A neural interface arrangement has multiple probes for subdural implantation into or onto a human brain. Each probe has at least one sensing electrode, a coil for receiving power via inductive coupling, signal processing circuitry coupled to the electrode(s), and a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting data signals arising from the electrode(s). An array of coils is implanted above the dura beneath the skull, for inductively coupling with the coil of each probe, and for transmitting power to the probes. A primary coil is connected to the coil array, for inductively coupling with an external transmitter device, and for receiving power from the external transmitter device. In use, the primary coil is operable to receive power from the external transmitter device by inductive coupling and to cause the coil array to transmit power to the probes by inductive coupling, and the probes wirelessly transmit data signals arising from the electrodes.

Being able to control devices with our thoughts (i.e. to provide a motor interface between the brain and an external device) is a concept that has long captured the imagination. Neural Interfaces or Brain Machine Interfaces (BMIs) are devices that aim to do precisely this. For more than half a century neuroscientists have recorded the characteristic action potentials (spikes) generated by cortical neurons in order to understand how information is represented and transmitted through the nervous system. Until recently, these experiments involved sampling small numbers of neurons over short sessions of a few hours, but with advances in microtechnology we can now record from hundreds of neurons over many weeks, months or even years. The fact that such technology has enabled us to transition from experimental work on rodents, to monkeys, to human applications, in such a short time is a testament to the scientific and neurotechnology communities. These efforts are now inspiring new translational efforts to develop such technology to communicate directly with the nervous system for therapeutic benefit. For example, neural signals from the motor cortex of paralysed patients have been used to operate assistive devices such as computers and robotic prostheses in respect of monkeys (Velliste, 2008) and humans (Hochberg, 2012). The impact of similar devices has already been demonstrated in sensory and cognitive prostheses, for example, cochlear implants for the deaf, and deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy for Parkinson's disease and dystonia.
The present inventors have identified a number of shortcomings and other considerations in respect of existing BMI devices, as follows: Channel Count: The trend has been to increase the number (and density) of recording channels, by scaling electrodes and electronics through exploiting modern micro-technologies, inspired by Moore's law (Stevenson, 2011). Silicon probes such as Utah (Campbell, 1991) and Michigan probes (Najafi, 1985) are currently the workhorse in experimental labs using either off-the-shelf electronics, e.g. Intan Tech. (Harrison, 2003); custom integrated circuits, e.g. (Lopez, 2013); or benchtop/rack-mounted instrumentation. Despite this increasing number of recording channels, the increase in decoded information rate is not linear; in fact, this appears to be logarithmically proportional (Baranauskas, 2014). This means, that in order to achieve information quality that is sufficient for motor control, recording systems will require orders of magnitude more recording channels, i.e. 1000s. Such large numbers of channels are not achievable with pre-existing systems, for which the number of channels is limited to the order of 100.
Neural Signal Processing: There is currently an open debate as to which data to use for achieving the best decoding strategy (Todorova, 2014). For each channel, this can utilise data from: (1) the local field potential; (2) all detected spikes; (3) all sorted spikes; (4) selected sorted spikes (based on most 'relevant' neurons). It has been demonstrated that both spikes but also local field activity can be used to decode cortical activity (Bansal, 2012). Spike sorting is a process that is typically applied to recorded offline data to ascertain from which neuron each spike has originated. For each recording, this involves detecting when all the spikes occur, then for each spike extracting specific features which are then used to classify the spikes. To achieve good sensitivity (i.e. classification accuracy) is challenging and is often a laborious task requiring manual supervision. State-of-the-art unsupervised algorithms use expectation maximisation for correlated recordings, e.g. using tetrodes (Harris, 2000) or super-paramagnetic clustering (Quiroga, 2004) but are too complex to process in real-time for multiple channels. Recently, a number of hardware-efficient methods have been proposed (Gibson, 2013) (Williams, 2015) but these require training and/or user calibration to achieve good accuracy.
Stability of Extracellular Recordings: A key challenge in in-vivo recording of single unit activity has been to maintain stable (consistent and reliable) recordings chronically (over months and ideally years). Most often, it is observed that the single unit activity (i.e. spike waveforms) "fade" over a period of days to weeks until the spiking activity is indistinguishable from the noise. There are several underlying mechanisms for this, including tissue damage, gliosis (scar tissue growth), electrode movement, electrode degradation, etc. (Polikov, 2005) Given that the electrode needs to be in close proximity (up to 100-200 microns) to the neuron in order to clearly observe a signal, any microscopic changes in the local environment will affect the signal quality. Local field potentials, on the other hand, rely on a lower frequency signal that is generated by the local network activity (including several neurons spreading several hundreds of microns—e.g. 500 μm to 1 mm across) (Buzsaki, 2012) and as such are typically significantly more stable (than observing single unit activity) to microscopic changes. (Flint, 2013) Furthermore, it has recently been shown that local field potential recordings can be used to predict single unit activity, demonstrating that the same underlying information is present. (Hall, 2014)
Power and Communication: This poses a unique challenge for all active implanted devices, as it is highly undesirable to have any percutaneous connections (i.e. wires through the skin). All such devices thus have a transcutaneous link that typically utilises near-field (i.e. inductive) coupling for power delivery and data telemetry. Additionally, an implanted battery (either rechargeable or not) may be an option depending on the lifetime and power requirements of the device. In designing such a telemetry there are multiple conflicting trade-offs, for example, a low frequency carrier is often desirable for power transfer (to reduce EM absorption and avoid undesirable heating), but this opposes requirements for a high data rate communication. This remains a key challenge for emerging applications that require relatively high data rates such as retinal prosthetics (streaming images) and BMIs. There have been several proposed solutions in the literature, including novel modulation schemes (Kiani, 2013a), multi-coil inductive coupling (Kiani, 2013b), ultrawideband (Chae, 2009) and optical transmission (Liu, 2014).
Electrodes, Interconnects and Packaging: It is often due to mechanical failure/biocompatibility that implanted devices fail in chronic deployment and this therefore dictates the overall viability. Key challenges here include the integrity of packaging (hermeticity and biocompatibility), electrode stability (due to gliosis) and interconnect reliability (wires breaking).
Microelectrodes: The majority of high density penetrating probes are typically rigid, silicon-based (Campbell, 1991) (Najafi, 1985) with electrodes patterned using an inert metal (e.g. platinum, iridium). Although these are used extensively in experimental work and can provide excellent short term, highly localised recordings, their long-term stability in chronic experiments or for human use has proved challenging. This is in part due to mechanical issues: (1) tissue damage caused when implanting sharp, rigid probes implanted into a soft tissue; (2) electrodes will inevitably move/rub on tissue over time. This results in a build up of glial cells which 'encapsulates' the electrode, thus effectively screening the electrical signal. On the other hand, larger, non-penetrating electrodes that have been used more chronically tend to be on a soft, flexible substrate, e.g. cuff electrodes. Such electrodes have also started emerging for also intracortical applications, including a soft parylene sheath electrode (Hara, 2013), a hybrid partially flexible parylene/silicon probe (Kim, 2014), and a flexible 'sinusoidal' silicon probe (Sohal, 2014). Furthermore, there are new flexible thin/thick film and/or microelectronic technologies emerging that are being applied to, for example, electrocorticography (Viventi, 2011).
Packaging: Typical implantable devices (e.g. cochlear implants, DBS devices) utilise a cm-sized metal (typically titanium) can with ceramic/composite header for feedthroughs (i.e. interconnects) to achieve a hermetic seal with dry gas inside package (Yin, 2013). If mm-sized electronics (high field strength regions) are to be protected in the same way, then it is essential to make hermetic seals that are very small but also of proven reliability. Recent work is investigating using materials and fabrication processes used in semiconductor foundries to achieve chip-scale packaging. These utilise either a crystalline substrate (Parker, 2010) or the silicon substrate (with active microelectronics) itself with a low temperature sealant (i.e. CMOS compatible) (Saeidi, 2013). These micropackages are then coated in a biocompatible silicone or polymer. For example, Parylene C is biocompatible but also provides an excellent moisture barrier itself (compared to polymers). This requirement for hermeticity (low water transmission) is however incompatible with the desire for mechanical flexibility. There therefore exists a challenge on how to join the rigid package to flexible wires/tracks/electrodes.
Interconnects & Feedthroughs: In microsystems, connecting to the electrodes (and the required isolation/insulation) is achieved using several methods depending on technology: (1) for a planar substrate (e.g. CMOS, NeuroNexus), using buried conductors within insulating dielectrics; (2) for flexible electrodes, using a bespoke ribbon cable by patteming the conductors within an insulated polymer (e.g. silicone, polyamide, parylene); (3) wire/chip-to-chip, wire or bump bonding and encapsulation using polymer, epoxy or other resin. For integrated electrodes, new through-silicon-via (TSV) capabilities in CMOS are presenting exciting new opportunities (Motoyoshi, 2009). This involves typically etching a hole through the substrate, insulating using oxide growth and filling with a metal to create the TSV. A bondpad can then be positioned on the underside of the substrate, centred on this TSV with the appropriate isolation.
Distributed Neural Interfaces: The idea of 'smart dust' has been around for over a decade now (Kahn, 1999), proposing to create dust particle sized self-powered smart devices that interact with their surroundings. The challenge has largely been how to harvest sufficient energy within a minuscule volume and implement the entire system to do something useful. Recently, cubic mm-sized devices have been reported (Lee, 2013) towards this aim, however still without the 'killer' application having been achieved. The 'brain dust' concept (Seo, 2014) may be a step towards a distributed neural interface, targeting cubic-micron sized devices to interface to the brain. However, much of the effort thus far appears to be focused on the concept of ultrasonic power delivery.


