A combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna in a single unit performs the dual functions of transmitting and receiving RF signals to and from a transceiver and converting light waves to electric power to operate the transceiver. The photovaltaic cell is formed of semiconductor material laminated to a thin dielectric backing and electrically connected with the power circuit of the transceiver to supply electrical power thereto. The dielectric backing is bonded to a metallic substrate to provide a ground plane. A tuned shielded cable having a signal conductor is interconnected between the photovoltaic cell and the RF output stage of the transceiver, and the conductive shield of the cable is interconnected between the metallic substrate ground plane and the ground stage of the transceiver such that the photovoltaic cell transmits and receives RF signals to and from the transceiver and also converts light waves to electric power to operate the transceiver.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to photovoltaic cells and RF antenna devices, and more particularly to a combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna that performs the dual function of transmitting and receiving RF signals to and from a transceiver and converts light waves to electric power to operate the transceiver, and to a method of interconnecting and using the same.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Photovoltaic cells, also commonly referred to as solar cells, convert light or solar energy into electrical energy and are used to generate electrical power in both terrestrial and space applications. Solar cells offer a clean, but relatively expansive, method for generating electricity and are commonly used as a primary or secondary power source for small electronic devices that have low electrical power requirements, such as hand-held calculators. More complex systems provide electricity for pumping water, powering communications equipment, lighting, and various appliances. The solar panels or arrays are located in close proximity to, but separate from the communications equipment and they function only to supply power to the device.
Solar cells are also used for generating electricity in locations that may prohibit the use of conventional power sources and where size, area and weight constraints are a premium, such as in outer space applications.
The International Space Station (ISS) and earth orbiting satellites include solar arrays for generating power and separate antenna assemblies for communicating with ground stations and/or other spacecraft. The solar arrays require a vast area and large structure that is dedicated to solar energy collection and a separate assembly is required for the several high gain (directional) antennas that provide air to ground and air to TDRAS communications for data and voice. The International Space Station""s electrical power system (EPS) will utilize eight photovoltaic solar arrays to convert sunlight to electricity. Each of the eight solar arrays will be 112 ft. long by 39 ft. wide. With all eight arrays installed, the complete Space Station is large enough to cover a football field.
Typically the solar panels of power generating sub-systems and the antenna arrays of communication sub-systems are separately constructed, supported and operated. The communications antenna array sub-system that transmits and receives electromagnetic signals, such as radio frequency (RF) signals is connected by electromagnetic signal feed lines to a signal processor unit that utilizes power from the power generating sub-system to processes the signals received by the antenna array and generate electromagnetic signals that are fed back to the antenna array for transmission.
In outer space applications, as discussed above, the RF communication antenna and the solar panel arrays cover a very large area when the spacecraft is in orbit. These large structures must be properly and carefully positioned so as to avoid shadowing one another. Otherwise the RF antenna could block some of the sunlight from reaching the photovoltaic cells within the array, reducing electrical performance. Conversely, the structure of the solar array would interfere with passage of RF radiation from and to the reflector, reducing the antenna""s performance.
In many terrestrial and outer space applications small electronic wireless transceiver devices and instruments powered by the solar cell array are employed to monitor temperature, pressure, and vibration, and transmit and receive electromagnetic (RF) data and voice signals via a separate antenna. These devices are often disposed where there is little room for antenna or solar collector.
Thus, in most prior art systems that employ photovoltaic cells as a power source and antennas that transmit and receive electromagnetic (RF) signals, the power generating system and the communication antenna system are separately constructed, supported and operated. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna in a single unit that performs the dual function of transmitting and receiving RF signals to and from a transceiver and converts light waves to electric power to operate the transceiver.
Sterzer U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,668 discloses a space-oriented microwave radiator apparatus for converting solar energy to microwave energy. The microwave energy is used to generate an RF beam for propagation to the earth. The apparatus is formed into an extended planar sandwich-like structure carrying solar cells on one surface facing the sun and microwave devices on the other face for generating the RF beam. The microwave devices are energized by the solar cells, and function to generate the RF energy. The apparatus is useful for converting solar energy to microwave power, and to operate communication satellites and satellites having radar functions.
Daryoush et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,513 discloses light controlled antennas having characteristics that are modified by photosensitive electrical elements connected to the radiating elements. The photosensitive elements are biased by light, by direct electrical bias, or both. The photosensitive element may be a PIN diode. The bias may be applied by general illumination or conducted by a fiber optic cable.
Kustas, U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,991 discloses a semiconductor antenna array and solar energy collection array assembly for spacecraft The assembly comprises an antenna array portion including a plurality of photonically-activatable semiconductor elements. The array assembly may also include a solar energy collection array portion having a plurality of photovoltaic cells. The two arrays may be supportably positioned on opposing sides of a common support structure (e.g. a dielectric substrate). An activation arrangement is provided to transmit photonic energy from an external source, such as solar radiation from the sun, received on a back side of the assembly to photonically-activatable elements to increase their electrical conductivity and thereby activate them for transmission and/or reception of electromagnetic signals. The activation arrangement may also feed photonic energy from an internal photonic energy source, such as laser diodes, through optical fibers to activate the photonically-activatable elements. A method of operating a solar-activated, antenna assembly involves positioning an array of photonically-activatable elements to receive photonic solar energy. The photonic energy activates the antenna array elements for operation. As such, while photonic energy is being received, the array of photoconductive semiconductor elements may be operated for transmitting and/or receiving electromagnetic signals.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular, by a combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna in a single unit that performs the dual functions of transmitting and receiving RF signals to and from a transceiver and converting light waves to electric power to operate the transceiver. The photovaltaic cell is formed of semiconductor material laminated to a thin dielectric backing and electrically connected with the power circuit of the transceiver to supply electrical power thereto. The dielectric backing is bonded to a metallic substrate to provide a ground plane. A tuned shielded cable having a signal conductor is interconnected between the photovoltaic cell and the RF output stage of the transceiver, and the conductive shield of the cable is interconnected between the metallic substrate ground plane and the ground stage of the transceiver such that the photovoltaic cell transmits and receives RF signals to and from the transceiver and also converts light waves to electric power to operate the transceiver.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna in a single unit that performs the dual function of transmitting and receiving RF signals to and from a transceiver and converts light waves to electric power to operate the transceiver.
It is another object of this invention to provide a combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna in a single unit and method which reduces the weight, size and area of communications systems and power generating systems.
Another object of this invention is to provide a combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna in a single unit and method that performs the dual function of providing a transceiver with electromagnetic (RF) signal transmission and reception capability and solar energy for its operation.
A further object of this invention is to provide a combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna in a single unit which may be assembled in an array functioning as both power generating solar panels and communication antenna arrays and will reduce the structure and assembly required in outer space applications for separate antenna and solar panel arrays.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna in a single unit that may be easily applied to small wireless electronic transceiver devices that monitor temperature, pressure, and vibration, and transmit and receive electromagnetic (RF) data and voice signals whereby the solar cell that operates the device also serves as an RF antenna for command and control as well as data download.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent from time to time throughout the specification and claims as hereinafter related.
The above noted objects and other objects of the invention are accomplished by a combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna in a single unit that performs the dual functions of transmitting and receiving RF signals to and from a transceiver and converting light waves to electric power to operate the transceiver. The pliotovaltaic cell is formed of semiconductor material laminated to a thin dielectric backing and electrically connected with the power circuit of the transceiver to supply electrical power thereto. The dielectric backing is bonded to a metallic substrate to provide a ground plane. A tuned shielded cable having a signal conductor is interconnected between the photovoltaic cell and the RF output stage of the transceiver, and the conductive shield of the cable is interconnected between the metallic substrate ground plane and the ground stage of the transceiver such that the photovoltaic cell transmits and receives RF signals to and from the transceiver and also converts light waves to electric power to operate the transceiver.

