In a transport device, which comprises at least one endless conveyor guided around at least two guide rollers, a monitoring appliance for monitoring motion of a guide roller is positioned on at least one of the guide rollers. The monitoring appliance comprises a first contact element disposed on and electrically connected with the guide roller, and a second contact element disposed near the guide roller. The first and second contact elements are arranged relative to one another in such a way that an electrical contact between them occurs with every revolution of the guide roller, such that the electric potential of the guide roller is transmitted to the second contact element. Additionally, a substrate treatment apparatus comprising such transport device is disclosed.

A transport device with a monitoring device and a device for treatment of substrates with such a transport device is described below.
A conveyor belt is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,472,526 A, in which a switch cam (cam 17) is provided in the shaft of the undriven feed roll for recognition of slowing or shutdown of the conveyor belt, and a three-way switch is arranged on this shaft, so that a circuit is closed in alternation by the switch cam, so that a capacitor (condensers 19, 20) is charged in alternation. The two capacitors feed a relay (relay 22) in alternation, which is held on this account, the discharge time of each capacitor being sufficient, in order to hold the relay in the holding position until the other capacitor is charged again and can supply the relay. Only if the conveyor belt moves more slowly than prescribed or even stops, because of unduly high load, is the discharge time of a capacitor no longer sufficient, in order to supply the relay long enough for the other capacitor to assume feed of the relay, so that the relay drops out and, as a result, a protection (relay 30) effectively connected to the relay interrupts power supply for the drive motor (electrical motor 15) of the conveyor belt. The proposed circuit arrangement is demanding and requires a number of electromechanical components that are prone to disturbance. In addition, the configuration of the three-way switch is chosen, so that friction between the contacts of the three-way switch (contact arm 16d) and the switch cam is as limited as possible, in order to reduce wear. This device is not suitable for recording or evaluating the electrical potential of the feed roll.
A transport device is known from AT 500 851 A4 for hot dip coating of metal strips, in which rotation of a deflection roll 4 arranged in the melting bath 3 is recognized by the fact that a permanent magnet 14 mounted on the deflection roll is passed by a fixed induction coil 15 during each revolution. The electrical potential of the feed roll cannot be either recorded or evaluated in this device either.
Consequently, there is a requirement for a transport device with a monitoring device that is suitable for recording and/or evaluation of the electrical potential of rotating components of the transport device. This task is solved by the transport device and the device for treatment of substrates of the present invention.
The described transport device is suitable for moving substrates through a vacuum coating unit, in order to coat them, etch them or treat them in vacuum some other way. Such vacuum coating units typically have lock chambers, as well as a vacuum chamber arranged between the lock chambers, which can be divided into compartments with different functions, for example, pump compartments and process compartments. The proposed transport device is naturally also suited for other installation types, in which substrates are passed by treatment devices, for example, continuous diffusion furnaces, etching devices, etc. The transport device is particularly suited for installations in which treatment of the substrates occurs at very high temperatures. The transport device is also readily suited for use in "dirty" surroundings, for example, during dry etching or vacuum coating, i.e., in methods, in which there is a hazard that the transport device will be undesirably coated with particles by deposition or condensation of particles.

Transport device with a monitoring appliance and substrate treatment apparatus


A pneumatic collet assembly has a housing, a piston, a collet, and ball bearings. The piston is disposed within the housing. A bore within the piston receives the collet. The collet has a base and fingers. The fingers of the collet define a center channel or bore configured to receive a torsion bar. The central channel extends along a longitudinal axis. The ball bearings are disposed between the piston and the fingers of the collet. The piston is configured to move between a first position along the longitudinal axis and a second position along the longitudinal axis in response to pressure changes within the housing. The piston increases force against the ball bearings to urge the fingers of the collet against the torsion bar to clamp the torsion bar.

In the production of equipment, components of the equipment are tested to determine that the component is working properly. One such test is to determine if a drive mechanism is rotating the component properly based on the input when the drive mechanism has a load that simulates real life conditions. For example, a drive mechanism rotates a shaft to control or manipulate an air-loaded control surface, such as an air foil or rudder.
One such technique of testing is to secure a torsion bar to the end of the drive mechanism. The torsion bar is held to simulate loading of the surface.
Traditionally, the torsion bar has been clamped either with a disc brake design or high-pressure hydraulic collets. Both of these techniques have shortcomings.
The disc brake design requires pads that attach to the torsion bar. The pads are clamped with a brake caliper similar to wheels on a vehicle. However in that the pads are extruded radially from the torsion bar, the pads add rotational inertia resulting in not accurately simulating the loading of the surface. This increased rotational inertia is not desired during performance testing. In addition, the brake calipers are typically driven electrically and therefore have additional electrical requirements.
The high-pressure hydraulic collets use hydraulics to compress a collet onto the torsion bar. Either a hand pump or high-powered electric pump is typically used to provide the pressure for the hydraulics. The hand pump has many shortcomings including the additional time required by a test technician to create the needed pressure. In addition, the requirement to test components quickly, i.e., a high volume production, necessitates the need for quick connections. These quick connects and fluid leakage from collets adds a concern. The leakage could create spills that are potential safety hazards. In addition, leakage on the torsion bar clamping area would create a decrease in clamping friction requiring more clamping load. Likewise, the need for electricity for the pump makes it more difficult to test components quickly and efficiently.

Test apparatus using a pneumatic collet and method to clamp a bar


Pulsed MeV ion beam techniques are broadly applied in time-of-flight experiments for direct measurements of neutron velocities and energies. They are also used to achieve a neutron monochromater by allowing the selection of neutrons having a well defined velocity. The sequence of components needed for creation of sub-nanosecond pulsed MeV ion beam systems usually consist of a suitable DC ion source, a chopper module for production of beam pulses, a klystron buncher for introducing time compression to individual pulses and a final ion-acceleration stage. It is pointed out that the achievable pulse compression is limited by the energy spread within the pulses that are directed into the klystron buncher. Furthermore, that this energy spread may be dominated by the energy spread created within the preceding chopper system. The present invention minimizes this problem of chopper introduced energy spreads and discloses a chopping system that comprises at least two electrostatic deflectors with phase-locked radiofrequency voltages. With proper amplitude and phase control chopper assemblies are described that do not add significant energy spreads to the beam.