The present invention relates to a process for producing crystallographic oriented oxide thin films having an NaCl-type structure, a spinel structure or a Wurtzite structure used as a buffer layer to obtain a functional oxide thin film such as a superconductive oxide thin film and a ferroelectric thin film, and a chemical vapor deposition apparatus used therefor. A rotatable substrate holder is provided in a reaction chamber. The substrate holder, which holds substrates thereunder, includes a substrate heater. The substrate holder is grounded to provide an electrode. Another electrode, which is connected to a high frequency power source, is located opposing the substrate holder in the reaction chamber. At a side wall of the reaction chamber, an exhaust is arranged. In a plasma electric discharge area formed between the substrate holder and the electrode, a material gas supplier is located, having a predetermined tilt angle .theta. with respect to the substrate holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing crystallographic oriented oxide thin films having an NaCl-type structure, a spinel structure or a Wurtzite structure used as a buffer layer to obtain a functional oxide thin film such as a superconductive oxide thin film or a ferroelectric thin film, and a chemical vapor deposition apparatus used therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Studies are actively conducted to produce crystallographic oriented oxide thin films of an NaCl-type structure, a spinel structure or a Wurtzite structure on a low-cost substrate such as a glass substrate to be used as a buffer layer to obtain a functional oxide thin film such as a superconductive oxide thin film or a ferroelectric thin film. In particular, a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method using a metal complex as a starting material can provide crystallographic oriented oxide thin films of an NaCl-type structure, a spinel structure or a Wurtzite structure regardless of the kind of the substrate. This method is to generate a high frequency plasma between parallel plate electrodes so as to provide a mixed gas including material gas (gas of a .beta.-diketone metal complex) and oxide gas to a substrate located on the surface of one of the electrodes like shower (Yu-Wen Zhao and H. Suhr: Appl. Phys. A 54 (1992) 451-454).
However, by the above mentioned conventional method, due to the difficulty in providing a great amount of the material gas uniformly onto a large area of the substrate due to low vapor pressure of .beta.-diketone metal complex used as the starting material, and difficulty in having a laminar flow of the gas on the surface of the substrate, it has been difficult to produce a high-quality crystallographic oriented oxide thin film uniformly in a large area at a high speed.
In order to solve the above mentioned problems of conventional arts, an object of the present invention is to provide a process for producing produce crystallographic oriented oxide thin films of an NaCl-type structure, a spinel structure or a Wurtzite structure used as a buffer layer to obtain a functional oxide thin film such as a superconductive oxide thin film and a ferroelectric thin film uniformly in a large area at a high speed, and a chemical vapor deposition apparatus used therefor.

Process for producing oxide thin films and chemical vapor deposition apparatus used therefor


By defining the composition of the second magnetic layer, the magneto-optical recording medium is capable of reading out at MSR whether the readout magnetic field is applied in the erasing direction or its reverse recording direction, and when a readout magnetic field is applied in the recording direction, the reading method of the magneto-optical recording medium is further enhanced in resolution.

The present invention relates to a magneto-optical recording medium, such as magneto-optical disk, magneto-optical tape, and magneto-optical card, and a method of reading the same, and more particularly to a magneto-optical recording medium that can be reproduced at magnetically induced super-resolution.
In recent years, magneto-optical disks have been attracting much attention as external storage media for computers. The magneto-optical disk uses an external magnetic field and a laser beam to form record marks of submicron size on the medium, and can achieve a drastic increase in storage capacity as compared with other external recording media such as flexible disks and hard disks.
To enable the recording of a tremendous amount of data such as moving pictures, a further increase in the storage capacity of magneto-optical disks is demanded. To increase the recording density, it is needed to form more record marks on the medium, that is, to define the length of record mark shorter than the spot diameter of Laser beam and to narrow the interval of record marks. Forming of such fine record marks is relatively easy, but, there is a limit in the length of record marks that can be read due to restrictions of the wavelength (.lambda.) of the laser beam to be emitted and the numerical aperture (NA) of the objective lens.
Accordingly, various magnetically induced super-resolution (MSR) readout methods for reading record marks smaller than the laser beam diameter have been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 1-143041 (1989), 3-93056 (1991), 3-93058 (1991), 4-271039 (1992), and 5-12731 (1993)). In all these conventional methods, a magneto-optical disk laminating plural magnetic layers including a recording layer and a readout layer is rotated, a readout laser beam is emitted to cause a temperature distribution in the peripheral direction of the magneto-optical disk, and record marks smaller than the spot diameter are read by making use of this temperature distribution. That is, in a certain temperature region within a spot of readout laser beam, the readout layer has a direction of magnetization so as to mask the record mark, and in other region, on the other hand, the direction of magnetization of the recording layer is transferred on the readout layer and is read out.
In these conventional methods, the record mark can be read out from a region smaller than the spot diameter of the readout laser beam, which substantially brings about the same resolution as when reading out by a light spot smaller than the spot diameter of the readout laser beam. These conventional methods, however, had the following problems. First, in the method of reading out record marks from the low-temperature region in the spot, although the resolution is excellent in the peripheral direction, the crosstalk by adjacent tracks is significant, or in the method of reading out record marks from the high-temperature region in the spot, although the crosstalk is decreased, a large initializing magnet is needed for initializing the readout layer, and the apparatus is not reduced in size, and further in the method of reading out record marks from a region changed in the direction of magnetization of the readout layer from the in-plane direction to perpendicular direction due to temperature distribution, although it is possible to read out without using a large initializing magnet, the transferred region in the spot is wide, and high readout output is not obtained.
Accordingly, the present applicant proposed an MSR readout method capable of solving these problems (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-244877 (1995)). FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the film composition of the conventional magneto-optical disk capable of reading out at MSR proposed by the present applicant and the direction of magnetization in readout. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the state of magnetization when erasing this magneto-optical disk, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the state of magnetization when recording.
As shown in FIG. 1, a magneto-optical disk 20 is formed by laminating a base layer (not shown) made of SiN, a readout layer 21, an intermediate layer 22, a recording layer 23 respectively made of rare-earth transition-metal amorphous alloy, and a protective layer (not shown) made of SiN sequentially on a polycarbonate resin substrate (not shown). The readout layer 21 is transition-metal magnetization dominant, and has an easy axis of magnetization in the perpendicular direction, that is, the lamination direction. The intermediate layer 22 is rare-earth magnetization dominant, and has an easy axis of magnetization in the in-plane direction at room temperature (10 to 35.degree. C.), and over a predetermined temperature higher than room temperature, the easy axis of magnetization is changed from the in-plane direction to the perpendicular direction. The recording layer 23 is transition-metal magnetization dominant, and has an easy axis of magnetization in the perpendicular direction. Supposing the Curie temperatures of the readout layer 21, intermediate layer 22 and recording layer 23 to be respectively Tc1, Tc2 and Tc3, the relation of Tc2<Tc1, Tc2<Tc1) is satisfied. Supposing the coercive forces of the readout layer 21 and recording layer 23 at room temperature to be respectively Hc1 and Hc3, the relation of Hc3>Hc1 is satisfied.
When erasing record marks on the magnet-optical disk 20, as shown in FIG. 2, while applying an downward erasing magnetic field, a erasing laser beam is emitted. At this time, the region irradiated with the laser beam is heated at curie temperature Tc3 or more, so that the direction of magnetization of the recording layer 23 is aligned in the same downward direction as the erasing magnetic field. A region away from the erasing laser beam is cooled to room temperature. At room temperature, the intermediate layer 22 is an in-plane magnetized film as mentioned above, and the readout layer 21 and the intermediate layer 22 are not coupled magnetically. Therefore, the direction of magnetization of the readout layer 21 is aligned in the same downward direction as the erasing magnetic field. In the magneto-optical disk 20, meanwhile, the erasing direction is expressed downward, the recording direction, upward reverse to the erasing direction.
When recording record marks on the magneto-optical disk 20, as shown in FIG. 3, while applying an upward recording magnetic field, a recording laser beam is emitted. This recording method is realized by two manners, the light modulation recording and magnetic field modulation recording. The light modulation recording is a method of irradiating by modulating so that the intensity of laser beam may correspond to the information while always applying an upward recording magnetic field, and only the region irradiated with laser beam of high intensity has the same upward direction of magnetization as the recording magnetic field, so that record marks are formed therein. On the other hand, the magnetic field modulation recording is a method of applying by modulating the direction of magnetic field up and down so as to correspond to the information while always emitting recording laser beam, and the direction of magnetization in the region irradiated with the laser beam is aligned in the direction of the applied magnetic field. In making use of magnetic field modulation recording, when recording information from erased state, the direction of magnetization is inverted upward in the region applied with a magnetic field reverse to the erasing magnetic field, and record marks are formed therein.
A region away from the recording laser beam is cooled to room temperature. At room temperature, the intermediate layer 22 is an in-plane magnetized film as mentioned above, and the readout layer 21 and recording layer 23 are not coupled magnetically. Therefore, the direction of magnetization of the readout layer 21 is aligned in the direction of magnetization by applying a small magnetic field, and it is not necessary to use a large initializing magnet.
The state of magnetization in readout of thus recorded magneto-optical disk 20 is explained by reference to FIG. 1. A readout laser beam is emitted to the magneto-optical disk 20, and a downward readout magnetic field is applied to the irradiated region. In a low-temperature region ahead of the laser beam (a region lower than substantially 100.degree. C.), the exchange coupled force between the intermediate layer 22 and recording layer 23 is weak, and the magnetization of the intermediate layer 22 is aligned in the direction of readout magnetic field, that is, in the downward direction. By the exchange coupled force between the intermediate layer 22 and readout layer 21, the direction of magnetization of the readout layer 21 is aligned in the upward direction, and acts to mask the direction of magnetization of the recording layer 23 (front mask). A high-temperature region (a region higher than substantially 180.degree. C.) is a region beyond the Curie temperature of the intermediate region 22, and the exchange coupled force between the intermediate layer 22 and readout layer 21 is cut off. As a result, the direction of magnetization of the readout layer 21 is aligned in the direction of readout magnetic field, and acts to mask the direction of magnetization of the recording layer 23 (rear mask). In an intermediate-temperature region between the low-temperature region and the high-temperature region (a region of substantially 100.degree. C. to substantially 180.degree. C.), the direction of magnetization of the recording layer 23 is transferred onto the readout layer 21 by the exchange coupled force between the recording layer 23 and readout layer 21 through the intermediate layer 22.
Therefore, when a magneto-optical output is detected, since the mask is formed in the region of low temperature and region of high temperature in the laser spot S, the magneto-optical signal is not read out from the regions, so that the magneto-optical signal is read out only from the intermediate-temperature region.
Thus, according to the magneto-optical disk proposed by the present applicant, the MSR readout is enabled without using large initializing magnet, and a partial area of high-temperature region (an intermediate-temperature region) is an aperture, and a high readout output is obtained, and moreover since the adjacent tracks are lower-temperature regions than the intermediate-temperature region, so that the signal is not read out from the adjacent tracks, and therefore the crosstalk is low.
However, when varying the direction of magnetic field applied at the time of readout of thus constituted magneto-optical disk 20, that is, when the same upward readout magnetic field as the recording direction is applied in this magneto-optical disk 20, forming of front mask tends to be difficult. This is because the control of exchange coupled force is difficult at low temperature between the intermediate layer 22 and recording layer 23 in the prior art. When a readout magnetic field in the recording direction is applied, the direction of magnetization of the intermediate region 22 is not aligned with the readout magnetic field in low-temperature region, and forming of front mask is hence imperfect, and the readout characteristic deteriorates.