Combination photovoltaic cell and RF antenna and method


Apparatus for the gluing of two substrates in six processing steps for fabrication of a digital video disc including a motor-driven plate (2) for holding the first substrate (5), a glue dispenser disposed above the plate (2), grasping and holding device for providing vertical movement of the second substrate (7). The side of the plate turned toward the first substrate (5) has a radially outer plane portion (10) in the form of a disk concentric to its axis of rotation (R) and a radially inner portion (11) adjacent to this where the face (F) of this inner portion (11) turned toward the substrate (5) is formed by the outer face of a flat, straight frustum of a cone whose peak (S) strikes the axis of rotation (R) below the plane of application (E) of the substrate (5). In the transitional area from the annular portion (10) to the conical portion (11) an annular groove (12) running coaxially to the axis of rotation is cut into the plate (2) which is connected to a pressure source via channels (13, 13', . . . ) and corresponds to teardrop or finger-like indentations or recesses (14, 14', . . . ) in the conical portion (11) extending from the annular groove (12) radially inward.

The present invention relates to a process for the adhesion of a flat plastic substrate in the form of a circular disk to a like second substrate, for example for the fabrication of a digital video disc and apparatus for implementing the process.
A holding apparatus is known for the transport and processing of a flat substrate in the form of a circular disk (DE 295 12 381), in particular of a CD or CD-ROM, consisting of a housing with a central chamber which can be connected to a pressure source. A plurality of suction cups of an elastic material are connected to the chamber via suction channels and distributed over the chamber wall turned toward the substrate. Several dosing nozzles corresponding to a distribution channel are provided in the housing, ending approximately in the plane of the suction cups, and extending parallel to the suction channels where the distribution channel is provided with an attachment for connection to a paint source.
Furthermore an apparatus is known for the lacquering of a flat substrate in the form of a circular disk (DE 295 12 500), in particular a CD, which consists of a motordriven plate rotatable about a vertical axis for holding the substrate, a lacquer dispenser disposed above the plate which has an annular collar revolving with and enclosing the plate and partially connected to it with studs, and a positionally fixed housing with an annular edge part engaging the collar from outside. The collar is formed of two portions, of which the one portion is formed as a sleeve forming a straight frustum of a cone which, enclosing the plate, extends from its radially outer edge a bit upward. The other portion of the collar is formed as a sleeve forming a straight frustum of a cone which, enclosing the plate, extends from its radially outer edge downward so that the inner wall of the upper collar plate tapering upward collects particles of paint cast off in the radial direction and upward by the plate rotating about its vertical axis and lets them run off via recesses formed by the studs in the radial outer edge area of the plate at the inner wall of the lower portion of the collar tapering downward.
A process for the partial removal of thin layers of a substrate is also known (DE 42 02 194) in which a preferably plane surface of the substrate provided with a thin layer, for example a lacquer or metal layer or the like, is set in rotation about a perpendicular axis to the surface, and a solvent or etching agent is applied to the edge area of the surface which is cast off from the substrate by centrifugal force carrying with it the dissolved or etched off layer area. The surface of the layer area to be removed is at least partially masked by means of a template which possesses an inner contour corresponding to the layer to be removed and is disposed for the formation of a capillary at a small distance from the surface, that, with feeding of solvent or etching agent, the template is set in rotation synchronously with the substrate at a definite speed of revolution. After a definite time the feeding of solvent or etching agent is stopped and the solvent or etching agent along with the dissolved or etched off layer area is cast off at an appropriately increased speed of revolution.
Moreover an apparatus for grasping and holding a flat substrate, preferably in the form of a circular disk, with a central opening, for example a compact disc, is known (DE 195 29 945). It includes several finger-like grasping elements tiltably situated in the housing wherein the grasping elements are held and guided in openings or apertures in the head portion of the housing. This permits tilting motions of the grasping elements about axes transverse to the longitudinal axis of the housing, wherein the tilting axes of all grasping elements extend in one plane and form together one polygon enclosing the longitudinal axis. Magnets are fixedly disposed at each end of the grasping elements turned away from the substrate which work together with an electromagnet provided in the housing above the magnets whose magnetic field axis coincides with the longitudinal axis of the housing and which moves the ends of the grasping elements provided with magnets back and forth between two stops according to the polarity of the electromagnet.
Finally an apparatus for the transport of digital video discs from initial stations formed as carousel transport apparatuses over several process stations to final stations has been proposed (DE 197 29 525.8) wherein the process stations cause the processing, for example, layering, checking, sorting, and gathering of the substrates and wherein grasping arms with grasping elements or suction lifters make possible the further transport of these substrates from station to station. A motor drive unit with a swivel apparatus and two lifting apparatuses are provided which can be driven separately and which work together with manipulators or grasping arms. The drive with grasping arms forming the conveyance station is disposed at the same distance from several stations, for example the preparation station, the lacquering/gluing station, the return conveyance station, and the testing station. The two lifting apparatuses of the motor drive unit simultaneously execute with their grasping arms the same and/or different lifting motions (vertical motions) and swiveling motions superimposed on these or subsequent to them.
An object of the present invention is to provide a process and an apparatus for its implementation according to which two plane substrates for a digital video disc can be adhered to one another without blisters and uniformly and in fact in such a way that the layer of adhesive hardening between the two discs is of equal density and composition throughout and for this purpose is distributed uniformly over the entire surface of the substrate before hardening.
A further object of the present invention is to specify a process and an apparatus for the transport of digital video discs.

Process for the adhesion of a flat plastic substrate in the form of a circular disk to a like second substrate for a digital video disc and apparatus for implementation of the process


Apparatus is disclosed which is adapted to receive a removable cartridge containing material for use in the apparatus, for example, test elements for use in performing analyses of biological fluids. A cartridge discriminator is provided to insure that only a cartridge having a code means corresponding to a selected material can be loaded in the apparatus, and to program the apparatus to operate in a mode which conforms to the selected material. A control means serves to adjust the discriminator for a selected material.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus of the type which is adapted to receive a removable cartridge containing material to be utilized in the apparatus, and more particularly, to means to insure that only a cartridge containing a particular code means can be mounted on the apparatus. One example of such apparatus is a chemical analyzer for performing analyses of biological fluids.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Chemical analyzers have been developed for performing quantitative analyses of biological fluids, such as blood serum, to enable the physician to obtain a more complete picture of a person's physical condition. In one type of analyzer, reagents are added to a sample of blood serum and, after sufficient incubation, a color change or fluorescence is sensed by a radiometer. In a second type of analyzer certain ionic blood components are detected potentiometrically by measuring the potentials generated by ion-selective electrodes.
Most of the commercially-available apparatus for performing quantitative analyses of biological fluid samples utilize liquid reagents and require analyzer equipment having intricate solution handling and transport capabilities. Recent developments, however, have provided test elements in essentially planar, dry form which can be loaded into a cartridge adapted to be removably mounted in an analyzer. In the analyzer, a test element is fed from a cartridge into a metering station where a predetermined amount of sample fluid is deposited on the test element. The element is then removed to a read station where a change in the test element is sensed, the amount of change being proportional to a particular analyte in the sample fluid. The test element is used only once and is discarded after the reading has been taken. An analyzer for use with test elements of this type is described and claimed in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 856,834, entitled CHEMICAL ANALYZER, filed in the name of Nosco et al. on Dec. 2, 1977, and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,390.
Cartridges of the type described above are normally loaded with test elements for performing a single test, for example an analysis of the concentration of sodium ions in blood serum. The cartridges must be generally uniform in size and shape, regardless of the type of test element which they contain, since each of the cartridges must fit into cartridge support structure of fixed dimensions. Serious consequences could result if a cartridge containing the wrong type of element for the test desired is inserted in the analyzer, an event that might occur in a busy laboratory where many samples are analyzed daily. Such erroneous insertion would, of course, result in inaccurate test results and in a loss of valuable time when the analyses must be performed under emergency conditions.
One solution to the problem of assuring that the analyzer will not be loaded with the wrong test elements has been proposed in the aforesaid U.S. patent application Ser. No. 912,288, entitled ARTICLE CONTAINER, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,931. In the cited application, removable pins are inserted in holes in a cartridge nest, and each biological test to be performed is assigned a unique pin arrangement. Thus, if pins are properly inserted in the holes, only a cartridge having a predetermined code means can be inserted in the nest. This arrangement, although providing a workable solution to the problem, is time consuming and requires careful manipulation on the part of the operator.
It is known in the clinical apparatus art to provide reagent containers with code means which provide certain information to the apparatus when the container is inserted thereon. The U.S. patent to Carter et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,382, discloses a test pack which comprises machine-readable indicia for identifying the tests for which the pack is intended.
It is also known to provide a reagent container with means to prevent the container from being inserted in the wrong location in an analyzer. The patent to Hartnett et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,772, discloses apparatus for performing blood tests in which a test-tube carrier comprises key members which interact with slots in the apparatus to insure that the carrier will be placed in the proper test station in the apparatus. None of the known prior art devices, however, discloses a means by which the operator can quickly and accurately adjust the apparatus to accept a cartridge containing a predetermined code means and reject all other cartridges not so coded.