Applications of pulsed MeV beams are conspicuous in the field of experimental nuclear-structure research. Particularly well known is the use of pulsed beams as one component of time-of-flight methods that allow direct measurements of the velocity of neutrons and other particles. This technology also allows the selection of groups of neutrons having well-defined energy for exciting specific reactions.
During a typical velocity measurement two electronic timing pulses are generated: The first when a short burst of ions arrives at the target and the second when the reaction products produced at the target arrive at a high speed detector that is separated from the target by a known distance. Using these two pieces of timing information plus the drift distance between target and detector the velocity for a reaction product can be directly calculated. If its mass is known, the measurement provides directly the energy of reaction products.
Less well known but nevertheless important applications include: (1) By making simultaneous measurement of the velocity and energy of a reaction product a unique identification becomes available for the mass of a particle. (2) The elimination of competing radiations from other reactions when these unwanted radiations arrive at the detector at a significantly different time from that of the desired product. (3) When detectors are organized so that they only register during periods when wanted radiations are anticipated to arrive, cosmic-ray backgrounds and other non-correlated backgrounds can be reduced in the direct ratio of the on/off time of the detectors. (4) The use of very short beam bursts can allow direct measurements of nuclear lifetimes.
It should be added that a major use of pulsed ion beams is the injection of particles into radiofrequency accelerators: for particles to be captured by the acceleration fields they must arrive at a specific phase of the radiofrequency.
Apparatus commonly used for the generation of pulsed beam having pulse repetition frequencies above a few tens of kilohertz consists of a high-speed sweeper that deflects a continuous beam of ions across a suitable plate that includes an aperture near its center. Particles that do not pass through the aperture are discarded and a pulsed beam is created by the simple process of eliminating sections of the original DC beam.
It should be noted that for producing nanosecond pulse lengths the frequencies used are in the multi-megahertz range. Information can only be impressed on a beam by electromagnetic fields: mechanical chopping is not practical. Thus, to achieve the above high-speed sweeping motion a stream of ions, continuously generated by a suitable source, must be directed through a time-varying electric field that produces angular deflections of the ion beam. Such deflecting fields are generated by employing a high frequency oscillating voltage applied between a pair of parallel conducting plates between which the ion beam passes. Such a combination of deflection fields and a defining aperture is commonly referred to as a chopper, or beam-chopper system. Because the ion deflection operates in synchronism with the phase of the deflection field, the time when individual pulses leave the aperture plate is directly referenced to the phase of the radiofrequency driving voltage.
While the length of individual pulses can be decreased by increasing the writing speed of the beam across the apertured plate, the resulting reduction in pulse width can only be pushed so far: there is a lower limit of pulse length below which reduction in intensity make experimental measurements impractical. To avoid this limitation it is common practice to apply a compression technique that squeezes each pulse longitudinally. Individual pulses leaving the chopper are compressed by speeding up the trailing ions in each individual pulse so that at a prescribed distance the trailing ions catch up with the leaders causing all ions in the pulse ensemble to arrive simultaneously at the target. This technique, known as klystron bunching, uses time correlated radiofrequency fields to cause the trailing ions to travel slightly faster than the mean velocity of the burst and the leading ions slightly slower. The theory of beam bunching has been described in an article entitled 'Beam Bunching for Heavy Ions' by F. J. Lynch, et al. on page 245 of volume 159 of the journal Nuclear Instruments and Methods, (1979. For light MeV particles nanosecond, or even sub-nanosecond, pulse widths can be created.
In the explanation concerning the constraints of klystron bunching that follows it is assumed that a simple double-gap klystron buncher will be used to provide the needed time compression. While more complex bunching systems, consisting of several bunching units located serially one after each other have been reported, the simple double-gap buncher described below provides a satisfactory model.
A double-gap buncher consists of three cylindrical tubes spaced sequentially along the centerline of the ion beam. The initial and final cylinders are both at ground potential, with the central cylinder being excited by a sinusoidal radiofrequency voltage. In principle, the operating frequency of the buncher can be the same as that of the preceding chopper although a proper phase relationship must be established between the two for particle mass and energy matching. Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is often useful to operate the buncher at an integral multiple of the chopper frequency. This can have the effect of increasing the rate of change of the klystron modulating voltage; it also may be necessary to match the pulse repetition rate to experimental demands.
Applying Liouville's theorem to the operation of the buncher, it can be shown that the achievable pulse time-width at target dttarget is fundamentally limited to:dttarget≧ΔE*Tbunch/Ebunch  (1)
Here, ΔE represents the energy spread of the particles within the ion beam when it enters the buncher. Tbunch is the time length of the beam segment to be bunched. Ebunch denotes the energy modulation imposed by the buncher itself.
In a practical situation, Tbunch is chosen as large as possible, because it is directly proportional to the ion beam utilization efficiency and directly influences the fraction of the beam that is available for experimentation. The value of Ebunch is set by the requirements for creating a time focus at a specific target location.
Equation 1 shows that the energy spread, ΔE, of the particles within the pulse directly affects the achievable pulse width at the chosen bunching location. Clearly, there are other factors beyond the scope of this document that contribute to pulse widening at the chosen bunching point, but overall buncher performance will greatly benefit from a chopper configurations that minimizes contributions to the energy spread within the pulses that leave the chopper.
The theory of the operation of choppers has been presented by J. H. Neiler and W. M. Good in an article entitled 'Time of Flight Techniques' within the book entitled Fast Neutron Physics, Volume 1 page 597, edited by J. B. Marion and J. L. Fowler (Interscience Publishers 1960). Further details of pulsed beam formation can also be found in an article presented at the Third International Conference on Electrostatic Accelerator Technology by S. J. Skorka entitled Design Considerations and Present Status of Beam Bunching Technology published by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN, USA, 1981.
As stated previously, an electrostatic chopper usually consists of two parallel plates between which radiofrequency voltages can be maintained. Thus, during operation, a transverse voltage gradient (electric field) is present between the plates. While this electric field is an essential component needed to produce been sweeping the transverse voltage from which this field is derived has a deleterious effect on the energy spread of ions within each pulse. Such energy spread is introduced because the radial dimension of the ion beam tends to be large within the deflection region. The reason for the large dimension is that to produce well-defined pulses it is desirable that the beam be focused to a narrow waist to pass quickly across the small diameter defining aperture. Those skilled in the art will recognize that this focusing constraint, together with the inevitable finite emittance of the ion beam leaving the source, automatically results in a finite beam width within the fields of the chopper. As a consequence, when ions enter the field region between the parallel plates on one side of beam centerline the ions are accelerated and on the opposing side of the centerline they are decelerated.
At first sight it might appear that these energy spreads introduced during entry to the chopper field would be removed when the ions left the deflection region. This would be true if square waves could be employed for chopping but at frequencies above about a hundred kilohertz square wave deflection voltages are difficult to generate with sufficient amplitude for deflection and sinusoidal voltages derived from a high Q circuit are usually employed. The phase of the radiofrequency voltages changes during the time an ion passes through the deflection plates and, in general, full cancellation will not be possible.
These effects are quantified in the above Skorka reference where it is pointed out that because of phase angle differences between the times when the ions enter and leave the region between the chopper plates, a simple chopper system inherently introduces additional energy spread to the ion beam and that the amount of this additional energy spread can be expressed as:ΔE=sqrt(2*m*E0)*dα/dt*Δx  (2)
Here, m and E0 denotes the mass and energy of the particles, respectively, dα/dt is the time derivative of the deflection angle that is imposed on the particles by the chopper and Δx is the position of the particles within the deflector away from the centerline in the direction of the electric field between the plates of the chopper. Clearly, the introduced total energy spread depends linearly on the size of the beam that passes through the deflector.
Equation 2 can be rewritten to yield:ΔE=4*ε0*sqrt(2*m*E0)/Δt  (3)
Where ε0 denotes the beam-emittance from the ion source and Δt is the duration of the beam pulses produced by beam passage across said aperture.
Although those skilled in the art will recognize that some approximations have been made in the derivation of equation 2, in most practical situations the results are valid and useful for showing the manner in which specific parameters influence the final energy spread of the beam. In a typical situation the introduced energy spread, ΔE, can have a magnitude of several tens to hundreds of electron volts and usually overwhelms the energy spreads that originate within the ion source itself (˜1–10 eV).
The present invention relates to a chopping system comprising at least two electrostatic deflectors located sequentially along the beam path and excited using phase-locked radiofrequency voltages. Using correct relative phasing and amplitudes this combination does not add significantly to energy spreads originating from the ion source. As a result, the time compression that can be achieved by the buncher is improved and ion beams having lower energy can be more effectively time-compressed.

Combinations of deflection chopping systems for minimizing energy spreads


A roof bow for an open top container, which comprises a first end pin which extends from a first end of said roof bow, wherein said first end pin is insertable into a hole of a first container wall bracket, a second end pin which extends from a second end of said roof bow, wherein said second end pin is insertable into a hole of a second container wall bracket, and a pin for securing said roof bow to said open top container. The second pin has a length which is greater than the length of said first end pin, and further, the second end pin has a hole at a lower portion thereof for receiving said securing pin.

As is known, the transportation of goods can be accomplished by dry freight containers or by open top containers and, in this case, it is necessary to fit them with proper tarpaulins in order to protect the cargo from inclement weather and from pilferages. Generally, the tarpaulins are laid and are supported, for a better positioning, by a certain number of bows, normally fitted in a transverse manner of the container, fixed by proper ropes and hooked to the container side walls.
The above mentioned bows act, as well as reinforcings, to give more strength to the container side walls.
Nowadays, the above mentioned bows, properly shaped, have at both ends a pin looking downwards that is then fitted in a properly shaped or "C" shaped bracket which is welded in the inner part of the top side rails. The mounting and dismounting of the bows is simply done by fitting and pulling out the pins into and from the said brackets.
The major problem of the actual roof bows is that, during the loading and unloading of the container, they must be removed, and generally positioned on the ground nearby the same container. Consequently, the bows can be lost or stolen with obvious difficulties in the preparation of the container for the shipment.


A pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE) boot extension provides a TCP/IP interface via a network interface card of the computerized system. SCSI commands are transported over the TCP/IP connection to provide access to a bootable operating system stored on a second networked computerized system, and the networked computerized system is booted from the bootable operating system stored on the second networked computerized system via the SCSI commands transported over the TCP/IP connection.

