A method of performing a copy-on-write on a shared memory page is carried out by a device communicating with a processor via a coherence interconnect. The method includes: adding a page table entry so that a request to read a first cache line of the shared memory page includes a cache-line address of the shared memory page and a request to write to a second cache line of the shared memory page includes a cache-line address of a new memory page; in response to the request to write to the second cache line, storing new data of the second cache line in a second memory and associating the second cache-line address with the new data stored in the second memory; and in response to a request to read the second cache line, reading the new data of the second cache line from the second memory.

Copy-on-Write (CoW) mechanisms are often used to create a lightweight copy of a group of memory pages or a process's memory without creating a copy on the spot. The memory pages are protected, and both copies point to a single physical frame containing the data. Only if the data between the copies diverges, because one of the copies gets modified, does the single physical frame actually get copied to a different location to store the modified data. For example, Redis®, a key-value store application, uses CoW and fork to create a snapshot of its in-memory database and saves it to disk in the forked process. If the main Redis process modifies its in-memory data while the secondary process is writing the snapshot to disk, the affected memory pages trigger a minor page fault, and the data is duplicated, each process now using different physical frames.
There are two problems with CoW when applied to memory pages. First, CoW uses write protection mechanisms to detect when one of the memory pages is modified, which incurs overhead for the affected process. Second, the granularity of the copy is always the size of a memory page. Currently, 4 KB memory pages are primarily used, but with applications increasingly employing larger memory pages, such as 2 MB or 1 GB, e.g., in virtual machine applications, copying the entire memory page takes a long time and consumes a large amount of memory, even though the amount of the diverging data is small.


Semiconductor wafers are cleaned, dried, and hydrophilized the following steps in the order stated:                a) treating the semiconductor wafer with a liquid aqueous solution containing hydrogen fluoride, the semiconductor wafer rotating about its center axis at least occasionally, and        b) drying the semiconductor wafer by rotation of the semiconductor wafer about its center axis at a rotational speed of 1000 to 5000 revolutions per minute in an ozone-containing atmosphere, the liquid aqueous solution containing hydrogen fluoride flowing away from the semiconductor wafer on account of the centrifugal force generated by the rotation, and the surface of the semiconductor wafer being hydrophilized by ozone.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for cleaning, drying and simultaneously hydrophilizing a semiconductor wafer, the drying taking place with rotation of the semiconductor wafer.
2. Background Art
Semiconductor wafers which serve, for example, as substrates for the production of microelectronic components, usually silicon wafers, are cleaned by wet chemical processes after polishing, coating (for example by epitaxial deposition) or thermal treatment steps ("annealing") or before high-temperature process steps. The aim of cleaning is to remove contaminants of the semiconductor wafers, for example metals such as copper or organic substances, and also particles adhering to the wafer surface. All these should be removed as completely as possible, since the contaminants lead to problems during subsequent production of components, as two examples, an inhomogeneous growth of gate oxides or an inhomogeneous deposition of polysilicon gates.
A number of processes for cleaning and drying semiconductor wafers are known in the prior art:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,203 discloses a process in which a semiconductor wafer immersed completely into a bath comprising a hydrogen fluoride solution (hydrofluoric acid) is slowly withdrawn from the bath into an ozone-containing atmosphere. The ozone from the atmosphere dissolves at the liquid surface and thus reduces the surface tension thereof, which makes it easier for the liquid to flow away from the wafer surface. At the same time, the wafer surface is oxidized by the ozone-containing atmosphere. The wafer is therefore hydrophilic after drying. It was established in U.S. Pat. No. 6,451,124 that the semiconductor wafer is permitted to be withdrawn from the hydrofluoric acid at a speed of only 0.01 to 15 mm per second, and preferably 0.01 to 0.5 mm per second, in order actually to achieve a dry wafer surface. Given a wafer diameter of 300 mm and a speed of 0.5 mm per second, this procedure alone requires 10 minutes. The wafer must be fully dry since inhomogenities are otherwise observed on the wafer surface, for example so called "watermarks".
For some years cleaning processes for individual wafers have also been increasingly employed, in which a semiconductor wafer is caused to rotate rapidly about its center axis and is firstly cleaned with one or more liquids, then rinsed with deionized water and dried. The liquids are applied to the rotating semiconductor wafer and accelerated towards the edge of the wafer by the centrifugal force, such that the liquids flow away outwards and form a generally whole-area thin film on the wafer surface. During subsequent drying with further rotation of the semiconductor wafer, for example with addition of a vapor that reduces the surface tension of the liquid film (e.g. isopropanol), the liquid film completely flows away afterwards. Processes of this type are described in US2004/0103915A1 and EP0905747A1. Individual-wafer cleaning processes of this type are distinguished by a lower consumption of chemicals.
It is also known to use hydrofluoric acid as a cleaning liquid in such devices. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 6,869,487 B1 describes a process in which a semiconductor wafer is cleaned with a liquid with rapid rotation, the liquid containing dissolved ozone which was either dissolved previously in the liquid or originates from an ozone-containing process atmosphere. A hydrophilic surface can be achieved by ozone furthermore being added to the process atmosphere after the supply of liquid has already been stopped. However, care should be taken to ensure that a closed liquid film is always present on the wafer surface as long as it is in contact with ozone. The semiconductor wafer is subsequently rinsed with deionized water and dried. The drying is effected, for example, by centrifugal drying with addition of isopropanol vapor.

Process for cleaning, drying and hydrophilizing a semiconductor wafer


A grounding element attached to a tab having a hole. A spring portion is connected to one side of a bottom of the grounding element and extends in a first direction, and a latching portion is connected to another side of the bottom. When the grounding element is attached to the tab, the spring portion and the latching portion hold edges of the tab.

The invention relates to a grounding element for an electronic device.
Typically, in an electronic device, a circuit board is grounded by electrically connecting the circuit board to a metal housing of the electronic device. The electrical connection is typically achieved by a metal grounding element. In FIG. 1, a conventional grounding element 100 is attached to a metal housing 10 of an electronic device. A tab 12 with a hole 14 on which the grounding element 100 is attached extends from the metal housing 10. A circuit board (not shown) is electrically connected to the metal housing 10 via the grounding element 100.
FIG. 2 depicts the structure of the conventional grounding element 100. The grounding element 100, formed by bending a metal plate, comprises a spring portion 110 and a bottom 120. The bottom 120 is planar. When the grounding element 100 is attached to the tab 12, the bottom 120 abuts the tab 12, and the spring portion 110 expands to abut the front of circuit board thereby maintaining a reliable electrical connection.
A protrusion 130 is further disposed on the bottom 120 and comprises an inclined surface 132 and an opening 134 adjacent to the inclined surface 132 and the bottom 120. When the grounding element 100 is attached to the tab 12 in the direction indicated by arrow A, the inclined surface 132 allows the protrusion 130 to be easily inserted into the hole 14, and edges of the opening 134 abut an inner wall of the hole 14 to prevent separation of the grounding element 100.
Although the protrusion 130 prevents separation of the grounding element 100, the protrusion 130 can still easily escape from the hole 14 causing separation of the grounding element 100 when the spring portion 110 deformed in the direction indicated by arrow B.


The present invention describes a protein kinase which catalyzes the in phosphorylation of BRCA-1 protein. The present invention also describes the use of the BRCA-1 protein kinase as a molecular target for therapeutic intervention and/or as a therapeutic tool for diagnosing and treating breast and/or ovarian cancer.

An estimated 182,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer occurred in the United States during 1995 and over 46,000 deaths resulted from this disease. The search for and identification of specific genetic elements which contribute to the development of breast cancer is an essential part of achieving better treatment and earlier diagnosis.
The discovery of BRCA-1 is a recent example of a burgeoning effort in molecular biology which is focused on the identification of specific disease-associated genes. BRCA-1 is the first gene discovered in an intensive worldwide search for genes associated with enhanced susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer.
The BRCA-1 gene consists of 100 Kb of DNA which comprises 22 coding exons and encodes a protein of 1863 amino acids. (Gene Bank Accession No. U14680). Sequence analysis has provided little insight into BRCA-1 function since only a short region within the amino terminus (comprising less than 10% of the coding sequence) shows significant homology to known protein sequences. Specifically, this region consists of a putative zinc finger domain which may be critical in facilitating interactions between BRCA-1 and other proteins. Although the role this gene plays in breast cancer development is unknown, it is clear that germline mutations within this gene are associated with an 87% and 44% lifetime risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer, respectively.
Studies suggest that mutations in BRCA-1 may play a role in nearly half the cases of familial breast cancer. However, there is little evidence indicating that this gene is involved in spontaneous (non-hereditary) breast cancer.
The present invention is the result of an effort to identify protein kinases which functionally interact with BRCA-1 in order to gain insight into BRCA-1's functional activity in regulatory pathways or other physiological processes of the cell.
Protein kinases are known to mediate cellular signals important for growth and differentiation. Typically, increased expression is associated with alterations in normal cellular processes. Some of these affected cellular processes include cell proliferation, differentiation and cancer, including, for example, breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The identification and characterization of one or more novel protein kinases should provide important insights into the mechanisms underlying oncogenesis and cellular growth control pathways. Such kinases may also be an important target for the development of chemotherapeutic agents.
There thus exists a need to identify protein kinases associated with BRCA-1 and to manipulate these protein kinases in order to diagnose or treat pathological conditions and control cellular processes. The present invention satisfies this need and provides a variety of related advantages as well.

