97-103, 1995; and Wilkins, Chemosphere, 32:1427-1434, 1996), and varies in amount with the phase of bacterial growth and the nutrient content of the culture medium (U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,970 to Fall et al.; and Wagner et al., J Bacteriol, 181:4700-4703, 1999). The levels of isoprene obtainable through bacterial systems of the prior art, however, are insufficient for commercial uses.
Thus what the art needs is an efficient, large scale isoprene biological production process to provide feedstock for the manufacture of isoprenoids.
All patents, patent applications, articles and publications mentioned herein are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Isoprene synthase variants for improved production of isoprene


Augmenting real-time views of a patient with three-dimensional (3D) data. In one embodiment, a method may include identifying 3D data for a patient with the 3D data including an outer layer and multiple inner layers, determining virtual morphometric measurements of the outer layer from the 3D data, registering a real-time position of the outer layer of the patient in a 3D space, determining real-time morphometric measurements of the outer layer of the patient, automatically registering the position of the outer layer from the 3D data to align with the registered real-time position of the outer layer of the patient in the 3D space using the virtual morphometric measurements and using the real-time morphometric measurements, and displaying, in an augmented reality (AR) headset, one of the inner layers from the 3D data projected onto real-time views of the outer layer of the patient.

Augmented reality (AR) systems generally take a user's live view of a real-world environment and augment that view with computer-generated virtual elements such as video, sound, or graphics. As a result, AR systems function to enhance a user's current perception of reality.
One common problem faced by AR systems is accurately aligning the position of a virtual element with a live view of a real-world environment. This alignment process is often done manually or is done automatically only after manual placement of non-anatomical fiducials. In either case, the manual process can be time consuming, cumbersome, and inaccurate.
Another common problem faced by AR systems is proper placement of virtual controls for managing virtual elements. Virtual controls, while intended to aide a user in interacting with virtual elements, are often placed in positions in the live view that render them more of a hindrance than a help to the user.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Augmenting real-time views of a patient with three-dimensional data


An air bag, when inflated, is in the form of a substantially rectangular bag having a front edge, two side edges, and a rear edge. The air bag is folded in such a manner that the front edge approaches the rear edge and the two side edges are each folded inwardly at predetermined intervals, forming first creases which lie perpendicular to the side edge portions, and a pair of opposing walls located between the front and rear edges which are each folded inwardly at predetermined intervals, forming second creases which are positioned perpendicular to the side edges and are continuous with the first creases.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an air bag and a folding method that will permit an air bag device to be desirably inflated when necessary. In particular, the invention concerns an air bag for side collision protection which is arranged between a passenger and a vehicle wall such as a door.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, passenger air bags and driver side collision air bags (hereinafter referred to as "a side collision air bag", when applicable) have been formed by sewing two pieces of cloth material which are substantially rectangular. Hence, the air bag is substantially rectangular when inflated. The air bag is connected to the inflator of the air bag device, and folded down, and accommodated in a seat or similar structure.
The air bag is folded down according to a folding method so that it will be quickly inflated (cf. Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 5-139238).
In the folding method as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, which is a form of telescoping procedure, the front end portion 3 of the air bag, which moves outwardly upon inflation in an emergency, is pushed inwardly towards the rear end portion 2 of the air bag; that is, it is inserted into the rear end portion 2. This operation is repeatedly carried out, so that the front end portion 3 of the air bag is folded down while being shrunk. Hence, it is difficult to mechanically fold the air bag, and it is necessary to fold down manually.
As described above, the front end portion 3 is pushed into the rear end portion 3, and this pushing operation must be carried out repeatedly. In addition, the front end portion 3 is equal both in outside diameter and in inside diameter to the rear end portion. Hence, the manual folding operation requires many man-hours and additional time to couple the folded air bag to the body of the air bag device. Accordingly, the resultant air bag device has high manufacturing costs.

Folded air bag and air bag folding method


A process for production of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane comprising chlorination of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-chloroethane with chlorine gas in the presence or absence of a metal salt as a catalyst.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the production of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane. Particularly, the present invention relates to a process for the 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane comprising chlorination of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-chloroethane with chlorine gas in the presence or absence of a metal salt as a catalyst.
2. Description of the Related Art
1,1,1-Trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane is expected to replace trichlorofluoromethane, since it does not decompose ozone in the stratosphere. Thus, it is desirable to develop an economical process for the production of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane.
Several processes for the production of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane have been already proposed. For example, Czechoslovakian Patent No. 136,735 and Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 222038/1983 describe a process comprising reduction of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2,2-trichloroethane. Japanese Patent Publication No. 27375/1986 describes a process comprising isomerization of 1,1,2-trifluoro-1,2-dichloroethane. U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,477 describes a process comprising fluorination of ethylene tetrachloride. Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 82711/1978 describes a process comprising photo chlorination of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-chloroethane. McBee describes a process comprising chlorination of 1,1,1-trifluoroethane in J. Ind. Eng. Chem., 39, 409, (1947).
However, from a point of view of the economical production, the above known processes for the production of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane are not necessarily suitable since the yield and selectivity through such processes are not sufficiently high.
McBee describes that 1,1,1-trifluoroethane, which is a compound which is similar to a starting material for the production of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane, reacts at reaction temperature of 485.degree. C. with chlorine at molar ratio of 1:1. Under these conditions, the conversion of 1,1,1-trifluoroethane has been 50%. The product through this process contains 22.5% of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane and 41.8% of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2,2-trichloroethane. It is reported that, judging from the fact that the amounts of the compounds of which all hydrogen atoms are replaced with chlorine atoms have been increased, the chlorination rate increases, as the chlorination proceeds, or, as the number of hydrogen atoms replaced with chlorine atoms increases.
Accordingly, the above report indicates that the molar ratio of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2,2-trichloroethane to 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane is more than 1, that is, 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2,2-trichloroethane produced in always more than 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane.