Computers traditionally use built-in code known as a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) to perform initial boot functions and to control certain attached devices before loading an operating system or other software. This enables a computer to receive input from a keyboard and to output data to a display, and further provides the computer with control of devices such as serial communications ports and disk drives.
When booting, a personal computer typically either executes the BIOS from ROM or flash memory, or loads the BIOS into RAM and executes the BIOS code from RAM to perform initial testing, configuration, and to initialize loading an operating system. Although operating systems are traditionally loaded from hard disks or diskette drives, BIOS extensions such as the PXE or Preboot eXecution Environment provide a computer system the ability to establish a network connection before loading an operating system, and to boot over the network connection via a network bootstrap program. Various other BIOS extensions provide the ability to boot via USB or other interfaces.
The various diskless boot options discussed here require a computer system to have a specialized network interface card or a customized system BIOS, and so are somewhat difficult to implement in existing systems or with off-the-shelf parts. A boot option enabling a computer system having neither a custom network interface card nor a custom system BIOS is therefore desirable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In a compression and decompression coding method, arrangement and computer program product, a data signal containing a number of symbols is converted into a series of codewords. A set of codewords is established and the data signal is monitored to determine the most frequently occurring symbols therein and/or sequences of symbols therein containing at least two symbols. A codeword is then allocated to each of the most frequently occurring of the symbols and/or symbol sequences. At least one codeword is reserved for indicating uncompressed data. When compressing a signal, the incoming symbols are first checked to determine if they correspond to a codeword. If a symbol corresponds to more than one codeword, further symbols are read until a symbol occurs which corresponds to one codeword only. That codeword is then transmitted. Any symbol that does not correspond to a codeword is supplemented with a codeword indicative of no compression and is then transmitted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a coding scheme and apparatus for the compression and decompression of data. It is particularly directed to the compression of signals that exhibit so-called memory, where a portion of a signal depends on the value of a preceding portion. The invention has particular application to medical systems, such as implantable pacemaker devices, which have limited memory but require the storage of large quantities of data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Medical systems for monitoring physiological functions are becoming more complex as the need for diagnostic applications increases. In particular there is a need for intracardial detection systems and pacemaker systems capable of storing ever increasing numbers of signals, such as electrocardiogram signals (EGG and IEGM), pressure signals and bioimpedence signals or the like, of ever increasing length. However, the available memory space for data storage is often restricted, particularly in implanted pacemaker systems. Perhaps more importantly in implanted systems, the amount of data that may be collected is also restricted by the transmission capacity of a telemetry link between an implanted device and its programmer or other external control device. For example, a defibrillator today typically requires a transmission time of up to 40 minutes for downloading to its controller all the data that can be collected. If the required quantities of data are to be made available for processing, this data must be compressed.
Data compression can generally be divided into two forms. A first form is based on viewing a signal as a mathematical function and observing and utilizing characteristics of this function to compress data. The second form utilizes coding theory and is based on the statistics of multiple discrete signal levels, or symbols, occurring in a signal.
A conventional algorithm working according to this latter principle is the Tunstall code. This code maps variable-length symbol segments of an input signal into fixed-length codewords. Since the codeword length is fixed, the number of codewords n is known in advance. The object is to assign codewords to symbol segments that occur with approximately equal probability. The procedure begins with a set of symbol segments consisting of each of the individual symbols occurring in the input signal, such as m symbols in total. The most probable symbol is then removed from the set and replaced by m new segments, each of which is the removed symbol suffixed by one of the m input symbols. This procedure continues until the number of symbol segments, Manager, in the set is equal to the number of codewords, n. The codewords are then assigned to the symbol segments.
An example of Tunstall encoding is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 shows a probability tree comprising nodes, and branches emanating from each node. In the illustrated example it is assumed that S codewords are available for compressing data, 1 to 8. The tree in FIG. 1 assumes that a source signal comprises two signals, '0' and '1'. Each symbol is represented by a first branch. The probability a symbol occurring is given at the node terminating the associated branch. Hence a '0' occurs with a probability of 0.6 and a '1' occurs with a probability of 0.4. The branch with the highest probability is expanded further by adding a second series of branches for each possible symbol. The '0' branch is thus bifurcated into a second '0' branch with a total probability of 0.36 and a '1' branch with probability 0.24. The first branch for symbol '1' now has the highest probability and is expanded in turn, resulting in two further branches with probability of 0.24 and 0.16. This process continues until the number of end branches equals the number of codewords, in the present example 8, with the probability of each branch occurring being relatively close. Each end branch represents a sequence of symbols. These sequences are assigned a codeword as shown in FIG. 2.
A problem associated with Tunstall encoding is that signals containing a large number of different symbols, for instance a large number of discrete signal levels, require a very large number of codewords. For example, in a pacemaker system, a typical electrogram or IEGM signal is represented by S bits sampled at 512 Hz. The number of symbols in this signal is thus 256. A Tunstall codebook for this signal would have to contain at least 256 codewords just to cover the different individual symbols. In order to obtain compression of the signal, the branches must be expanded further which adds a further 256 codewords per branch. The Tunstall code is a general-purpose data compression algorithm and is not adapted to special classes of data. In particular it is not effective when applied to signals which exhibit memory. Typically, many of the signals monitored by medical systems, and cardiac pacers in particular, exhibit some memory, one example being the IEGM signal. The use of Tunstall encoding for processing sampled data in medical systems, and specifically implanted systems, is thus limited.

Compression and decompression coding scheme and apparatus


The present invention provides a novel class of oligonucleotides useful for antisense purposes. The oligonucleotides of the invention comprise both deoxyribonucleotides with "natural" 3'-5' internucleotide linkages and ribonucleotides with 2'-5' internucleotide linkages. Because of their conformation structure, oligonucleotides according to the invention possess uniform intra-phosphate distances throughout the oligonucleotide chain, allowing them to bind efficiently to complementary DNA and RNA with "natural" 3'-5' internucleotide linkages. The oligonucleotides according to the invention advantageously exhibit diminished immune stimulation and significantly reduced effect on both complement and coagulation as compared to 3'-5' oligonucleotides.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of modified antisense oligonucleotides for in vitro and in vivo research, diagnostic, and therapeutic purposes.
2. Summary of the Related Art
Since Zamecnik and Stephenson (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75, 280 (1978)) first demonstrated virus replication inhibition by synthetic oligonucleotides, great interest has been generated in oligonucleotides as research, diagnostic, and therapeutic agents. In recent years the development of oligonucleotides as therapeutic agents and as agents of gene expression modulation has gained great momentum. The greatest development has been in the use of so-called antisense oligonucleotides, which form Watson-Crick duplexes with target mRNAs. Agrawal (Trends in Biotechnology 10, 152 (1992)) extensively reviews the development of antisense oligonucleotides as antiviral agents.
Great strides have been made in the development of antisense oligonucleotides for a variety of purposes. The use of antisense oligonucleotides as useful research tools to modulate gene expression is manifested, for example, by Holt et al. (Mol. Cell Biol. 8, 963 (1988)), who employed an antisense oligomer to inhibit HL-60 c-myc expression in order to study the role of a nuclear protooncogene in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation.
Other studies have demonstrated the utility of antisense oligonucleotides for research and therapeutic use. Antisense Therapeutics (S. Agrawal, Ed., Humana Press, Totowa, N.J., 1996); Thoung and Helene, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Eng. 32, 666 (1993); and Antisense Research and Applications (Crooke and Lebleu, Eds., CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., 1993).
Rapid degradation of "natural" phosphodiester backbone oligonucleotides by cellular nucleases (Sands et al., Mol. Pharmacol. 45, 932 (1994); Agrawal et al., Clin. Pharmacokinet. 28, 7 (1995)) necessitated chemical modifications of the phosphodiester backbone. Agrawal and Iyer (Current Opin. Biotech. 6, 12 (1995)) review a number of these approaches. See also Uhlmann and Peyman (Chem. Rev. 90, 543 (1990)). Several chemically modified oligonucleotides such as methylphosphonate (Smith et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83, 2787-2791 (1986); Sarin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85, 7448-7451 (1988); Matsukura et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84, 7706-7710 (1987)), phosphorothioate (Id.), and phosphoramidate (Agrawal et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85, 7079-7083 (1988)) oligonucleotides show higher stability against nucleases. Many of these modifications have been tested against several disease targets in vitro and in vivo. (Agrawal, Trends in Biotech., supra.; Agrawal and Iyer, Curr. Opn. Biotech. 6, 12-19 (1995)) Barker et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 514 (1996)), for example, demonstrated successful inhibition of several genes of Plasmodium falciparum (which is responsible for malaria) in whole cell erythrocytes. They found that phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides can and do enter parasitized erythrocytes and inhibit expression of a number of genes essential to the reproduction and growth of the parasite.
Offensperger et al. (EMBO J. 12, 1257 (1993)) demonstrated complete inhibition of duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) in DHBV-infected Peking ducks in vivo.
Simons et al. (Nature 359, 67 (1992)) reported that a phosphorothioate antisense c-myb 18-mer locally delivered to a rat with an injured left common carotid artery suppressed c-myb mRNA concentrations 2 weeks after injury and blocked the accumulation of intimal smooth muscle cells.
Ratajczak et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 89, 11823 (1992)) reported that 24-mer phosphorothioate oligonucleotides targeted to the human c-myb mRNA were infused, through a mini-osmotic pump, into scid mice bearing the human K562 chromic myeloid leukemia cell line. Mean survival times of the mice treated with the antisense oligonucleotide were six- to eightfold longer than those of mice untreated or treated with the sense controls.
Kitajima et al. (Science 258, 1792 (1992)) reported that after injecting IP 3'-phosphorothioate modified phosphodiester chimeric oligonucleotides that were complementary to the initiation codon region of the NF-.kappa.B mRNA (p65), they observed complete tumor involution in 13 out of 13 antisense-treated transgenic mice having that gene. Untreated or sense-treated mice died by 12 weeks, whereas the treated animals had no recurrence for at least 5 months.
Nesterova and Cho-Chung (Nature Medicine 1, 528 (1995)) reported in vivo tumor growth suppression in nude mice bearing LS-174T human colon carcinoma with antisense oligonucleotides targeted to the RI.sub.60, subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase type I nucleic acid.
The phosphorothioate oligonucleotides advanced to human clinical trials because of their desirable properties observed in in vitro and in vivo studies. (Zhang et al., Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 58, 44-53 (1995); Crooke et al., Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 56, 641-646 (1994); Bayever et al., Antisense Res. Dev. 3, 383-390 (1993)). In order to improve pharmacokinetic properties of antisense phosphorothioate oligodeoxyribonucleotides, mixed backbone oligonucleotides (MBOs) have been designed that contain at least two different chemical modifications. Recent studies on MBOs such as hybrids, chimeras, etc., suggest that MBOs have improved pharmacokinetic properties and reduced toxicity with retention of comparable efficacy to phosphorothioate oligodeoxyribonucleotides. Zhang et al., Biochem. Pharmacol. 50, 545 (1995).
Most of the modifications currently explored for antisense purposes use the commonly occurring 3'-5' internucleotide linkage. In addition to the predominant 3'-5' internucleotide linkage, a less abundant 2'-5'-internucleotide linkage is formed in cells treated with interferon (Kerr and Brown, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75, 256 (1978); Lesiak et al., J Biol. Chem. 258, 13082 (1983)) and during intron splicing (Padget et al., Science 225, 898 (1984)).
Michelson and Monny (Biochim. Biophys. Acta 149, 107 (1967)) demonstrated that short 2'-5'-oligoadenylates form stable complexes with poly rU, although with lower T.sub.m 's than their 3'-5' counterparts. Ts'o et al. (Biochem. 8, 997 (1969)), Tazawa et al. (Biochem. 8, 3499 (1970)), and Kondo et al. (Biochem. 9, 3479 (1970)) studied 2'-5'-linked r(ApA) and its binding to poly rU. Westheirner (Acc. Chem. Res. 1, 70 (1968)) demonstrated stability of 2'-5'-dimers and trimers to a few hydrolytic nucleases. Although the formation of 2'-5'-linkage is preferred over a 3'-5'-linkage under simulated prebiotic conditions (22,23), nature's selection of the 3'-5'-linkage over the 2'-5'-linkage to preserve genetic material has long been debated. Hashimoto and Switzer, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 114, 6255-6256 (1992); Jin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 10568-10572 (1993); Usher and McHale, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 73, 1149-1153 (1976).
More recently, Dougherty et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 114, 6254 (1992)) and Hashimoto and Switzer (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 114, 6255 (1992)) reported preparation and hybridization properties of 2'-5'-DNA. Kierzek et al. (Nucleic Acids Res. 20, 1685 (1992)) presented a similar study of 2'-5'-RNA. None of the foregoing studies were directed to antisense applications, however, as binding to 3'-5' RNA or DNA was not considered.
The utility of 2'-5'-linked oligonucleotides for antisense use has not been explored extensively, although a possible application has been suggested. Giannaris and Damha (Nucleic Acids Res. 21, 4742 (1993)) studied the hybridization characteristics of 2'-5'-RNA and hybrids of 2'-5'-RNA and 3'-5'-RNA with natural (i. e., 3'-5') single-stranded RNA and DNA. They found that introduction of 2'-5' internucleotide linkages decreases the T.sub.m of the duplexes formed between the 2'-5'-linkage-containing oligonucleotide and its target. They also observed that the 2'-5'-linkage-containing oligonucleotide selectively hybridized to RNA targets over DNA targets.
Seki et al. (Nucleic Acids Symp. Series 29, 71 (1993)) and Sawai et al. (J. Biomol. Structure Dyn. 13, 104 (1996)) reported on the hybridization affinities of 2'-5 '-linked oligo(rA) and oligo(rU) to each other and to 3'-5'-linked oligo(rA) and oligo(rU). They observed that a mixture of 2'-5' oligo(rA) and oligo(rU) formed double and triple helices in the same manner as a mixture 3'-5'-linked oligo(rA) and oligo(rU), but with lower T.sub.m. The mixture of 2'-5'-linked oligo(rA) and oligo(rU) formed only a duplex at a much lower T.sub.m. Thermodynamic studies showed that 3'-5'-linked oligoRNA possess more favorable base stacking and base pairing interactions compared to 2'-5'-linked RNA.
Alul (U.S. Pat. No. 5,532,130) disclosed 2'-5'-linked oligonucleotide-3'-deoxyribonucleotides for hybridizing to complementary RNA. They observed that such oligonucleotides selectively hybridize to RNA rather than DNA.
Despite the advances made, however, there is still a continuing interest in developing new and useful modifications to improve antisense oligonucleotide efficacy.