Protein kinase which specifically phosphorylates BRCA-1


A sintered ceramic-metal composite product has a ceramic matrix of polycrystalline ceramic in which a metal phase is dispersed for adding improved toughness. The metal phase has a higher melting point than the sintering temperature of the ceramic matrix and comprises at least one metal selected from the groups IVa, Va and VIa of the periodic table. The metal phase is dispersed intragranular within the grains of the ceramic matrix to realize nano-order dispersion of the metal phase which is responsible for remarkably improved toughness as well as strength. The ceramic-metal composite product is successfully fabricated by several unique methods utilizing the mixture of the ceramic and metal or metal oxide, hydride or alkoxide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a sintered ceramic-metal composite product and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sintered polycrystalline ceramic products, due to their excellent heat, wear and corrosion resistance, are currently expected to have a wide variety of applications for use as forming turbo-charger rotors of automobiles, various cutting tools and tool bits, mechanical seals, and even sporting and leisure goods. However, because of inherently strong covalent and ionic bond that permit no substantial dislocation or plastic deformation as opposed to metallic materials, the ceramics fail to alleviate stress concentration occurring at a leading end of a crack and are therefore easily fractured as a consequence of that the crack proceeds as started from a minute internal defect or a surface scratch. Thus, the ceramics exhibit poor toughness with attendant brittleness which excludes the application of the ceramics for making large parts or parts of complicated shapes and therefore restricts the application only to parts of limited dimensions and shapes.
In order to overcome the brittleness, attempts have been made to provide a ceramic matrix composite of improved toughness and strength in which minute particles or whiskers of one ceramic material are dispersed into a matrix of another ceramic material. Such ceramic matrix composite strengthening has advanced from the ceramic particle dispersion to whisker or fibre dispersion, and from a micro-order inter-granular dispersion to a nano-order intra-granular dispersion. Particularly, the ceramic matrix composite of the nano-order dispersion [hereinafter referred to simply as nano-order ceramic composite] is reported to show remarkable improvement in mechanical strength, particularly at high temperature, for example, as disclosed in Japanese patent non-examined early publication (KOKAI) No. 64-87552. The patent teaches to strengthen .alpha.-alumina matrix by dispersing minute SiC particles within the granules of the alumina matrix. Besides, it is also known that improved mechanical strength is achieved in other nano-order ceramics composites of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 /Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 where Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 is an intra-granular phase in the matrix of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and MgO/SiC where SiC is an intra-granular phase in MgO matrix. As for a non-oxide ceramic matrix, a like nano-order ceramic composite of Si.sub.3 N.sub. 4 /SiC is known to exhibit improved strength, as described in the publication "Powder and Powder Metallurgy Vol. 1.36 page 243, 1989". The publication teaches to react [Si(CH).sub.3 ].sub.2 NH in an atmosphere of ammonia and hydrogen through chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique to obtain amorphous composite powder of Si--C--N which is subsequently processed to present the corresponding ceramic composite Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 /SiC in which SiC particles are dispersed within the granules of the Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 matrix.
With regard to the toughness, the ceramic matrix composite of the micro-order dispersion [hereinafter referred to simply as micro-order ceramic composite] can exhibit an improved fracture toughness of about 10 MPam.sup.1/2 for a ceramic matrix in which ZrO.sub.2 particles or whiskers are dispersed and an even more improved fracture toughness of about 20 to 30 MPam.sup.1/2 for a ceramic matrix in which long fibers of SiC are dispersed. While, on the other hand, the nano-order ceramic composite is found to exhibit the fracture toughness which is only about 30 to 40% of that for the micro-order ceramic composite. Despite the poor fracture toughness, the nano-order ceramic composite has an improved mechanical strength of as much as 160 to 200% of that of the micro-order ceramic composite. Consequently, it is most desirous to further improve fracture toughness of the nano-order ceramic composite so that the nano-order ceramic composite can combine excellent toughness and fracture strength.

Sintered ceramic-metal composite product and method of fabricating the same


A tool box includes a base having a number of recesses for receiving tools and a cover pivotally coupled to the base and having an upper groove for receiving a light device. The cover includes a number of projections extended inward of the groove for engaging with and for retaining the light device in place. The light device is a flashlight having a control ferrule. The cover has a notch for receiving the control ferrule and for allowing the control ferrule to be operated when the flashlight is engaged in the groove of the cover.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tool box, and more particularly to a tool box having a light device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical tool boxes are provided for receiving tools and include no light device and may not be used as a support for a light device.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional tool boxes.


A refrigerator with an evaporator and at least one preservation compartment, in which the evaporator is formed from extendable spiral-wound tube of engineering polymer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator provided with an evaporator or evaporators.
2. Description of the Related Art
In traditional refrigerators the evaporator, however constructed, is defined, i.e. unmodifiable, size and location. It follows that possible cold deficiencies or excesses cannot be compensated during refrigerator use. In forced-air refrigerators these unbalances can be modified, but only partly, by operating the flaps or other members by which the direction and throughput of the forced air acting as the cold carrier are changed.

Refrigerator with evaporator of variable dimensions


A mass storage data protection system for use with a mass storage device in a gaming machine to protect the mass storage device from unauthorized commands. The mass storage data protection system includes a mass storage device command latch, a timing circuit for timing signals between the mass storage device command latch and the mass storage device, a comparator and a comparator command register in communication with the comparator. The comparator command register includes commands that generate a fault within the mass storage data protection system such that when the comparator receives a command from the mass storage device command latch corresponding to the command within the comparator command register, a fault is generated within the mass storage command latch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mass storage data protection system, and more particularly, to a mass storage data protection system for use with a mass storage device in a gaming machine to protect the mass storage device from unauthorized commands.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Regulations within the gaming industry have historically proscribed xe2x80x9cwritablexe2x80x9d memory devices for the storage of computer codes that control the payoff aspects associated with a gaming machine. These code routines are so critical to operation that their corruption, either accidentally or deliberately, could result in cheating players. If such corruption occurred, even infrequently, it could pose a significant threat to the integrity of gaming operations. The storage of these codes is typically handled by a less volatile type of memory device, such as a ROM or EPROM.
As the gaming industry moves toward game designs that utilize more multimedia style game presentation, the need for increased memory storage for game codes, graphics, sound, video etc., grows dramatically. Quickly, the use of EPROM style devices for data storage is becoming a significant burden and hindrance to the development of the gaming machines with enhanced capabilities. The use of cost effective, higher density mass storage devices will thus become necessary.
In the personal computer industry, the need for large amounts of nonvolatile mass storage has not been nearly as significant. In fact, the opposite scenario is actually occurring. Current personal computer operating systems rely on the fact that data can be stored on the mass storage devices such as hard disks. This allows these operating systems to support virtual memory configurations, storage of recent web sites visited, storage of temporary recovery files in the event of a power interruption, etc.
In earlier generations of hard disk drives that utilize the intelligent drive electronics (IDE) style of system interface, it was not uncommon for these drives to be equipped with write protection jumpers to allow the disk to be write protected against data loss or modification. As the need for cost reduction in the computer industry increased, these jumpers were eliminated since the primary personal computer operating systems do not require them. Thus, in today""s market, it is nearly impossible to find an IDE disk drive (the industry""s most cost effective mass storage solution) that includes a write protection jumper.
In accordance with the present invention, a mass storage data protection system for use with a mass storage device in a gaming machine includes a mass storage device command latch, a timing circuit for timing signals between the mass storage device command latch and the mass storage device, a comparator between the mass storage device command latch and the timing circuit, and a comparator command register in communication with the comparator. The comparator command register includes commands that generate a fault within the mass storage data protection system. When the comparator receives a command from the mass storage device command latch corresponding to a command within the comparator command register, a fault is generated within the mass storage command latch.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the mass storage data protection system further includes a control and status register in communication with the comparator command register and the comparator. The control and status register is configured to at least partially control functioning of the mass storage data protection system.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the timing circuit includes a synchronizer and a reset generator.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, the comparator command register includes a fixed command array and a user command array.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the mass storage device consists of an IDE hard disk drive and the mass storage device command latch consists of an IDE command latch.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a mass storage data protection device for use in a gaming machine that allows for the use of xe2x80x9coff the shelfxe2x80x9d cost effective mass storage solutions.
Additionally, the present invention provides the ability to control access to data stored on the mass storage medium in order to prevent unauthorized or accidental modification but allow data modification under controlled system administrative conditions, thereby maintaining gaming machine security.
Furthermore, the present invention provides for the ability to detect an attempted data modification and stop execution of the gaming code in response thereto.
Additionally, the present invention provides for the ability to extend the capabilities of the circuit by the use of programmable registers. This allows for the use of mass storage devices that provide a xe2x80x9csuper setxe2x80x9d of the functionality controlled by the basic circuit.

