A liquid ink composition includes a colorant, a charge control agent, an organosol, a carrier liquid, and a storage stabilizer. The storage stabilizer is a metal salt of a metal cation and an organic anion having 15 to 30 carbon atoms. The liquid ink composition is produced by a method of adding the storage stabilizer in an effective amount to improve the dispersibility and storage stability at high temperatures without deteriorating the electrical property and the optical density of the liquid ink composition. The storage stabilizer can be a metal salt of C15 to C30 alkyl carboxylate or a metal salt of a C15 to C30 alkyl sulfonate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a liquid ink composition and a method of producing the composition. More specifically, the present invention relates to a liquid ink composition and a method for producing an ink composition that is capable of maintaining good characteristics and dissolves or inhibits the formation of ink clots during long term storage by adding a metal salt as a storage stabilizer to the ink composition.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid inks are widely used in offset, rotogravure, and ink jet printers and in electrophotographic image forming apparatuses. In the electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, such as copying machines, laser printers, and facsimile machines, liquid inks are used as the liquid toner or developer. Generally, the electrophotographic process includes forming a latent electrostatic image on a charged photoconductor by exposing the photoconductor to radiation according to a predetermined image pattern, contacting the photoconductor with a liquid developer to develop the image, and transferring the developed image onto the liquid developer receiving medium. The image transfer may be performed directly, or indirectly through an intermediate transport member. The developed image is fused permanently onto the receiving medium by heat and/or pressure.
The liquid toners may be classified into two types: a liquid toner generally prepared using general commercial resins and an organosol toner generally prepared using organosols. The organosol toner includes organosols added to a toner acting as a dispersant as well as a binder. U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,766 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,598 disclose a liquid electrophotographic toner including the organosol, and a liquid electrophotographic toner preparation method, respectively. As disclosed in these patents, the organosol toner is generally prepared by preparing a (co)polymeric graft stabilizer, preparing the organosol using the (co)polymeric graft stabilizer, and mixing and milling the organosol, the colorant, and additives.
The prepared organosol toner includes stabilized and charged toner particles having a diameter in the range of 0.1 to 5 μm so as to be used to produce a high-resolution image.
Meanwhile, the liquid ink has to be uniformly dispersed to produce a clear image when used in the image forming apparatus. Otherwise, clots may be formed in the inks and the development and the transfer of the image may not be carried out smoothly, thereby interfering with the production of a desired image.
The liquid ink also has to maintain dispersibility after a long storage life taking into consideration the storage time spent before the product is purchased and the actual usage time of the product.
However, while providing the high-resolution image, the organosol toner has shortcomings during the storage. To prepare the organosol toner, the organosol, the colorant, and the charge control agent are put into a carrier liquid and milled by applying a physical force using a milling apparatus at a predetermined temperature. The organosol serves as the dispersant to combine the colorant, the charge control agent, and the additional agents, thus forming the toner particles. For a short period of time at normal temperature, the prepared toner does not generate a considerable amount of the clots of the toner particles. Even if the toner particles is clotted and deposited, it is in small amount and can be dispersed through a simple physical method such as by shaking.
During long term storage and at high temperature, especially at temperatures above the glass transition temperature of an organosol core, the toner particles may combine with each other and be deposited, forming a separate layer in the carrier liquid. Once the toner particles clot and form a separate layer and sediment in the carrier liquid, it is difficult to disperse to the original dispersed state even with excessive physical force. In actual use, it is inevitable that the liquid toner will be stored for a long time. Furthermore, the requirement for high-temperatures to fix the image affects the liquid toner that is stored in the image forming apparatus.
The non-dispersed toner having sediments of the toner particles does not smoothly flow into a developing apparatus, and the printing may not be properly performed. Even if the image is printed, it is difficult to produce a clear image since the liquid toner particles are not completely dispersed.
Accordingly, even in the liquid ink having the organosol as the dispersant to disperse the ink particles, the quality of the liquid ink is not guaranteed if the liquid ink is exposed to high temperatures during long term storage. As a result, there is a need for a liquid ink having an organosol that is stable during long term storage and maintains a uniform quality.

Liquid ink composition and method of producing a liquid ink composition


An improved corner cutting structure, having a knife seat and a base pivotally connected to the knife seat. The knife seat has an inwardly recessed notch and a receiving slot formed on a periphery. The receiving slot provides the support of a blade. The base has a supporting platform and a cutting board. The cutting board and the blade of the knife seat are correspondingly installed with each other, and the supporting platform is placed underneath the notch. Thereby, when a card is disposed on the supporting platform, the knife seat is pressed rotating to move the blade downward, so as to cut the corner of the card.

The present invention relates to an improved corner cutting structure, and more particularly, to a corner cutting structure for cutting and trimming corners of a card or other paper products. The corner of the card is rounded or chamfered with various shapes by pressing the knife seat, so as to press the blade downwards to achieve the corner cutting and trimming process.
In the past, one needs to have sense of aesthetic and drawing talent for making a nice card. As most people do not possess such expertise, the motivation for making a card is low. However, as the computer information technology and the related graphic design software have been prosperously developed, the do-it-yourself (DIY) cards become more and more common. Apart from aesthetic requirement, the profile of the cards also affects the visual effect of the card. Therefore, corner cutting devices have been developed for rounding corners of cards, so as to speed up the card production.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional DIY corner cutting device disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application No. 85219081. As shown in FIG. 1, the corner cutting device includes a bulk body 10a, a primary knife member 11a and a secondary knife member 12a. The primary knife member 11a is pivotally installed to two side surfaces of the bulk body 10a, and the secondary knife member 12a is fixed to a top surface of the bulk body 10a. The primary and secondary knife members 11a and 12a each has a corresponding round cutting edge to suppress the side surface of the bulk body 10a. Therefore, the cutting edges of the primary and secondary knife bodies 11a and 12a are staggered with each other. By inserting a card to be cut at the corner of the bulk body 10a, the corner cutting process can be performed.
The above corner cutting device, though provides the corner cutting function, has the following drawbacks.
Firstly, the blades of the primary and secondary knife members 11a and 12a are staggered with each other, such that the thickness of the card is seriously restricted.
Secondly, the structure of the corner cutting device is so complicated that it is very laborious and costly for assembly and maintenance.
Thirdly, the primary and secondary knife members 11a and 12a are integrally formed, such that the round corner cut thereby has the constant shape.


Knuckle joint assembly for a medical device support system. The knuckle joint assembly includes a cartridge assembly that includes a cartridge housing and a rotary bearing. The cartridge housing includes a bore having a central axis and a bearing mount in the bore. The rotary bearing is press fitted in the bearing mount and configured to receive axially therethrough a spindle to rotatably support the spindle about the central axis. The knuckle joint assembly includes a retaining clip and a retaining pin. The retaining clip is selectively movable to disengage and engage a groove in a spindle to respectively support or release the spindle along a central axis. The retaining pin is movable between a first position to allow movement of the retaining clip between positions but prevent removal of the retaining clip, and a second position to block movement of the retaining clip from the engaged position.

Medical device support systems or carry systems are used in health treatment settings such as hospital examination rooms, clinics, surgery rooms and emergency rooms. These systems may suspend or support any variety of medical devices or components including surgical lights, supply consoles, patient monitors, camera detector heads, medical instruments, ventilator systems, suction devices, among others. The support systems typically include a central shaft or support column that is suspended from the ceiling or mounted to a wall, one or more generally horizontal extension arms mounted for rotational movement about the shaft, and one or more load balancing arms, also known as spring arms or counterbalancing arms, that enable positioning of a medical device to a proper orientation relative to for example a patient operating table and healthcare professionals in the operating room.
The load balancing arm typically is rotatably connected to a knuckle joint assembly at the distal end of the extension arm. A housing of the knuckle joint assembly may include a bearing that receives a spindle of the load balancing arm thereby enabling rotatable movement of the load balancing arm relative to the knuckle joint housing of the extension arm. A retaining clip or key may be inserted into a slot in the knuckle joint housing to engage a circumferential groove in the spindle to maintain an axial position of the spindle. A retaining pin, plate or sleeve may be used to prevent backing out of the retaining clip from the slot. The knuckle joint assembly may also include a brake assembly to frictionally engage the spindle of the load balancing arm, and a slip ring to transmit power or data signals from cabling in the extension arm to the proximal end of the load balancing arm.
For knuckle joint assemblies in some medical device support systems or carry systems, there remain various shortcomings, drawbacks, and disadvantages relative to certain applications. Servicing the internal components of some knuckle joint assemblies presents several problems or potential problems. For example, the bearings of known knuckle joint assemblies are not easily replaceable or serviceable in the field. The reason for this is that the tolerances are built into the knuckle joint housing of the extension arm; thus, to service the bearings, typically the entire extension arm including its knuckle joint assembly must be removed and returned to the manufacturer or supplier. The bearings can then be removed and replaced with appropriate fitting and aligning equipment. This can create downtime for health treatment facilities especially those equipped with only a single medical device support system or a single extension arm or spring arm. Also, in some knuckle joint assemblies to remove the spring arm spindle, the retaining pin must first be moved out of the way of the retaining clip to allow the retaining clip to be removed from the slot to release the spring arm spindle. One problem or potential problem is that the retaining clip can be entirely withdrawn, i.e. separated, from the knuckle joint assembly, risking misplacement of the retaining clip or improper reinsertion of the retaining clip, for example, upside down instead of right side up.
Accordingly, there remains a need for further contributions in this area of technology.