Process for production of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-dichloroethane


The present invention provides a funnel collector for use with a sample testing device. The funnel collector collects and holds a fluid sample in order to place the sample in immediate contact with a diagnostic test strip, which reacts with the sample in a known fashion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for collecting, processing and analyzing a liquid specimen in a fully integrated system. In particular, the present invention relates to a funnel collector for use with a sample testing device.
2. Description of Related Art
Diagnostic testing throughout the world is currently carried out using a variety of different specimen types. Many of the samples tested, such as whole blood, serum, oral fluid, plasma, cerebrospinal fluid and others, are liquid.
Testing for infectious diseases under laboratory conditions typically involves use of a blood serum specimen obtained by removing the blood cells from an intravenous blood sample by centrifugation. The sample is first drawn from the patient by a trained phlebotomist. The serum sample so obtained is then tested under laboratory conditions using one of a number of methodologies, such as Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA), Immunofluorescence (IFA), Latex Agglutination (LA), or any of a number of automated instrument platforms employing chemiluminescence, fluorescence or other sensitive technologies. As there are other known diagnostic technologies in place, this is by no mean an exhaustive list.
Although serum testing under laboratory conditions has traditionally constituted the technique of choice, there is now a growing trend to move testing closer to the patient and use alternative specimen matrices such as whole blood and others. In other words, the sample is drawn from the patient, processed and analyzed more rapidly, often while the patient is still in attendance. The recent advance known as "near-patient" or "point-of-care" testing has caused a major shift in the way testing is done. Statistics show growth of over 20% per annum in this mode of testing for each of the last four years.
Such growth in this mode of testing has resulted in the increased use of alternate specimen types (e.g. whole-blood or oral fluid) not requiring the use of trained phlebotomists or additional steps to separate red blood cells from the required specimen. Rather, the sample can be drawn from the patient and processed directly. As a consequence, results can now be obtained, analyzed and conveyed to the patient while the patient or subject is still in the presence of the healthcare provider. This avoids the need for repeat patients or the need for the patient to contact the healthcare provider at a future time to obtain their test results.
Point-of-care (POC) testing therefore offers the advantage of giving the physician (and, if the physician chooses, the patient) immediate results, in contrast to conventional testing, where there is a waiting period, that could be anywhere from several hours to weeks, during which the specimens are transported to a laboratory testing facility, processed, and results sent to the physician.
It is standard in the industry to confirm infectious disease test results by repeat testing, often by a more sensitive methodology, especially when the testing is for potentially life-threatening diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, and so on. This applies regardless of whether the testing is performed in a laboratory or at the point-of-care. The second test used to confirm the result of the primary test is known as a "confirmatory" or "confirmation" test and typically uses a different methodology to confirm a diagnosis or otherwise. For instance in HIV diagnostics, Western Blot or ELISA methods may be used. In all instances a second specimen will be required. Owing to the serious nature of such testing, anything that can expedite sample processing is of tremendous importance.
In the case of laboratory testing, there may be sufficient specimen material remaining from the initial blood draw to carry out confirmation testing.
However, no rapid (in-office) tests are known which include a mechanism to collect a specimen for confirmatory testing at the time of the first patient visit to the healthcare facility.