Mass storage data protection device for a gaming machine


Methods and apparatus for method for characterizing a height profile of a scattering surface relative to a fiducial plane. The scattering surface, which may be an interface between distinct solid, liquid, gaseous or plasma phases, is illuminated with substantially spatially coherent light, and light scattered by the scattering surface is collected and dispersed, such as by a grating, into zeroth- and first-order beams. A spatial Fourier transform of the zeroth- and first-order beams is created, and one of the beams is low-pass filtered. The beams are interfered at a focal plane detector to generate an interferogram, which is transformed to retrieve a spatially resolved quantitative phase image and/or an amplitude image of the scattering surface. Imaging may be performed during an etching process, and may be used to adaptively control a photoetching process in a feedback loop.

In order to produce properly functioning semiconductor devices, tight dimensional control is typically required during nanofabrication. In processes such as growth or etching, control of feature size, especially height, is often performed by carrying out an initial calibration run on a dummy wafer, which includes a post-process measurement to determine the growth or etching rate. After this preliminary calibration, the fabrication is run on the real wafer under the same processing conditions, followed again by a post-processing measurement check. This iterative approach has obvious drawbacks including the added time and cost of duplicate runs, variation due to system drift, and lack of adaptive process control. Further, the characterization measurement often requires destruction of the sample. It is clear that accurate, non-destructive, real-time in-situ monitoring is highly desirable as it enables feedback and fine adjustment of the processing conditions.
In various fields, optical characterization methods fulfill the need for nondestructive testing. Examples include point measurement techniques such as spectroscopic ellipsometry, phase sensitive ellipsometry, laser reflectometry, multi-beam interferometry, and emission spectroscopy. In the case of semiconductor fabrication, it is typical practice to measure a structure height at a single point or region of interest and to infer information across the wafer on the basis of an assumption that the process is uniform. While this might be adequate for most planar processes, it is well known that the growth and etch rates in high-aspect-ratio structures, such as at the bottom of a trench, depend on the width of the opening. Consequently, methods based on imaging rather than on single-point measurements would be preferred.
Accordingly, imaging ellipsometry has recently been used to monitor the removal of large-area biomolecules during plasma etching. While the sensitivity of these single point or imaging methods can be a few nanometers; however, the measurements are typically hindered by vibrations and drift in the sample. Maintaining nanoscale accuracy in noisy environments is particularly difficult and represents the main challenge in developing real-time monitoring of dynamic fabrication processes such as wet etching.
During the past decade or so, techniques of quantitative phase imaging (QPI) have been developed for mapping an optical path length shift created by a sample at each point in an image. In particular, some QPI techniques may provide information at the nanoscale about the structure and dynamics of the specimen under investigation. One such QPI technique is diffraction phase microscopy (DQM), described in Popescu et al., Diffraction phase microscopy for quantifying cell structure and dynamics, Opt. Lett., vol. 31, pp. 775-77 (2006), incorporated herein by reference, which is both off-axis and common-path, thereby combining the benefits of fast acquisition rates and high temporal sensitivity.

Optically monitoring and controlling nanoscale topography

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


A process for removing contaminant metal ions from a liquid stream is disclosed. The process involves contacting the liquid stream with a crystalline molecular sieve which has a crystal structure which is an intergrowth of the pharmacosiderite and sitinakite structures. The molecular sieve has an empirical formula of: EQU A.sub.((4-4x)(n) (M.sub.x Ti.sub.1-z Ge.sub.y).sub.4 (Ge.sub.1-p Si.sub.p).sub.q O.sub.r. where A is a cation such as sodium or potassium and M is a metal such as niobium or tantalum. These molecular sieves are particularly effective in removing cesium and strontium ions from aqueous streams.

Zeolites are crystalline aluminosilicate molecular sieves which have a microporous three-dimensional framework structure. In general, the crystalline zeolites are formed from corner-sharing AlO.sub.2 and SiO.sub.2 tetrahedra and are characterized by having pore openings of uniform dimensions, having a significant, ion-exchange capacity and being capable of reversibly desorbing an adsorbed phase which is dispersed throughout the internal voids of the crystal without significantly displacing any atoms which make up the permanent crystal structure.
Zeolites can be represented on an anhydrous basis, by the empirical formula EQU M.sub.2/n O:Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 :XSiO.sub.2
where M is a cation having the valence n, X is generally equal to or greater than 2. In naturally occurring zeolites, M can be Li, Na, Ca, K, Mg and Ba. The M cations are loosely bound to the known.
Other crystalline microporous compositions are known which are not zeolitic, i.e., do not contain AlO.sub.2 and SiO.sub.2 tetrahedra as essential framework constituents, but which exhibit the ion-exchange and/or adsorption characteristics of the zeolites. One such group of microporous compositions, i.e., molecular sieves, contain titanium and silicon as the framework elements. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,481 discloses a crystalline titano-silicate molecular sieve having the x-ray diffraction pattern of pharmacosiderite. U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,202 discloses a titano-silicate molecular sieve having large pores, while U.S. Patent No. 4,938,939 discloses a small pore titano-silicate molecular sieve. Sandomirskii and Belov, in Sov. Phys. Crystallogr., 24(6), November-December 1979, pp. 686-693 report on the structure of an alkali titanosilicate known as zorite. Sokolova et al. in Sov. Phys. Dokl., 34(7), July 1989, pp. 583-585 disclose the structure of a natural sodium titanosilicate. This mineral has a unique structure related in only one crystallographic direction to the pharmacosiderite structure, with unique structural features in the other two principal crystallographic directions. This new mineral was designated SiTNaKite by the geologist who originally discovered it in Zap. Vseross Mineral O-va 121(1), 1992, pp. 94-99. More recently, Poojary, Cahill and Clearfield reported the preparation and structural characterization of a porous titanosilicate with the sitinakite structure in Chem. Mater., 6, 1994, pp. 2364-2368.
One property of these molecular sieves is that they can undergo cation exchange. For example, the alkali metal cations present in these molecular sieves can be exchanged for other metals such as cesium, strontium, mercury, and silver cations. Owing to this property, these molecular sieves can be used to remove various metals from waste streams or may find utility in hydrometallurgical separations of technologically important or precious metals. The effectiveness of any one molecular sieve is determined primarily by its ring or channel diameter, framework charge density and dimensionality of the intracrystalline pores. In particular, the pharmacosiderite structure has a three-dimensional pore structure which offers facile diffusion of cations such as sodium, potassium, strontium, mercury and silver, although the structures selectivity for certain cations is inferior to that of sitinakite. The sitinakite structure has a one-dimensional pore system which has been shown to display high selectivity for cations such as strontium and cesium but which potentially displays diffusion kinetic limitations due to the low dimensionality of its channel system.
Applicant has synthesized molecular sieves which have a structure which is an intergrowth of the pharmacosiderite and the sitinakite structures. What this means is that these novel molecular sieves display the beneficial ion exchange characteristics of both the pharmacosiderite and sitinakite structures. The molecular sieves of this invention have an empirical formula of EQU A.sub.((4-4x)(n) (M.sub.x Ti.sub.1-z Ge.sub.y).sub.4 (Ge.sub.1-p Si.sub.p).sub.q O.sub.r
where A is an exchangeable cation selected from the group consisting of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, hydronium ion, ammonium ions, alkylammonium ions having C.sub.1 or C.sub.2 alkyl groups and mixtures thereof, n is the valence of A and has a value of +1 or +2, M is a metal selected from the group consisting of niobium, tantalum, antimony or mixtures thereof, x has a value from about 0.01 to about 0.99, z=x+y, y has a value from 0 to 0.75, p has a value from 0 to about 1, q has a value from about 2.01 to about 2.99 and r has a value from about 14.02 to about 15.98.
It has been found that these novel molecular sieves have good ion exchange properties, especially for cesium ions.