Mixed backbone antisense oligonucleotides containing 2'-5'-ribonucleotide- and 3'-5'-deoxyribonucleotides segments


Disclosed is a force feedback input device including a cylindrical operating member having an open bottom. A support member that is rotatable supports a central portion of an inner surface of the operating member, and a motor which is held by the support member. A rotary shaft of the motor is arranged to be perpendicular to a central axis of rotation of the operating member. A great portion of the motor is housed in the operating member. A pinion that is fixed to the rotary shaft of the motor meshes with a ring-shaped gear that is provided at a part shifted from the central axis of rotation of the operating member.

1. Field
A force feedback input device that applies feedback force to an operating member is provided.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, there has been suggested a force feedback input device which incorporates the function adjustment of on-vehicle control apparatuses such as air conditioners, audio or navigation systems into one operating member. In this case, when a user rotates the operating member to select an apparatus or to perform the function adjustment of the selected apparatus, output force such as resistant sensation or thrust is applied according to the rotation amount or the rotation direction of the operating member. According to the force feedback input device, favorable operation feeling can be obtained and operationality can be ensured (for example, see JP-A-2003-22137 (pages 5 to 6 and FIG. 1)).
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a force feedback input device according to the related art. The input device includes a boxlike housing 100 having a bearing cylinder 100a at its top wall, a motor 101 and a print board 102 housed in the housing 100, and an operating member 103 provided above the housing 100. The motor 101 has a main body portion 101a and a rotary shaft 101b protruding from the main body portion 101a. The main body portion 101a is fixed to the rear side of the top wall of the housing 100 by screwing. The rotary shaft 101b passes through the top wall of the hosing 100 and protrudes upward. A first gear 104 which is a spur gear is attached to the upper end of the rotary shaft 101b.
The operating member 103 is a cylindrical body with an open bottom. A support shaft 105 which is fixed at a central portion of the inner surface is inserted and held into the bearing cylinder 100a, and the operating member 103 is rotatably supported on the housing 100. Further, in the lower end surface of the operating member 103, a geared portion 103a is provided along the inner circumferential surface. A first gear 104, a second gear 106, and a third gear (not shown) mesh with the geared portion 103a at regular intervals of 120 degrees. The three gears are spur gears having the same diameter or the same number of teeth. A rotary shaft 106a of the second gear 106 is supported by a bearing 100b in the housing 100. At the lower end of the rotary shaft 106a, a code plate 107 is fixed. A photointerrupter 108 which detects rotation information of the code plate 107 is mounted on the rear surface of the print board 102. Further, a push switch 109 is mounted on the surface of the print board 102 to face the lower end of the support shaft 105. Moreover, a spring 110 is interposed between the operating member 103 and the bearing cylinder 100a. The operating member 103 is biased upward by resilient force of the spring 110.
In the force feedback input device having such a schematic configuration, if a user presses the operating member 103 against the resilient force of the spring 110, the push switch 109 is turned on by the support shaft 105, and then a switch signal is output from the push switch 109 to a control unit (not shown). The control unit recognizes on the basis of the switch signal of the push switch 109 that a desired mode (for example, an air-conditioner temperature setting mode) is selected. In this state, if the user rotates the operating member 103, the function adjustment of the selected mode (for example, the up/down adjustment of the set temperature) is performed according to the rotation position of the operating member 103. At the time of the rotation operation of the operating member 103, the first to third gears meshing with the geared portion 103a synchronously rotate, and the code plate 107 rotates in connection with the second gear 106. Accordingly, positional information of the operating member 103 is detected from the photointerrupter 108. The control unit is configured to receive the signal output from the photointerrupter 108 and control driving of the motor 101.
For example, at the time of the adjustment of the set temperature of the air conditioner, whenever the set temperature is changed by one degree, if force opposite to the rotation direction of the operating member 103 is applied to the operating member 103 from the motor 101, the user can recognize the adjusted set temperature by a click feeling.
In the force feedback input device according to the related art, the motor 101 is provided in a longitudinal direction such that the rotary shaft 101b is parallel with the central axis of rotation of the operating member 103. Then, the first gear 104 attached to the rotary shaft 101b meshes with the geared portion 103a provided at the lower end of the inner circumferential surface of the operating member 103. Accordingly, rotation force of the motor 101 is transferred to the operating member 103 through the first gear 104 and the geared portion 103a. Therefore, a great portion of the motor 101 including the main body portion 101a protrudes outward from the lower end of the operating member 103. As a result, there is a problem in that the size of the entire input device is made large in a height direction (longitudinal direction)


A boring head has a connecting rod, an extending bracket and a cutter mount. The extending bracket is detachably connected with the connecting rod. The cutter mount is securely connected with a front end of the extending bracket. Because the extending bracket is detachably connected with the connecting rod, the extending bracket is replaceable, and the length of the extending bracket can be changed to make a bore with a desired diameter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a boring head, and more particularly to a boring head with a replaceable design.
2. Description of Related Art
With reference to FIG. 9, a conventional boring head has a connecting rod 50, an extending bracket 51, a cutter mount 52 and an auxiliary hole 54. The connecting rod 50 has a round cross section and a top end. The extending bracket 51 is integrally connected with the top end of the connecting rod 50 and extends latitudinally. The cutter mount 52 is integrally connected with a front end of the extending bracket 51 and protrudes upwardly. The auxiliary hole 54 is elongated, is formed through the extending bracket 51 and extends toward the front end and a rear end of the extending bracket 51. An auxiliary bolt 55 is mounted through the auxiliary hole 54.
The boring head is mounted on a conventional adjusting base 40 and is to be moved latitudinally. The adjusting base 40 has an adjusting structure 41 and a base threaded hole 42. The adjusting structure 41 is mounted inside a top of the adjusting base 40. The base threaded hole 42 is formed in a top surface of the adjusting base 40.
The connecting rod 50 of the boring head is inserted into and positioned by the adjusting structure 41. A cutter 53 is securely mounted on the cutter mount 52. The auxiliary bolt 55 is mounted through the auxiliary hole 54 and is screwed into the base threaded hole 42. Accordingly, the boring head is securely mounted on the adjusting base 40 for subsequent boring operation.
When the boring head is moved latitudinally, a desired diameter of a bore can be adjusted. The procedures of moving the boring head are as follows.
First, the auxiliary bolt 55 is loosened, and then the adjusting structure 41 is operated to move the boring head latitudinally to a desired position. Second, the auxiliary bolt 55 is screwed into the base threaded hole 42 again to secure the boring head.
However, the adjusting range of the adjusting structure 41 is limited, and is insufficient when the desired diameter of the bore is large. Consequently, multiple boring heads with different lengths have to be prepared, and a cost of purchasing different boring heads is increased. Further, assembling and disassembling the connecting rod 50 is inconvenient each time the boring head is replaced.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a boring head to mitigate the aforementioned problems.