Knuckle joint assembly for medical device support system


A method and apparatus for electrolytically producing oxidation reduction potential water from aqueous salt solutions for use in disinfection, sterilization, decontamination, wound cleansing. The apparatus includes an electrolysis unit having a three-compartment cell (22) comprising a cathode chamber (18), an anode chamber (16), and a saline solution chamber (20) interposed between the anode and cathode chambers. Two communicating (24, 26) membranes separate the three chambers. The center chamber includes a fluid flow inlet (21a) and outlet (21b) and contains insulative material that ensures direct voltage potential does not travel through the chamber. A supply of water flows through the cathode and anode chambers at the respective sides of the saline chamber. Saline solution flows through the center chamber, either by circulating a pre-prepared aqueous solution containing ionic species, or, alternatively, by circulating pure water or an aqueous solution of, e.g., aqueous hydrogen chloride and ammonium hydroxide, over particulate insulative material coated with a solid electrolyte. Electrical current is provided to the communicating membranes separating the chambers, thus causing an electrolytic reaction that produces both oxidative (positive) and reductive (negative) ORP water.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to acidic and alkaline/oxidative and reductive potential water (ORP water) and to methods of electrolyzing saline solutions. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing negative and positive ORP water, and the water so produced, for use in sterilization, decontamination, disinfection, skin cleansing, and wound healing catalysis.
2. Background Art
The production of super-oxidized water is an electrochemical, or oxidation-reduction process. This is commonly referred to as an electrolytic or redox reaction in which electrical energy is used to produce chemical change in an aqueous solution. Electrical energy is introduced into and transported through water by the conduction of electrical charge from one point to another in the form of an electrical current. In order for the electrical current arise and subsist there must be charge carriers in the water, and there must be a force that makes the carriers move. The charge carriers can be electrons, as in the case of metal and semiconductors, or they can be positive and negative ions in the case of solutions.
It is difficult to force electrical energy, or current, through pure water since it is not a charge carrier and is not ionic in and of itself. Absolutely pure water, while theoretically simple is, as a practical matter, virtually impossible to obtain. Hence, water in the form we commonly encounter it can and does conduct electrical energy, or current, due to the presence of dissolved ions. The greater the concentration of dissolved ions, the greater the ability to conduct current and the ability to produce a chemical change in the solution.
Since water is never pure it can contain numerous dissolved substances. It invariably contains trace amounts of H3O+ and OH− from the dissociation of water. It can also contain dissolved gases, such as CO2 and N2 that can also be reactants. Water also contains various anions and cations. As is well known, the H2O molecule is polar; that is, it has an unequal charge distribution. This is due to the molecular structure and the unequal attraction for electrons exerted by the oxygen and hydrogen atoms comprising the molecule. This polarity significantly enhances water's ability to dissolve numerous substances, including ionic compounds such as sodium chloride or salt.
Molecules of water can either be oxidized to O2 by the removal of electrons or reduced to H2 by the addition of electrons. Therefore water must always be considered a possible reactant. Typical reactions occur at either the cathode or the anode.
At the cathode reduction must occur. Many different reactions are possible however the following two reactions are the most likely:2H2O+2e−→H2(gas)+2OH−2H3O+2e−→H2(gas)+2H2O
There are several other possible reactions at the cathode, none of which are easy to predict. It is necessary to consider which reactant is most easily reduced and which is reduced most rapidly. The strongest oxidizing agent is not necessarily the fastest. Complications may arise when electric current is very large and the concentration of the reactants is very small.
In the presence of NaCl other reactions are to be considered, such as the evolution of chlorine and hydrogen gas and the production of OH−. The OH− or hydroxyl ion can cause significant increases in pH. In the electrolysis of NaCl, solutions show that OH− accumulates around the cathode. Cations move toward the cathode and anions toward the anode.
At the anode oxidation must occur. The most common reaction in the presence of aqueous NaCl gives rise to chlorine gas.2 Cl−−2e−→Cl2(gas)
The overall reaction during the electrolysis of aqueous NaCl solutions shows the concentration of chlorine decreasing and the concentration of OH− increasing. This condition in turn leads to other reactions and subsequent products. Chlorine gas is partly dissolved in the solution, and reacts to produce hypochlorous acid according to the following equation.Cl2+H2O→HClO and HCl
The resulting hydrochloric acid, HCl, can cause a significant drop in pH. There is also the possibility that the formation of HCl gives rise to other reactions simultaneously, but to an unknown degree. The production of atomic oxygen is possible; however due to the instability it is not present for long or in high concentration. This reactivity can give rise to other products such as oxygen gas, hydrogen peroxide, and ozone.
Combining the foregoing reactions and the resulting products and varying the process inputs and conditions, such as the amount and type of current, type and concentration of dissolved ions, and water purity, will give rise to water of varying characteristics.
All of the above-described reactions, when allowed to occur under controlled and optimal conditions, can result in the production of water that contains oxidized species resulting in something termed "super-oxidized water." Super-oxidized water may have varying characteristics, including either high or low pH, varying chlorine and chlorine compound content, and varying degrees of oxygen and oxygen-containing compounds.
The most easily quantifiable characteristic of super-oxidized water is its pH. Depending upon the configuration of the electrolytic cell, high pH water can be produced in the cathode chamber and low pH water can be produced in the anode chamber. These can be referred to as anode or cathode water. Low pH (acidic) anode water also has chlorine present in various forms; i.e., chlorine gas, chloride ion, hydrochloric acid, or hypochlorous acid. Oxygen in various forms can also be present. The alkaline cathode water may have hydrogen gas present along with sodium ion. The process water streams from these two electrolytic cells or chambers can be separated and analyzed.
Work performed in Japan has shown that each of the two types of water produced have unique properties. One of these properties is referred to as oxidation-reduction potential (ORP). This potential can be quantified using the standard technique of measuring the electrical potential in millivolts relative to a standard reference silver/silver chloride electrode. ORPs of approximately 1000 mV have been measured. Optical absorption spectra and electron spin resonance have showed the presence of hypochlorous acid.
It has long been known in the general art of sterilization that heat, filtration, radiation, and chemicals may be employed to remove unwanted microorganisms. However, only recently have developments in the art of electrolysis provided an alternative method of microbial disinfection and sterilization. Relatively recently, apparatus have been devised to optimize the conditions that favor the production of certain end products, including both cathode and anode water of varying ORP and residual chlorine content. Super-oxidized water has a limited shelf life and decreasing activity over time. Data shows that ORP water may be effective when used in sterilization, decontamination, disinfection, skin cleansing, and wound healing catalysis.
Relevant prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,171 to Malchesky, issued Aug. 3, 1999, which discloses a sterilization apparatus utilizing catholyte and anolyte solutions produced by electrolysis of water. The apparatus includes a tray with an article receiving area, such that an article to be microbially decontaminated is positioned in the receiving area and a microbe blocking lid is closed over the article. A water electrolysis apparatus receives water, splits the water into two separate streams that pass respectively through an anode chamber and a cathode chamber, and exposes the streams to an electric field that results in the production of a catholyte solution for cleaning and an anolyte solution for sterilization. The anolyte and catholyte are selectively circulated through the article receiving area by a pump to clean and microbially decontaminate the external surfaces and internal passages of an article located therein. The anolyte or deactivated anolyte provides a sterile rinse solution. A reagent dispensing well receives an ampule or the like. The ampule contains internal compartments which are selectively accessed or opened to dispense detergent concentrate and/or sterilant concentrate reagents into the circulating anolyte and catholyte solutions. A water treatment apparatus dispenses either a salt or a cleaning agent into the water received from the source to vary the electrolysis reaction or to form a cleaning solution to clean and flush the electrolysis apparatus, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,551 to Malchesky, et al., issued Jan. 9, 2001 teaches a method of and apparatus for electrolytically synthesizing peracetic acid and other oxidants. The electrolysis unit has an ion selective barrier for separating an anodic chamber from a cathodic chamber. An electrolyte within the unit includes a precursor, such as potassium acetate, or acetic acid. A positive potential is applied to an anode within the anodic chamber, resulting in the generation of a variety of shorter and longer lived oxidizing species, such as peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and ozone. In one preferred embodiment, a solution containing the oxidizing species is transported to a site where articles, such as medical instruments, are to be decontaminated. The oxidizing species are generated as needed, avoiding the need to store hazardous decontaminants.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,932 to Robinson, issued Apr. 16, 1996, teaches an apparatus for electrolyzing fluids. The device ostensibly produces electrolyzed fluids that are Particularly suited for treating physiological materials such as whole blood, plasma, or cell isolates in order to reduce the effect of harmful microorganisms. A container holds the fluid and a power supply provides a source of electrical current to an anode and a cathode positioned within the container. The anode comprises a base material selected from titanium and niobium. An outer layer of platinum is bonded to the base. The anode comprises a cylindrical shape. The cathode is also connected to the power supply and comprises titanium and has a substantially cylindrical shape. The cathode is positioned concentrically in relation to the anode. The spacing between the cathode and the anode is not greater than a preferred amount. Moreover, the voltage potential between the cathode and the anode is not greater than a preferred amount.
Finally, and most closely related to the present invention, U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,744 to Djeiranishvili et al, teaches an apparatus for the electrochemical treatment of a liquid medium. The apparatus contains at least one midstream electrolytic cell with unipolar electrodes of positive and negative polarity, which are connected to a source of continuous electrical current and positioned on opposite sides of a semi-permeable diaphragm or membrane which divides the cell into anode and cathode electrode chambers. The chambers have pipelines attached to their nozzles. The pipelines include a feed pipe for the liquid medium being treated, a cathodic outlet pipe with a discharge point for carrying the liquid medium away from the cathode chamber, an anode outlet pipe for carrying the liquid medium from the anode chamber into the catalytic reactor for breaking down active chlorine, an exit line connected to the reactor, and a discharge point for carrying the liquid medium away to the place of collection.
While it is well known to utilize an ion selective barrier between the anode and cathode chambers of an electrolysis unit, to date it is not known to provide a supply of flowing ionic solutions in a chamber intermediate the anode and cathode chambers to facilitate the production of oxidative reduction potential (ORP) water.