Sample testing device with funnel collector


A power supply including: a reserve power source for providing power, the reserve power source including: a liquid reserve battery which requires activation to produce power; an activator having a liquid electrolyte for activating the liquid reserve battery upon a mechanical activation such that the liquid electrolyte is forced from the activator into the liquid reserve battery through a communication between the activator and the liquid reserve battery; a pair of terminals operatively connected to the liquid reserve battery for outputting the produced power; and a mechanical stop for preventing the activator from activating the liquid reserve battery, the stop being selectively removable when activation is desired. Where the activator includes a container having the liquid electrolyte contained therein and the activator further includes: a top and a bellow attached on one end to the top and to a portion of the liquid reserve battery at an other end.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to very long lasting reserve power sources for powering devices, such as emergency medical devices and their means of activation and electrical storage and regulation, and more particularly to provide highly reliable reserve power sources for automated external defibrillators and the like.
2. Prior Art
An automated external defibrillator or AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular fibrillation in a patient, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm. AEDs are designed to be simple to use for the layman, and the use of AEDs is taught in many first aid, first responder and basic life support (BLS) level CPR classes. Uncorrected, these cardiac conditions (ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, asystole) rapidly lead to irreversible brain damage and death. After approximately three to five minutes, irreversible brain/tissue damage may begin to occur.
An AED is external because the operator applies the electrode pads to the bare chest of the victim, as opposed to internal defibrillators, which have electrodes surgically implanted inside the body of a patient. Automatic refers to the unit's ability to autonomously analyze the patient condition, and to assist this, the vast majority of units have spoken prompts, and some may also have visual displays to instruct the user.
The first commercially available AEDs were all of a monophasic type, which gave a high-energy shock, up to 360 to 400 Joules depending on the model. This caused increased cardiac injury and in some cases second and third-degree burns around the shock pad sites. Newer AEDs have tended to utilize biphasic algorithms which give two sequential lower-energy shocks of 120-200 joules, with each shock moving in an opposite polarity between the pads. This lower-energy waveform has proven more effective in clinical tests, as well as offering a reduced rate of complications and reduced recovery time.
Most manufacturers recommend checking the AED before every period of duty or on a regular basis for fixed units. Some units need to be switched on in order to perform a self check; other models have a self check system built in with a visible indicator.
Almost all portable AEDs, like those mounted on walls of offices, schools, airports, etc., are powered by regular primary or rechargeable batteries. The amount of charge available by such batteries and their performance, however, deteriorates over time. This is particularly a problem with AEDs provided for use in offices, schools and other public and private places, which may be used only once every several years. Such AEDs may very seldom be tested to ensure that their batteries can still be fully functional and the tests without the full load may not be reliable.
For an emergency medical device such as an AED, it is therefore highly desirable to provide power sources that are very long lasting without any degradation of their performance—preferably over the practical life of the device—and that can very reliably and rapidly provide adequate enough of electrical energy to power such medical devices.
In the disclosed embodiments of the medical devices such as AEDs, the power sources that are equipped with at least one reserve battery (such as the so-called liquid reserve or thermal battery with shelf life of up to 20 years or even longer) are utilized to ensure that the device can be powered reliably with the required amount of power in emergency situations.


Disclosed is a temperature stabilized aqueous wettability composition and method of use for the recovery of petroleum from subterranean formulations. Said aqueous wettability composition comprises a polyethylene oxide nonionic surfactant, a disulfonated anionic surfactant, and one or more alcohol.

There is a challenge in subterranean petroleum recovery to extract as much petroleum from a subterranean formation as possible. After primary and secondary recovery, the oil field still contains 50 to 80 percent of the oil originally in place. The efficiency of the methods of primary and secondary recovery is limited by two factors: The scale of the pores, the crude oil can reach a sufficiently low residual saturation found as discontinuous cells, trapped by capillary forces. The scale of the site, there are certain areas in which the fluid injected during secondary recovery does not penetrate, because of the low permeability of these zones.
Currently, methods for enhanced oil recovery involve one or more of these factors and the use of chemical products as wettability modifiers. Wettability modifiers are defined as a surfactants capable of changing the affinity of reservoir rock in favorable manner. The wettability is a measure of the interaction between the phases present in the reservoir and is a function of interfacial chemistry of these phases and determines the tendency of a fluid for moving or adhering to a solid surface in the presence of other immiscible fluids. The wettability of a rock can be naturally modified by adsorption of polar compounds, the formation of deposits of organic material that is originally in the oil, or by external agents. Changes in the wettability affect capillary pressure, relative permeability, residual oil saturation, and irreducible water saturation. Additionally, and equally important, is the recognition that the confinement of the fluid substantially modifies the behavior of their phases with respect to its properties in the bulk.
There are a variety of specific types of chemicals that have been used to solve these problems, within which are anionic surfactants such as sodium alkyl sulfonates, but unfortunately their application is not universal. Globally, because of the wide range of temperatures where such chemicals are employed, stability issues may arise. It is known that the solubility of nonionic surfactants in water decreases with temperature and that a nonionic surfactant eventually becomes insoluble when reaching what is known as a cloud point temperature. Reduced solubility at low temperatures often results in aqueous anionic surfactant solutions becoming turbid. Once a solution becomes turbid, phase separation can result producing high viscosity and/or gelling problems. Such viscosity and/or gelling problems can adversely affect the transportation, use, and/or storage of aqueous anionic surfactants at low temperatures.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide aqueous wettability compositions, especially aqueous anionic surfactant wettability compositions, which have good stability at low temperatures; for example, at −5° C. or lower in winter in accordance with storage and use conditions.

Low-temperature stabilized surfactant blend for enhanced oil recovery