Cartridge discriminator for an automated analysis system


The present disclosure relates to a pre-5th-generation (5G) or 5G communication system to be provided for supporting higher data rates beyond 4th-generation (4G) communication system such as a long term evolution (LTE). A method for selecting a radio frequency beam by a receiving apparatus in a wireless communication system supporting a beamforming scheme includes determining a number of reference signal intervals in which a reference signal is transmitted based on a number of transmitting apparatuses, estimating full channel information by repetitively performing a partial channel estimating based on the number of reference signal intervals, and selecting a reception RF beam and a transmission RF beam for each of the transmitting apparatuses based on the full channel information.

To meet the demand for wireless data traffic, which has increased since deployment of 4th-generation (4G) communication systems, efforts have been made to develop an improved 5th-generation (5G) or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5G or pre-5G communication system is also called a 'beyond 4G network' or a 'post long-term evolution (LTE) system'.
It is considered that the 5G communication system will be implemented in millimeter wave (mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands, so as to accomplish higher data rates. To reduce propagation loss of radio waves and increase a transmission distance, a beam forming technique, a massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique, a full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO) technique, an array antenna technique, an analog beam forming technique, and a large scale antenna technique are discussed in 5G communication systems.
In addition, in 5G communication systems, development for system network improvement is under way based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, a device-to-device (D2D) communication, a wireless backhaul, a moving network, a cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancellation, and the like.
In the 5G system, a hybrid frequency shift keying (FSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) modulation (FQAM) and a sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as an advanced coding modulation (ACM) scheme, and a filter bank multi carrier (FBMC) scheme, a non-orthogonal multiple Access (NOMA) scheme, and a sparse code multiple access (SCMA) scheme as an advanced access technology have been developed.
In a receiving apparatus which does not include K analog digital converters (ADCs) even though using a plurality of antennas, a plurality of signals received by the plurality of antennas are combined, and the combined signal is input to an ADC. So, it is impossible to acquire channel information for all of the antennas at the same time. Here, K is not equal to the number of antennas. For enhancing system performance, the channel information for all of the antennas is required. So, there is a need for a scheme for acquiring the channel information for all of the antennas.
Meanwhile, in a system using an effective channel as a form which is generated by multiplying a channel and a factor of a radio frequency (RF) beam, system performance is determined according to RF beam selection. A transmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus which may use a plurality of RF beams may consider all possible RF beam combinations in order to search an RF beam which may acquire optimal performance.
If the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus consider all possible RF beam combinations, system complexity for RF beam search increases, and time required for the RF beam search increases.
So, there is a need for a RF beam searching method which decreases system complexity and time required for RF beam search, and enhances performance.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

Method and apparatus for selecting beam in wireless communication system supporting beamforming scheme

Korea University Research and Business Foundation


A desktop mount comprises a shelf and at least two spacers for mounting said shelf on a support, e.g., on a desktop. To ensure that the desktop mount can support technical end electronic equipment which can conveniently be operated, each spacer consists of a swivel bracket, which comprises a bracket base, which is adapted to be secured to a desktop or other support, and a bracket arm, which is pirated to the bracket base and to the shelf on spaced apart vertical axes.

The significance of technical end electronic equipment in the operation of modern offices is steadily increasing. Such equipment comprises telephone sets, tele-fax sets, dictating appliances as well as computers, visual display units, printers and copiers. The surface area required to support such equipment is steadily increasing. For reasons of space economy and to save costs an increase of the degree to which the surface area which is available is occupied is desired. For this reason, desks are often provided with a so-called second working level, which is constituted by a supporting surface that is spaced above the desktop. Such a second working level may be provided by a desktop mount. A known desktop mounts consist of a fixed superstructure comprising a rear wall and side walls rising from the desktop, as well as horizontal partitions and top plates and serve mainly to support files, forms and writing utensils but are often unsuitable as supports for office appliances. Resides, such fixed superstructures do not permit an adjustment of the supporting surfaces which are available and do not permit an adjustment of the positions of the appliances which are supported thereon. For this reason the known desktop mounts cannot support the various trams of equipment in positions in which they can conveniently be taken or operated by hand and will also restrict the free surface area which is available on the working surface of the desktop.
Other means have been proposed for supporting specific individual appliances and may comprise pivoted holders, such as pivoted arms for supporting telephone sets. But such supporting means are not designed to support heavy appliances or a plurality of appliances and sufficient space for providing a large number of such individual supports for respective appliances is not available on the desktop.

Desktop mounted shelf with pivoting arms


A water-cool radiator module comes with a supporting part having a shell body; the shell body includes a fan and a water tank; the water tank is connected to a cold water pipe and a hot water pipe; an extended section of the cold water pipe and hot water pipe is connected to a cold waterhead; the shell body includes several radiating holes at one end; such that in an application, the supporting part is inserted into a slot on the computer case and the shell body is mounted onto the slot; the cold water in the cold waterhead of a heat-generating electronic component is circulated to the shell body through the hot water pipe; the fan blows air to radiate heat to the outside through the radiating holes; and the cooled fluid flows from the water tank to the cold waterhead through the cold water pipe.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a radiator module and, more specifically, a water-cool radiator module that is separated from a heavy water tank, a cold water pipe and a hot water pipe that are independently fixed in a slot for the purpose of reducing the load on the heat-generating electronic components and not occupying too much of the space of the electronic components.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, it is known that a conventional radiator, as shown in FIG. 1, generally comprises a flat pedestal 10 that comprises a plurality of radiating fins 11 and a water conduit (not shown in FIG. 1) on the other side; the water conduit comprises a water inlet 12 and a water outlet 13; the pedestal 10 further comprises a fan 30. In practical use, this configuration has the following disadvantages:
1. In addition to radiating fins 11, some water conduit accessories are also located under the radiating fins 11. Such mechanism not only increases the height of the radiator structures but also increases the load of heat-generating electronic components due to the increased weight of water in the water conduit. As a result, this may cause damage to such electronic components and occupy more space.
2. Water in the water conduit stays and exchanges heat between the radiating fins 11. Therefore, heat stays on the radiating fins 11 resulting in a very slow radiating speed.
3. Fan 30 is located on the radiating fins 11. When fan 30 is turned on, heat current will flow slowly through a computer and then flow outward through the radiating holes on the computer. As a result, the heat may remain in the computer.