Magneto-optical recording medium and method of reading the same


An asynchronous, non-blocking method for making joins and retrieving joined data during query processing in a database. A sending object sends a join message that specifies a criteria for a join to one or more receiving objects. Receiving objects process the join message with an associated function and potentially generate a result message, then stop processing. During this process the sending object does not wait for a reply from the receiving object before continuing with subsequent processing. Join messages can be placed in a join message queue with the results from the receiving objects being placed in a results queue. The query method can be used as a basis for an ad-hoc SQL query facility that is not dependant on a flat data structure. In particular, the methods of the present invention can be used for joining both the complex structures of an object-oriented database model and the flat structures of the relational database model.

There are two database models currently in common use: the relational model and the object-oriented model. Both models organize the database into various database records.
In the relational model each record belongs to a table of a type specified by the database designer. There could be a customer table or an invoice table, for example. Every record in a particular table has the same structure, i.e., each record has the same fields. These fields are considered to be simple or atomic (i.e., fixed as integer, character, or date type fields). Fields cannot be, for example, a list of dates, or a set of integers. Tables of the relational model have a flat structure.
In the object-oriented database model a database record belongs to a database class, as opposed to a table in the relational model. A record is an "instance" of a class. The database records can be complex (i.e., the record is not limited to flat structures). A record attribute (i.e., field) can be a list, a set, an embedded structure, a list of structures, etc. An example of a list of structures would be a list of previous addresses where the address field itself has a structure such as: street address, city, zip code. In the object-oriented model records can vary in size. It would be possible to have a list of indefinite size, for example. Different records can have a variety of numbers of previous addresses, in the previous address list case.
The object-oriented model also adds the concept of subclassing. Here classes can be subclasses of other classes. A doctor class could have a pediatrician subclass and a podiatrist subclass. When a database record is from a class that is a subclass, it inherits the attributes (fields) of the super-class. The size of a record from the pediatrician subclass will generally be longer than a record from the doctor class.
To satisfy requests for information from a database, data from more than one database record often has to be combined. The object-oriented and relational models do this in different ways.
In the object-oriented model data is combined from two or more database records by "pointer navigation" (also termed "pointer chasing"). FIG. 1 is a representation of the pointer navigation method. FIG. 1 illustrates a customer object 10, an order object 12, and an invoice object 14. There is an explicit pointer in one database record that points to another database record if there is a relationship between the two records. In FIG. 1, a pointer 16 defines a relationship between the customer object 10 and order object 12, and a pointer 18 defines a relationship between the order object 12 and the invoice object 14. The database management system, the software controlling the database, maintains the pointers 16 and 18 and uses them to retrieve related data from the two records.
Pointer chasing methods allows for fast retrieval of data. However, the pointer relationship must exist between two particular records for such retrieval to be possible. If a pointer relationship has not been previously established and maintained, no retrieval is possible. Many of the relationships between class instances are generally known at the time of the design of the database. In these cases the fast retrieval afforded by pointer chasing can be used. However, the pointer chasing method can not be used for ad hoc queries where the relationship of interest is an unexpected relationship. In general, object-oriented databases have generally weak query facilities and do not fully support industry standard Structured Query Language (SQL).
Relational databases have greater flexibility with ad hoc queries. When relational databases combine data from the records of two tables they "join" the two tables. The result of such a join is a result table that can then be joined to another table, producing another result table, etc. Each relational table is independent in the sense that there are no explicit pointers from a record in one table to a record in another table. FIG. 2 illustrates the same entities 10, 12, and 14 discussed in conjunction with FIG. 1, however, no explicit pointer definitions between the entities 10-14 are defined.
In contrast, a relational join operates by specifying a condition between the values of the fields of one table against the values of the fields of another table. An "equi-join" for example, could join records of a customer table with those of an order table by joining on customer number. Each order record would have the customer number and the customer number would also be in a customer record. The standard SQL query language would specify: EQU SELECT * FROM customer, order WHERE
customer.customer.sub.-- number=order.customer.sub.-- number;
where * means return all fields from all tables listed after the FROM command.
There are three basic processes used to join data in a relational database. The most common process is the nested loop operation where one table is used as the outer loop while the second table is used as the inner loop. A record is taken from the outer loop table and its values are checked against the values of each record of the inner loop table in succession. When a comparison passes the specified conditions, a result table record is written. After a full inner loop has occurred then the join operation moves to the next record in the outer loop. Indexes can improve the performance of the nested loop join. Rather than read though all the records of the inner loop, the comparison can look in the index for records that satisfy the join condition with the outer loop record.
The second process of joining data uses a hash join. This is generally used for relatively small tables where all the records can be cached in memory by hashing to a specific location in memory based on a record field.
The third process sorts and merges the two tables. This method is very inefficient for large tables.
The processes described above that are used for the relational join take advantage of the flat tabular structure of the relational model. With every record in a table having the same structure, each field is at the same displacement to quickly check field values.
In summary, the object-oriented database model is powerful in providing the ability to build complex fields to model real data more closely, and to improve programming efficiency and flexibility, however the query capabilities are generally limited to pointer chasing thereby severely limiting ad hoc query capabilities. The relational database model has very strong ad hoc querying capabilities, but is limited in terms of flexibility by the inherent field restrictions.
Recently extended-relational databases (also called object-relational, e.g. Informix.TM./Illustra.TM.) have been developed to try to overcome the shortcomings of the relational model. These databases allow some complex data types but use traditional techniques for join processing. Likewise some object-oriented databases have been developed to decompose the complex objects in their databases into flat relational tables so that ad hoc relational queries can be processed. However, the decomposition of complex objects increases processing loads thereby limiting the advantages of the ad hoc query facility.
Message-based joins for object-oriented databases have been discussed by Tanaka, K. et al. in "On Natural Joins in Object-Oriented Databases", Deductive and Object-oriented Databases, Elsevier Science Publishers, 1990, incorporated herein by reference. A natural join is a special case of a join--where tuples have one or more fields with the same names and values and the results are reduced so that there is only tuple per two joined tuples. Tanaka et al. do not provide solutions for efficient processing for object composition operations including those not limited to natural joins in databases. Specifically, Tanaka et al. indicate in their paper that further research will be needed to develop efficient processing techniques for object composition operations including the natural join discussed in the paper.
There is a need for a method of joining complex objects efficiently in a database management system.