Method and apparatus for producing negative and positive oxidative reductive potential (ORP) water


The instant invention provides near-infrared fluorescent nerve contrast agents and methods of using them.

Nerve damage during surgery results in significant morbidity and mortality (1-4). Despite advancements in surgical technique and equipment, nerves are currently identified via gross appearance and anatomical location, without intraoperative image guidance. Thin or buried nerves are at high risk for damage. Anatomical variants such as bifurcation, trifurcation, medial or anterior displacement, and non-recurrence are also risk factors for injury (5, 6). For example, recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury can cause symptoms ranging from hoarseness and aspiration in unilateral injury, to life threatening airway obstruction in the case of bilateral injury (2, 7). To minimize such high morbidity and mortality from nerve injury, intraoperative visual identification during complex surgery is of paramount importance.
However, only 3 main classes of nerve cell-specific molecules have been reported to date, including stilbene derivatives, distyrylbenzene (DSB) fluorophores, and styryl pyridinium (FM) fluorophores (8-11). Among these agents, DSBs such as GE3082 and GE3111 have been investigated for image-guided nerve surgery (12-14). However, none of these compounds were optimal because of high adsorption and scattering in tissues from the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths required. In addition, due to their intrinsically high lipophilicity and charge, they exhibit high background binding to adipose tissues, thus lowering the signal-to-background ratio (SBR) considerably. Relatively high endogenous tissue autofluorescence in the visible wavelength range also limits the use of these fluorophores in vivo (15).
To overcome these limitations, nerve-specific contrast agents in the near-infrared (NIR) range are desperately needed. Recently, Whitney et al. synthesized peptides that localize to nerve-associated connective tissues (16). They targeted almost all nerves in the body including motor and sensory nerves, but only after labeling with exogenous fluorophores (16, 17). Gibbs et al. investigated the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of over 200 nerve cell-specific contrast agents and also screened these molecules for NIR optical properties. Although no NIR agents were obtained, several putative fingerprints for nerve uptake were identified (13).
In view of the disadvantages of known contrast reagents, nerve-specific contrast agents in the near-infrared (NIR) range are needed.

Near-infrared fluorescent nerve contrast agents and methods of use thereof

Georgia State University Research Foundation Inc.


An enhanced children's book includes a plurality of pages bound between covers along a spine. At least one of the pages includes a recto sheet, a verso sheet, and an inner member. The recto and verso sheets are adhered together to define an inner space in which the inner member is slidably received. The recto and verso sheets are cut to define a bound portion and a movable portion of the page. The inner member is rotatably attached to the bound portion of the page, and the movable portion is rotatably attached to the inner member. The movable portion is rotatable between a normal position in which the page is normally configured and an extended position in which a portion of the inner member is exposed. The inner member is rotatable between a normal position in which a minimal portion of the inner member is exposed and an extended position in which a maximal portion of the inner member is exposed.

Mechanical features, often referred to as "pop-up" features, are ubiquitous in books intended for young children who have not yet learned to read or who read at a very preliminary level. Sophisticated mechanical features are often used in books for older children to provide mechanical animation to the story. Typically speaking, the more sophisticated pop-up features are more intricate and, therefore, more delicate than those intended for the often abusive hands of infants and young children.
Along these lines, pop-up features in books for young children need to be substantially durable so as to withstand rough treatment from the children. A challenge for the producers of children's books is to develop pop-up features which are sufficiently durable to endure abuse yet sophisticated enough to retain the interest of the reader. Books which are able to incorporate pop-up features which meet these criteria enjoy popularity and success in the marketplace. Examples of such popular and successful books are produced by The Hunt Group and Intervisual Books, Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif., with one example being U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,098 granted Dec. 3, 1996.
In order to maintain a market share, producers need to develop new and different mechanical features constantly. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art of paper engineering and children's books for mechanical or pop-up features which are both durable and interesting.

Enhanced children's book having rotatable mechanical features


A gas turbine engine expansion joint comprises first and second members having confronting faces defining a gap therebetween. At room temperature, the gap varies in accordance with the temperature distribution profile of the first and second members during normal engine operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to gas turbine engines and, more particularly, to improved leakage control in gas turbine engines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional gas turbine shroud segments are manufactured as a full ring and later straight-cut into segments to provide joints which allow for thermal growth. The intersegment gap is typically minimized at the highest power settings, when the segments are at their maximum operating temperature and thus greatest length due to thermal expansion. At lower power, the segments do not expand as much and the gaps do not close down and thus seals are typically required. When seals (e.g. feather seals) are not used, these gaps become the prime leak path for shroud cooling air, which is thermodynamically expensive. It is therefore important to minimize the gaps.
As shown in FIG. 1a, the opposed ends of each conventional shroud segment 5 are straight cut to provide parallel mating faces 7 between adjacent segments 5. At room temperature each pair of adjacent shroud segments 5 defines a gap 7. In operation, the shroud segments 5 do not have uniform temperature distribution (the upstream side of the shroud segments 5 is typically exposed to higher temperature than the downstream side thereof). As shown in FIG. 1b, this causes non-uniform thermal expansion and thus non-optimized intersegment gaps in operating conditions. The shroud segments 5 will be hotter upstream and cooler downstream of the gas path, which makes the thermal expansion uneven and creates a larger gap on the downstream side where air can escape the cavity defined about the shroud segments 5. As shown in FIG. 1b, the high thermal expansion will reduce the gap on the upstream side of the shroud segments 5, whereas the low thermal expansion will leave a larger gap on the downstream side of the segments 5.