Use of crystalline intergrowth molecular sieves for removing contaminant metal ions from liquid streams


A stem assembly for a bicycle has a body, a clamp and a connecting device. The body is connected to the bicycle between a head tube and a handlebar and has a handlebar mount and a fork mount having two smooth recesses. The clamp is mounted in the body and around the head tube and has two jaws. Each jaw is curved and has a convex hemisphere corresponding to the smooth recesses of the fork mount to allow an angle of the stem assembly to be adjusted. The connecting device is connected to the fork mount of the body and the clamp and the head tube and has a cap, a spacer and a fastener. The cap is mounted on the fork mount. The spacer is mounted on the cap. The fastener is presses against the spacer and is connected to the head tube.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stem assembly, and more particularly to a stem assembly for a bicycle that can be adjusted smoothly and manufactured quickly.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional stem assembly is mounted on a bicycle between a head tube and a handlebar and has a body, a handlebar mount, two engaging elements and a fastener.
The handlebar mount is mounted around the head tube and has an external surface, a connecting segment and a handlebar hole. The connecting segment is formed on and protrudes from the external surface of the handlebar mount. The handlebar hole is formed through the connecting segment.
The body is connected to the handlebar mount and the handlebar and has a proximal end, a distal end, two connecting panels and two bevel gear holes. The proximal end of the body is connected rotatably to the mounting handlebar mount. The distal end of the body is connected securely to the handlebar of the bicycle. The connecting panels are formed on and protrude from the proximal end parallel each other and are connected rotatably to the connecting segment of the mounting handlebar mount. The bevel gear holes are respectively formed through the connecting panels and align with the engaging hole in the connecting segment.
The engaging elements are connected to the mounting handlebar mount and the body and each engaging element has an inner end, an outer end, an engaging post and a head. The engaging post is formed on the inner end of the engaging element and extends through a corresponding bevel gear hole and engages with the engaging hole of the mounting handlebar mount. The head is formed on the outer end of the engaging element and has a bevel gear surface abutting with the bevel gear hole of a corresponding connecting panel of the body. The fastener is connected to the engaging elements to make the engaging elements pressing against the connecting panels and hold the body with the mounting handlebar mount.
However, the conventional stem assembly for a bicycle has the following shortcomings.
1. The conventional stem assembly although provides an adjustable effect to change an angle between the head tube and the handlebar, but the angle is restricted by the bevel gear holes and the bevel gear surfaces. Therefore, a person does not adjust the angle between the head tube and the handlebar smoothly.
2. The components and structure of the conventional stem assembly are numerous and complicated and this will increase the time and cost of manufacturing the conventional stem assembly.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a stem assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Yongsing Village, Yongjing Hsiang, Changhua Hsien


In a color liquid crystal substrate, in which a plurality of color filter elements are formed on a transparent substrate, a primary coating of an organic silicon compound containing oxide particles is formed on the color elements, and a secondary coating of a silicon dioxide is formed on said primary coating. Further, the oxide particles contained in the primary coating are concentrated and fill-in the recess portions defined among the neighboring color filter elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate and a manufacturing method thereof, which is used especially as a so-called super twisted nematic type (STN) color liquid crystal display.
2. Description of Prior Art
In a basic structure of a color liquid crystal display, a color filter layer is formed on the surface of a glass substrate, on which a transparent electrode is provided. However, since sodium (Na) ions in the glass substrate and/or other ions in the color filter elute into the liquid crystal and shorten the lifetime of such a structure, there has been proposed a construction in which an ion barrier layer is provided between the color filter and the transparent layer (Japanese Laid Open Patent No. 61-233720 (1986)).
The color filter is an assembly of elements including red (R), green (G) and blue (B) filters (in some examples, black stripe (BL) elements are further added thereto). In the manufacturing method thereof, for example, an exposure process is performed on the surface of a black color light-sensitive resin through a mask, and a line-shaped black stripe is formed by removing the non-exposed portion with a developer such as alcohol. Further, the dot-shaped red color elements are formed by developing a red color light-sensitive resin, and green color elements and blue color elements are formed in the same manner.
Between each of the elements formed in such manner, especially between the black stripe elements (BL) and the others (R, G, B), there appears a step-like difference of a few hundred nm as shown in FIG. 9.
In the case where a transparent conductive film, such as an ITO(indium tin oxide) and so on, is formed on the uneven surface of such a color filter directly and further where a patterning treatment is performed on it, poor patterning and/or circuit breakage occur due to an undesirable influence of the unevenness.
Therefore, in the above document (Japanese Laid Open Patent No. 61-233720) and others, a construction has been proposed in which an overcoat layer of a resin material is formed on each of the elements of the color filter so as to form a transparent conductive layer thereon.
Since the overcoat layer is provided for achieving flatness on the surface of the color filter as mentioned above, if it is too thin, the overcoat layer cannot accomplish the intended purpose thereof.
However, if it is formed in a thickness sufficient to achieve good surface evenness, a gas is generated when the transparent conductive layer is formed on the overcoat layer. Due to the gas, the productive efficiency is greatly decreased, the conductivity of the transparent conductive layer is deteriorated, and poor patterning results due to the change in etching characteristics. Further, even after production is completed, when the color liquid crystal is used under very heavy dynamic conditions, such as in a monitor for a television or in a navigation apparatus for an automobile, the gas generated from the overcoat layer (or from the color filter or the black matrix) attacks the transparent conductive film and deteriorates the durability thereof.
Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-37453 (1993), Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-703 (1995), Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-62086 (1995) and Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-62087 (1995), by applying a coating of silicon dioxide to the color liquid crystal, it is possible to form a layer of an inorganic oxide such as silicon dioxide, or a layer of a nitride, on the color filter or on the overcoat layer so as to prevent the generation of gas therefrom.
In the disclosure of Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-37453 (1993), Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-703 (1995), Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-62086 (1995) and Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-62087 (1995), the thickness of the sub-layer of the silicon dioxide is 100 nm, but this is not enough to obtain the required flatness or evenness thereby.
On the contrary thereto, if making the layer thickness of the sub-layer thick enough for obtaining the required flattening, it is impossible to prevent the gas from being generated.

Color liquid crystal substrate and a manufacturing method thereof


The optical recording medium according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a substrate, a reflective layer located on the upper side of the substrate and reflecting an incident laser beam, and an information recording layer located on the reflective layer. The information recording layer includes a first recording layer containing a compound in the form of AXB1-X (0.8≦X≦0.9), wherein A is Ag and B is Sb and Te, and a second recording layer containing at least one element selected from the group consisting of Si, Sn, Sb and Ge. The laser beam is irradiated on the first recording layer prior to the second recording layer. Therefore, the optical recording medium of the present invention may provide high recording density and transmittance velocity suitable for BLU-RAY DISC system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical recording medium. In particular, the present invention relates to a recordable optical recording medium that can densely record data as well as has high recording stability.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the advent of multimedia age comprehensively dealing with video signal including moving picture and stop picture, audio signal, and computer data information, package media including all kinds of discs like CD and DVD have been widely used. Recently, there have been active efforts to apply an optical recording medium to the recording media of mobile phone, digital camera, broadcasting, and movie.
The optical recording medium is divided into read-only memory (ROM) optical recording medium, recordable optical recording medium capable of recording information only once, and rewritable optical recording medium capable of writing, reading, and deleting information repeatedly.
The recordable optical recording medium can be applied for data backup or storage of broadcasting, movie, etc. As recording layer material of the recordable optical recording medium, organic material like dye or inorganic material may be used. Only, in case of using organic material as the recording layer material, a problem may be occurred in long term storage of data recorded in the optical recording medium.
As recording mechanisms of the recordable optical recording medium, a) a pit is generated when the recording layer material is burned, b) a pit is formed from expansion of the volume as the recording layer material is decomposed, c) a new phase is formed by solidifying after the recording layer is melted, or d) a new material (for example, silicide, germanium compound, or antimony compound) is formed by reaction on the contact surface with foreign material.
Also, multiple mechanisms may occur to generate the recording mark. In case the recording mark is generated by multiple mechanisms, if a laser beam is irradiated onto the optical recording medium, first material and second material in the recording layer may be mixed and changed to form different material from those of the recording layer.
In this case, data are recorded by optical property changed in the recording layer material, and the recorded data can be identified by change of reflectivity according to the changed optical property before and after recording.
In order for the multiple mechanisms to occur in the optical recording medium, the optical recording medium needs to have an internal structure to generate such mechanisms and a combination of the recording layer material suitable to the internal structure.
On the other hand, record medium for next generation requires very high recording density and transmittance velocity for data. The size of recording mark of the optical recording medium should be smaller than the present size to increase the recording density recorded in the optical recording medium. Thus, the laser wavelength irradiated onto the optical recording medium should be reduced to 450 nm or less, and the numerical aperture should be increased to 0.7 or more. Also, the data transmittance velocity should be much higher than the present one of between 30 Mbps and 35 Mbps.
In case of BD (BLU-RAY DISC) that is one of recording media for next generation, a recording layer material having characteristic of jitter acceptable within the ranges of recording linear velocity of between 5.28 m/s and 10.56 m/s and a laser power of between 3 mW and 7 mW at 405 nm wavelength should be included in the optical recording medium.
Particularly, the recordable optical recording medium having the above characteristic requires combination of the recording layer material in which, i) the contrast between recording mark and space in the optical recording medium should be high, ii) the recording sensibility should be high, iii) recorded mark should be stable, and iv) recording characteristics including noise and jitter of recording mark should be satisfied in BD system.
Also, in case the recording mark is made inside the optical recording medium by irradiated laser, combination of recording layer material is required to prevent the laser power needed for making recording mark from being too high.