The invention relates to a device for collecting solar energy (1), characterized in that it includes at least one solar receiver (2) including at least one suspension of solid particles fluidized by a gas, each suspension circulating between an inlet and an outlet of the receiver (2), wherein the volume of particles is between 40% and 55% of the volume of the suspension, and the average size of the particles is between 20 and 150 μm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for collecting solar energy. In particular it relates to a device comprising at least one dense suspension of particles fluidized by a gas.
2. Description of Related Art
Viable exploitation of solar energy requires some of the heat produced during daylight hours to be stored so that it can be recovered at times of demand, or at the very least used to ensure continuity of supply during cloudy periods.
For this storage of heat, it is known to use the same fluid employed as the heat transfer fluid (for example a molten salt).
It is also possible to use steam as the heat transfer fluid. However, this solution has the drawback of a limited operating temperature.
It is also possible to use, as the heat transfer fluid, synthetic oils or mixtures of molten salts, especially mixtures of potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate. Using synthetic oils or molten salts has the drawback of being dangerous, these substances also being highly toxic.
Thus, it was conceived to use suspensions of solid particles to absorb the solar radiation, but this solution has proven to be unsatisfactory, especially because of the low density obtained for the suspensions and of the high energy losses related to compression of the air required for producing the suspension.

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE

INSTITUT NATIONAL POLYTECHNIQUE DE TOULOUSE


A key clamp for a key cutting apparatus is provided. The key clamp comprises a first jaw and a second jaw. The first jaw comprises an engagement surface having a widthwise dimension and a lengthwise dimension. The engagement surface comprises a first row of serrations, arranged along a lengthwise edge of the engagement surface, and a second row of serrations. The second jaw has an engagement surface comprising a row of serrations for location, in the widthwise dimension, between the first row of serrations in the first jaw and the second row of serrations in the first jaw.

An automated key cutting apparatus is configured to cut a key blank to a particular shape in order to replicate a particular key. In some examples, the automated key cutting apparatus may be configured to image a key to be replicated in two or three dimensions in order to determine the shape to which the key blank should be cut.
Keys, and therefore key blanks, come in a variety of shapes and sizes. It is difficult to configure a key clamp to grip a variety of differently shaped key blanks in a consistent way, so as to enable accurate key cutting.


A method of forming a cylindrical printing article having a unitary compressible laminate and which includes a rotatable support in the form of a cylinder. This method comprises forming a compressible laminate having upper and lower surfaces and a substantially uniform thickness from at least a printing face which forms the upper surface and a compressible layer positioned beneath the printing face. The compressible layer contains a plurality of compressible cells dispersed therein and has first and second surfaces, with the first surface bonded to an adjacent surface of the printing face. In another step, the first surface of the compressible layer is formed with a profile having a raised central portion so that the compressible layer is spaced closer to the upper surface of the printing face in the center of the laminate than at the ends. Preferably, this laminate is cylindrical and is in the form of a printing blanket or printing roller.

In the process of offset lithographic printing, a rotary cylinder is covered with a cylindrical surface referred to as a "printing plate" which has a positive image area that is receptive to oil-based inks and repellent to water as well as a background area that is repellent to the oil-based inks. The printing plate is rotated so that its surface contacts a second cylinder that is covered with a laminate having an ink-receptive rubber surface which is referred to as a "printing blanket". The ink present on the image surface of the printing plate transfers, or "offsets", to the surface of the printing blanket. Paper or other sheet stock to be printed is then passed between a nip formed by the blanket-covered cylinder and a rigid back-up cylinder or another blanket covered cylinder to transfer the image from the surface of the blanket to the paper. During the steps in which the image is transferred from the printing plate to the printing blanket and subsequently from the blanket to the paper, it is important to ensure intimate contact between the two contacting surfaces. This is ordinarily achieved by positioning the blanket-covered cylinder and the supporting cylinder or another blanket-covered cylinder that it contacts so that there is a fixed interference between the two. Therefore, the rubber-surfaced printing blanket laminate is generally compressed throughout the printing run to a fixed depth, typically about 0.002 to 0.006 inches.
If the printing blanket were constructed of solid rubber, it would bulge, or project radially away from the cylinder axis, in the areas adjacent to the nip when subjected to high nip pressure. This is because solid rubber cannot be reduced in volume and is therefore subject to lateral flow. Bulging would, of course, tend to distort the print image as well as possibly wrinkle the paper being printed. Therefore, compressible printing blankets have been developed.
To make the blanket compressible, a portion of the solid material making up the blanket is replaced by a gas, generally air. More specifically, layers beneath the surface of the blanket are constructed so as to contain millions of minute voids, which allow uniform compression to take place. As the voids beneath the area under pressure reduce in volume, they permit vertical compression--rather than lateral bulging--to take place at the cylinder nip. Conventional offset printing blankets generally include a multi-ply fabric base and a vulcanized elastomeric face. The threads of the fabric entrain a certain amount of air and provide voids and hence a certain amount of compressibility. To enhance the compressibility of such blankets, however, one or more cellular compressible layers is generally buried within or attached to one of the layers or fabrics between the base and the elastomeric face of the blanket.
Those skilled in the art have explored a wide variety of ways in which different open cell structures, closed cell structures, microspheres, and various combinations thereof can be used to obtain compressible layers that provide printing blankets having the desired compressibility properties. The numerous teachings of how to make compressible printing blankets include the teachings of Flint et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,683; Larson U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,743; Shimura, U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,895; Rhodarmer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,568; Pinkston et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,046; and Burns, U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,958.
In order to assure uniformity of printing, it is also important that compression be maintained uniformly over the entire length of the nip between the printing blanket and the support roll. Another important consideration relates to the handling of the paper or other webs being printed. Generally, cylindrical printing blankets used in various printing processes, are concaved on their outer surface to provide tension profiles across the width and between nips or contact points. Such tension profiles act to spread the web and prevent inward wrinkling.
FIG. 1 shows a structure representative of a concave-surfaced prior art cylindrical printing blanket. Printing blanket 1 is constructed around a metal support 2, typically configured in the form of a cylinder. A compressible layer 7 is thereafter formed by wrapping the coated support with a thread coated with an admixture comprising an elastomeric matrix 5 and a plurality of compressible cells 6. The wrapping conditions are controlled in such a manner that threads 4 sink to the lower portion of layer 7, adjacent to the coated support, whereas the remaining, i.e., upper, portion of layer 7 is comprised solely of the elastomer/cell admixture, substantially without any threads. After layer 7 is formed, it is partially dried or cured and a second fiber layer, i.e., of reinforcing fibers 8 coated with an elastomeric matrix 9 substantially free of cells 6, is applied upon compressible layer 7. Threads 4 and 8 act to reinforce the blanket in the same manner as layers of fabric would in non-cylindrical blankets. Matrix 9 acts as a subface for the printing surface 10. Subsequently, printing surface 10, for instance a solid elastomer such as a nitrile blend, is applied to the upper surface of blanket 1.
The degree of concavity of printing surface 9 as shown in FIG. 1 is exaggerated for illustrative purposes. However, it is manifest that a printing blanket or other roll surface that is concaved across its width varies in circumference around its cross-section, and that a point at either edge of the roll will travel further during a rotation of the roll than will a point at the center of the roll. Although this concavity solves the problem of paper wrinkling which is often encountered in the printing art, it leads, on the other hand, to the formation of unequal printing pressures and nip areas across the width of the blanket which, in turn, can cause undesirable results during printing, such as substantial dot gain and decreased print contrast values. In addition, it has a negative impact on the web feed tendencies.
Thus it would be desirable to have a printing blanket or similar compressible roll product that exhibits a uniform thickness across its entire width yet which enables the provision of tension profiles across the width and between nips or contact points in order to spread the web and prevent inward wrinkling.