A method and apparatus that automatically scales the channel display area (i.e., thumbnails of the channels) based on the number of channels and displaying characteristics and that provides the user with options to customize the plurality of channels displayed in the multi-channel display is accomplished by determining whether all of the channels in the user's customized list can be displayed within the given display area, which may be the full screen or a portion thereof. If all of the channels can be displayed in the given display area, another determination is made to determine the size of each of channel display areas (i.e., thumbnail). Having made this determination, visual representations of each channel in the user's customized list is displayed. While the multi-channel display is being presented, the user can select one of them for customized editing.

Computers are arguably one of the greatest technical accomplishments of mankind. They provide man with an ever increasing source of information, data manipulation capabilities, convenience, and entertainment. Computer entertainment has many forms, including computer games, interactive multimedia presentations, and, more recently, broadcast television.
To receive a television broadcast, a computer needs to be equipped with a tuner. Depending on the type of tuner employed, the computer may receive traditional radio frequency (RF) broadcast television channels, cable broadcast channels, or satellite broadcast channels. In addition, the tuner may be able to receive radio broadcasts. By adjusting the tuner, a channel is selected and subsequently processed and displayed on the computer screen, monitor, or provided to a television.
Due to the processing power of a computer, the computer can provide a wide variety of services that a regular television cannot. For example, if the television broadcast has associated closed caption, the computer can record the closed caption data, along with video images of the broadcast, and store it as a word document. In addition, the computer can sample many television channels and provide a fixed number of these samples, i.e., still shots, on the computer screen at one time. Such multiple channel display may be used to select which channel to view. When the selection is made, the channel selected fills the computer screen.
While the multiple channel display allows the user to select which channel to view, it provides only a fixed number of channels for viewing and once a channel is selected, it fills the computer screen. As such, if the user does not want to view the selected channel, s/he must reinitiate the fixed multi-channel display. Further, because the number of channels is fixed, the user is not allowed to customize the number of channels viewed, or which channels to include in the multi-channel display.
Therefore, a need exists for a computer system that allows a user to customize a multi-channel display to meet his/her personal needs.

Method and apparatus for multiple channel display


A system that characterizes degradation of a component in a system. During operation, the system monitors inferential variables associated with a specimen of the component. Next, the system determines a time for the onset of degradation for the specimen and determines a time for the completion of degradation for the specimen. The system then computes a time interval between the onset of degradation and the completion of degradation, and uses the time interval to look up an entry in a defect library to obtain information which characterizes the degradation of the specimen of the component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for determining the reliability of a component in a system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for characterizing degradation of a component during a reliability-evaluation study.
2. Related Art
An increasing number of businesses are using computer systems for mission-critical applications. In such applications, a component failure can have a devastating effect on the business. For example, the airline industry is critically dependent on computer systems that manage flight reservations, and would essentially cease to function if these systems failed. Hence, it is critically important to measure component reliabilities to ensure that they meet or exceed the reliability requirements of the computer system.
Unfortunately, determining the reliability of a component can be very time consuming if reliability testing is performed under normal operating conditions. This is because, under normal conditions, a highly reliable component can take an inordinate amount of time to fail.
Consequently, component reliabilities are often determined using "reliability-evaluation studies." These reliability-evaluation studies can include "accelerated-life studies," which accelerate the failure mechanisms of a component, or "burn-in studies," which determine if a particular component is functioning properly prior to being shipped to customers. These types of studies subject the component to stressful conditions, typically using environmental stress-test chambers to hold and/or cycle one or more stress variables (e.g., temperature, humidity, radiation flux, etc.) at levels that are believed to accelerate subtle failure mechanisms within the component. Note that, even under stress conditions, components typically need to be tested for time periods that may range from hours to months. Furthermore, it is usually not possible to test the components or systems while they are in the stress-test chambers. Consequently, to test the systems or components under stress, they are typically removed from the stress-test chambers and tested externally to count the number of components that have failed. The systems that have not failed are then returned to the stress-test chambers and are tested further. In this manner, a reliability-evaluation study generates a history of failed and not-failed system/component counts at discrete time intervals.
Unfortunately, reliability-evaluation studies are typically expensive and time consuming. More specifically, these studies typically involve making a tradeoff between the number of units under test, and the time they are subjected to the stress test. If the components are expensive and/or in very short supply (e.g. pre-manufacturing prototype components, or high-end computer systems), long test windows are needed to get a statistically significant number of failures to draw meaningful reliability conclusions. On the other hand, if the components are cheap and readily obtainable, such that a large population of components can be placed under stress, the ex-situ functional testing becomes resource-intensive because the stress-test needs to be halted frequently to evaluate how many units have failed.
Furthermore, the history of failed and not-failed system/component counts obtained by ex-situ functional testing does not provide accurate data to classify the degradation mechanisms for the components.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for characterizing degradation of a component during a reliability-evaluation study without the problems described above.

Characterizing degradation of components during reliability-evaluation studies


The invention relates to the intensification of hydrogen PSA processes through utilization of specifically engineered core-shell composite adsorbents. Different embodiments of core-shell adsorbents can be used with either high or low heat capacity cores, and different adsorbent shells (e.g. activated carbon, zeolite, silica gel, alumina etc.) resulting in higher mass transfer rates and hence sharper mass transfer fronts during the PSA process. The location of the limiting impurity front determines the product purity. Therefore, with sharper impurity fronts, lower height of adsorbent bed is required, and cycle time can be proportionally reduced. Also, thermal swing during the PSA can be reduced by use of such adsorbents. The use of a high heat capacity core to reduce the thermal swing, leads to higher overall working capacity of the adsorbent bed.

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a well-known method to separate hydrogen from a mixture of other gases including CO2, CO, CH4, N2 etc. In brief, it consists of two or more adsorption beds containing various layers of adsorbents which perform different purification functions. For example, the bottom layer maybe alumina to remove any water vapor, above that could be a layer of activated carbon to perform adsorption of CO2 and CH4 primarily and above the carbon layer are generally one or more zeolite layers to adsorb CO and N2 and perform trace removal of the remaining gases. Hydrogen has very little interaction with these adsorbents, allowing for >99.9% purity hydrogen to be obtained at the top of the beds as the product. By cycling the pressure between high (adsorption) and low (desorption), the beds are cycled between producing product and removing impurities. Some examples using conventional homogeneous beaded adsorbents are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,302,943 and 6,605,136.
As the recent focus of hydrogen PSA process has been towards process intensification, achieved through reduction of system size and faster cycles, the productivity of conventional adsorbents must be increased. One way to achieve this is to increase the mass transfer rate in the adsorbent beads, leading to faster adsorption/desorption rates of the impurity gases. This leads to sharpening of mass transfer fronts within the beds, enabling lower amounts of adsorbent i.e. shorter beds to be used.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,790,260, the mass transfer rate of the adsorbent is increased by reducing the particle size. This reduces the path length that adsorbates must travel within the particle through the rate-limiting macropores of the agglomerated adsorbent. However, the limitations of this method, including higher pressure drop and increased risk of fluidization in unconstrained adsorption beds are unresolved.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,021 to Lu et al. describes a method to increase mass transfer rate by formulating a core-shell composite adsorbent, comprising a non-porous and non-adsorbent inner core and shell consisting of at least one adsorbent material forming a shell. Through simulation of VSA production of oxygen from air, it was shown that lower active adsorbent content of composite was offset by the improved mass transfer rate, resulting in 14% performance advantage for the composite. However, no specific examples disclosing particle size distribution, core characteristics or bead forming process were provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,814,985 to Gerds et al. discloses another type of core-shell composite adsorbent, the difference being that the core has a porosity between 10 and 50%. Such composite adsorbent beads are reported to exhibit higher crush strength than adsorbent beads containing a non-porous core and a porous shell. Pilot results for hydrogen PSA process, TSA process to remove nitrogen impurity from helium, and PVSA process for producing oxygen from air indicate improved performance over that of conventional homogenous adsorbent beads.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,021 to Brandt et al. describes an adsorption process using a core-shell composite with the core that is approximately 50% or more by volume of the final composite. However, they also report that all such adsorbents have lower volumetric performance and would require more steps to produce in addition to lowering the overall production of an equivalent size commercial system.
In the present invention, we extend the application of the specifically designed core-shell adsorbents to intensify PSA processes for hydrogen and other gas separation and purification. Such applications of core-shell adsorbents which lead to lower cycle time or reduced bed size factor (which is defined as amount of adsorbent required to process unit feed gas or produce unit product gas) i.e. higher adsorbent productivity have not been successfully described previously. In addition, higher heat capacity and dense cores can be used in our composite adsorbents, leading to suppression of the thermal swing during the PSA cycle, leading to increased working capacity of the adsorbent bed. Couples with adsorbent layering strategies, employing core-shell adsorbents with carbon or zeolite shell and non-porous cores for both bulk as well as trace adsorption of impurity gases for feed gas mixtures from different sources can provide surprising and significant improvements in PSA processes. In all cases, the core-shell adsorbents lead to reduced cycle time/increased adsorbent productivity over conventional beaded or granular adsorbents.