Objects within an area of coverage are located at predetermined points in time with an optical sensor. Based on detected locations of the objects, a driving direction and/or a speed of the vehicle is determined as a function of measuring variables measured with the optical sensor. Based on the determined direction and/or speed, (a) a protective zone is selected among a plurality of protective zones previously stored in the optical sensor, or (b) a validity of a preset protective zone or a preset vehicle parameter value stored in the optical sensor is checked.

The present invention relates to a method for identifying an object within a protective zone with a protective device for a vehicle, the device comprising an optical sensor installed on the vehicle for locating objects within an area of coverage, wherein at least one protective zone located within the area of coverage is preset in the optical sensor, wherein the optical sensor generates a switching signal if an object is detected in the protective zone.
Protective devices of this type, which operate in a non-contacting manner, are used in particular for the protection of persons. The protective device in question is provided with an optical sensor installed on a vehicle, in particular a driverless transportation system. This protective device is designed to prevent collisions by monitoring the area in front of the vehicle with an optical sensor if the vehicle is in motion. In the process, the optical sensor analyzes whether an object is detected within a protective zone. If the object is detected within a protective zone, the optical sensor generates a shut-down command which stops the vehicle in the protective zone and prevents a collision between the vehicle and the object entering the protective zone, in particular a person.
The problem with systems of this type is that the vehicle, in particular a driverless transport system, moves along predetermined driving routes, for which the surroundings can change constantly. To ensure a secure protection against collision, it is desirable to change the dimensions of the protective zone, such that the protective zone corresponds to the surrounding conditions and the speed of the vehicle. For example, if the vehicle travels at a high speed, the protective zone might have a larger size because of a correspondingly long braking distance for the vehicle, so that the vehicle can be stopped in a timely manner once an object is detected in the protective zone for the vehicle and before a collision occurs. In contrast, if the vehicle is driving through a curve that is bordered by a wall or the like, the protective zone might have a smaller size, so that the wall is located outside of the protective zone. Otherwise, the detection of the wall within the protective zone would trigger an unnecessary emergency stop of the vehicle.
Known optical sensors cannot meet the requirement of adapting the protective zone, especially if the dimensions for a protective zone are fixedly preset in the optical sensor. German patent document DE 39 32 344 A1, for example, discloses an optical sensor of this type.
German patent document DE 199 15 509 A1 discloses an optical sensor embodied as a distance sensor for an area, which is provided with an evaluation unit capable of storing several protective zones. The protective zones can be selected and activated individually by means of several switches, so that the selected protective zone can be monitored to detect persons or objects entering this zone.

Method for identifying an object within a protective zone with a protective device for a vehicle


There is provided an opto-electric hybrid board with slight or no warpage. An opto-electric hybrid board according to the present disclosure includes an electric circuit board and an optical waveguide formed in a stacked manner on one surface of the electric circuit board. The optical waveguide includes an under cladding layer, cores for an optical path formed on a front surface of the under cladding layer, and over cladding layer formed on the front surface of the under cladding layer so as to cover the cores. A groove for prevention of warpage which has a bottom positioned below a top surface of the cores is formed at least in a front surface portion of the over cladding layer.

With the increase in the amount of transmission information, optical interconnect lines have been used in addition to or in combination with electrical interconnect lines in recent electronic devices and the like. As an example, an opto-electric hybrid board in which an optical waveguide is formed in a stacked manner on an electric circuit board has been proposed (see PTL 1, for example). The electric circuit board includes an insulative substrate and electrical interconnect lines formed on a back surface (a first surface) of the insulative substrate. The optical waveguide is formed on a front surface (a second surface on the side opposite from the first surface) of the insulative substrate, and includes an under cladding layer formed on the front surface of the insulative substrate, cores (optical interconnect lines) patterned on a front surface of the under cladding layer, and an over cladding layer formed on the front surface of the under cladding layer so as to cover the cores.
A light-emitting element and a light-receiving element are mounted on part of the electrical interconnect lines of the opto-electric hybrid board by ultrasonic mounting. Light emitted from the light-emitting element passes through the cores of the optical waveguide and is then received by the light-receiving element, whereby light propagation is achieved.


A fractional divider is described herein which effectively performs an integer division followed by phase shifting, pulse swallowing, and/or multiplexing to realize a fractional divisor. The fractional divider divides an input clocking signal by a first integer divisor in a first mode of operation or by a second integer divisor in a second mode of operation to provide a first phase of a divided digital signal. Thereafter, the fractional divider shifts the first phase of the divided digital signal to provide a second phase of the divided digital signal in the first and second modes of operation. Finally, the fractional divider synchronizes an output clocking signal to the first phase of the divided digital signal and the second phase of the divided digital signal in the first and second modes of operation.

High speed signals, such as clock signals, are generally required to provide frequency and timing references for controlling internal processes on integrated circuits (ICs) with application in a wide range of products including computers, mobile devices, Internet of Things (IoT) to provide some examples. In the competitive market, manufacturers and/or designers of electronics devices strive to create better electronic devices from other manufacturers and/or designers. For example, an electronic device with faster performance can be a differentiator in the computer industry. As another example, an electronic device with smaller size and longer battery life would be highly valued features. These advantages can be realized in lower level building blocks which contribute to the overall performance of the electronics devices. For example, many electronics devices require some form of processing done through digital circuitry using various clocking signals. These various clocking signals can be generated through a frequency division process whereby a single clocking signal is divided into many clocking signals.


Executing business processes includes accessing a first business process comprising a first activity and accessing a second business process comprising a second activity, where the second activity is associated with the first activity. A first instance is received at the first activity of the first business process. A second instance is created at the second activity in response to receiving the first instance at the first activity of the first business process into the second business process.

Organizations typically automate their business processes to manage their operations. A business process includes a series of activities that are undertaken to perform the operations of an organization. For example, a business process may describe activities for processing a sales order, such as the steps of receiving a sales order, checking the payment history, checking the inventory, and so on. An organization may automate a business process by having a computer perform some activities such as receiving a sales order. A business process may also be automated by having a computer remind human participants of activities that need to be performed. For example, a computer may send an email message notifying an account manager to check the payment history of a client.
Automating business processes, however, has posed challenges. Designing automated business processes involves the use of software programs, which business process designers may find difficult to use. Moreover, testing automated business processes requires performing trial runs of a business process, which may be difficult to do without disrupting the actual users of the business process. Consequently, automating business processes has posed challenges.

Designing business processes using distributed process flows


A blade server module in an information handling system may have secure environment and authorized removal modes in non-volatile memory. If the secure environment mode is set in the blade server module, then the authorized removal mode is read to determine whether it also is set. If both of these modes are set then authentication keys of the inserted blade server module and blade server chassis are verified as being properly associated. If the authorized removal mode is not set when the blade server module is inserted into a server chassis or authentication keys are not verified as being properly associated then the blade server module power-up sequence is disabled. The authentication keys may be administrator/user defined. The secure environment and authorized removal modes may be set and cleared by the administrator/user.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users are information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes, thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems, e.g., computer, personal computer workstation, portable computer, computer server, print server, network router, network hub, network switch, storage area network disk array, RAID disk system and telecommunications switch.
An information handling system is powered from a power supply system that receives and converts alternating current (AC) power to direct current (DC) power at utilization voltages required by the electronic modules comprising the information handling system. The power supply system tightly regulates these utilization voltages and incorporates over current protection for each of the voltages. To further provide increased reliability of the power supply system, a plurality of power supply units (PSU) may be provided and coupled in parallel so that the loss or malfunction of one or more of the PSUs will not totally disable operation of the information handling system.
As consumer demand increases for smaller and denser information handling systems, manufacturers strive to integrate more computer components into a smaller space. This integration has led to the development of several applications, including high density servers. A high density server provides the computer processing resources of several computers in a small amount of space. A typical arrangement for a high density server includes a shared power supply system, a management module, a connection board (e.g., a back-plane or mid-plane) and server modules, such as blade server modules.
Blade server modules, or "blades," are miniaturized server modules that typically are powered from a common power supply system and are cooled by cooling system within a multi-server cabinet. Typically, a blade includes a circuit board with one or more processors, memory, a connection port, and possibly a disk drive for storage. By arranging a plurality of blades like books on a shelf in the multi-server cabinet, a high density multi-server system achieves significant cost and space savings over a plurality of conventional servers. These savings result directly from the sharing of common resources (e.g., power supplies, cooling systems, enclosures, etc.,) and the reduction of space required by this type of multi-server system while providing a significant increase in available computer processing power.