Method of making a printing blanket with a convex compressible layer


The present invention provides a fused aromatic compound represented by general formula (1) or general formula (2):

In recent years, thin film devices that include organic semiconductor materials such as organic EL devices, organic FET (field-effect transistor) devices, and organic thin-film photoelectric conversion devices have attracted attention, and have started putting into practical use. Of the fundamental physical characteristics of organic semiconductor materials for use in these thin film devices, carrier mobility and an on/off ratio are important. For example, in organic EL devices, carrier mobility, which influences charge transport efficiency, is important for highly efficient light emission and driving at low voltages. Also, in organic FET devices, carrier mobility and on/off ratios, which directly influence switching speed and the performance of a device to be driven, are important for putting organic FET devices into practical use.
Also, in order to make efficient use of the characteristics of organic semiconductor materials in these thin film devices, stable driving in the atmosphere is important. Stable driving in the atmosphere would make operations under an inert atmosphere and sealing and the like unnecessary. Thus, production processes can be simplified, and costs for equipment required for production can be greatly reduced.
Conventionally, in organic semiconductor materials, as with inorganic semiconductor materials, organic semiconductor materials for use in p-type (i.e., hole-transporting) transistors (referred to as "p-type material" hereinbelow) and organic semiconductor materials for use in n-type (i.e., electron-transporting) transistors (referred to as "n-type material" hereinbelow) are known. For example, in order to fabricate logical circuits such as CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductors), p-type materials and n-type materials have been required.
Up to now, a lot of research on p-type materials has been conducted, and materials that have high performance and are driven stably in the atmosphere have been reported. In contrast, as for n-type materials, researches have not greatly advanced, and limited materials are stably driven in the atmosphere.
One example of the n-type materials driven stably in the atmosphere is compounds having a quinoid structure. Of these, thienoquinoid compounds have been widely investigated, and high-performance materials such as oligothiophene quinoid materials and benzodithiophene quinoid materials have been developed (Patent Literatures 1 to 2 and Non-patent Literatures 1 to 3). On the other hand, although compounds having a benzoquinoid structure may have a possibility of being an n-type material having stability in the atmosphere and high performance, very few researches have been made on FET materials having a benzoquinoid structure.
Patent Literature 3 and Non-patent Literature 4 describe an organic semiconductor material that has a structure represented by the chemical formula:
and can be used for organic FET devices. They show that the material has higher electron mobility and stability under atmospheric conditions than tetracyanoquinodimethane. However, the material exhibits high off current, thereby decreasing an on/off ratio, and thus may not constitute a practical transistor.

Fused polycyclic aromatic compounds, organic semiconductor material and thin film including the same, and method for producing an organic semiconductor device

Abstract: wherein R1 to R8 each independently represent an atom or a functional group selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a hydrocarbon oxy group, an aromatic hydrocarbon group, an aliphatic hydrocarbon group, an alicyclic hydrocarbon group, an ester group, an acyl group, a cyano group, and a substituted silyl group, X1 to X4 each independently represent a cyano group, an ester group, or an acyl group, and Y1 to Y4 each independently represent an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, or a selenium atom.


A treatment solution supply apparatus capable of reducing an initial overshooting amount and ensuring a stable dispense characteristic even when treating a large amount of substrates as recycling a developing solution for a large amount of substrates includes a flow meter having an integration function in the vicinity of a nozzle and carries out feedback to the pump revolution frequency control in response to a variation of the flow meter, so that a fixed amount of a solution may be regularly discharged irrespective of the clogging level of a filter. Also, a developing solution can be stably dispensed on a resist coated film within a solution applicable range from a minimum value (film thickness of 1 mm) to a maximum value (3 mm).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a treatment solution supply apparatus for supplying a treatment solution to a substrate such as a glass substrate, a semiconductor wafer or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
TMAH (tetra methyl ammonium hydroxide) which is an undiluted developing solution of a positive type resist for a semiconductor is in increasing demand year by year as an undiluted solution for a semiconductor photo resist and a developing solution for TFT liquid crystal, while the collection and recycling of TMAH solution waste are becoming a problem. In the case of recycling, since the dispense condition becomes unstable due to clogging of a filter or the like caused by foreign matters contained in the recycling TMAH, it is required to stably control the dispense amount. As the art controlling the dispense amount, there are known a method of controlling a revolution frequency of a pump and a method of using a pump of constant pressure type.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing a first transition characteristic of a pump motor in a conventional treatment solution supply apparatus, wherein the relationship between an instantaneous flow amount (L/second) and time (second) in the case where the servo revolution frequency is fixed by the manual operation and the motor is started only by the revolution frequency control of the motor is shown. When starting the motor, the instantaneous flow amount reaches 7 L/second in a second and 9 L/second in two seconds so as to exceed the preset revolution frequency. Further, in three seconds it is overshot up to 12 L/second or more and although it is inclined to decrease from 4 seconds later, there is 8.5 L/second of the instantaneous flow amount still in five seconds and it takes 9 seconds to allow the instantaneous follow amount to stabilize at 8 L/second.
In Patent document 1, as shown in FIG. 5, there is disclosed an operation control method of a quantitative pump for transporting a predetermined amount of liquid waste from a flow control tank to a treatment tank in a liquid waste treatment facility. Namely, there is disclosed such art that an inverter for controlling the revolution speed of a pump and an electromagnetic flow meter for measuring the discharge amount are used together, a signal from the electromagnetic flow meter is fed back to the inverter or an external control device to allow the inverter or the external control device to automatically control the revolution speed so as to fix the discharge amount at a predetermined level, and a cleaning operation is carried out by increasing the revolution speed just after starting the pump or just before stopping it or only for a predetermined fixed period just after the starting or just before the stopping.
Moreover, in Patent document 2, there is disclosed art of supplying substantially a fixed amount of a developing solution into a wafer surface in such a manner that an inside of a supply nozzle is divided in the longitudinal direction thereof to form a plurality of treatment solution channels, and a moving speed of the supply nozzle is changed in each of solution applying regions of a wafer to allow the discharge amount per unit area within a scanning distance to be fixed at the same level even if the discharge amount is varied by changing the pumping pressure of the pump in each of the solution applying regions.
Patent document 1: Japanese patent application publication No. 2005-9329
Patent document 2: Japanese patent application publication No. 2003-197516
In the art of Patent document 1, an inverter control is carried out and the operation frequency is controlled with an alternating current motor by an inverter method. In the case of operating a general purpose motor by an inverter, a frequency-torque characteristic has a peak as shown in FIG. 5. In this example the peak is 60 Hz and torque values decrease on both sides of the peak, especially on a low frequency (revolution frequency) region so that a starting torque is inclined to a shortage. Although as a method of improving the shortage of torque in the low revolution frequency region, there are a method of using an exclusive inverter motor and a method of using variable voltage and variable frequency control, there is a problem that each of the methods requires an increase in costs.
In the art of Patent document 2, it is possible to control the flow amount, but the pump pressure is low and a discharge amount per unit time of the developing solution is small so that it is required to decrease the moving speed of the nozzle and increase the time that the nozzle stays in the predetermined region in order to increase the solution applying period. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes time for ensuring the predetermined discharge amount of the developing solution.


A large amount of training data is typically required to perform deep network leaning, making it difficult to achieve using a few pieces of data. In order to solve this problem, the neural network device according to the present invention is provided with: a feature extraction unit which extracts features from training data using a learning neural network; an adversarial feature generation unit which generates an adversarial feature from the extracted features using the learning neural network; a pattern recognition unit which calculates a neural network recognition result using the training data and the adversarial feature; and a network learning unit which performs neural network learning so that the recognition result approaches a desired output.