Core-shell composite adsorbent for use in hydrogen and helium PSA processes


In accordance with the present invention, there are provided novel fiber reinforced building material formulations, comprised of an inorganic binding agent and synthetic fibers. The fibrous material employed in invention formulations is capable of undergoing progressive fibrillation upon agitation. As a result, fibers of lower initial aspect ratios, and higher addition rates than previously possible are disclosed, herein. Formulations containing Portland cement-based compositions and fibrillating synthetic fibers are also contemplated. In addition, there are provided methods of producing fiber reinforced building materials, including Portland cement-based compositions, and articles produced therefrom.

Concrete has the largest production of all man made materials. Compared with other construction materials, it possesses many advantages including low cost, general availability of raw materials, adaptability and utilization under different environmental conditions. Therefore, concrete will most probably continue to be the dominant construction material in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, plain concrete is also a brittle material with very low tensile strength and strain capacity, generally requiring reinforcement before it can be used extensively as a construction material.
The idea of using another material to reinforce a low tensile strength material is an age-old concept. For example, straw and horsehair have been used for thousands of years to improve the properties of clay bricks. Bentur, A, Mindess, S., "Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites," (Elsevier Applied Science, 1990). In more recent years, fibers have been incorporated into a wide range of engineering materials (including ceramics, plastics, cement, and gypsum products) to enhance the performance properties of the resulting composite. American Concrete Institute ACI 544.1R-96, "Fiber Reinforced Concrete," 1996. Introduction of fibers into concrete results in post-elastic property changes that range from subtle to substantial, depending upon a number of factors, including matrix strength, fiber type, fiber modulus, fiber aspect ratio, fiber strength, fiber surface bonding characteristics, fiber content, fiber orientation, aggregate size effects, and the like. The enhanced properties include tensile strength, compressive strength, elastic modulus, crack resistance, crack control, durability, fatigue life, resistance to impact and abrasion, shrinkage, expansion, thermal characteristics, and fire resistance. Id.
Although fiber reinforcement is known to be more effective than conventional reinforcement in the control of local cracking, unlike reinforcing bars, it does not, in most cases, provide any increase in the load bearing capacity of concrete. Conventional reinforcing bars are strategically located in the structure to carry tensile stresses while fibers are distributed randomly in the concrete mire. Fibers, therefore, are not used in design as a substitute for conventional reinforcement. Although not currently addressed by ACI Committee 318, fibers are sometimes used in structural applications with conventional reinforcement. American Concrete Institute, ACI 318 Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete, 1995.
The practice of adding steel fibers to concrete to overcome its drawbacks was first introduced early in this century. Between 1920 and 1935 several patents pertaining to steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) were granted. See, e.g., Kleinlagel, A, German Patent No. 388.959; Scailles, J. C., French Patent No. 514.186; Martin, G. C., U.S. Pat. No. 1,633,219; and Etherridge, H., U.S. Pat. No. 1,913,707. Use of glass fibers in concrete was first attempted in the USSR in the late 1950s. Biryukovich, K. L., and Yu, D. L., "Glass Fiber Reinforced Cement," (translated by G. L. Cairns, CERA Translation, No.12, Civil Eng. Res. Assoc., London, 1965). Initial attempts at using synthetic fibers (nylon, polypropylene) were made in the 1960s. Monfore, G. E., "A review of Fiber Reinforced Portland Cement Paste, Mortar and Concrete," J Res. Dev. Labs, Vol. 10, No. 3, September 1968, pp. 36-42; Goldfein, S., "Plastic Fibrous Reinforcement for Portland Cement," Technical Report No. 1757-TR, U.S. Army Research Development Laboratories, Fort Belvoir, October 1963, pp. 1-16.
When steel fibers first were used, only straight steel fibers were employed. The use of steel fibers resulted in improved characteristics for ductility and fracture toughness; flexural strength increases were also reported. For straight steel fibers, the primary factors that controlled the properties of the composite were fiber volume fraction and length/diameter, or aspect ratio of the fibers. The amount of fibers ranged from 90 to 120 kg/m.sup.3 (1.1 to 1.5% by volume) of concrete. The aspect ratios were in the range of 60 to 100. The major problems encountered in the early stages were difficulty in mixing and workability. At higher volume fractions, fibers were found to ball up during the mixing process. This process, called bailing, was found to occur frequently for longer fibers. This tends to affect the quality of concrete in place, especially for higher fiber volume fractions. Furthermore, there was always a reduction in workability of the concrete as a result of the addition of fibers.
The advent of deformed steel fibers in the late 1970's resulted in increased use of fiber reinforced concrete in the field. Ramakrishnan established that fibers with hooked ends can be used at much lower volume fractions than straight steel fibers, producing the same results in terms of product ductility and toughness. Ramakrishnan, V., Brandshaug, T., Coyle, W. V., and Schrader, E. K., "A Comparative Evaluation of Concrete Reinforced with Straight Steel Fibers and Deformed End Fibers Glued Together in Bundles," ACI Journal, Vol. 77, No.3, May-June 1980, pp. 135-143. These fibers were glued together at the edges with water soluble glue such that, when added to the concrete, the fibers had a much lower (apparent) aspect ratio. Duing mixing, the fibers were separated and dispersed as individual fibers. The gluing and subsequent dispersal, in combination with a lower volume fraction of fibers, resulted in virtual elimination of balling. Later, a number of other fiber shapes such as crimped, paddled, and enlarged ends were also developed.
The ACI 544 Committee Report on Fiber Reinforced Concrete, published in 1996, reports that the first significant use of synthetic fibers in concrete was done in 1965, by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Section. American Concrete Institute ACI 544.1R-96, "Fiber Reinforced Concrete," 1996. Synthetic monofilament fibers were used for construction of blast-resistant concrete structures. The fibers used were 13 to 25 mm long and had an aspect ratio of between 50 to 100, i.e. geometry not too different from the steel fibers being used in concrete at that time. With these fibers it was found that addition rates of up to 0.5% by volume of the concrete resulted in significant increases in ductility and impact resistance.
There was, however, very little commercial exploitation of fiber reinforcement technology and it was not until the 1980's that large scale development and use of synthetic fibers in concrete started to take place. This work was predominantly done with much lower denier fibers (i.e. small diameter fibers with high aspect ratios) at lower fiber addition rates. Morgan, D. R, and Rich, L., "High Volume Synthetic Fiber Reinforced Shotcrete," The First International Conference on Synthetic Fiber Reinforced Concrete, Orlando, Fla., USA, Jan. 16, 1998. Most work was performed with collated, fibrillated polypropylene fibers at 0.1 to 0.2% by volume addition rates. At these lower fiber volume addition rates, the primary benefits of the fibers are for plastic shrinkage crack control and provision of green strength to extruded and certain green-cast, precast concrete products. Enhancement of ductility and impact resistance, and resistance to long term restrained drying shrinkage cracking is limited at such low fiber volume addition rates. It should be noted that even at these low fiber addition rates, the fiber count (number of fibers in a unit volume of matrix) and specific surface (surface area of fibers per unit volume of matrix) is very high. Consequently, it is currently very difficult to introduce in concrete more than 0.4% by volume of conventional fibrillating polypropylene fibers without making significant changes to the concrete mixture design. As a result, the majority of synthetic fibers used today are incorporated in concrete at very low fiber addition rates to simply control plastic shrinkage.
With the emergence of new areas of application, research interest has moved to higher fiber contents where toughness index and other factors are design considerations. Toughness index is an indication of the load-carrying capabilities of the fibers within the concrete matrix after first crack. As previously mentioned, cast-in-place concrete will accommodate up to 0.4% by volume of synthetic fibers with minimal mix proportion adjustments. Wet mix shotcrete with fibers added at a rate of up to 0.75% by volume will provide major increases in toughness index values. Morgan, D. R, McAskill, N., Richardson, B. W., and Zellers, R. C., "A Comparative Evaluation of Plain, Polypropylene Fibers, Steel Fibers, and Wire Mesh Reinforced Shotcrete," Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C., January 1989. Fiber length and fiber configuration are important factors at this fiber content. In slab-on-grade applications, the use of collated fibrillated polypropylene fiber at contents up to 0.3% by volume has dramatically increased the fatigue strength. American Concrete Institute ACI 544.1R-96, "Fiber Reinforced Concrete," 1996.
A few years ago, a new monofilament, polyolefin fiber, with a unique dispensing system, was developed, which has now been used at fiber addition rates in the 1.0 to 2.0% by volume range (i.e. values up to 10 times greater than the conventional use of fibrillated polypropylene fibers). The fiber has been used in a range of different concrete flatwork and other cast-in-place concrete applications, e.g. full-depth concrete pavement, bridge deck overlays, whitetopping, etc. Ramakrishnan, V., and MacDonald, C. N., "Durability Evaluation and Performance Histories of Projects Using Polyolefin Fiber Reinforced Concrete," ACI British Columbia Chapter, High Performance Concrete Seminar, Vancouver BC, April 1997, p. 15. The fibers used range in length from 25 to 50 mm and have aspect ratios in the range of 66 to 80. At these much higher fiber addition rates, ducility, impact resistance and toughness in the concrete composites are substantially increased and are much more comparable to values achieved with steel fiber reinforced concretes, with 0.5 to 0.7% (40 to 55 kg/m.sup.3) fiber addition by volume. Apart from demonstrating excellent reinforcing characteristics the polyolefin fiber has the advantage over its steel counterpart in that it would never rust. Following the same philosophy (use of polymeric fiber at high addition rates), Synthetic Industries has just released a new polymer fiber for shotcrete applications. The new fiber, called S-152 High Performance Polymer (HPP), is manufactured as a coarse filament with an engineered contoured profile. Synthetic Industries, product literature, 1998. The wave-like shape of the fibers is designed to anchor the fibers in the shotcrete. Additionally, the coarseness of the fiber allows it to be blended at much higher rate per unit volume than conventional fibers, thereby giving the shotcreted application enhanced structural performance.
Polyolefin fiber is, however, of limited utility because it is a monofilament fiber that will remain in its original form after mixing. It has a relatively low surface area and hence has correspondingly poor bonding characteristics. Therefor, one must introduce a relatively large percent by volume (1.5% and higher) in order to achieve beneficial results.
Addition of fibers to concrete will generally result in loss of slump and handling characteristics of the mixture. This loss is magnified as the aspect ratio length/diameter) of the fiber or the addition rate of fibers increases. For conventionally mixed fiber reinforced concrete, high aspect ratio fibers are more effective in improving the post-peak performance because of their high resistance to pullout from the matrix. A detrimental effect of using high aspect ratio fibers is the potential for balling of the fibers during mixing.
Most synthetic fibers used today are fibrillated fibers having very high surface areas and aspect ratios. The very high surface areas of these fibers make it very difficult to produce a workable concrete mixture at higher fiber addition rates than 0.5% by volume, without causing severe workability and fiber balling problems. For this reason, synthetic fibers are mostly used at 0.1% by volume fiber addition rates, and are added mostly for the control of shrinkage cracking in concrete.
Thus, there is still a need in the art for fiber reinforced concrete formulations that overcome the disadvantages noted above, while still maintaining superior shrinkage and handling characteristics. More particularly it would be desirable to be able to employ fiber of a type that is less sensitive to balling and can therefor be added at higher volume fractions. Higher volume fractions will result in increased reinforcing characteristics, previously unattainable with fiber-reinforced building materials such as concrete.