A novel means for identifying selective control agents for weeds, pests, and microbes is provided. Novel compositions for the selective control of weeds, pests, and microbes are also provided. The critical elements in the novel method of the invention relate to the systematic and specific identification of points of diversity which exist between the target organism and the host or other non-target organisms. More specifically the process involves identifying a difference which exists between the metabolic pathway of a microbial or plant target organism and a non-target host specie and then preparing a control agent which perturbs the metabolic pathway of the target without significantly perturbing the metabolic pathway of the host.

Chemists, microbiologists, and other scientists, as well as businesses and universities, spend a great deal of time and money in the search for chemical compounds which possess herbicidal, pesticidal, or microbicidal activity. Unfortunately, this search for new control agents often proceeds very slowly and cannot keep up with the demands of agriculture, veterinary medicine, and human medicine. One reason the process of identifying and isolating control agents does not move forward more rapidly is that there has been a lack of a dependable, predictable procedure which could be followed in order to arrive at the desired control agents.
Problems which have been encountered in the search for control agents for microbial plant pathogens are typical of the roadblocks researchers in other fields have encountered in their search for control agents. The development of new bactericides suited to the control of plant disease has been minimal during the past 25 years (1983 Resolution of the American Phytopathological Society). Effective agricultural chemicals that are environmentally compatible, preferably systemic, and that are not harmful to humans or animals are high priority needs in agriculture.
Only a few products are available within the area of antimicrobials for plant disease control, and these have very serious limitations. Streptomycin (which is now in use for seed treatment) is plagued with regulatory problems. Also, development of resistance to streptomycin is a problem, as is its unsatisfactory spectrum of activity. Treatment with copper is ineffective, in part due to phytotoxicity.
Similarly, in the search for herbicidal compounds, researchers have not been able to keep up with the demands of agriculture. Even though many effective control agents are available and on the market, new resistant strains of weeds frequently necessitate the development of new herbicides.
The isolation, identification, and synthesis of new herbicides often proceeds slowly even where herbicides have previously existed for the target weed. This inability to produce new herbicides is due, in part, to a general lack of understanding as to how previous herbicides functioned. Traditionally, herbicides and many other pesticides have been isolated by following large-scale screening procedures. These procedures essentially involve treating target weeds with a tremendous variety of chemical compounds until a compound which kills or otherwise controls the plant is found.
The use of screening procedures to obtain control agents has at least three distinct disadvantages. First, it is largely trial and error. Thus it is difficult to determine when and if success will be achieved, and, therefore, a great deal of time and money can be wasted testing compounds which have no control properties, and which do not help lead the researchers toward a useful control agent. The second major drawback of screening procedures is that these procedures may not give researchers any information regarding how close they are to identifying an effective control agent. For example, the researcher may be testing a compound which does not show control properties but which would be an effective control agent if a simple chemical modification of the compound were made.
Finally, even when screening procedures are successful in identifying a control agent, often the researcher initially has very little, if any, idea as to how the newly found chemical compound exerts its herbicidal, pesticidal, or bactericidal effect. Therefore, significant research aimed at elucidating the mode of action of a new control agent is often required before additional related control agents can be identified.
The subject invention is a systematic process for identifying and producing herbicides, pesticides, and bactericides. The process focuses on the production of chemical agents which will disrupt the metabolism of the target weed, microbe, or pest. The use of antimetabolite compounds as control agents is not new. However, to the extent that antimetabolite agents have been used in medicine and agriculture in the past, they have been selected using inefficient screening procedures. The process disclosed herein has several important advantages over the "brute-strength" approach which has been used in the past. In particular, the disclosed process provides a scientific, predictable, means for identifying, isolating, and synthesizing new pesticides, herbicides, bactericides, and derivatives thereof. Advantageously, and unlike the traditional screening procedures, the disclosed method does not depend upon every property needed by the successful compound to be correct initially.
If a compound displays evidence of being an effective inhibitor but does not inhibit pure cultures of phytopathogen or does not work in the field, this does not mean that the compound must be abandoned as a possible control agent. Instead, the compound can be modified in an appropriate way to optimize that compound's pesticidal, herbicidal, or bactericidal properties. This is in contrast to screening where valuable compounds can be missed because some modifiable factor is not just right.

Method for the selective control of weeds, pests, and microbes


A power cable for an electric submersible pump (ESP) includes an electrical conductor in the power cable; an elastomeric insulation layer around the electrical conductor; a fluoroplastic barrier layer around the elastomeric insulation layer; and a bonding layer between the elastomeric insulation layer and the fluoroplastic barrier layer, the bonding layer formulated to prevent a dielectric breakdown of the power cable and a rapid gas decompression breakdown of the power cable.

Electric submersible pump (ESP) power cables and motor lead extensions (MLE) incorporate high integrity insulation and armor. Conventional cables may rely on lead layers to resist high temperatures and pressures, and corrosives in the well fluid. While the lead sheaths provide excellent barrier properties, the regulation of lead metal and its use can results in leaded cables with reduced reliability and lower lifespan.
In conventional cable-making, lead metal is extruded onto the insulation in its own separate extrusion process. The insulation, however, has already been post-cured and does not bond very significantly with the molten lead. Due to this lack of interfacial bonding and a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between these materials, gas-filled micro-voids and impurities carried over from previous post-curing processes are introduced between the conventional insulation layer and the conventional lead sheath.
The dielectric constant within the unintended micro-voids and gaps is less than that of the surrounding dielectric, allowing the possibility of partial discharges—localized dielectric breakdowns of the insulation.
Gas-filled micro-voids or packets between the insulation and the conventional lead barrier may also cause barrier layer damage, such as lead barrier rupture during conditions when the cable is rapidly being depressurized or undergoing cyclic pressurization.

High reliability power cables for subsea application


A repair fixture for the lower unit of an outboard motor or outdrive which has a U-form body with a bight portion and side arms. One of the arms carries a tubular supporting projection which is telescopically mounted in a fixed sleeve on a work surface. The bight portion is notched centrally to engage the leading edge of a lower unit housing, and the side arms have clamps to releasably engage one of the horizontal cavitation fins of said unit.

1. Field of the Invention:
This invention pertains to clamping devices used in the servicing and/or repair of outboard motors or outdrive lower units.
2. Statement of the Prior Art:
This invention is an improvement in the subject matter of prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,317,205 and 3,290,040. Other patents in this general field include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,590,664 and 3,982,740.


The invention relates to an outdoor cooking system which is portable and collapsible, and which is adaptable for use as a fuel ignitor, as a food warmer and as a cook stove. The system includes an upstanding combustion tube which incorporates an elongate, tubular fire chamber and a plurality of flaps extending perimetrically from at least one of the fire chamber's ends. The flaps are pivotally adjustable so as to accommodate control over the fire chamber's intake and outflow of air. Food is cooked using a conventional cooking utensil which rests across the upper opening of the tube. A radial tray extends about the perimeter of the fire chamber.