Self-authenticating blade server in a secure environment


Aspects include metrology methods and systems for determining characteristics of conical shaft portions, such as angle of taper. In an example, a metrology system includes a fixture for supporting a workpiece. The fixture provides for translation in a longitudinal dimension, and rotation about an axis of symmetry. The system may include a sensor mounted for scanning lines including sections of the workpiece as well as control logic for coordinating translation of the workpiece to provide for an approximately constant ratio of longitudinal translation and lines scanned during scanning operations. The system may include image logic for assembling an image from image data generated during each scanning operation; edge detection logic for detecting at least one edge shape in each assembled image; and slope calculation logic for calculating a slope of each of the at least one detected edge shape.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to metrology systems, and more particularly to metrology systems for measuring characteristics of a conical shaft.
2. Description of Related Art
Magnetic disc drives are used for magnetically storing information. In a magnetic disc drive, a magnetic disc rotates at high speed and a transducing head "flies" over a surface of the disc. This transducing head records information on the disc surface by impressing a magnetic field on the disc. Information is read back using the head by detecting magnetization of the disc surface. The transducing head is moved radially across the surface of the disc so that different data tracks can be read back.
Over the years, storage density of media has tended to increase and the size of storage systems has tended to decrease. This trend has led to a need for greater precision, which has resulted in tighter tolerancing in the manufacturing and operating of magnetic storage discs, and components thereof. In turn, achieving tighter tolerances in components requires increased precision in metrology systems for characterizing and parameterizing those components.


A circuit that provides a method and apparatus to actively balance capacitor leakage current from series stacked capacitors and disconnects itself when stacked capacitors are configured for doubler operation. In one embodiment, the active circuit includes high voltage low current transistors, such as for example a PNP bipolar transistor and an NPN bipolar transistor, that are configured in a sink-source voltage follower arrangement with the bases of the transistors connected to a voltage divider network and referenced to a fraction of a DC input voltage with a very high impedance, low dissipative resistor divider network. In one embodiment, the emitters of the PNP and NPN transistors are both tied to the connection point between capacitors in the stack and provide an active sink-source drive, which maintains the voltage at this point to be bounded by the input reference voltages of sink-source followers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to circuits and, more specifically, the present invention relates to circuits including series stacked capacitors.
2. Background Information
One function of a power converter is to convert rectified alternating current (AC) power into a regulated direct current (DC) output. FIG. 1 shows elements included at an input 103 to a power converter 101. Diode bridge BR1 105 rectifies AC input. Series stacked capacitors C1 107 and C2 109 are coupled across diode bridge BR1 105 to smooth the output voltage of diode bridge BR1 105. Series stacked capacitors are common in power supplies that can be configured to operate using multiple different input voltages such as for example either 115V AC or 230V AC. As shown, switch SW1 111 is coupled between diode bridge BR1 105 and the connection point 113 between series stacked capacitors C1 107 and C2 109. When operating for example at 230V AC, switch SW1 111 is opened. When operating for example at 115V AC, switch SW1 111 is closed.
Resistors R1 115 and R2 117 are coupled across series stacked capacitors C1 107 and C2 109 as shown to maintain roughly equal voltages across C1 107 and C2 109 and provide the necessary bleed current needed to balance the voltage across series stacked capacitors C1 107 and C2 109 when the supply is configured for 230V AC input. During 115V AC operation, the two series stacked capacitors C1 107 and C2 109 function as part of an input voltage doubler circuit. When configured for 230V AC, however, the two series stacked capacitors C1 107 and C2 109 have no DC connection to a center point voltage other than that which is provided by resistors R1 115 and R2 117. Without resistors R1 115 and R2 117, the center point voltage of the two series stacked capacitors C1 107 and C2 109 can deviate from the ideal ½ DC input due to capacitor leakage current, which can cause one capacitor to have more voltage stress than the other capacitor. In fact, it is possible that one of the capacitors can be over-voltage stressed and become damaged.
Resistors R1 115 and R2 117 therefore provide a solution to the balance problem by providing bleed current. The resistance values of R1 115 and R2 117 must be low enough to establish a bleed current that is several times higher than the worst case leakage current imbalance between the series stacked capacitors C1 107 and C2 109 in order to be effective. This requires the resistors to dissipate much more power than the actual power dissipated as a result the difference current between the two capacitors. Consequently, resistors R1 115 and R2 117 result in significant input power consumption with respect to many standby or output no-load requirements of a power supply converter coupled to receive the rectified AC power.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for balancing active capacitor leakage current


An orifice installation for sealing a plate within a fitting is disclosed. The plate has a seal surrounding its outer circumference. The seal has a large base area of elastomeric material and an outer and inner periphery face. A central circumferential extension larger than the distance in the fitting for permitting entry of a plate carrying device is formed between the shoulders. Circumferential indentations formed in the base separate the shoulders from the extension.

Pipelines are used to transport fluids such as the production fluids from oil and gas wells. Because the measurement of these fluids is important, orifice plates are installed in special fittings which are installed in-line with pipeline sections. Some fittings may permit an orifice plate to be moved in and out of the flow stream without interruption of the flow through the pipeline. Other fittings permit orifice plates to be moved in and out of the pipeline only by interruption of flow.
The use of orifice measurement for flow has been known since ancient times. The basis of orifice measurement is to place a plate in a flow line, with the plate having an opening which is smaller than the opening of the flow line. By reading the upstream and downstream pressure on either side of the plate, and calculating the difference of pressure between the upstream and downstream pressures, one can infer the rate of flow in the pipe line.
The accuracy of the measurement given by the orifice is dependent on many factors, including the ratio of the orifice hole to the diameter of the pipe, the length of straight run of the upstream and downstream pipe or tube sections on either side of the orifice, the eccentricity of the orifice hole in the pipe or tube, leakage of fluid around the plate, and the like.
As part of the effectiveness of an orifice plate, it is important to seal around the circumference of the plate and to effect a seal within the interior of the orifice fitting to ensure that all the flow passes through the plate bore and is measured. Accordingly, the sealing surface of the seal must seal against the machined seat in the orifice fitting, typically on the downstream side. In the prior art, the seal slot in the fittings is held to a closely-machined tolerance. However, variations to the slot may occur because of casting variations in the sand castings used as raw material for orifice fitting bodies. Also, sometimes fittings are subjected to unusual loads in pipeline applications and some seat expansion or deflection can occur. Further, old fittings in use are always subject to erosion or corrosion and therefore pitting in the sealing surfaces. In the prior art, standard, rounded (or, in some cases, flat) seal contours are used. These contours are not forgiving in nature. Displacement of a solid, molded piece of elastomer is not always easily accomplished. It is a necessity to enter the slot as originally machined without undue friction to avoid damaging the seal. In such a case corroded seats also prevent a uniform flow of rubber and result in the sealing problem as the rubber is unable to conform to the sealing surface of such a corroded seat.
Accordingly, because the object of an orifice fitting is to hold and effect the seal on an inserted orifice plate and seal assembly, the deflection referenced above, caused by internal pressure or other distortions, will allow some seal leakage in certain instances. Therefore, because the sealing faces of the seats within the fitting are machined parallel, any deflection that causes a "non-parallel" seat face deflection can contribute to leakage around the seal and seat face. Thus, the seal design of the prior art of the single rounded, or flat, elastomer surface to contact the fitting seat places a large mass in the seal "bead" and compresses only with considerable force. Increasing the width of this style seal to allow for the widening of the seat gap under pressure creates unacceptable difficulty in inserting the "thicker" seal in a non-pressurized fitting where there is no seat gap expansion.
There is, therefore, need for an orifice plate and seal combination that permits sealing even in the presence of distortions in the slot and abrasions in the sealing surface.
In other art, such as the molded seal incorporated into the bottom of the piston of a Daniel's piston-controlled check valve line, non-bead or flat seals have been used. This enhances sealing under low pressure conditions and when "sand" from flowing wells is encountered. This type of molded seal is a modified three-lobe design and has been used in the prior art for special applications. Another seal that does not use a single bead or flat design is that designed by Parker, designated a Gask-O-Seal, a molded rubber-to-metal gasket used in the body or top closure of certain high pressure (2500 ANSI) Daniel's senior fittings in the prior art. This molded seal is not a three-lobe design.
Further, there has been a series of meetings to significantly revise API/AGA standards, which would constitute a revision to Manual of Petroleum Measurement Standards, Chapter 14, "Natural Gas Fluids Measurement", which includes Section 3, "Concentric, Square-edged Orifice Meters". The revised Section 3 may become an update and would then become a revision to ANSI Standard ANSI/API 2530; i.e.: AGA Report No. 3.
These new requirements have been adopted by some companies even though additional costs will be attendant with mechanical changes associated with the requirements. As discussed above most orifice plate holding devices other than flanges require some manner of plate/seal/carrying device combination. The most common seal of this type is the elastomeric seal which is assembled around the orifice plate. Industry standards have changed in respect to this seal.
Prior to the development of the seal of the present invention, field tests using actual conditions showed that prior art seal profiles sealed bubble tight at a differential pressure as low as 25 inches of water. However, the changes to the API 14.3 standard discussed above which covers seals of this type have moved customers to request fittings that seal bubble tight at as low as 5 inches of water. The theory of operation of the existing seal profile of the prior art is that the elastomer deforms to any irregular profiles in the fitting seat face to effect a sealing engagement. The differential pressure created as the seal makes up in the initial condition causes a net force in the direction of decreasing pressure, thus forcing the seal to take the profile of the fitting seat to stop any fluid flow around the seal. The seal must thus be responsive to lower differential pressure to meet new industry demand.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to operate as a bubble tight seal with minimum differential pressure of as low as 5 inches of water but still be able to operate at high maximum differential pressures, such as 200 inches of water.