A semiconductor device includes: a substrate having a planar surface; a first gate-all-around field effect transistor (GAA-FET) provided on said substrate and comprising a first channel having an untrimmed volume of first channel material corresponding to a volume of the first channel material within a first stacked fin structure from which the first channel was formed; and a second GAA-FET provided on said substrate and comprising a second channel having a trimmed volume of second channel material which is less than said untrimmed volume of first channel material by a predetermined trim amount corresponding to a delay adjustment of the second GAA-FET relative to the first GAA-FET, wherein said first and second GAA FETs are electrically connected as complementary FETs.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
During manufacture of a semiconductor device, various fabrication processes are executed such as film-forming depositions, etch mask creation, patterning, photoresist development, material etching and removal, as well as doping treatments. These processes are performed repeatedly to form desired semiconductor device elements on a substrate. Historically, with microfabrication, transistors have been created in one plane, with wiring/metallization formed above, and have thus been characterized as two-dimensional (2D) circuits or 2D fabrication. Scaling efforts have greatly increased the number of transistors per unit area in 2D circuits, yet scaling efforts are running into greater challenges as scaling enters single digit nanometer semiconductor device fabrication nodes. Semiconductor device fabricators have expressed a desire for three-dimensional (3D) semiconductor devices in which devices, transistors, and standard cells are stacked on top of each other as a means to continue scaling. Fabrication of 3D semiconductor devices poses many new and unique challenges associated with new process integrations, novel hardware and process capability, design, post-fabrication processing, electronic design automation, as well as other aspects of the 3D fabrication process.

Method for controlling transistor delay of nanowire or nanosheet transistor devices


A cellular telephone docking station is provided and includes a semiconductor device that has a processor and a memory device that is coupled to the processor. An identification device is coupled to the semiconductor device and the identification device includes a docking station identification. The cellular telephone docking station also includes a cellular telephone cradle that is coupled to the identification device. Further, a computer program is embedded within the memory. The computer program includes instructions to verify that a cellular telephone identification matches the docking station identification. Additionally, the computer program includes instructions to transfer a cellular telephone service associated with the cellular telephone to the docking station. The computer program also includes instructions to disable the cellular telephone.

Since wireless telephone technology has become more reliable and coverage has expanded, many users have decided to drop wired telephone services and use only wireless telephone services. Most people, while traveling, carry their wireless telephone with them and use wireless telephone services to stay in contact with others. However, when at home, a typical person does not carry his or her wireless telephone from room-to-room around the house. As such, when a telephone call is received, it is often a mad scramble to track down the wireless telephone to not miss the telephone call.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method for making and receiving cellular telephone calls at a residence.

System and method for making and receiving cellular telephone calls at a wired analog telephone device


An apparatus for sitting is provided including a semi-flexible fulcrum band having an inner surface, the inner surface integrally including at least one penetration member, wherein the semi-flexible fulcrum band is configured to hold together a plurality of leg members having different varieties, permitting the plurality of leg members to spread above and below the fulcrum band into a supporting position. The apparatus further includes a flexible seat portion containing a plurality of pockets, each pocket configured to receive an upper end of one of the plurality of leg members when the plurality of leg members are in the supporting position, whereby the flexible seat portion is adapted for supporting a person sitting on said flexible seat portion. Finally, the at least one penetration members is configured to penetrate at least one of the plurality of leg members when the person sits in the flexible seat portion.

When camping, hiking, or the like it is desirable to minimize the weight and carrying size of supplies which must often be carried for long distances and across many types of terrain. Stools and chairs have been considered for use in these outdoor activities which utilize lightweight flexible fabric seats and collapsible legs. These features allow the stool or chair to fold into a compact carrying position. These folding chairs, however, remain substantially heavy and cumbersome due to the inherent weight and volume required by the structural supports, such as leg members and back rest members, of the chair. Some foldable chair designs limit this deficiency by using lightweight materials for the structural supports. However, even the lightest of these foldable chairs require structural supports having a considerable weight and bulk as a consequence of the amount of weight that the structural supports must be suitable to support.
Thus, an apparatus and method for sitting that eliminates the weight and bulk of the structural supports required to be carried to the sitting destination would be well received in the art.