Solid fuel cook stoves have been known for many years and arc widely used today when camping or otherwise cooking out-of-doors. These stoves provide the user with a certain amount of enjoyment and provide the food with a unique char-broiled taste. Outdoor stoves most often take the form of a kettle grill, an appliance which includes a cupped, upwardly-facing chamber for containing a solid fuel such as charcoal briquettes. The fuel is held beneath a cooking grate, food being placed directly on the grate and cooked after ignition of the fuel below.
Although popular, most outdoor cook stoves have proven to be extremely limited in their usefulness do to the many methods of cooking which are not accommodated thereby. Conventional outdoor cook stoves, for example, are generally intended only for char-broiling meat which is placed directly on the cooking grate. Although utensils such as pots or pans may be placed on the cooking grate, it generally is not possible to direct heat toward the utensil without substantial loss of energy to the surrounding air. This lack of control may result in undesirable heating of the utensil's handle, possibly damaging the utensil and likely making it difficult to grasp.
Known stoves also have demonstrated problems related to fuel ignition, and to maintenance and control of flames once the fuel begins to burn. These problems are closely related to the inadequate ventilation of most outdoor stoves and to the inability of such stoves to adapt to varying environmental conditions such as increased or gusting winds. This lack of ventilation results in less efficient burning of fuel, complicating control of the heat produced, and leading to the contamination of the food by smoke which contains unburned fuel or the like. Such food contamination is exacerbated where a liquid catalyst such as conventional lighter fluid is used to help start the flame.
One solution to fuel ignition difficulties has been to use a separate appliance to facilitate ignition of the fuel. These appliances (referred to herein as fuel ignitors) are generally adapted to accommodate the flow of a large volume of air, such flow being directed through the solid fuel which is to be burned. After the fuel is ignited, it is transferred to a separate appliance wherein food is cooked. Although fuel ignition is facilitated by such appliances, this solution does not address problems related to the maintenance and control of the fire once the fuel is transferred to the cook stove. Also, the use of a separate appliance for igniting fuel detracts from the portability of the stove, an important feature to many of those who use such stoves.
Conventional outdoor stoves also present problems related to heat regulation, it being difficult to accurately define an area in which items may be kept warm. Commonly, cooked items are placed about the perimeter of the cooking grate, the perimeter presumably receiving less heat than the center which often overlies the bulk of the fuel. This arrangement, however, is ineffective inasmuch as most conventional stoves experience periodic flame flare-ups due to grease falling onto the burning fuel. Such flare-ups often lead to burned or charred food.


A radiometer is described which coherently detects the thickness of oil films on water by converting continuous-frequency microwave or millimeter-wave brightness temperature versus frequency measurements from the frequency/wavenumber domain to the oil-film-thickness domain (received power versus film thickness) using Fourier-transform signal processing.

Sea surface oil spills do not spread uniformly, nor without limit. Thick regions having a thickness of a millimeter or more are formed, which contain the majority of the oil. Reliable detection of oil thickness is of major importance. A knowledge of the oil distribution, and the location of those regions containing the heaviest concentration of oil, would enable the most effective confinement, control and clean-up of the oil.
Multifrequency microwave radiometry has heretofore been employed as a technique for determining oil thicknesses greater than about 1 mm. ("The Determination of Oil Slick Thickness by Means of Multifrequency Passive Microwave Techniques" James P Hollinger, NRL Memorandum Report 2953, June 1974.) This technique is based upon the fact that the apparent microwave brightness temperature is different in the region of the oil slick than in the adjacent unpolluted sea by an amount which depends upon the slick thickness. The oil slick acts as an electromagnetic matching layer between free space and the sea, modulating the brightness temperature of the sea. As the thickness of the oil slick is increased, the apparent microwave brightness temperature at first increases and then passes through alternating maxima and minima, due to the standing wave pattern set up in the film. The adjacent maxima and minima are separated by integral multiples of a quarter of the electromagnetic wavelength in the oil.
Heretofore, the use of microwave radiometry for oil slick thickness measurement has been hindered by several drawbacks in the technology. Chief among these difficulties are the inability to achieve thickness resolution below about 1 mm and the inability to unambiguously measure oil slicks containing a range of thicknesses.
A need exists, therefore, for an improved microwave radiometer capable of achieving better thickness resolution and having the ability to discriminate unambiguously different thicknesses of oil contained within a given radiometric antenna pattern.

Coherent Fourier transform radiometer for determining the thickness distribution of an oil film on a body of water based on the brightness temperature of the oil film and water over a range of radiation frequencies


A method is disclosed for imparting impact resistance to a plastic ophthalmic lens. The method consists of applying a coating of a multifunctional acrylate in a solvent mixture to the back surface of the lens, and curing the multifunctional acrylate to form an impact resistance imparting coat. The multifunctional acrylate preferably has at least about 40%, by weight, of a difunctional acrylate. The multifunctional acrylate preferably has a glass transition temperature less than about 60.degree. C. Lenses with an impact resistance imparting coat on the back, and an abrasion resistant coat on at least the front of the lens, are also disclosed.

Ophthalmic lenses of plastic have become very popular because they are inexpensive, lighter in weight and more resistant to shattering than glass. However, the plastic lenses generally have less surface hardness and wear resistance. Therefore, they are usually coated with abrasion resistant coatings.
The surfaces of lenses made of diethylene glycol bis(allylcarbonate) ("CR-39", a registered trademark of PPG Industries of Pittsburgh, Pa.) or high index polyurethane(HIPU) can be made to be hard and abrasion resistant by the use of abrasion resistant coatings; however, their impact resistance can be greatly reduced by these hard, abrasion resistant coatings, especially in combination with a brittle vacuum deposited antireflective coating. Thin lenses, with a center thickness of about 1.0 mm, are highly desired for cosmetic and weight considerations. However, the thickness of a lens is related to the impact properties of the lens. Specifically, thinner lenses have a lower impact resistance. Plastic lenses that are sold in the United States must meet the requirements of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has specific requirements for the impact properties of a lens.
It would be advantageous to have plastic lenses which are more impact resistant and a method of imparting an impact resisting property that meets or exceeds the FDA requirements for plastic lenses.

Impact resistant plastic ophthalmic lens


The present disclosure relates, in general, to combination therapy using an inhibitor of transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) and an inhibitor of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) for treating cancer or preventing recurrence of cancer diseases such as lung cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, hepatocellular cancer, esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, ovarian cancer, stomach cancer, fibrotic cancer, glioma and melanoma, and metastases thereof.