A system and method for ensuring large and frequent updates to a data warehouse. The process leverages a set of temporary staging tables to track the updates. A set of intermediate steps are performed to accomplish bulk deletions of the outdated changed records, and perform modifications to the map tables for models such as snowflake. Finally, bulk load operations load the updates and insert them into the final dimension tables. The process ensures performance comparable to insertion-only schemes with at most only slight performance degradation. Furthermore, a modified process is applied on the newfact data warehouse dimension model. The process can be readily adapted to handle star schema and other hierarchical data warehouse models.

Data warehouses are databases specially designed to support enterprise management information and analysis purposes. Enterprises are building increasingly larger data warehouses to enable analytics as a way to unlock the power of information and improve business performance. For instance, many call centers have deployed data warehousing and analytics solutions to identify hot issues and new self-service opportunities. Often, call center tickets are constantly being collected, ingested and processed into the data warehouses, to enable analytics. Throughout this data flow, some tickets may be updated, based on their status changes, e.g., from "open" ticket to "closed", while others might simply be inserted as newly created tickets. However, current data warehousing technologies have significant drawbacks to support such data flows effectively.
For example, existing data warehousing technologies may not have native support for large volume updates into the data warehouse that are performed on a regular basis. Typically, database warehouse users must manually update changed records via low-level relational database management system (RDBMS) operations. Manual updates may work adequately if they are only occasional and the updates involve small amounts of data. For frequent updates of large amounts of data, manual updates may not work. A current solution is to refresh the entire data warehouse whenever large amount of updates need to be ingested. Clearly, this is not efficient when the update stream is large and incrementally growing, because every time, all the data must be reloaded from the very beginning.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for efficiently performing large volume updates of data warehouses on a regular basis. There is also a need for a system and method of updating data warehouses that does not require the data warehouse to be rebuilt and refreshed from scratch.

Efficient update methods for large volume data updates in data warehouses

International Business Machines Corporation


Customer support personnel can access via a vendor's portal an automated support vendor website to view the status of a fault incident that is being handled by the vendor's automated support system. In an illustrated embodiment, the customer can actually alter the status of the fault incident while it is being handled on the vendor's site.

The present invention relates to computer systems and, more particularly, to a method for a vendor to service a client computer. The invention provides for economical and effective automated and semi-automated servicing of client computers. Below, related art is discussed to aid in the understanding of the invention. Related art labeled as "prior art" is admitted prior art; related art not labeled "prior art" is not admitted prior art.
Much of modern progress is associated with computers, which are basically "hardware" machines that manipulate data in accordance with "software" programs of instructions. Software programs are generally quite complex: in part because of their intended functionality, and in part due to a requirement to run on a variety of hardware configurations and along with a variety of other software programs. Due to the complexity, software faults are not uncommon. Due to society's increasing dependence on computers, such faults are a significant concern.
Faults can be addressed on several levels. In some cases, faults can be handled automatically by the computer on which the fault occurred. In other cases, the user can act to address the fault or work interactively with the computer to address the fault, e.g., using a software "wizard". In organization, support personnel can be alerted to address the fault. Also, if the computer on which the fault occurred is "managed" by other computers, these can automatically or with human help address some faults. Finally, the fault can be handled by computer support vendors, e.g., hardware or software manufacturers or third-party support vendors. In this case, the support can be automated or involve human support (e.g., over the phone or email or on-site.).
Hewlett-Packard Company has developed a "self-healing" system in which software located at a service vendor site responds to faults on customer computers, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/442,592. When a fault occurs on a customer computer, client software running on that computer automatically gathers diagnostic data and communicates it to the vendor's system. The vendor's system analyzing the fault data using up-to-date information and provides a solution to the customer in the form of documents from a continually updated knowledge base. The vendor ensures that the solution is the best available, while the diagnostic-data gathering client software ensures accurate diagnostic data without burdening the user/customer. Faults that are not effectively addressed by the automated system can be referred to human support personnel.

Computer support network with customer portal to monitor incident-handling status by vendor's computer service system

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A bioretention system and method are provided for removing phosphorus, nitrogen and other materials from effluent such as wastewater and stormwater. The system and method can include a filtration media comprising water treatment residuals and other fill such as soil. Plants can be growing in the soil. The system can also include a drainage system to regulate outflow, to function during both low and high throughputs of water.

The invention relates generally to a system for treating effluent containing particulate and dissolved pollutants. More specifically, the invention relates to a system and method for removing excess phosphorous (P) and nitrogen (N), such as dissolved P and N in the form of P or N compounds and ions, from stormwater and other polluted wastewater effluent. The invention also relates to improved media for long-term phosphorus retention in bioretention systems and an improved outlet for promoting nitrogen retention.
Bioretention systems often include a basin to contain the effluent to be treated. The bottom of the basin is commonly composed of a porous media that is planted with vegetation. As the effluent passes through the bioretention system, particulate pollutants are removed by filtration. Dissolved phosphorus can be removed from the effluent by biological processes of the system such as vegetative and microbial biomass uptake, as well as chemical adsorption/precipitation processes (herein referred to under the category of sorption), which are effected by properties of the media. Dissolved nitrogen can also be removed from the effluent by vegetative and microbial biomass uptake, as well as biological transformations, including denitrification, that eventually convert nitrogen into nitrogen gas.
Bioretention systems have been documented as being cost-effective effluent management facilities for stormwater runoff in terms of removing sediments and sediment bound phosphorus and nitrogen. This can be particularly relevant in watersheds that have been impacted by urban and/or agricultural runoff to such an extent that they are the subject of what are referred to as Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) criteria for nutrients. However, typical bioretention systems with sandy media and free discharge outlets are less effective for dissolved nitrogen and long term dissolved phosphorus removal. Methods to increase retention of nutrient pollutants to meet TMDL criteria can be important in the design of effluent management facilities, so they can more effectively process effluent in a more acceptable and efficient manner.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved bioretention systems and methods and for improved media to be used in bioretention systems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


10A golf putter having a moment of inertia in the 12,000-28,000 gm/cm2range. The main body of a putter blade is disposed in trailing relation to a ballstriking surface and includes a frame part formed of a preselected light-in-weight material. The frame part has enlarged openings at its toe and heel ends for receiving toe and heel weight members. The toe and heel weight members are formed of a preselected material heavier than the material that forms the frame part. One embodiment has a length of about seven and one-half inches, a weight of about five hundred fifty grams, and a moment of inertia of about 28,000 gm/cm2.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to putters. More particularly, it relates to a putter characterized by an extraordinarily high moment of inertia.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Newton""s first law of motion states that an object in motion along a path of travel will continue to move along that path of travel unless an external force acts against it and that an object at rest remains at rest unless an external force acts against it. Inertia is the property of the object that resists a change in its motion or its state or rest.
Most golfers and even many golf putter manufacturers are unaware of the importance of inertia to the putting game. A putter has a low moment of inertia if a putt that misses the sweet spot causes rotation of the putter blade about the longitudinal axis of the golf club shaft, resulting in a putt that veers away from the intended path of travel. Such putter blades are typically light-in-weight (typically between 305 to 350 grams), made of a single material, and have a short heel-to-toe distance measurement. However, a putter blade can also have a low moment of inertia even if it is relatively heavy and has a relatively long toe-to-heel measurement.
Some inventors have noticed that the moment of inertia of a putter may be increased by adding weights to the outermost ends of the putter blade, ie., to the toe and heel of said blade. When a golfer misses the sweet spot when using one of these weighted putters, the putter is relatively forgiving in that the putt does not veer from the target as much as if a low inertia putter had been used.
One putter manufacturer claims in a website that its putters have a moment of inertia of about 9,000. Although such a putter provides a much higher moment of inertia than a conventional putter, it is still insufficient to provide a truly forgiving putter.
What is needed is a putter that provides a moment of inertia in the range of 12,000 to 28,000 grams per square centimeter (g/cm2). Such a putter would enable a golfer to strike the ball near or at the toe or heel of the putter with littler no loss of accuracy in the shot, i.e., every spot on such a putter would provide a sweet spot.
One possible approach would be to make a putter blade having a very long heel to toe distance measurement, and to attach very heavy weights to its outermost ends. Such a putter, however, would be impractical to use and unattractive to consumers. Moreover, the U.S. Golf Association (USGA) would not approve such a putter for tournament play. The challenge is to provide a putter having a super high moment of inertia that maintains its attractiveness and practicality and that is approved by the USGA for tournament play.
However, in view of the prior art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how such a putter could be provided.
The longstanding but heretofore unfulfilled need for a putter having an extraordinarily high moment of inertia is now met by a new, useful, and nonobvious invention. The novel putter includes a putter blade having a substantially flat ball-striking surface and a main body disposed in trailing relation to the ball-striking surface. The main body has a first part formed of a first preselected material and a second part formed of a second preselected material.
The first part includes a central base having a blind bore formed therein. The blind bore is adapted to receive a golf club shaft. The first part further includes a first weight-holding means formed in a toe end thereof and a second weight-holding means formed in a heel end thereof.
The second part includes a first weight means that is securely mounted within the first weight-holding means and a second weight means that is securely mounted within the second weight-holding means. The first and second weight means are formed of the second preselected material and have a common preselected weight.
The second preselected material has a greater weight than the first preselected material. Accordingly, the putter has a moment of inertia that inhibits rotation of the putter blade about a longitudinal axis of the golf club shaft when the ball-striking surface strikes a golf ball, even if the point of impact is remote from the sweet spot of the putter blade.
The novel putter further includes a first interconnecting member disposed between the first weight-holding means and the center base and a second interconnecting member disposed between the second weight-holding means and the center base. The first interconnecting member and the second interconnecting member have a common depth. The first weight holding means and the second weight holding means have a common depth greater the common depth of the first and second interconnecting members. The center base has a depth greater than the common depth of the first and second interconnecting members but less than the common depth of the first and second weight holding members.
In a preferred embodiment, the first preselected material is aluminum and the second preselected material is copper. In another embodiment, the first preselected material is a high impact plastic and the second preselected material is titanium. Any other suitable materials may be used in any combination as the first and second materials, subject to the requirement that the weight of the second material must exceed the weight of the first.
The primary object of the invention is to provide a golf putter having a heretofore unobtainable moment of inertia in the range of 12,000-28,000 gm/cm2.
A closely related object is to attain the foregoing object with a putter that is attractive in appearance so that it will meet with consumer acceptance.
Another object is to attain the primary object with a putter that is approved by the USGA.
A more specific object is to advance the art of putters by providing a putter having a base formed of a relatively low density, low weight material and having mounting means at its outermost ends for holding a high density, heavy weight material.
These and other important objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become clear as this description proceeds.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the description set forth hereinafter and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