A rotatable storage media includes multiple concentric data tracks and servo sectors embedded within the tracks. In some embodiments, the servo sectors have servo burst patterns including a plurality of burst groups, with each of the burst groups including a trimmed burst that is stitched and trimmed such that is has a first width, and an untrimmed burst that has a second width that is less than the first width. In other embodiments, each of the burst groups include a pair of untrimmed bursts, with one of the untrimmed bursts being wider than the other. In still another embodiment, all bursts are trimmed, but some are wider than others. Preferably, such burst patterns are written using a two-pass-per-track servowriting scheme. This description is not intended to be a complete description of, or limit the scope of, the invention.

Advances in data storage technology have provided for ever-increasing storage capability in devices such as DVD-ROMs, optical drives, and disk drives. In hard disk drives, for example, the width of a written data track has decreased due in part to advances in reading, writing, and positioning technologies. Narrower data tracks result in higher density drives, which is good for the consumer but creates new challenges for drive manufacturers. For example, as data tracks are narrowed, so are the read elements used to read the tracks. However, as read elements become narrower, and previously-used head-width tolerances become more difficult to achieve, controlling position error signal (PES) linearity becomes more difficult. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide for PES linearity improvements, e.g., by increasing the useable PES region.
Many servowriting techniques (e.g., self-servowriting techniques) require a three or more step-per-track servowriting process to provide a more linear (or at least, a linearizable) PES at all locations along a track. It would be preferable to reduce the number of steps-per-track, because the less steps per track, the faster the servo information can be written onto a disk.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Embodiments of the disclosure provide an array substrate and a manufacture method thereof. The array substrate comprises a display region and a non-display region, the display region comprises a transistor, the transistor comprises a source electrode, a drain electrode and an active layer, the source electrode and the drain electrode are provided on the active layer and are respectively provided at two ends of the active layer. The non-display region is provided with an alignment mark, the alignment mark is provided in a same layer as the active layer and is configured for aligning the source electrode and the drain electrode with the active layer in the case of re-fabricating the source electrode and the drain electrode.

In the process of manufacturing a thin film transistor liquid crystal display panel, a display panel motherboard is firstly obtained by bonding an array substrate motherboard comprising a plurality of sub array substrates and a color filter substrate motherboard comprising a plurality of sub color filter substrates, then the bonded display panel motherboard is cut and divided into a plurality of display panels.
In a manufacture process of the array substrate motherboard, source and drain electrodes and an active layer of a thin film transistor are generally formed by using a dual-tone mask. That is, a source-drain electrode metal film and an active layer film are exposed by using the dual-tone mask, then the source and drain electrodes and the active layer are formed after two wet etching processes and two dry etching processes; in this way, costs are greatly saved.
After the formation of the source and drain electrodes and the active layer is completed, if any defects are found in the source and drain electrodes or the active layer in a later test process (for example, a data line connected with the source electrode is disconnected or a connection between the drain electrode and the active layer is poor, etc.), it is required to strip off the source-drain electrode metal film and re-fabricate the source and drain electrodes, that is, to re-perform the processes of forming the source-drain electrode metal film, exposing, developing and etching the source-drain electrode metal film. The process of re-fabricating the source and drain electrodes is called as a rework process. If the source and drain electrodes need to be re-fabricated, the source and drain electrodes to be re-fabricated must be precisely aligned with the previously fabricated active layer so as to ensure that the performance of the resultant transistor is normal.
At present, in order to achieve precise alignment of the source and drain electrodes with the active layer in the rework process of reforming the source and drain electrodes, a mask for forming the source and drain electrodes should be aligned with an alignment mark formed in a gate electrode metal layer. However, only aligning the mask for forming the source and drain electrodes with the alignment mark in the gate electrode metal layer cannot achieve the precise alignment between the source and drain electrodes and the active layer, and misalignment between the source and drain electrodes and the active layer often causes abnormal operations of the thin film transistor, and even leads to failure of the whole batch of products.

Array substrate and manufacture method thereof

HEFEI XINSHENG OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) possesses array of strategies to evade antibiotics through mutational inactivation, hiding inside host immune cells or concealing inside the biofilm in a sessile form. We report a drug-free approach to eradicate MRSA through blue-light bleaching of staphyloxanthin (STX), an anti-oxidative carotenoid residing inside the cell membrane of S. aureus. The photobleaching process, uncovered through a transient absorption imaging study and quantitated by mass spectrometry, decomposes STX and sensitizes MRSA to reactive oxygen species attack. Consequently, photobleaching using low-level blue light exhibits high-level synergy when combined with low-concentration of hydrogen peroxide. Antimicrobial effectiveness of this synergistic therapy is validated in MRSA culture, MRSA-infected macrophage cells, biofilm, and a mouse wound infection model. Collectively, these findings highlight broad applications of STX photobleaching for MRSA-infected diseases.

Staphylococcus aureus is a major source of bacterial infections and causes severe health problem in both hospital and community settings (1, 2). Of note, S. aureus becomes life-threatening especially when serious infections such as sepsis or necrotizing pneumonia occur (3). Though numerous antibiotics were once effective at treating these infections, S. aureus has acquired resistance which diminished the effectiveness of several classes of antibiotics (4). A classic example was the emergence of clinical isolates of MRSA strains in the 1960s that exhibited resistance to f-lactam antibiotics (5-7). More recently, strains of MRSA have manifested reduced susceptibility to new antibiotics and therapeutics such as vancomycin and daptomycin (8, 9). Faced with the severe situation that introduction of new antibiotics into clinic could not keep pace with the rapid development of resistance (4), both the drug industry and health organizations are calling for alternative ways to combat the MRSA resistance.

Method and device for annihilation of methicillin-resistant


A travel safety apparatus for a vehicle which includes an object detecting unit which detects an object in a traveling direction of the vehicle; an object information obtaining unit adapted to obtain object information; a vehicle information obtaining unit adapted to obtain vehicle information; a determination unit which determines whether or not there is a possibility of a contact or a collision; a position detecting unit which detects positions of eyeballs of an occupant of the vehicle; a projecting unit adapted to project an image on the occupant's retina when there is a possibility of a contact or a collision; and a controller which controls the projecting unit, wherein the controller is adapted to control the projecting unit to project the predetermined image so that the image overlaps in the occupant's view with a position of the object or an area within a predetermined radius from the position of the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a travel safety apparatus for a vehicle.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-157130, filed May 30, 2005, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
There is conventionally known an anti-collision system for a vehicle which detects an obstruction in the vicinity of the vehicle using an object detecting unit such as a radar or a camera. The anti-collision system computes an estimated traveling path of the obstruction based on its path of movement and an estimated traveling path of the vehicle based on its traveling path, determines whether or not there is a possibility of a collision of the vehicle with the obstruction, and outputs an alarm or controls traveling of the vehicle based on the determination result (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2799375).
In the aforementioned anti-collision system, a method is known of displaying alarm images in a display of a navigation device or in a heads-up display which is disposed at a predetermined position on a windshield of the vehicle and capable of displaying detecting results of the object detecting unit. The method is used when an alarm indicating that the vehicle has a possibility of colliding with the obstruction is output to an occupant of the vehicle. However, in this method, when sunlight reflects on the display or the heads-up display, the sunlight reduces the occupant's ability to see the image on the display.


This application relates to a pharmaceutical composition for the prevention and treatment of skin conditions in a patient having a sugar compound that is converted to a glycosaminoglycan in the patient in an amount sufficient to thicken the skin, a primary antioxidant component in an amount sufficient to substantially inhibit the formation of collagenase and elastase, at least one amino acid component in an amount sufficient to assist in the thickening of the skin, and at least one transition metal component in an amount effective to bind collagen and elastic fibers and rebuild skin. In one preferred form, the composition further includes a catechin-based preparation, a glucosamine or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof, and a chondroitin or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof. In a more preferred form, the invention further includes a vitamin E source, a cysteine source, a vitamin B.sub.3 source, quercetin dihydrate, pyridoxal 5 phosphate-Co B.sub.6, a methionine source, and a vitamin A source. The invention further relates to a method for the prevention or treatment of skin conditions by administering the pharmaceutical composition in an amount therapeutically effective to modify the thickness of the skin to prevent or treat at least one skin condition.