Cancer immunotherapy refers to methods of activating the immune system to induce tumor regression and disease stabilization (Mellman I et al., Nature. 480, 7378: 480-9 (2011)). Antibody therapy directed against certain negative immunologic regulators (immune checkpoints) has been shown to be successful as an anti-tumor treatment in several cancer types (Postow et al., J Clin Oncol 33: 9, (2015)).
The transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) protein family consists of three distinct isoforms found in mammals (TGFβ1, TGFβ2, and TGFβ3). The TGFβ proteins activate and regulate multiple gene responses that influence disease states, including cell proliferative, inflammatory, and cardiovascular conditions. TGFβ is a multifunctional cytokine originally named for its ability to transform normal fibroblasts to cells capable of anchorage-independent growth. The TGFβ molecules are produced primarily by hematopoietic and tumor cells and can regulate, i.e., stimulate or inhibit, the growth and differentiation of cells from a variety of both normal and neoplastic tissue origins (Sporn et al., Science, 233: 532 (1986)), and stimulate the formation and expansion of various stromal cells.
The TGFβs are known to be involved in many proliferative and non-proliferative cellular processes such as cell proliferation and differentiation, embryonic development, extracellular matrix formation, bone development, wound healing, hematopoiesis, and immune and inflammatory responses. See e.g., Pircher et al, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 136: 30-37 (1986); Wakefield et al., Growth Factors, 1: 203-218 (1989); Roberts and Sporn, pp 419-472 in Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology eds M. B. Sporn & A. B. Roberts (Springer, Heidelberg, 1990); Massague et al., Annual Rev. Cell Biol., 6: 597-646 (1990); Singer and Clark, New Eng. J. Med., 341: 738-745 (1999). Also, TGFβ is used in the treatment and prevention of diseases of the intestinal mucosa (WO 2001/24813). TGFβ is also known to have strong immunosuppressive effects on various immunologic cell types, including cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) inhibition (Ranges et al., J. Exp. Med., 166: 991, 1987), Espevik et al., J. Immunol., 140: 2312, 1988), depressed B cell lymphopoiesis and kappa light-chain expression (Lee et al., J. Exp. Med., 166: 1290, 1987), negative regulation of hematopoiesis (Sing et al., Blood, 72: 1504, 1988), down-regulation of HLA-DR expression on tumor cells (Czarniecki et al., J. Immunol., 140: 4217, 1988), and inhibition of the proliferation of antigen-activated B lymphocytes in response to B-cell growth factor (Petit-Koskas et al., Eur. J. Immunol., 18: 111, 1988). See also U.S. Pat. No. 7,527,791.
TGFβ isoform expression in cancer is complex and variable with different combinations of TGFβ isoforms having different roles in particular cancers. TGFβ molecules can act both as tumor suppressors and tumor promoters. For example, deletion or downregulation of TGFβ signaling in animals can result in increased breast cancer, intestinal cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer and squamous cell carcinoma, indicating the presence of TGFβ is important to prevent or slow tumor progression (Yang et al., Trends Immunol 31:220-27, 2010). However, overexpression of TGFβ is known to be pro-oncogenic and increased expression is detected in many tumor types (Yang et al., supra).
Antibodies to TGFβ have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,527,791; 7,927,593; 7,494,651; 7,369,111; 7,151,169; 6,492,497; 6,419,928; 6,090,383; 5,783,185; 5,772,998; 5,571,714; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,723,486 and 8,569,462.
Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), also known as cluster of differentiation 279 (CD279), is a cell surface co-inhibitory receptor expressed on activated T cells, B cells and macrophages, and is a component of immune checkpoint blockade (Shinohara et al., Genomics., 23(3):704, (1994); Francisco et al., Immunol Rev., 236: 219, (2010)). PD-1 limits the activity of T cells upon interaction with its two ligands PD-L1 (also known as B7-H1; CD274) and PD-L2 (B7-DC; CD273) (Postow et al., J Clin Oncol., 33: 9, (2015)). Interaction of PD-1 with PD-L1 and PD-L2, reduces T-cell proliferation, cytokine production, and cytotoxic activity (Freeman G J et al., J Exp Med., 192:1027-34, (2000); Brown J A et al., J Immunol., 170:1257-66, (2003)).
Recently, two monoclonal antibodies have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the inhibition of PD-1 immunotherapy. Pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA®, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.) is approved for use in metastatic melanoma, and nivolumab (Opdivo®, Bristol-Myers Squibb) is approved for use in metastatic melanoma and metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Both of these antibodies bind to the PD-1 receptor and block its interaction with its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2.
Inhibitors of PD-L1 have also been shown to be effective at inhibiting solid tumors in bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, and gastrointestinal cancers (Herbst R S et al., J Clin Oncol., 31: 3000 (2013); Heery C R et al., J Clin Oncol., 32: 5s, 3064 (2014); Powles T et al., J Clin Oncol, 32: 5s, 5011(2014); Segal N H et al., J Clin Oncol., 32: 5s, 3002 (2014)).
Antibodies to PD-1 have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,735,553; 8,617,546; 8,008,449; 8,741,295; 8,552,154; 8,354,509; 8,779,105; 7,563,869; 8,287,856; 8,927,697; 8,088,905; 7,595,048; 8,168,179; 6,808,710; 7,943,743; 8,246,955; and 8,217,149.
In the setting of cancer, multiple mechanisms of immune suppression may prevent immunotherapy from being effective. In some cases tumors are refractory to mono-immunotherapy and only a minor fraction of cancers fully respond. Therefore the use of combinations of immunotherapeutic agents will likely be required for optimal patient responses (Hodi F S et al., Adv Immunol., 90:341-68, 2006; Postow et al., J Clin Oncol., 33: 9, 2015).
Recently TGFβ inhibition combined with inhibition of immune checkpoint protein CTLA-4 has been demonstrated to be effective at suppressing melanoma tumor growth and metastasis (Hanks et al., J Clin Oncol 32: 5s, 2014). Combinational immunotherapy approaches using inhibitors of PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 are currently being evaluated (Sznol M et al., J Clin Oncol., 32: 5s, 2014; Wolchok J D et al., N Engl J Med., 369: 122-133, 2013; Callahan et al., J Clin Oncol., 32:5s, 2014 and reviewed in Postow et al., J Clin Oncol., 33: 9, (2015)). Studies have described synergistic upregulation of IFNγ in effector T cells from tumor-draining lymph nodes following simultaneous blockade of PD-L1 and TGFβ using a combination of monoclonal antibodies implicating PD-L1 and TGFβ in suppressing cellular responses to active immunization in the tumor-bearing host (Wei et al., Cancer Res, 68: 13, 2008).

Treatment of cancer using anti-TGF-BETA and PD-1 antibodies

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


A method of manufacturing a microphone assembly having an ear set function includes assembling a mike cell unit; obtaining a region for connection with the mike cell unit on a PCB, mounting only a conductive member in the region, and mounting other remaining components outside the region; adhering the mike cell unit to a corresponding region of the PCB; and sealing an adhering portion between the mike cell unit and the PCB. Assembling the mike cell unit includes inserting a mike cell case having a sound hole and a curing portion into a diaphragm assembly; stacking a spacer on the diaphragm assembly; inserting a back electrode plate into an insulating ring base; mounting the insulating ring base on the spacer; mounting a metal ring base on the insulating ring base; and curing or clamping a curing portion of the mike cell case.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microphone assembly for an ear set, and more particularly, to a microphone assembly having an ear set function, in which a microphone component and an ear set component are formed on the same printed circuit board (PCB) to reduce the number of components and to increase a back chamber, thereby having increased sensitivity, and a method of manufacturing the microphone assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an ear set is a small-sized device that is installed on a user's ears and includes a speaker for converting an electric signal into an acoustic signal and a microphone for converting an acoustic signal into an electric signal. Since an ear set is used together with a portable terminal, a user can make a call without holding the portable terminal. An MPEG Audio Layer-3 (MP3) function is basically provided in a portable terminal. Thus, recently, ear sets have been gradually used both for listening to music and conversations. An ear set is classified into a hanger type ear set and an insertion type ear set according to a method of installing the ear set on a user's ears.
In general, a hanger type ear set includes a body, a speaker installed on an end portion of the body, a microphone installed on the other end portion of the body, and an ear hook that extends from a predetermined portion of the body to be hung on a user's ear. Since a hanger type ear set is easily fixed to a user's ears, hanger type ear sets are being widely used in Bluetooth (wireless) ear sets containing a heavy battery. An insertion type ear set includes speakers installed in a user's ears and a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly that is connected to the speakers via wires, is spaced apart from the speaker by a predetermined length, and includes a microphone and ear-set components mounted thereon. The insertion type ear set is a typical type ear set that is fixed to a user's ears by inserting speakers into the user's ears. An example of a hanger type ear set is the 'under the ear wearable ear set' disclosed in KR 10-0703324. An example of an insertion type ear set is the 'ear-microphone for a cellular phone' disclosed in KR 10-0617113.