Putter having extra high moment of inertia


An apparatus and method for predicting potentially fatal arrhythmias up to twenty four hours in advance of the event by employing formulas indicating either too little or too much heart rate variability. A number of these formulas have both predetermined upper and lower limits, which if exceeded for a period of time are a predictor of a potentially fatal arrhythmia. When a patient""s ALARM condition is predicted, whether the patient is indoors or outdoors, conscious or unconscious, a redundant protocol is utilized to relay that ALARM condition to a central monitoring station. The central monitoring station informs the patient""s doctor, and then uses what ever means are available to transport the patient to the nearest emergency room for treatment. An apparatus and method for pacing the heart in a natural way, once a potentially fatal arrhythmia has been predicted is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The normal heart rate is slightly irregular. Generally, normal irregularity of the heart rate reflects the permanent adaptation of the human body to the environment. In this context the first sign of an impaired heart rate is either a persistent increase or a persistent decrease in the variability of the heart""s rate. Sometimes the change in the heart rate alternates between increases and decreases in the variability of the heart""s rhythm, and vice versa. Prolonged increases, or decreases, and combinations thereof, can lead to cardiac adverse events ranging from non-sustained ventricular tachycardia to cardiac arrest.
It is believed the variability of the heart rate is controlled by two branches of the autonomic nervous system; the sympathetic branch and the parasympathetic branch. The sympathetic branch increases the heart rate. Its prime function is to prepare the body for stress, the so-called xe2x80x9cfight or flight response.xe2x80x9d The parasympathetic branch decreases the heart rate as when eating or sleeping.
This invention relates to the detection of normal and abnormal heart rate variability and the induction of normal heart rate variability. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for the detection of a patient""s heart rate variability that we believe is indicative of a patient""s sympathetic/parasympathetic stress balance, or distress imbalance.
The invention also relates to heart monitoring devices used by individuals monitored in hospital intensive care units; by patient""s after discharge from a hospital intensive care unit; and by patients when exercising to let them know that their stress state is optimal for conditioning their bodies.
The invention further relates to control of a pacemaker or cardioverter defibrillator with a pacemaker so that when the patient""s heart rate is abnormal and distressful, according to the invention, a pacemaker or cardioverter defibrillator with a pacemaker induces a heart rate with a pseudo-normal or patient recorded variability for each particular patient.
The invention still further relates to a pacemaker that induces pseudo-normal or patient recorded heart rate variability.
2. Background Description
In the Soviet Union, Rhythmography, that is the study of normal and abnormal variations in the heart, was utilized extensively to determine the condition of individuals and their stress state. This was particularly true of cosmonauts. It was determined, for example, that the heart rate variability of a conditioned athlete is much greater than that of person with coronary disease. That is, the histogram of heart rate variation of a well conditioned athlete exhibits a broad range of variability in the Time Intervals between heart beats and a low relative Amplitude of the Mode. That is the highest number of Time Intervals recorded in a series of Time Intervals. The histogram of a person with a coronary disease exhibits a narrow range of variability and a high relative Amplitude of the Mode, that is the peak of the histogram.
Boris Golosarsky, previously received two patents in the Soviet Union, namely SU-1683679 and SU-1769894. SU-1683679 is for an apparatus, which enables a physician to determine the arithmetic Mean, the Mode, the relative Amplitude of the Mode, and the range of variability of a subject. In the second patent in the Soviet Union, SU-1769894, he disclosed how these measurements may be utilized together with electrosleep to treat post myocardial infarction e.g., heart attack patients.
GW Scientific, Inc. measured a patient""s heart rate variability in relation to the patient""s baseline heart variability using mathematical constructs such as UV, AMo, and DX, all as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,235, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Polar Electro Oy of Finland has a patented apparatus comprised of a chest strap with a two lead ECG signal sensor and transmitter, which transmits the heart beat Time Intervals to a wrist mounted unit that can be conveniently used in this invention. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,625,733; Des. 278,746; and Des. 287,403, all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Pulse sensors of various types may also be used to detect the Time Interval between heart beats, (Start-of-Systole to Start-of-Systole, SOS), is essentially equal to the Time Interval between RR peaks in an electrocardiogram, (ECG).
Additional background information is disclosed by Baevsky, R. M., Kirillow, O. I., Kleckin, C. Z., (1984), Mathematical Analysis of Stress Changes in Heart Rhythm, Moscow, Academy of Science, USSR.
Schmidt et al, xe2x80x9cHeart-rate Turbulence After Ventricular Premature Beats As a Predictor of Mortality After Acute Myocardial Infarction,xe2x80x9d Lancet Apr. 24, 1999; 353 (9162):1390-6, relates to ACRRs. This article discloses a formula for predicting myocardial infarction 21 to 24 months in advance. In contrast, the present invention predicts up 24 hours in advance. The formula in this article is quite different from those employed in the present invention.
TABLE A shows there are five abnormal predictive markers, which are comprised of two continuums, the Heart Rate Variability continuum and the Heart Rate continuum, as well as Erratic Variability. The Heart Rate Variability continuum has, as its extremes, high and low variability. The Heart Rate continuum has, as its extremes, bradycardia and tachycardia. Erratic Variability, is comprised of Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs) and Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib). TABLE A lists the parameters in each continuum Values for these parameters are calculated by formulas and compared with values which are considered normal and values which are considered abnormal as explained in the specification. These parameters in TABLE A are also labeled by reference numerals and these reference numerals may be employed elsewhere in the specification when discussing the parameters.
Data sources: ECG (RR) Time Intervals or pulse wave Start-of-Systole to Start-of-Systole (SOS) Time Intervals from the hardware sources discussed elsewhere. (Note: RR and SOS Time Intervals are used interchangeably to indicate the Time Interval between heart beats. 60 seconds divided by the Time Interval in seconds equals beats per minute, bpm.)
Time Interval: A Time Interval is the duration of time between heart beats, or RR peaks, preferably measured to an accuracy of 20 milliseconds, 0.02 seconds. The accuracy of the Time Interval can range from 15 milliseconds to 30 milliseconds.
Time Segment: A Time Segment is a series of Time Intervals, which can vary in length from 51 Time Intervals to 301 Time Intervals. The preferred default setting is 101 Time Intervals. Typically, from this 101 Time Intervals, up to about 6 outliers are removed.
The time between each heart beat is designated an RR Time Interval. RR Time Intervals are then divided into three subsets as shown in TABLE B.
(Normal-to-Normal): Normal-to-Normal means a normal Time Interval between an RR peak. NN Time Intervals are used to calculate twelve of the thirteen predictive markers. NN equals 75 to 125 milliseconds.
ACRR (Abnormal Cardiac RR): Abnormal Cardiac RR means when the present Time Interval differs from the previous Time interval by +25% or xe2x88x9225%, and this situation occurs 50 or more times while accumulating a Time Segment of 101 NN Time Intervals, then this Time Segment is an ACRR Time Segment. If this condition persists for 52 minutes, or longer, then this is either a +2.5 or xe2x88x922.5 point ALARM, as influenced by the results of xe2x80x9cAbsolute SPSxe2x80x9d through xe2x80x9c2.0 Caution greater than 2.5 ALARMxe2x80x9d formulas, the first 10 formulas, for the parameters as set forth below. ACRRs are comprised of Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs), and Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib). ACRRs equal intervals of 1 to 74 milliseconds, and/or 126 to 169 milliseconds.
MARR (Motion Activated RR): Motion Activated RR means some sort of motion influenced the Time Interval between the RR peaks. MARRs equal intervals of Zero and/or 170+ milliseconds.
Outliers are typically the three shortest and the three longest Time Intervals in a 101 NN Time Interval, Time Segment, and are discarded after ACRRs are removed from the Time Segment, and before calculations are made of the other 12 predictive markers.
Non-Stationarity: If the Median and the Mode differ from each other in a 101 Time Interval Time Segment by 20% or more, than this is a case of non-stationarity and the values generated are discarded and not included in any calculations.
The following 10 formulas are for parameters all related to heart rate variability, HRV. The ALARM trigger points and the number of Time Segments the ALARM condition is present are for patients 55 years and older.
Absolute Sympathetic/Parasympathetic Stress (ABS.SPS): Sympathetic/Parasympathetic Stress is determined by the formula:
SPS={square root over ((0.5/DX)2+(AMo/10))}2
In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals (101 NN Time Intervals minus 6 outliers), if SPS equals or exceeds 48 for any 25 Time Segments out of 50 Time Segments, then this is a +2.5 point ALARM. In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if SPS is between 47 and 3.0, then this is normal condition. In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if SPS equals or is less than 2.5 for any 25 Time Segments out of 50 Time Segments, then this is a xe2x88x922.5 point ALARM (Parameters 1 and 2 of TABLE A).
Absolute AMo (ABS.AMo): Amplitude of the Mode is the largest number of identical Time Intervals occurring in the Mode of a Time Segment, (e.g. 70 for 70 Time Intervals out of 95 Time Intervals.)
In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if AMo, the most frequent heart rate, occurs 90 times or more for any 25 Time Segments out of 50 is a 2.5 point ALARM. In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if the average rate occurs between 11 through 94 times is Normal. In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if AMo the most frequent heart rate occurs 10 times or less for any 25 Time Segments out of 50, then this is a xe2x88x922.5 point ALARM. (Parameters 3 and 4 of TABLE A).
Absolute DX (Delta X): Delta X is the difference between the longest value for a Time Interval in a Time Segment and the shortest value, after outliers, and ACRRs, if any, have been discarded (e.g. longest equals 0.72 seconds less shortest equals 0.64 seconds=0.08 seconds=Delta X).