Pattern recognition techniques are techniques for estimating which class an input pattern belongs to. Specific examples of pattern recognition include object recognition for estimating a taken object in response to an image as an input, speech recognition for estimating utterance contents in response to speech as an input, and so on.
Statistical machine leanings are widely used as the pattern recognition techniques. It is known that, among the statistical machine leanings, in particular, a neural network can carry out robust recognition against variations of an input pattern because learning of a deep network becomes possible due to recent development of a learning technique called deep learning.
As is well known, machine leanings are broadly classified into two types: supervised learning and unsupervised learning. In the supervised learning, a machine is caused to automatically analyze data with a correct solution (may also be called training data or teaching data) and to classify a calculated feature into the correct solution, thereby learning a relationship between the correct solution and the feature. In other words, in the supervised learning, the training data comprising a set of an "input" and a "correct output (classifying)" are preliminarily prepared and learned by a computer (the machine) so that the correct output (classifying) is possible when any input is given. In comparison with this, in the unsupervised learning, learning is carried out using input data (training data) only and an essential structure is learned from features extracted from the training data. In other words, the unsupervised learning is used to find, when given input data (training data) only, a structure inherent in the data.
The machine learning is divided into two phases: a "learning phase" for creating a neural network and a "recognizing phase" or a "prediction phase" for providing a correct solution using the neural network which has been created. While known machine learnings require feature engineering by human beings, the deep learning automatically acquires (captures) features from the training data to carry out learning.
Various prior art documents related to the present invention are known.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a "neural network learning device" which is capable of optimizing a structure of a neural network. The neural network learning device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 comprises an initial structure acquisition unit and an arithmetic unit. The arithmetic unit comprises a database, a learning unit, and an intermediate layer generation unit. The database preliminarily memorizes and stores a plurality of pieces of training data (which are also called learning samples). The learning unit comprises a training data reading unit, a connection weight correction unit, a neuron generation unit, and a neuron annihilation unit. The intermediate layer generation unit carries out intermediate layer generation processing. For example, the intermediate layer generation processing newly generates, between an intermediate layer closest to an output layer and the output layer in the neural network, an additional intermediate layer as another intermediate layer.
The arithmetic unit comprises a neural network of an initial structure which is acquired by the initial structure acquisition unit. The neuron generation unit generates a new neuron in the intermediate layer as a generation-target intermediate layer.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a "teaching data preparing method" which is capable of effectively carrying out learning even if it is impossible to prepare a sufficient number of teaching images for all of a plurality of classification categories. The teaching data preparing method disclosed in Patent Literature 2 includes a teaching step, a primary preparing step, and a secondary preparing step. The teaching step associates each of the plurality of teaching images with one of the plurality of classification categories into which the teaching image in question should be classified. The primary preparing step obtains, for at least one of the plurality of classification categories as a target category, a set of values of a plurality of kinds of features calculated on the teaching image associated with the target category and uses the set of values as teaching data associated with the target category. The secondary preparing step generates, on the basis of one piece of the teaching data, new values of the features corresponding to a point at which a distance from a point occupied by the teaching data is within a predetermined distance in a feature space comprising the plurality of kinds of features, and associates these values of the features with the target category to produce new teaching data.
In Patent Literature 2, a method of using apexes of a hypercube having a point corresponding to the teaching data as a body center can generate the new teaching data only by adding a predetermined value to a value of at least one of the various kinds of features representing the teaching data. If supplementation of teaching data is carried out for the classification category having a less number of teaching images as the target category, it is possible to effectively avoid disadvantageous overfitting caused by imbalance of the number of the teaching data. Pre-training processing is configured so that relearning can be carried out by supplementing the teaching data as necessary. In addition, the supplementation of the teaching data is carried out by deriving a point corresponding to the new teaching data prepared by the supplementation in the vicinity of a point occupied by already existing teaching data in the feature space. That is, an image imitating a defect image is never generated as a real image. Accordingly, it is possible to limit a distance from the existing teaching data to the new teaching data in the feature space.
Furthermore, Patent Literature 2 discloses a defect classification device (an image classification device) including a feature calculation unit and a defect classification unit. The feature calculation unit calculates a plurality of values of features characterizing the defect image. The defect classification unit classifies, on the basis of the calculated values of the features, the defect image in question into any of the plurality of classification categories using a classifier configured by the pre-training. The defect classification unit executes, in software, processing for classifying the detected defect using a learning algorithm such as a SVM (Support Vector Machine), a neural network, a decision tree, a discrimination analysis, or the like.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a "dictionary generation device for pattern recognition" which is capable of keeping accuracy in processing of the pattern recognition and of speeding up the processing. The dictionary generation device for pattern recognition disclosed in Patent Literature 3 comprises a processor and a storage medium connected to the processor. The storage medium stores a learning pattern database comprising a plurality of learning patterns therein. The dictionary generation device for pattern recognition comprises a pattern input unit, a feature extraction unit for extracting an n-dimensional feature, a feature selection dictionary generation unit, a feature selection unit, a discrimination function generation unit, and a discrimination function major part extraction unit.
In the dictionary generation device for pattern recognition, the feature selection dictionary generation unit generates a feature selection function for converting the n-dimensional feature into an m-dimensional feature and stores the feature selection function as a feature selection dictionary in the storage medium. The feature selection unit converts the extracted n-dimensional feature into the m-dimensional feature using the feature selection function. The discrimination function generation unit generates a detail discrimination function for calculating a similarity of a pattern and stores the detail discrimination function as a discrimination dictionary in the storage medium. The discrimination function major part extraction unit at first generates a major classification feature selection function for converting the m-dimensional feature into an L-dimensional feature on an L-dimensional feature space which is a subspace of the n-dimensional feature space and a subspace of the m-dimensional feature space. Subsequently, the discrimination function major part extraction unit generates a major classification discrimination function for calculating the similarity of the pattern as a recognition target for each category on the L-dimensional feature space by converting the detail discrimination function into a function on the L-dimensional feature space. Then, the discrimination function major part extraction unit stores the major classification feature selection function as a feature selection dictionary in the storage medium and stores the major classification discrimination function as a discrimination dictionary in the storage medium.
In the pattern recognition, in order to speed up the recognition processing, rough recognition processing for narrowing correct solution candidate categories is executed using the major classification discrimination function which is able to calculate at a high speed. Thereafter, the similarity of an input pattern for each of the correct solution candidate categories is calculated using the detail discrimination function to produce a final recognition result as the correct solution candidate category. A pattern recognition apparatus comprises the discrimination function major part extraction unit for outputting, in a learning phase, a major classification feature conversion function and the major classification discrimination function as the feature selection dictionary and the discrimination dictionary, respectively

Neural network learning device, method, and program


An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) operates repetitively to perform a series of conversion cycles. A comparator (9) receives an analog input signal (V.sub.IN) and compares it with an analog comparison signal produced by a digital-to-analog converter (5). A successive-approximation register circuit (22) holds a digital trial signal value and uses it to control the value of the analog comparison signal in each conversion cycle so as to perform up to two comparisons per cycle, thereby to produce digital data that has a first value ("+1") when the input signal value is greater than a first comparison value (V.sub.C1) and that has a second value ("-1") when the input signal value is less than a second comparison value (V.sub.C2) and that in all other cases has a third value ("0"). The first comparison value (V.sub.C1) is set higher than the trial signal value determined for use in the cycle concerned, and the second comparison value is set lower than that trial signal value. Each comparison value differs from the trial signal value by the same predetermined amount. The successive-approximation register circuit (22) adjusts the trial signal value in each cycle in dependence upon the digital data produced in the cycle concerned so as to tend to bring that value into closer correspondence with the input signal value.. Such an ADC can employ the same analog circuits (5,7,9) as a conventional successive-approximation ADC but can operate at higher speeds because errors in the decisions made in one conversion cycle are, within reasonable limits, corrected automatically in subsequent conversion cycles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to analog-to-digital converters, and in particular to analog-to-digital converters that employ a successive approximation technique.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a schematic block diagram of a conventional successive approximation analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Such an ADC is described, for example, in "The Art of Electronics", second edition 1989, P. Horowitz and W. Hill, Cambridge University Press.
The ADC 1 of FIG. 1 comprises a digital storage register (referred to as a successive approximation register or SAR) 3, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 5 and associated reference voltage generating circuit 7, a comparator 9, a control circuit 11 and associated clock generating circuit 13, and a digital output circuit 15.
In use of the FIG. 1 ADC, an analog input voltage V.sub.IN to be converted into a corresponding digital output word is applied to one input of the comparator 9. A "start conversion" signal is applied to one input of the control circuit 11. In response to this pulse, the control circuit 11 stores in the SAR 3 a first digital "trial" value, the most significant bit of which is one and the remaining bits of which are zero. This trial value in the SAR 3 is then loaded into the DAC 5 which produces a corresponding analog trial voltage V.sub.TRIAL that is applied to the other input of the comparator 9. The value of the first trial word is selected so that the trial voltage V.sub.TRIAL is initially set to half the full-scale output voltage of the DAC 5.
If the result COMP of the comparison between V.sub.IN and V.sub.TRIAL is that V.sub.IN is greater than V.sub.TRIAL, the most significant bit of the SAR 3 is left at 1. Otherwise, that most significant bit is reset to 0.
Then, in the next conversion cycle of the ADC 1, the second most significant bit of the SAR 3 is set to 1, the other bits being unchanged. The resulting new digital trial value is applied to the DAC 5 which generates a different V.sub.TRIAL. In dependence upon the result of the comparison performed by the comparator 9 between the new V.sub.TRIAL and V.sub.IN, the level of the second most significant of the SAR 3 is determined in the same manner as in the first conversion cycle.
Operation of the ADC 1 continues in this way over successive cycles until the level of the least significant bit of the SAR 3 has been determined. At this point the control circuit 11 outputs an "end of conversion" signal and enables the output circuit 15 so that the content of the SAR 3 is output as a digital output word D.
Successive-approximation ADCs, such as that shown in FIG. 1, are relatively accurate and fast, requiring only n settling times of the DAC for n-bit precision. Typical conversion times are in the range from 1 to 50 .mu.s, and accuracies of between 8 and 12 bits are commonly available.
However, the conversion speed of the FIG. 1 ADC is limited by the requirement that the decision regarding the level of each bit of the SAR 3 must be correct to an accuracy of better than 1 least significant bit (LSB). This is a particular problem in successive approximation ADCs where fast or high resolution is required, since before a valid decision for each bit can be made the analog circuits must settle accurately, and the comparator must resolve a small signal after a large overdrive.

Successive approximation type analog to digital converter with repetitive conversion cycles


The invention concerns a process for purifying protein A preparations to high purity with high product yield. Where the protein A is obtained from a Gram-negative recombinant microbe hosting a vehicle containing a gene encoding protein A, the protein A is purified to high purity, and, advantageously, to very low levels of endotoxin. The protein A preparations made via the invention process are useful in therapeutic application, e.g., therapeutic plasma exchange, as well as for other well-known uses of protein A.