Method of manufacturing a microphone assembly


A method and system of flattening resist mounds formed during a wet edgebead operation. The wet edgebead operation is used to remove edgebeads formed when a resist material is deposited on a semiconductor wafer. Solvent is introduced to the semiconductor wafer at the area containing the resist mounds to soften them, and the semiconductor wafer is spun at a high speed to flatten the mounds.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a process and system for removing extraneous resist material on a semiconductor wafer which results from the dispensing of the resist material onto the semiconductor wafer. The present invention is more particularly related to the removing of extraneous resist material on a semiconductor wafer which is formed when a wet edgebead operation is performed on the semiconductor wafer to remove "edgebeads," the extraneous resist material which is formed during the wet edgebead operation.
2. Background of the Related Art
Photolithography, the process of exposing resist coated semiconductor wafers to develop patterns in the resist material, is currently performed or implemented with a photoresist type material. A photoresist type material is a solution of polymers bonded to photoactive compounds. The photoactive compounds are exposed to light according to a predetermined pattern, and developed forming patterns in the resist material. The developed patterns are used in the forming of devices in the semiconductor wafer.
Photoresist material is typically deposited on the semiconductor water as a sticky material which when dried becomes brittle. Accordingly, the photoresist material has a tendency to flake and create small particles which can infiltrate and destroy devices embedded or formed in the semiconductor wafer. Since the resist material may significantly affect the operation of a semiconductor chip, a great deal of attention has been given to ways of preventing the resist material from creating these small particles or flakes which can destroy the devices in the semiconductor wafer. For example, it is generally understood that when the semiconductor wafer is coated with the resist material, small balls or beads of photoresist remain stuck to the edges of the wafer. These beads are typically called "edgebeads." The edgebeads can flake and create various defects in the semiconductor wafer as described above. Thus, the edgebeads can significantly reduce the yield of properly operating semiconductor wafers, increasing cost of manufacture.
To combat problems resulting from the normal edgebeads formed during the coating of the semiconductor wafer with resist material, many manufacturers incorporate a "wet edgebead operation" which is used to remove the edgebeads from a semiconductor wafer. The wet edgebead operation consists of dispensing solvent at the wafer edge to dissolve the edgebeads from the upper edge, back and side of the wafer. By performing the wet edgebead operation, the edgebeads can be removed to some extent, thereby reducing or minimizing the flaking of resist material and the formation of defects in the semiconductor wafer.
Even though the wet edgebead operation has been previously performed, semiconductor wafers have still encountered significant device failures. Accordingly, it is desirable to determine the cause of the semiconductor failures. Once the cause of the semiconductor failures is determined, it is also desirable to formulate a solution to correct the semiconductor failures.
It is further desirable that any solution or process used to correct the semiconductor failures be implemented in a continuous process, and also be incorporated in or used with the existing process of depositing resist material onto the semiconductor wafer.

Process and system for flattening secondary edgebeads on resist coated wafers


A defoamer assembly for a filler comprising a containment tank, a extrusion forcing sub-assembly, a collection subassembly and an extruder subassembly. The extrusion forcing sub-assembly is associated with the containment tank. The extrusion forcing sub-assembly is structurally configured to force gas from within the containment tank through an opening. The collection subassembly is coupled to an inlet port on the containment tank, and includes a collection head with an inlet opening and a conduit coupling the collection head with the inlet port. The extruder subassembly is coupled to the inlet port. The first end of the extruder assembly receives foam from the collection assembly and an outlet comprising a mesh having a plurality of openings. The outlet is in fluid communication with the extrusion forcing sub-assembly. The extrusion forcing sub-assembly directs the foam through the mesh, thereby extruding the foam therethrough, to, in turn, separate at least a portion of the foam into a fluid and a gas.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates in general to equipment for filling containers, and more particularly, to a defoamer assembly for use with a filler. The disclosure is additionally directed to a method of use of a defoamer assembly.
2. Background Art
The filling of bottles and the like with a flowable material is well known in the art. Typically, a filler is provided that includes a rotating filler bowl. The filler bowl includes a plurality of valves extending therefrom. As the filler bowl rotates, the valves are coupled to containers, and selectively activated to dispense flowable material from the filler bowl into the containers. The containers are sequentially fed into the filler, filled, capped and then removed from the filling equipment.
As the filler bowl rotates, and the valves are selectively actuated, the flowable material becomes agitated. In many instances (such as with milk or cranberry juice, for example), foam builds up within the filler bowl. Eventually, the foam extends over the top of the filler bowl and begins to run down the sides of the filler bowl. Continued operation results in the foam reaching the filler valves. This can lead to complications such as impediment to operation, damage to the filler or the containers to be filled and/or contamination, to name a few.
In many instances, the filler is shut down and the foam is cleaned from the filler. Problematically, a stoppage of the filler reduces efficiency and the output of the filler. In some instances once the filler is cleaned, the foam accumulates at a quicker rate. Problematically, over the course of a day, the filler can be stopped multiple times for cleaning. It is not uncommon to have a filler shut down every hour for cleaning due to the accumulation of foam.

Defoamer assembly for use with a filler and method therefor


A duty-cycle regulation method for deriving an output clock signal having a predetermined duty cycle from an input clock signal having an arbitrary duty cycle. Once the input clock signal is received, an output clock storage element is switched to a first state upon detecting a transition in the input clock signal for driving the output clock signal to a first signal level. The output clock storage element is then switched to a second state after a delay interval equal to a fraction of the period for driving the output clock signal to a second signal level. The fraction of the period can be programmed to a pre-selected value.

The invention relates to the regulation of a clock duty cycle for use in conjunction with Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) microelectronic circuits.
In the field of VLSI microelectronic circuits, many digital systems require a certain clock duty cycle (i.e. 50/50%, 40/60%) for proper operation. However, such clock duty cycles are not always readily available. A clock with an inappropriate duty cycle may cause the digital system to fail or force the system to run at a lower clock speed. Although many digital systems desire a 50/50% duty cycle, not all digital systems necessarily desire the same clock duty cycle. Depending on the source of the clock, the duty cycle may not always be known or predictable. Hence, duty cycle correction is needed.
One such approach to duty cycle correction is to use a phase-locked loop to synthesize a clock at double the input frequency, and then to divide down by two to obtain a 50/50% duty cycle. This approach requires the building of a phase-locked loop, which is complex in design, large in area, and high in power. This approach also only limits the output duty cycle to 50/50%.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,202, Waizman discloses a 50% duty-cycle clock generator, which is limited to generating only a 50% duty cycle and its implementation complicated.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,158, Lee et al describe an amplifier circuit with active duty cycle correction to produce a pre-determined duty cycle. However, such a circuit uses three operational amplifiers, thus being relatively high in power consumption and large in area.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,218, Blum describes a circuit and a method for signal duty cycle correction, which involves the use of a ring oscillator counter to produce adjustable delays. In order for this approach to have sufficient duty cycle resolution, the ring oscillator must operate at a frequency much higher than the input clock, meaning a large use of power. Lower operating speeds would mean degradation in the duty cycle resolution.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,499, Eitrheim describes an adjustable duty cycle clock generator using multiplexers to adjust the delay in a delay line. The problem with this approach is that the amount of delay needed is not known by the circuit and must be determined elsewhere either through measurement or other dynamic means. This circuit cannot self-correct for the appropriate duty cycle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,563, Banerjee et al describe a duty-cycle independent tunable clock that uses an adjustable delay line in conjunction with a flip-flop. However, the described circuit is limited by using a fixed delay, once adjusted (by blowing out fuses through a laser), thereby providing a duty cycle for a given adjustment which directly depends on the clock input. Furthermore, the use of blowing out fuses for changing the duty cycle is relatively expensive and demands a larger overall circuit. Once the fuses are set to provide a desired duty cycle for a particular clock frequency, they cannot be changed again to operate with a different frequency or to obtain a different duty cycle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,180, Chen describes a circuit and a method for generating a clock signal wherein the duty cycle is adjusted independent of the input clock frequency by adjusting a bias voltage at the driver circuit of the output clock, which is driven by the input clock. This bias voltage is generated by a differential amplifier driven by two voltage-adjusted inputs using two adjustable.tapped resistors. In Chen""s approach, however, at least one operational amplifier and four resistors are required resulting in a relatively large circuit area and high power. Furthermore, the resulting output clock signal is shaped by an RC time constant giving relatively long rise/fall times, especially when duty cycles far beyond 50/50% are desired. Chen teaches that for duty cycles far beyond 50/50%, a few of the described circuits can be cascaded for better rise/fall times. This would require more operational amplifiers and more resistors, hence larger circuit size and greater power consumption. Moreover, there is no provision in Chen""s approach for adjusting the duty cycles xe2x80x98on the flyxe2x80x99, i.e. whenever desired by the user.
In view of the limitations of the prior art reviewed above, it would be desirable to provide an economical circuit and method for regulating a steady state clock duty cycle over a relatively wide range of selectable duty cycles, without being dependent on an actual input clock frequency value.
An object of this invention is to provide a method for regulating a duty cycle for deriving an output clock signal from an input clock signal having an arbitrary duty cycle.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a duty-cycle regulation method for deriving an output clock signal having a predetermined duty cycle from an input clock signal having an arbitrary duty cycle. The method includes the step of receiving the input clock signal, switching an output clock storage element to a first state upon detecting a transition in the input clock signal for driving the output clock signal to a first signal level, and switching the output clock storage element to a second state after a delay interval equal to a fraction of the period for driving the output clock signal to a second signal level.
In an embodiment of the present aspect, the fraction of the period is programmed to a pre-selected value.
In another embodiment of the present aspect, the delay interval is determined by the steps of generating a delay control signal from a low-pass filter, feeding electric charges from a first charge pump into said low-pass filter, draining electric charges out of said low-pass filter, turning said first and second charge pumps alternately on and off in accordance with the output clock storage element switching between the first and second states respectively, and marking an interval between the output clock signal changing to the first level and the delay control signal reaching a predetermined threshold as the delay interval. In a preferred aspect of the present embodiment, the fraction of the period is adjusted by setting a predetermined ratio of electric currents of the first charge pump relative to the second charge pump. In yet another preferred aspect of the present embodiment, there is a method for preventing the output clock signal from locking into a clock period different from the period. The method includes the steps of detecting a level transition in the input clock signal simultaneous to the output clock signal being at the second signal level thereof, generating a reset signal, and applying a voltage corresponding to the reset signal to the low-pass filter.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.