In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if the difference, DX, between the longest and the shortest heart rate is 0.06 seconds or less for any 25 Time Segments out of 50 is a +2.5 ALARM. In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if the difference between the longest and the shortest heart rate is between 0.49 through 0.07 seconds is normal. In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if the difference, DX, between the longest and the shortest Time Interval is 0.50 seconds or more for any 25 Time Segments out of 50, then this is a xe2x88x922.5 ALARM. (Parameters 5 and 6 of TABLE A).
Median (M): The Median is the Time Interval in a Time Segment, in which there are equal number Time Intervals equal to or larger than, and equal to or smaller than the Median Time Interval (e.g. the 47th Time Interval in a 95 Time Interval Time Segment).
Absolute DX/Median (ABS.DX/M): Delta X divided by the Median is a combination of the two markers above, DX and Median.
In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if DX/Median equals or is less than 0.02 for any 25 Time Segments out of 50 is a +2.5 point ALARM. In a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if DX/Median is between 0.025 and 0.420 is normal in a Time Segment of 95 NN Time Intervals, if DX/Median equals or exceeds 0.425 for any 25 Time Segments out of 50, then this is a xe2x88x922.5 point ALARM. (Parameters 7 and 8 of TABLE A).
Low Heart Rate Variability (Low-HRV): Low-HRV is a condition where 100 or more Time Segments, which have a maximum variation 0.62 seconds or lower, with no more than two (2) exceptions, then this condition is a +2.5 ALARM. Low-HRV is a predictive marker of low heart rate variability. (Parameter 9 of TABLE A).
2.0 Caution greater than 2.5 ALARM: If CAUTION or ALARM signals, for the above four conditions (SPS, AMo, DX, and DX/M), exist for 960 minutes with a gap (a lack of a Caution or an ALARM) of no more than 60 minutes, then the +2.0 Caution (calculated as 4 times 0.5 CAUTION points) becomes a +2.5 ALARM. This parameter is a predictive marker of low heart rate variability. (Parameter 10 of TABLE A).
Moreover, a baseline for SPS, AMo, and DX is established between the 10th and 500th Time Segment. Any deviation above 150% or below 50% of the baseline for more than 45 minutes triggers both a Caution and an ALARM of 2.5 points for any one of the three formulas. The preferred baseline time is 24 hours. TABLE C summarizes the parameters for establishing a baseline.
The points assigned to these parameters in TABLE C for these formulas relative to the patient""s own baseline may differ from the points attached to these parameters SPS, AMo, and DX when measuring these parameters SPS, AMo, and DX as Abs.SPS, Abs.AMo, and Abs.DX against predetermined upper and lower limits (see Tables 1a-c) as explained elsewhere in this specification.
Moreover, in applying the formula for converting a 2 point CAUTION signal to a 2.5 point ALARM signal the following time periods are employed.
SpecialTime1=60; 60 minutes maximum time after AMo first triggers a Caution that other formulas must also trigger a Caution (SPS, DX, DX/Median). Then the following must occur.
SpecialTime2=960; 960 combined total CAUTION minutes of the formulas (SPS, AMo, DX, DX/Median), for the CAUTIONs to convert to a 2.5 point ALARM, except as set forth below.
GapTimeIndivMax=210; If the combined total of gaps in the four formulas (SPS, AMo, DX, DX/Median), equals or exceeds 210 minutes, then reset to zero. A xe2x80x9cgapxe2x80x9d is a non-CAUTION status.
GapTimeWindow=60; if a gap occurs in any of the four formulas, (SPS, AMo, DX, DX/Median), that is 60 minutes or longer, then reset to zero.
Heart Rate: If the heart rate is 40 bpm or 135 bpm for more than 45 minutes, then this is xe2x88x922.5 or +2.5 point ALARM. (Parameters 11 and 12 of TABLE A).
The parameters calculated by the following formulas, xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d through xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cfxe2x80x9d, can be substituted for AMo and/or DX. Typically for each of AMo and/or DX replaced, one or more of parameters xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d through xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cfxe2x80x9d are substituted.
(a) Standard Deviation Average Normal to Normal, SDANN: SDANN is a measure of the dispersion around the mean of NN Time Intervals in a five minute Time Segment, after ACRRs (Premature Ventricular Contractions and Atrial Fibrillation, if any) have been discarded, according to the formula. A value of 50 or lower in a SDANN Time Segment is a predictive marker of a serious cardiac condition.
SDANN={square root over ((nxcexa3x)2xe2x88x92(xcexa3x)2/n(nxe2x88x921))}
(b) Point Normal to Normal 50 milliseconds, PNN50: PNN50 is a measure of the concentration of Time Intervals at 50 milliseconds or lower during a five minute PNN50 Time Segment. A value of 50 milliseconds or lower in a PNN50 Time Segment is a predictive marker of a serious cardiac condition.
(c) Amplitude of the Median (AM): The Amplitude of the Median is the 47th Time Interval occurring in a Time Segment, e.g. if the 47th Time interval is 0.70 and occurs 21 times, them AM equal 21.
(d) Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) The Full Width at Half Maximum is a measure of the dispersion of Time Intervals. The value of Half Maximum is one half of (AMo) or (AM) and the Full Width is the length of a horizontal line (DX) across the vertical line at right angles to the vertical line of (AMo) or (AM) through the point of Half Maximum.
(e and f) Kurtosis: Kurtosis is the description of the Gaussian distribution of data points. A Gaussian curve that is peaked is leptokurtic the vertical height of which is equivalent to AMo, FIG. 1a. A Gaussian curve that is flat is platykurtic the horizontal base of which is equivalent to DX, FIG. 1b.
Another available parameter is:
(g) ANN: Average of the NN values in a Time Segment. When ANN exceeds a predetermined percentage of the baseline values for a predetermined period of time, then a CAUTION or ALARM may be signaled.
Patient: A patient is anyone whose Time Intervals are measured.
OK: The patient""s physical condition is normal and not stressed.
Caution: The patient has a potentially unhealthy stress condition.
ALARM: An ALARM is present when the patient""s current HRV Status indicates a state of low heart rate variability, or a state of high heart rate variability, or ACRR""s, for a predetermined number of Time Segments or a predetermined period of time.
Motion Sensor: A transducer detects a range of motions from, no motion, to slight motion, to moderate motion to heavy motion and over load. No motion for a predetermined period of time and a heart or pulse rate indicates a Comatose ALARM. Slight motion and a heart or pulse rate indicate sleep. Heavy motion indicates exercise and over load (spike) followed by no motion, indicates a fall.
Comatose ALARM: If Time Intervals are detected but no motion is detected for 30 or more minutes, then this is a +2.5 point Comatose ALARM.
Cardiac Arrest ALARM: If no Time Intervals are detected for 15 or more seconds and the galvanic skin response sensor indicates the ECG electrodes or the pulse sensor is in contact with the patient, then this is a +2.5 point Cardiac Arrest ALARM.
Long Term Cardiac Caution: If the heart rate is raised to, for example, 150 bpm, as is sometimes the case during a stress test, and a reading of the patient""s heart rate is taken at the end of this strenuous exercise, and a second heart rate reading is taken one minute later, then if the difference between the two heart rates is 12 bpm or less, then the patient has a long term cardiac caution condition. If the heart rate is raised to say an aerobic target heart of, for example, 115 to 130 bpm, and a reading of the patient""s heart rate is taken at the end of this aerobic exercise, and a second heart rate reading is taken one minute later, then if the difference between the two heart rates is 8 to 10 bpm or less, then the patient has a long term cardiac caution condition. The patient""s functional and stress states may be displayed to the patient or a health care provider in an alphanumeric fashion, utilizing the HRV Status output. This enables the patient or health care provider to determine the patient""s stress status substantially instantaneously at any time or place, and to attain a state of effective cardiovascular fitness.
Detection of abnormal heart rate variability in a series of Time Segments can therefore be used to signal a health care provider, or pacemaker, or cardioverter defibrillator with a pacemaker, to intervene according to the invention, or to indicate that the heart is being over stressed by the particular activity (e.g. physical, psychogenic) being engaged in.
Also according to the invention, a pacemaker or a cardioverter defibrillator with a pacemaker can be programmed to provide a normal, therapeutic heart rate variability rather than an unnatural steady beat as in the prior art. This may be accomplished by, (1) recording the patient""s normal, variable heart rate, or (2) the normal, variable heart rhythm of an individual most nearly matching the patient""s age, sex, race, build and athletic condition, or (3) using a random pulse generator that produces a normal, variable histographic heart rate, all in conjunction with an impedance pacemaker, (a pacemaker that detects respiration).
The details for an apparatus to perform the process aspects of the present invention are provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,235, incorporated herein by reference. See, for example, FIG. 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,235. However, of course, the apparatus would be modified where necessary to contain a software program to perform the calculations and comparisons to perform the process of the present invention. Also, it could be modified to include interval detectors such as ultrasound doppler sensors, a piezo electric microphone, or any other appropriate sensor.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for determining the patient""s stress state.
Another preferred object of the invention is to provide such apparatus, which allows the patient to exercise in a stress state which will bring about a maximum conditioning effect.
A further preferred object of the invention is to provide such apparatus and method that the patient will be notified of non-optimal or an ALARM or Caution distress state.
Still another preferred object of the invention is to detect stress and distress states from simple parameters derived from the recording of a plurality of durations of successive Time Intervals between heart beats.
Still another preferred object of the invention is to detect cardiac distress.
Still another preferred object of the invention is to detect abnormal heart rate variability over a relatively short period of time and to signal this abnormality to a health care provider, or a pacemaker or a cardioverter defibrillator with a pacemaker, to initiate intervention.
Still another preferred object of the invention is to cause a pacemaker or cardioverter defibrillator with a pacemaker, to pace a heart with a normal heart rate variability.
Other preferred objects of the invention will be apparent from the following disclosure.
The invention accordingly comprises a method comprising several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the apparatus embodying features of construction, elements, and arrangements of parts, which are adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure.