Downstream processing of expressed recombinant proteins is an important consideration in the utilization of cloned gene products. Specifically, purification at industrial levels must supply a protein of sufficient purity in a cost effective manner.
Protein A is a well-known, useful protein originally derived from the cell wall of Staphylococcus aureus. It has the ability to bind the Fc region of most mammalian antibodies of class IgG. Commercial applications of protein A utilizing this property include large-scale affinity purification of monoclonal antibodies, many of which will have therapeutic applications; therapeutic plasma exchange, in which the circulating immune complexes from blood plasma are removed via binding to immobilized protein A; as well as numerous laboratory applications based on immunochemical or histochemical procedures.
To meet these commercial demands, protein A must be economically produced in large quantities and, for therapeutic applications, the protein A must be greater than 99% pure as determined by a variety of assay methods including SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and size-exclusion HPLC. In addition, contaminating endotoxin levels, especially important in protein A preparations produced from Gram-negative hosts, must be very low, on the order of <1.0 endotoxin units (E.U.)/mg protein A as determined by the gel clot assay (LAL).
There are currently two published methods used to purify protein A. One method uses an IgG affinity column, and the other is a multistep, small scale process which includes the use of a diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) ion-exchange column followed by the use of a sizing column.
The first method utilizes the binding of protein A to the Fc region of the IgG molecule. As developed by Hjelm et al. (Hjelm, H., Hjelm, K., Sjoquist, J [1972] FEBS Letters 28:73-76), IgG is bound to an insoluble matrix which is then packed into a column. A protein A-containing solution is passed over the column at neutral pH in 0.1M H.sub.2 PO.sub.4.sup.-. Under these conditions protein A is selectively removed from the solution due to its interaction with the immobilized IgG. The protein A is eluted from the column with 0.1M glycine-HCl, pH 3.0 and comes off with the buffer front.
Protein A also has been purified using a multistep procedure (Sjoquist, J., Meloun, B., Hjelm, H., [1972] Eur. J. Biochem. 29:572-578). S. aureus, strain Cowan I (NCTC 8530, National Collection of Type Cultures, Central Public Health Laboratory, London, England) is pelleted and resuspended in 0.05M TRIS-HCl [TRIS=Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane], 0.145M NaCl pH 7.5 and heated to 37.degree. C. Lysostaphin and DNAase are added and digestion allowed to go to completion as monitored by absorbance at 520 nm. After the absorbance values become constant, the suspension is centrifuged and the supernatant is treated with 5N HCl to lower its pH to 3.5. The resulting precipitate is removed by centrifugation and the supernatant adjusted to pH 7.0 with 5N NaOH. Ammonium sulfate is added to make an 80% saturated solution. This material is centrifuged and the precipitate removed, redissolved in 0.1M ammonium bicarbonate, pH 8.0, and applied to a DEAE-SEPHADEX (SEPHADEX is a tradename of Pharmacia Inc., Piscataway, N.J.) column equilibrated in 0.1M ammonium bicarbonate, pH 8.0. Under these conditions, the protein A molecule will bind to the positively charged DEAE groups on the column. Protein A is then eluted by increasing the ionic strength of the column buffer via a linear gradient to 0.4M ammonium bicarbonate, pH 8.0.
The protein A removed from the column is concentrated and applied to a SEPHADEX G-100 column equilibrated in 0.05M Tris.HCl, 1.0M NaCl pH 8.0. On such a column proteins are separated according to size--larger molecules are excluded from the interior of the porous SEPHADEX.RTM. and therefore pass through the column more rapidly than smaller molecules which can enter the column packing.
While these purification schemes give satisfactory results for laboratory use, they are inadequate for industrial-scale applications. The problems associated with the first procedure include the high cost of preparation and maintaining an immobilized IgG column. The IgG must be isolated before any work toward purifying protein A can begin. Also, the immobilization of IgG may involve the use of a highly toxic material, cyanogen bromide. Another problem occurs because a biological molecule is part of the column packing. This means that much care must be taken to prevent its contamination or degradation and concomitant loss of binding activity. In spite of such measures, column life is considerably less than that of other properly maintained column packings.
The second purification scheme, discussed above, also is limited for large-scale work due to several reasons. This is a multistep procedure involving acid precipitation, ammonium sulfate precipitation, and buffer exchange before reaching the ion-exchange and sizing column steps. Because each step of a purification results in some loss of material, the overall number of steps should be kept to a minimum. Another drawback to this method is the amount of ammonium bicarbonate used during the ion-exchange chromatography. The cost of using a gradient from 100 mM to 400 mM ammonium bicarbonate would be a substantial portion of the purification cost. The most serious drawback of the procedure, however, is the use of a sizing column. While such columns are suitable for laboratory operations, use of a sizing column at industrial levels is undesirable because capacity is very low (sample size is limited to 2-5% of the column volume), processing time is quite slow compared to other chromatographic methods, and, finally, sizing columns are often troublesome sources of contaminating endotoxins due to bacterial growth in the column.
Finally, both procedures, discussed above, involve the use of pH 3.0-3.5 solutions. This is not suitable for use in the purification of recombinant protein A expressed in E. coli as these organisms contain proteases which will degrade protein A at low pH's.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an efficient process to purify protein A-containing solutions on an industrial scale to obtain high-purity protein A preparations with acceptable low levels of endotoxin. The need is particularly great in the recombinant DNA art of producing protein A, as shown above.

Process for preparing high purity protein A preparation


A contact metallurgy structure comprising a patterned dielectric layer having cavities on a substrate; a silicide or germanide layer such as of cobalt and/or nickel located at the bottom of cavities; a contact layer comprising Ti or Ti/TiN located on top of the dielectric layer and inside the cavities and making contact to the silicide or germanide layer on the bottom; a diffusion barrier layer located on top of the contact layer and inside the cavities; optionally a seed layer for plating located on top of the barrier layer; a metal fill layer in vias is provided along with a method of fabrication. The metal fill layer is electrodeposited with at least one member selected from the group consisting of copper, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, molybdenum, gold, silver, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, cadmium and zinc and alloys thereof. When the metal fill layer is rhodium, ruthenium, or iridium, an effective diffusion barrier layer is not required between the fill metal and the dielectric. When the barrier layer is platable, such as ruthenium, rhodium, platinum, or iridium, the seed layer is not required.

Advances over the years in the field of interconnection and device technology have played an important role in allowing continued scaling of the CMOS-based microelectronic products. In particular, scaling enabled improved device density and enhanced circuit performance. However, the increasing parasitic resistance in the nanometer regime is a key challenge in scaling of high performance CMOS devices. Series resistance components add to the degradation of intrinsic device current capability which directly impacts device performance. The continuing miniaturization of integrated circuits leads to increased parasitic resistance not only in the front-end-of-the-line (FEOL) level but also in the middle-end-of-the line (MOL) and back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) levels as decreased geometry results in increased resistivity of the interconnecting lines.
Increase of resistance of various device components has been a key parameter in predictive models of the ITRS roadmap. Up to the 65 nm Technology Node the MOL interconnection, i.e. contact level fabrication, has not been a key parasitic resistance contributor, but beyond this technology node predictions show that it will become an increasing issue. A comprehensive picture of contact level resistance scaling issues is depicted in FIG. 1. A simple predictive model shows that via resistance should increase by 1/k2 for every device generation, where k is the scaling factor. Due to the material limitations the resistance increase has been accelerating. Therefore, at 45 nm technology node innovative process solution based on liner thickness scaling had to be implemented to decrease the total plug resistance of the contact level build using W metallurgy. In addition to an increase in the nominal resistance value, process variability (3 sigma values) has also been increasing. As contact plug diameter shrinks below 50 nm any change in final critical dimension (CD) of a plug (diameter, height, side-wall angle) will result in large resistance variations. Such variations clearly degrade our ability to control yield and reliability of these vias beyond 45 nm technology node.
Tungsten is currently used for local wiring and for the contact level to the devices in microprocessors, ASICs and DRAMs. FIG. 2 shows how increasing contact resistance could result in 10% performance delay in F04 Inverter for 45 nm Technology Node if the current liner and CVD tungsten process is not optimized. More specifically, Curve A shows contact resistance increase with technology node for the current liner materials and tungsten fill processes. Curve B shows the F04 delay without the additional resistance contributed from contact plug. The curve C shows the actual F04 delay with the actual contact plug resistance. The difference between the latter two curves shows the contribution to the F04 delay from the contact plug resistance, which increases with technology node, and is predicted to reach 10% or more for 45 nm Technology Node if no additional innovative solutions are implemented to decrease plug resistance.
The most common metallization process for CA level includes deposition of I-PVD Ti layer for improved electrical contact to the silicide, a CVD TiN barrier protecting from corrosive W chemistry, followed by a CVD or ALD pulsed nucleation layer ("PNL"—doped W layer) followed by a CVD W fill. As CA dimensions are scaled the following issues become critical: inability to shrink a highly resistive liner and nucleation layers, lack of process providing W with lower resistivity values and good fill capability. The seam or voids in the contact plug becomes increasingly intolerable.
Therefore, providing contact metallurgy structures exhibiting reduced contact resistance by choosing lower resistivity materials to fill the plug, and minimizing center seam or voids for such structures is desirable.

Structure and method of forming electrodeposited contacts

International Business Machines Corporation


A pair of foils are pivotably coupled to a nacelle. The nacelle is pivotably coupled to a mast extending down from to a frame and below a water surface. A push rod oscillates, causing the nacelle to experience a heaving motion, in turn causing the foils to flap up and down. The push rod is driven by a power plant such as a human rider. Angles of attack for the foils are actively controlled to optimize lift and propulsion forces provided by the foils to cause the water craft to move over the water. A steering fin is also provided for heading control of the water craft. A control system for separate angles of attack for the foil sends appropriate information to servo motors which cause the foils to rotate relative to the nacelle to achieve optimal angles of attack relative to the particular position of the nacelle at any given moment.

Flapping foil hydrofoil water craft are known in the prior art. Exemplary of such flapping foil hydrofoil water craft are the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,021,232 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,369. These prior art devices are generally characterized by including a foil which moves up and down with an angle of attack of the foil adjusting to maintain propulsion in a forward direction, such that vehicle motion somewhat akin to that of the flukes of a whale tale can be provided. Such flapping foil hydrofoil devices in the prior art also are characterized by including a front foil structure for maintaining balance for the water craft.
These prior art water craft are particularly characterized in a high degree of bobbing up and down as they move over the water. This invention solves such a bobbing problem by utilizing two flapping foils which undergo a heaving (flapping up and down) motion following a sinusoidal pattern, typically 180° out of phase from each other. With this invention, the non trivial problem of optimizing angle of attack for each of the foils throughout their oscillation cycle has also been solved.