A system for managing construction projects includes a database, a component interface, a state interface, and a database interface. The component interface is operative to receive component identifiers identifying components of a construction project. The state interface is operative to receive state indicators, each state indicator indicating a particular state (e.g., ordered, in transit, installed, inspected, etc.) associated with one of the components. The database interface is operative to store the component identifiers and the associated state indicators in the database. A method of managing construction projects is also described. The method includes the steps of receiving a plurality of component identifiers from a user, associating an initial predefined state with each received identifier, storing the component identifiers and the associated initial states in a database, updating the states associated with the component identifiers in the data base, and retrieving the updated states from the database to determine the status of the construction project. Novel data structures, application program interfaces, and graphical user interfaces are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to construction project management, and more particularly to a system and method for tracking the progress of construction projects.
2. Description of the Background Art
Managing a large construction project is a complex undertaking. Typical tasks include, but are not limited to, project design, ordering materials and supplies, fabrication, transportation of fabricated components, installation, inspection/testing, employee management, monitoring the use of resources, and customer billing. To complicate matters further, many of these tasks are performed at a construction site that is some distance from the construction company's central office, making supervision of the project even more difficult.
Having current information regarding the status of a project is critical to proper management. For example, current status information is required for a manager to determine whether a project is on schedule and/or is staying within budgetary constraints. As another example, it is common for construction contracts to provide for a payment schedule that is tied to certain percentages of completion of the project. Thus, it is important for management to know (and to be able to demonstrate to a customer) the status of a project, because delays in collecting and compiling status data result in delays in receiving payment. Under current practices, the time required to collect and process status data can be weeks for complex projects.
Another problem encountered in the management of construction projects is that certain critical projects (e.g., food handling systems, pharmaceutical systems, etc.) require validation that the project has been constructed in accordance with certain standards. Such validation typically requires the compiling of inspection reports and of product and/or process certifications of installed components. It is not uncommon for the validation process to take up to six months after project completion.
It is also difficult to maintain a "paper trail" of the project for warranty, liability, and/or other purposes. For example, if an installed component fails, it will be necessary to retrieve any information (e.g., manufacturer, inspections, warranty information, repair/replacement information, etc.) relating to the failed component. Under current practices, locating such information is extraordinarily time consuming. First the component must be identified. Then the purchasing records must be searched to determine which vendor provided the component. If more than one vendor provides identical components, it may be impossible to determine and/or prove the source of the component. Even if the vendor can be determined, it still remains to search records to determine the vendor's and/or manufacture's responsibility. Indeed, the time and expense required to collect the information on the component may well exceed the cost of simply replacing it.
For several reasons, detailed data related to the status of a construction project is not typically collected. First, as explained above, construction sites are physically removed, making data collection more difficult. Another reason is that workers at the site (electricians, plumbers, welders, etc.) are tradesman skilled in their field, but not trained, equipped, or necessarily willing to collect detailed data at a construction site. Yet another reason might be that data on the status of a project will be of little value when the project is complete. For example, the most detailed data is of little value if it cannot be compiled and presented in a manner that provides useful information. Whatever the reason(s), detailed data regarding the status of construction projects is not currently collected.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method for providing the current status of construction projects. What is also needed is a system and method for providing near real-time information regarding the status of construction projects. What is also needed is a system and method for providing current costs expended on a construction project. What is also needed is a system and method for organizing and providing certification, inspection, and other information related to components of a construction project. What is also needed is a system and method for easily collecting data at a construction site. What is also needed is a system and method for presenting construction project data in a useful manner.

System and method for managing construction projects


A contact hole fabrication method for semiconductor device includes forming a dielectric layer on a semiconductor substrate, forming an antireflective layer on the dielectric layer, forming an amine source layer on the antireflective layer, forming a photoresist layer on the amine source layer, forming a first hole pattern having a T profile and a footing profile by exposing and developing the photoresist layer, forming a second hole pattern in which the profiles are changed by reflowing the photoresist layer, and forming a contact hole by selectively removing the amine source layer, the antireflective layer, and the dielectric layer using the photoresist layer as a mask.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and, in particular, to a semiconductor device having a fine (small or narrow diameter) contact hole and a method for fabricating the fine contact hole.
(b) Description of the Related Art
As computers are widely spread for personal use, the semiconductor devices in computers are required to operate at high speed and to have high storage capability. In order to satisfy these requirements, semiconductor device fabrication technology has been developed so as to improve the device integration and density (e.g., reduce structure dimensions), operation reliability, and response time. To improve the device integration and/or density, it is required to form fine contact holes in various dielectric layers in the device.
The contact hole is formed such that a contact or via fills the contact hole with a conductive material for making an electrical connection between an electrode (e.g., a transistor terminal) and a wiring layer or between upper and lower (e.g., adjacent) wiring layers. In order to form a fine contact hole, it has been proposed to use a light source having relatively short wavelength, such as light from a KrF source, which recently has been used to form the contact hole during a lithography process for fabricating semiconductor devices using 0.13 μm or narrower linewidth technology.
The typical contact hole fabrication using photolithography is carried out in a sequential order of forming a dielectric layer on a semiconductor substrate, forming an anti-reflective coating ("ARC") on the dielectric layer, forming a photoresist layer on the anti-reflective coating, and then forming a hole pattern on the photoresist layer through the photolithography process (e.g., selective irradiation of portions of the photoresist corresponding to the pattern with light, and development of the irradiated photoresist with one or more solvents).
However, it is difficult to form the hole pattern defining the contact hole in a width narrower than that of the design rule of a reticle used for photolithography. Accordingly, where the dielectric layer is selectively etched using the photoresist layer as a mask, there has been a limit to the minimum diameter of a fine contact hole fabricated using a conventional photolithography process.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,214,524 and 6,664,031 disclose contact hole fabrication methods using amine processes. However, these contact hole fabrication methods may also have limitations in forming a fine contact hole having a width narrower than that of the design rule of the reticle, as in the typical contact hole fabrication technique.

Semiconductor device having improved contact hole structure and method for fabricating the same


A cache for storing data elements is disclosed. The cache includes a cache memory having one or more lines and one or more cache line counters, each associated with a line of the cache memory. In operation, a cache line counter of the one or more of cache line counters is incremented when a request is received to prefetch a data element into the cache memory and is decremented when the data element is consumed. Optionally, one or more reference queues may be used to store the locations of data elements in the cache memory. In one embodiment, data cannot be evicted from cache lines unless the associated cache line counters indicate that the prefetched data has been consumed.

It is known that effects of memory access latencies in a data processing system may be mitigated by moving elements of vector data into a local, high-speed memory known as a cache. The elements are moved, or prefetched, into the cache before they are needed so that they are readily available when requested. If the elements are in a predictable order, there is no theoretical limit to how far in advance the elements may be fetched. However, since the cache has a limited size, if elements are fetched too far in advance, prior elements may be displaced from the cache before they have been used. This can lead to the phenomenon of "thrashing", where an element is prefetched and displaced multiple times before they are used. As a consequence, the performance of the data processing system may be worse than if no cache is used.
One approach to prevent thrashing is to prefetch elements directly from memory or indirectly via a cache into a sequentially ordered storage memory or queue. Once queued, elements remain in the queue until used, thus reducing thrashing. A disadvantage of this approach is that repeated accesses to an element either within or between vectors will result in the element being duplicated in the queue as well as in the cache. Additionally, if the element is evicted from the cache before subsequent prefetches, then the element must be fetched from memory again. In the worse case, this would result in a performance similar to having no cache.
Another approach is to provide prefetch instructions and place the burden on the programmer to use them in a manner that avoids thrashing. A disadvantage of this approach is that changes in the sparseness of the vector elements, the number of vectors, the memory access latency and even cache line replacement policy can require changes in the placement of the prefetch instructions.

Queuing cache for vectors with elements in predictable order


There is provided a suction system for use in a method of lining the internal surface of a pipe, said suction system comprises a pig receiving device to be attached to an open end of the pipe, a liquid receiving tank connected with the pig receiving device, and a suction pump connected with the liquid receiving tank. Further, a pig detecting device for detecting the passing of a pig is provided between the open end of the pipe and the pig receiving device, a suction force controlling device is provided between the pig receiving device and the liquid receiving tank, and a gas-liquid separation apparatus is provided between the liquid receiving tank and the suction pump.