Detection of abnormal and induction of normal heat rate variability


A node for communications in a transportation network comprises a processor, a memory, a communication device, and a set of instructions executable by the processor for: extracting information from a first message, making a first determination based at least in part on the information; and making a second determination as to whether a second message should be sent based on the first determination.

In 2001 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated a 75 MHz Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum to support Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC). DSRC is an IEEE standardized protocol that provides national interoperability for wireless communications to and from vehicles. DSRC also includes broadband connectivity with the Internet. Thus, development for the infrastructure needed to support wireless inter-vehicle communications has been in place for several years.
Further, as is well known, almost all vehicles manufactured since the 1980s have contained one or more microprocessors connected by a communications bus. These microprocessors can communicate with each other and can also provide output to, and accept input from, external sources. Various vehicle components and systems, such as the engine, brakes, transmission, emissions control system, and the like in land vehicles may have associated microprocessors for reporting on and/or controlling the component or system. For example, most automobiles and trucks manufactured today contain microprocessors communicating on a bus using CAN (controller area network) communications, as is well known.
Although information has been used to improve efficiency of a single vehicle, information has not been used to improve driving patterns and routes for an entire transportation system. Existing systems do not warn vehicles directly of hazards on the road, such as ice, snow, rain, oil, etc. Further, vehicles do not warn each other of known hazards or road conditions. Systems also don't exist that provide wide area warnings to vehicles of environmental disasters such as chemical spills, fires, or floods. Further, although some short range systems exist to expedite emergency vehicles, such systems do not warn surrounding vehicles of the emergency vehicle's need to progress. Rather, existing signaling devices may transmit infrared signals to street lights attempting to coerce a green light for the emergency vehicle, but disadvantageously fail to communicate directly with vehicles in an emergency vehicle's path.
Further, present communications systems are inefficient because they do not limit messages to vehicles within defined regions of interest, but rather allow such messages to be transmitted even to vehicles and other receivers for which the message is of no value. That is, present systems simply respond when they transmit and receive a message, rather than making a determination based upon the relative positions and/or directions of a message sender and a message receiver. A system that transmitted warning and other messages to vehicles for which such messages would be of value—and only to such vehicles—would thus present significant advantages over present systems.
Accordingly, a system is desired for cooperative communication between vehicles or land-base stations to facilitate a safe and efficient transportation system. Such a system would advantageously provide for hazard detection and warning, emergency vehicle prioritization, and directional messaging control, including providing for efficient long distance communication using intelligent repeaters.


An apparatus for inspecting a passive component having a signal transmission line on a printed circuit board (PCB), includes a reflectometry unit for inputting an incident signal to an input port connected to the signal transmission line, receiving a reflected signal in response to the incident signal, and computing a plurality of frequency-based reflection coefficient values in a preset frequency range and a plurality of time-based reflection coefficient values in a preset time range based on the incident signal and the reflected signal; and a defect detection unit for determining whether the signal transmission line has a defect based on the plurality of frequency-based reflection coefficient values, and determining a location of the defect on the signal transmission line based on the plurality of time-based reflection coefficient values.

The inventive concepts described herein are generally related to an apparatus for inspecting a passive component having a signal transmission line, and more particularly to an apparatus for determining whether a passive component having a signal transmission line has a defect and determining the location of the defect.
Passive components generally refer to components that transfer, accumulate or consume power supplied from other components connected thereto. Passive components typically do not actively amplify or rectify supplied power. A surface-mounted device (SMD)-type element having a width and a height, such as an inductor or a capacitor mounted on a surface of a printed circuit board (PCB), is typically employed as a passive component in a low frequency band. However, since the width and the height of an SMD-type element may tend to exert influence on the inductance or capacitance of the SMD-type element when employed in a high frequency band such as a radio frequency (RF) band, the SMD-type element my have an actual inductance or capacitance value different from its designed value.
Accordingly, instead of an SMD-type element, a signal transmission line, e.g., a microstrip embedded in a PCB, may be employed as a passive component in the RF band. A passive component consisting of a signal transmission line, e.g., an RF passive component, may be manufactured to have a desired inductance or capacitance by embedding the signal transmission line in the PCB in various shapes. Examples of passive components that are made of shaped embedded signal transmission lines include a meander inductor, a spiral inductor, a rectangular shunt capacitor and a fan-shaped shunt capacitor respectively illustrated in FIGS. 6(a) to 6(d.
However, since a thickness of a signal transmission line embedded in a PCB may be limited, the signal transmission line may be subjected to deformation or defects during the fabrication. When such a defect occurs in an RF passive component, an actual impedance of the RF passive component may be different from an intended impedance, thereby compromising system efficiency of a circuit employing the defective RF passive component. It has thus become necessary and desirable to inspect RF passive components after fabrication to determine whether the signal transmission line forming the RF passive component has any defects.
Conventionally, an X-ray inspection method has been used for such purposes. An X-ray inspection method is typically performed by irradiating X-rays onto a fabricated RF passive component, acquiring an X-ray image of the RF passive component, visually inspecting the RF passive component with an unaided eye based on the acquired image, and then intuitively determining without the benefit of any scientific measure whether the signal transmission line has any defects.
Consequently, conventional X-ray inspection methods take an excessively long time, and are often inaccurate since visual inspection is performed with an unaided eye.
Therefore, there has been a need to develop an apparatus capable of inspecting a passive component having a signal transmission line efficiently and accurately.

Apparatus for inspecting passive component having signal transmission line

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.