Human skin is a composite material of the epidermis and the dermis. The topmost part of the epidermis is the stratum corneum. This layer is the stiffest layer of the skin, as well as the one most affected by the surrounding environment. Below the stratum corneum is the internal portion of the epidermis. Below the epidermis, the topmost layer of the dermis is the papillary dermis, which is made of relatively loose connective tissues that define the micro-relief of the skin. The reticular dermis, disposed beneath the papillary dermis, is tight, connective tissue that is spatially organized. The reticular dermis is also associated with coarse wrinkles. At the bottom of the dermis lies the subcutaneous layer.
The principal functions of the skin include protection, excretion, secretion, absorption, thermoregulation, pigmentogenesis, accumulation, sensory perception, and regulation of immunological processes. These functions are detrimentally affected by the structural changes in the skin due to aging and excessive sun exposure. The physiological changes associated with skin aging include impairment of the barrier function and decreased turnover of epidermal cells, for example. [Cerimele, D., et al., Br. J. Dermatol., 122 Suppl. 35, p. 13-20 (April 1990)].
The mechanical properties of the skin, such as elasticity, are controlled by the density and geometry of the network of collagen and elastic fiber tissue therein. Damaged collagen and elastin lose their contractile properties, resulting in skin wrinkling and skin surface roughness. As the skin ages or becomes unhealthy, it acquires sags, stretch marks, bumps, bruises or wrinkles, it roughens, and it has reduced ability to synthesize Vitamin D. Aged skin also becomes thinner and has a flattened dermoepidermal interface because of the alterations in collagen, elastin, and glycosaminoglycans. [Fenske, N. A, and Lober, C. W., J. Am. Acad. Dermatol., 15:571-585 (Oct. 1986); Montagna, W. and Carlisle, K., Journal of Investigative Dermatol., 73(1):47-53 (1979)].
A variety of vitamins and minerals have in individually been administered to treat certain skin and other problems that occur when the patient has a deficiency of that vitamin or mineral. Vitamin A, for example, assists in the treatment of acne and to facilitate wound healing; vitamin C (ascorbic acid) assists in the prevention of skin bruising and wound healing; vitamin E is an antioxidant; and copper assists in the treatment of elastic tissue defects. [Neldner, K. H., Amer. Acad. Derm. Annl. Mtg., Wash. D.C., Dec. 6, 1993]. Topical use of vitamin C is also believed to ward off sun damage, reduce breakdown of connective tissues, and possibly promote collagen synthesis. [Dial, W., Medical World News, p. 12, March 1991]. Vitamin E is used topically as an anti-inflammatory agent, for enhancement of skin moisturization, for UV-ray protection of cells, and for retardation of premature skin aging.
Catechin-based preparations, including proanthanols and proanthocyanidins are powerful antioxidants. These compounds are found in flowers, plant leaves, and grape seeds, for example. [Lubell, A., Cosmetic Dermatol., 9(7):58 & 60 (July 1996)].
N-Acetylglucosamine and glucosamine have been examined for use in the prevention and treatment of degenerative joint diseases and cartilage loss, and found to increase the glycosaminoglycans present in the cartilage to restore cartilage. [See Grevenstein, J., et al., Acta Orthopaedia Belgica, 57(2):157-161 (1991); Setnikar, I., Drug Res., 36(4):720-733 (1986); Drovanti, A., et al, Clin. Therap., 3(4):1-6 (1980)]. Glucosamine has also been examined in connection with arthritis [See, e.g., Murray, M. T.] and oral and injected glucosamine have been reported to be useful for arthrosic patients. [Tapadinhas, M. J., et al., Pharmatherapeutica, 3(3):157-168 (1982); D'Ambrosio, E., et al., Pharmatherapeutica, 2(8):504-508 (1981)].
The metabolism of glycosaminoglycans under the influence of herbal and other anti-inflammatory agents has been examined by measuring glycosaminoglycans in the skin, liver, kidney, and spleen after administration of several compounds. [Reddy, G. K., et al., Biochem. Pharmacology, 38(20) :3527-3534 (1989)].
In addition to their individual use to supplement a deficiency in a patient, various of the above ingredients have been combined to form pharmaceuticals designed to prevent and treat certain cellular, skin, and other conditions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,930 discloses a low residue, dietary composition having at least one amino acid and a quantity of non-amino acid derived caloric material sufficient to obviate the diarrhea problem of straight amino acid compositions. A flavoring material may also be included to render the composition more palatable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,964 discloses a salt of (+)-catechin formed by reacting (+)-catechin with at least a basic amino acid, such as L-lysine and L-arginine; and a hydrosoluble double salt formed from the reaction product of (+)-catechin with a basic amino-acid, such as L-lysine and L-arginine, and another inorganic or organic acid. The patent further discloses methods of treating degenerative diseases of the connective tissue by topically administering the composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,202 discloses a composition for the treatment of skin wounds with a buffered salt solution having a pH between 6 to 7.8 and administering a starch hydrolysate compound, and preferably including alphaketoglutaric acid or alphaketoglutarate salts. Optional additives to the composition include ascorbic acid or salts thereof, ferrous salts, and glycine, L-Proline, and L-Lysine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,232 discloses a topical composition for the treatment of herpes simplex, cold sores, lesions, and other painful skin conditions including L-lysine, gibberellic acid, and urea in an inert carrier having water. The composition may also include L-ascorbic acid, as well as methyl paraben, propyl paraben, or mixtures thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,453 discloses a method and composition for treatment of tissue degenerative inflammatory disease in animals and humans by oral administration of ascorbic acid, bioavailable calcium, a precursor or stimulant of epinephrine or nor-epinephrine of tyrosine or phenylalanine, and an anti-inflammatory substance selected from anti-inflammatory sugars, amino sugars and biocompatible acid addition salts thereof, and anti-inflammatory amino acids, to promote connective tissue regrowth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,465 discloses a composition for treating precursor deficiencies in the synthesis of collagen with proline, glycine, lysine, vitamin C, and one or more compounds selected from .alpha.-ketoglutaric acid, methionine, cysteine, cystine, valine, and pharmaceutically acceptable diluents and excipients.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,332,579 and 5,308,627 disclose a nutritional supplement to assist persons recovering from addiction by administering a variety of vitamins and minerals including enzyme activating substances such as magnesium and zinc; an enzyme co-factor that is a vitamin like various vitamin B complexes; an enzyme producer such as an amino acid like glutamic acid; an herbal antispasmodic substance like Valerian root; and vitamin C.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,875 discloses a method of suppressing formation of lipid peroxide and removing peroxide by applying to the skin a decomposed product of shell membrane and tocopherol and derivatives. Lysine, proline, Vitamin C, for examples, are listed among a vast genus of optional additives.
The above references, however, do not teach pharmaceutical compositions or methods for improving skin wrinkles along with other conditions, such as skin elasticity and softness. Thus, it is desired to find a pharmaceutical composition and a method for the prevention and treatment of wrinkles and other skin conditions. The present invention advantageously provides pharmaceutical compositions, as well as methods of treatment comprising the administration of such compositions, to repair skin for the prevention and treatment of wrinkles and other skin disorders.

Pharmaceutical compositions and methods for improving wrinkles and other skin conditions


A model learning device provided with: an error-added movement locus generation unit for adding an error to movement locus data for action learning that represents the movement locus of a subject and to which is assigned an action label that is information representing the action of the subject, and thereby generating error-added movement locus data; and an action recognition model learning unit for learning a model, using at least the error-added movement locus data and learning data created on the basis of the action label, by which model the action of some subject can be recognized from the movement locus of the subject. Thus, it is possible to provide a model by which the action of a subject can be recognized with high accuracy on the basis of the movement locus of the subject estimated using a camera image.

A technique for analyzing an action of a subject (such as a person) by using an image by a monitoring camera and the like has been paid attention to. For example, it is expected to prevent in advance an incident or an accident by automatically and efficiently finding a suspicious action in a station, a shopping mall, and the like.
PTL 1 describes one example of a technique for recognizing an action of a person by using an image (camera image) captured by capturing equipment such as a camera. In the technique described in PTL 1, a model for recognizing an action of a person by using a locus (movement locus) along which the person has moved is learned in advance by a support vector machine and the like. Next, by analyzing the camera image, information (movement locus information) representing a movement locus of a subject to be monitored is acquired, and a suspicious action of the subject to be monitored is determined by using the model that has been learned in advance, and the movement locus information,
PTL 2 describes a technique in which a state transition model is learned by assigning a state to movement locus data of a moving body, and an action of the movement locus data is determined by using the learned state transition model.
PTL 3 describes a technique for tracking a subject to be tracked within a real space while suppressing an influence of observation noise included in an image area including the subject to be tracked.