The present invention relates to a suction system, in particular to a suction system for use in a method of lining the internal surface of an existing pipe buried under ground.
There has been known a no-excavation underground pipe lining method in which the internal surface of an existing underground gas pipe, water pipe, etc. are lined with a resin without the necessity of any trenching or excavation.
Usually, a gas service pipe is buried under ground branching from a gas main and extending to a user's house. In the method called no-excavation underground pipe lining, there are substantially two steps involved. In the first step, an injection system is employed to produce a pressurized liquid to introduce a necessary amount of resin into the service pipe through an open end thereof and to move the resin through the pipe until the front end of the resin plug flow reaches an inner end (a position branching from a gas main) of the pipe. In the second step, a suction system is employed to produce a suction force to suck back the liquid injected in the pipe so as to cause the resin to move back from the inner end to line the internal surface of the pipe with the resin.
A conventional suction system for use in the above-described method, usually includes (a) a pig receiving device to be attached to an open end of the pipe for receiving from the pipe various pigs used in lining treatment, (b) a liquid receiving tank connected with the pig receiving device for receiving liquid flowing back from the pipe, (c) a suction pump connected with the liquid receiving tank for producing a suction force on the liquid, various pigs and resin introduced in the pipe, to cause a backward movement of the resin so as to line the internal surface of the pipe with the back-moving resin.
However, with the use of the conventional suction system as described above, it is difficult to confirm whether the pigs introduced in the pipe and used in the lining treatment have returned or not. In particular, since it is not easy to confirm whether all the used pigs have been recovered or not, it is difficult to stop the operation of the suction pump even if the last pig has been recovered in the pig receiving device. As a result, the suction pump is often stopped too late, so that there will be too much of a gas to be sucked out of the pipe, resulting a waste of the gas.
Further, with the use of the conventional suction system as described above, it is difficult to control the suction force, resulting a problem that the in situ lining speed can not be controlled, hence it is almost impossible to obtain a resin lining layer having a desired thickness
Moreover, with the use of the conventional suction system as described above, it is difficult to prevent liquid drops from entering the suction pump, resulting in damage to the suction pump.

Suction system for use in a method of lining the internal surface of a pipe


A three-piece NMR detection cell comprises an inlet tube having a conically, tapered outlet nozzle, leading to an analysis tube, in turn leading to an outlet tube having a conically tapered inlet nozzle. The inlet and outlet tubes are inserted into the analysis tube at a distance from their inserted ends and sealed in a manner appropriate to their composition. When the detection cell is used in a coupled HPLC-NMR apparatus, increased NMR sensitivity and improved lineshape are obtained at low injection volumes while maintaining a low level of chromatographic band broadening and a high level of magnetic field homogeneity.

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is widely used to separate organic mixtures. Ultraviolet, refractive index and fluorescence detectors most commonly used with HPLC are not as powerful as infrared (IR), mass spectroscopy (MS) and NMR for qualitative analysis of the HPLC eluents. While infrared and mass spectroscopy have been successfully coupled with gas chromatography (GC) to provide both separation and powerful spectroscopic analysis, efforts to similarly couple HPLC to one of the preferred spectroscopic techniques have not been as successful.
After intensive development HPLC coupled mass spectroscopy is commercially available. Efforts to couple HPLC on-line to infrared spectroscopy have been hampered by solvent interferences. NMR, which provides unequaled structural information and which has sample requirements more reasonably matched to HPLC, would appear to be the preferred spectroscopic method to couple with HPLC.
Efforts to couple these two analytical methods have been hampered primarily by the low sensitivity of the NMR detector. Since the initial demonstration of on-line coupled HPLC-NMR in 1978, some improvements in NMR sensitivity have been achieved through the use of high field superconducting solenoid NMR magnets rather than iron magnets. See David A. Laude and Charles L. Wilkins, "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Detection for the On-line Identification of Liquid Chromatography Eluents," Trends in Analytical Chemistry, vol. 5, no. 9, 1986, 230-35. The other means by which an increase in NMR sensitivity has been sought is through the use of preparative or semi-preparative scale columns or analytical scale columns which have overloaded with excessive injection volume.
There are numerous disadvantages to these two alternative. The higher injection volumes associated with either of these methods can result in excessive band broadening Band broadening may be increased further if after the column a large dead space is required in order to meet the sample premagnetization requirement. Additional disadvantages with these two methods include a rapid degradation of column efficiency and the generation of excessive amounts of solvent which must be properly disposed of.
A better approach would provide improved NMR sensitivity while allowing for column injection limits in the low microgram region. The invention described herein provides a method for improving NMR sensitivity and lineshape while maintaining a low level of chromatographic band broadening and a high level of magnetic field homogeneity.


A system for creating manufacturing test rules. Stimuli for an electronic design are generated automatically by a stimuli generator. The stimuli generator takes into account certain limitations of the design when automatically generating the manufacturing test rules. The design is tested by a testbench using the stimuli. A simulation log for the design is generated by the testbench. The simulation log is then processed by a simulation log processor. An HDL representation of the design is generated by the simulation log processor using the processed simulation log. A gate-level version of the design is generated by a synthesis tool using the HDL representation of the design. The gate-level version of the design is further processed by the synthesis tool to make any necessary modifications. Then, the gate-level version of the design is outputted as the final manufacturing test rule. Thus, creating manufacturing test rules can be completely automated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to improved data processing system and more specifically to a computer implemented method, system, and computer usable program code for automatically creating manufacturing test rules for electronic components or designs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, creating manufacturing test rules for an electronic design is a long and laborious process. Typically, creating manufacturing test rules is done by manually entering a logical representation of a circuit into a file. Then, a considerable amount of time is spent verifying the equivalence of this design and the circuit models. For simple circuit models, such as AND, OR, or INVERTER circuits, this process of creating manufacturing test rules is relatively straightforward. However, for more complex circuits, or even analog circuit designs, this process can be extremely difficult and very error prone. Other aspects that make this process more difficult are handling situations where different power, ground, voltage bias, and current references are used, as well as current mode logic (CML).

Automatically creating manufacturing test rules pertaining to an electronic component

International Business Machines Corporation


A hydraulic steering arrangement (1) is provided comprising a static steering unit (2) and an adjustable pressure source (3) connected to a pressure port (4) of said steering unit (2) and having a load sensing port (21). Such a steering unit should enable a fast reaction of the steering unit. To this end said pressure source (3) is a dynamic pressure source having an orifice (Adyn) outputting hydraulic fluid to said load sensing port (21), a load sensing line (22) connecting said load sensing port (21) and a low pressure port (11), a control valve (24) being arranged in said load sensing line (22) between said load sensing port (21) and said low pressure port (11), said control valve (24) being actuated by a control pressure within said steering unit (2) and throttling a flow through said load sensing line (22) depending on said control pressure.

Such a steering arrangement is usually used to steer a vehicle. The steering unit is connected to a steering wheel or another steering command generator. When the steering wheel is turned, it is intended to turn the steered wheels as well.
In order to save energy, a steering unit is often connected to an adjustable pressure source. The output pressure of this pressure source is adapted to the required pressure, i.e. the pressure is increased only when there is a demand. Such a demand arises when the driver intends to steer the vehicle. When there is no steering requirement, the pressure of the pressure source is lowered.
In a static steering unit the pressure demand is signaled to the adjustable pressure source with a certain delay after the start of the turning of the steering wheel. This has the negative effect that the steering of the steered wheels is delayed.


According to one embodiment, a light-reflective photomask including a circuit pattern area, and an outside area positioned outside the circuit pattern area includes a substrate, a low-reflectivity layer provided in both the circuit pattern area, and the outside area, formed on the substrate, including at least a conductive layer, and comprising a first reflectivity for deep ultraviolet light, a multilayer reflection layer provided in the circuit pattern area, and formed on the low-reflectivity layer, and a light-absorber provided in the circuit pattern area, formed on the multilayer reflection layer, including a circuit pattern, and comprising a second reflectivity for deep ultraviolet light. The first reflectivity is lower than or equal to the second reflectivity.

A tight-reflective photomask utilizing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light having a wavelength of about 13.5 nm is proposed as a lithographic technique contrived to deal with miniaturization of semiconductor devices. A light-reflective photomask for EUV exposure normally includes a multilayer reflection layer formed on a glass substrate, and light-absorber formed on the multilayer reflection layer.
In the above-mentioned light-reflective photomask, a phenomenon called a shadowing effect becomes a problem. That is, in lithography using a light-reflective photomask, exposure light (EUV light) is made incident on the photomask from a direction deviated from the vertical direction. For this reason, a shadow is created by a convex part of a circuit pattern formed on the light-absorber. Such a phenomenon is the shadowing effect. This shadowing effect can be prevented from occurring by reducing the thickness of the light-absorber. However, when the thickness of the light-absorber is reduced, the light-absorbing characteristic of the light-absorber is lowered, and the reflectivity of the light-absorber is increased. As a result, a problem that reflected light from the light-absorber affects the adjacent area to thereby adversely affect lithography is caused.
Regarding a solution of such a problem, a way of securing the low reflectivity by removing the light-absorber and multilayer reflection layer of the area outside the circuit pattern area is conceivable.

Light-reflective photomask and mask blank for EUV exposure, and manufacturing method of semiconductor device