Model learning device, model learning method, and recording medium


A slave controller which provides the control signals for effecting the r and write operation of a memory electrically connected to the VERSA MODULE EUROPE bus (VMEbus). The slave controller comprises a programmable array logic device which receives control and address modifier signals from the data transfer bus within the VMEbus and an address enable signal from a decoding circuit. The decoding circuit, in turn, provides the address enable signal to the programmable array logic device in response to an address strobe signal supplied to the decoding circuit by the data transfer bus. The programmable array logic device being responsive to the control, address modifier and address enable signals enables the memory which for a read or write operation. The programmable array logic device next provides a write pulse to the memory when data is to be written into the memory at an address provided by the VMEbus. When data is to be read from the memory, programmable array logic device maintains the memory's write enable input at an inactive state and generates an output enable pulse allowing data to be read from the memory at an address provided by the VMEbus. Directional control of data between the memory and the VMEbus for the read and write operations is provided by a pair of transceivers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to digital computer bus architecture and, in particular, to a slave controller for controlling transfer of digital data to and from a slave such as a memory via the VMEbus (VERSA MODULE EUROPE bus).
2. Background of the Invention
The proliferation of microprocessors has produced the economic incentive and consequent trend to construct modular multimicroprocessor computer systems, where implementations use one high performance processor. Such modular systems are facilitated by a bus structure, referred to as a backplane bus, to which microprocessors, system controllers, data storage modules, input/output controllers and associated peripheral devices can be connected and through which each device on the bus can communicate with other devices on the bus.
The main purpose of any bus structure is to allow devices connected to the bus structure to transfer data from one device to one or more of the other devices in accordance with a predetermined protocol of communication. A "standard" bus is one for functional, electrical and mechanical requirements for interface circuits and a set of signal lines that constitute the bus which are determined for all devices connected to the bus. Generally, the signal line groupings on standard backplane buses are partitioned into logical groupings that comprise a data transfer bus having address and data lines; an arbitration bus having control and acquisition lines; and a utility bus which includes power leads and on some buses, clock signals, initialization and power lines.
The VMEbus is one such standard bus which is well known and very popular in automated manufacturing and processing environments. The VMEbus has a 16/32 backplane bus, the aforementioned signal line groupings and a priority interrupt bus which provides the signal lines needed to generate and service interrupts. The VMEbus is set forth the "VMEbus Specification Manual", Revision C.1, dated Oct. 1985, published by Motorola.
In the past connecting a device such as a memory board to the VMEbus generally required the user to purchase a board or multiple boards which provide the necessary backplane interface logic and functional logic to allow the device to interface with the VMEbus. These boards are often expensive, complex in design and generally are limited to single function, such as, allowing a data storage device having a predetermined storage capacity to interface with the VMEbus. With these and other disadvantages known to backplane interface and functional logic boards for use with the VMEbus the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide a simple and inexpensive slave controller which will allow a device such as a memory to interface with the VMEbus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a single chip controller to replace the backplane interface logic and the functional logic currently used to interface a device such as a memory with the VMEbus.
Various other advantages and objectives of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description of the present invention is set forth below.

Slave controller utilizing eight least/most significant bits for accessing sixteen bit data words

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


An eyeglass assembly having a secondary eyeglass frame combined with a main eyeglass frame by a protection strip is provided. A pair of eyeglass temples connected to the main eyeglass frame is adjustable to an angle as desired. When the eyeglasses are used for sport purpose, a strap may be fastened to the eyeglass temples by inserting a stopping portion of an engaging member of the strap into a preset hole on the eyeglass temple and allowing the stopping portion engaged with a crossed inner groove adjacent the hole by rotating at a direction such that the strap and the eyeglass temples can be quickly fastened to achieve stable positioning or quickly disassembled when not in use.

Conventional eyeglasses are mostly designed with multiple purposes so as to accommodate a variety of functions, such as vision-adjusted optical eyeglasses and sport eyeglasses. With respect to conventional sport eyeglasses, a protection strip is commonly added at an inner side of the eyeglass frame to protect the forehead of a user. A secondary eyeglass frame combined with secondary function lenses can be added at one side of the eyeglasses to adjust vision of a user wearing such type of sport eyeglasses. A variety of eyeglasses combining the protection strip and the secondary eyeglass frame are provided for user selection. The sport type eyeglasses are designed such that an angle of eyeglass temples can be adjusted to fit different users so as to provide comfort when wearing the eyeglasses. For a sport eyeglass assembly, a strap is also used to bundle the eyeglass temples pivotally connected at the two sides of the eyeglass frame. A variety of strap combination also exists for user selection.


Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing medical simulation, and, in particular, for implementing medical simulation to simulate a medical instrument entering and maneuvering in a body of a person. A medical simulation system comprising a medical instrument detection unit, a medical instrument tracker unit, a braking unit may be provided. The medical simulation detection unit may determine when a medical instrument is interacting with the system. The tracking unit may track the movement and position of the medical instrument. The braking unit may be used to engage the medical instrument and simulate haptic effects. A medical simulation containment system for the medical simulation system may also be provided.

Healthcare education leaders have seen the need for medical simulation systems that efficiently train, evaluate, and enhance individual medical practitioner's skills to improve patient outcomes. Medical simulation systems are also needed to help doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, and/or the like determine a type of medical instrument to use in a specific medical situation. Testing and training using medical instruments on live patients can be costly, time consuming, and cause difficulty comparing the performance of different instruments.
Many known medical simulation devices designed to simulate the experience of a medical instrument entering into and being manipulated within a patient are large and relatively difficult to transport. Doctors and students who wish to use relatively large medical simulation units may be required to travel to the location of the medical simulation unit or the medical simulation unit would have to be disassembled and reassembled at each location. Further, if a relatively large medical simulation unit is shipped, there was a significant risk that the medical simulation unit would be damaged during shipping.
Hence, there is a need for more robust and scalable solutions for implementing medical simulations.


A flexible scintillation-type level detector (10), in which the scintillator (18) is made from a flexible tube (12) substantially filled with a liquid scintillating material (16) to provide flexibility in at least two, and preferably three, dimensions. At least one end (32) is aligned for operable connection to a photodetector (14, 20). Outer surfaces of the flexible tube (12) may be covered with an inwardly-facing light reflective material (30) and/or light-excluding material or flexible armored casing(22). The scintillator (18) may include a variable-volume expansion chamber (110, 152, 176) to compensate for thermal expansion and contraction of the liquid scintillator material (16).

It is well known to use the combination of a radiation source, such as Cesium137 and an elongated radiation detector as a device for measuring the level of material, such as in a tank, that is situated between the radiation source and radiation detector. Such devices are particularly useful when the material being measured or the environment in which it is located are particularly caustic, dangerous, or otherwise not amenable to traditional level measurement devices.
Early continuous level detection devices used an ion chamber detector. For example, the ion chamber could be a three to six inch (7.5–15 cm) diameter tube up to 20 feet (6 meters) long filled with inert gas pressurized to several atmospheres. A small bias voltage is applied to a large electrode inserted down the center of the ion chamber. As gamma energy strikes the chamber, a very small signal (measured in picoamperes) is detected as the inert gas is ionized. This current, which is proportional to the amount of gamma radiation received by the detector, is amplified and transmitted as the level measurement signal.
Alternatively, elongated scintillation detector "crystals" have been used. Such devices are many times more sensitive than ion chambers and are also considerably more expensive. This added expense is often acceptable because it allows the use of either a smaller radiation source size or to obtain a more sensitive gauge. When gamma energy hits the scintillator material, it is converted into invisible or UV flashes comprised of light photons (particles of light). These photons increase in number as the intensity of gamma radiation increases. The photons travel through the scintillator medium to a photomultiplier tube, which converts the light photons into an electrical signal. The output is directly proportional to the gamma energy that is striking the scintillator.
Both ion chamber detectors and scintillation counter detectors have the disadvantage of being quite rigid in structure. In some applications, such as extending the detector vertically around a horizontally-oriented tank or along the length of a tank where the shape of the tank or obstructions which are on or part of the tank limit or prevent the use of such rigid detectors. There is a need for a scintillation counter detector that is flexible so that it may be adapted in the field to bend around such obstacles.
Fiber optic cables made of many individually clad strands of scintillator material have been presented as a solution to this problem. An example of this is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,103. The required individual cladding of these fibers, however, makes such a solution undesirably costly. Another example of a flexible scintillation crystal detector is shown in our U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,120, issued May 13, 2003. In these detector systems, the radiation source is positioned outside the container, the scintillation detector is positioned outside the container, and the product having its level being detected is within the chamber, as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the above-noted U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,103. The quantity of radiation received by the scintillation detector is an indication of the level of the product within the container.

Flexible liquid-filled radiation detector scintillator