A circuit device for measuring the threshold voltage distribution among electrically programmable, non-volatile memory cells, which device comprises a differential amplifier having a first input connected to a first circuit leg including at least one memory cell and a second input connected to a second or reference circuit leg, and circuit means effective to cause an unbalance in the values of the currents flowing in the reference leg. The device is connected between a first supply voltage reference and a second voltage reference, and said circuit means comprise a generator of a varying current as a function of the supply voltage which is associated with the reference leg.

A non-volatile memory cell is known to comprise a MOS transistor having a first terminal or floating gate terminal with a high DC impedance and a second terminal or control gate terminal driven by means of control voltages.
By applying suitable voltage values to the cell terminals, the amount of the charge present in the floating gate can be varied and the transistor can be brought to either of two logic states. Thus, the transistor can function as a logic memory element.
As is known, today's electronic memory circuits contain thousands of cells arranged in matrix form and integrated to a semiconductor at very high packing rates.
In circuits of this type, different circuit portions are respectively arranged to perform cell programming, erasing, and reading operations.
For instance, to read the memory cells, a dedicated circuit is normally used which is connected to a so-called "virgin" cell, i.e., a reference cell which has never undergone memory cycles.
In addition to the reference cell, the read circuit comprises a specially responsive differential amplifier, known as the sense amplifier, which includes a two-input comparator. A first input of the comparator is connected to a circuit leg including a cell to be read, whereas the other input is connected to a second leg including the reference cell. The voltage value obtained at the comparator output will correspond to the logic state of the cell.
Cell reading is based, therefore, on an unbalanced condition of the comparator due to the different currents present in the leg of the cell to be read and the leg of the reference cell.
The circuit portion dedicated to cell reading may also be used to perform testing operations which allow the proper operation of the cell matrix to be checked.
Specifically, during a testing step, it is important that the distribution of the threshold voltages V.sub.T among the cells forming the memory matrix can be checked.
It is a current practice to perform this check by obtaining the distribution for the number of cells which, at a given gate voltage Vgate, would cause the sense amplifier to change over.
The test is carried out by adjusting the gate voltage Vgate of the cell matrix. This voltage is provided during this test through an external terminal (pin) other than the supply voltage Vdd terminal. In a memory circuit, that terminal may be the terminal intended to receive the programming voltage Vpp, when applied an appropriate voltage value.
Thereafter, the reference cell is connected to the reference leg and a current Iref flows through the reference cell leg associated with the sense amplifier.
Finally, the value of the voltage being applied to the external terminal is varied, and the current values which appear at the matrix output are sequentially noted, which values will indicate the threshold voltage distribution. Measuring the threshold voltage of a selected memory cell is well-known in the art and are described in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,253,059 (1981) and 4,301,535 (1981), both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention is related to this specific field of application, and is directed to further improve and facilitate the measurement of this threshold voltage distribution.

Threshold voltage measuring device for memory cells


A data processing system comprises a video processor (3). The data processing system is configured to, when a new frame (10) is to be encoded by the video processor (3), determine for a sub-region of a set of plural sub-regions that the new frame (10) is divided into, whether the sub-region has changed from a previous frame (11), and to control the encoding operation for the new frame (10) on the basis of the determination, e.g. to avoid performing motion estimation.

The technology described herein relates to methods of and apparatus for encoding video data, and in particular to differential encoding techniques.
As is known in the art, differential encoding involves comparing portions of data with one another and using information relating to the differences between the portions of data rather than the entire data portions themselves to represent the "original" data. This has the advantage that a smaller volume of data is required to encode a given amount of original data, which can be important where, for example, the data transmission capacity is restricted.
Such differential encoding techniques are particularly suitable for the compression of (digital) video data, because although there may be 25 to 30 video frames per second, within a given scene in a video sequence, each frame will typically be very similar to the adjacent frames, with the differences only often being due to "objects" in the frames moving to different positions. This means that much of the video data necessary to reproduce successive frames in a video sequence is substantially identical as between frames.
The MPEG video compression standards and other related algorithms, for example, therefore use differential encoding to compress video data, e.g. for transmission or storage purposes.
Generally, in differential encoded video data each video frame is divided into a plurality of blocks (16×16 pixel blocks in the case of MPEG encoding) and each block of the frame is encoded individually. Three types of data "block" are usually used (e. g. stored or transmitted). These are commonly referred to as INTRA (I) blocks, INTER (P) blocks and bi-directionally predicted (B) blocks.
INTRA (I) blocks are coded frame blocks that are predicted from the same frame only, i.e. are not dependent on previous (or future) frame blocks. INTER (P) blocks and bi-directionally predicted (B) blocks are differentially coded frame blocks that describe the differences between the "current" block and a "prediction" frame block created from video data in frames before the current frame, and, in the case of B blocks, also video data in frames generated after the current frame. The "prediction" frame block that the differences encoded in P and B blocks are referenced to could, for example, simply comprise a preceding I frame block, or could be a more complex frame block predicted, e.g., from an I block and one or more preceding P blocks.
As in such arrangements P and B blocks only contain data relating to differences between blocks in frames in the original video data, they are considerably smaller than I blocks, and so the overall amount of data that must be transmitted or stored can be reduced by using P and/or B blocks to encode the data. (However, I blocks must still be stored or transmitted at intervals to allow the complete original data to be reconstructed.)
As is known in the art, an important aspect of such differential encoding of video data is identifying which areas of the video frames being compared are most similar to each other (such that there is then a reduced or minimum number of differences to be encoded). This process is complicated by the fact that, typically, the area of the "prediction" (reference) frame that most closely matches a given block or area in the current frame will not be in the same position within the reference frame as that area is in the current frame. This is because the most closely matching areas in the video frames will tend to move between frames, as objects in the video sequence move around.
Differential encoding of video data typically therefore involves two aspects: firstly identifying the location in a "reference" video frame of the area in that frame that most closely matches the area (block) of the video frame currently being encoded, and then determining the differences between the two areas in the two frames (i.e. the current and the reference frame).
The encoded data accordingly usually comprises a vector value pointing to the area of a given reference frame to be used to construct the appropriate area (block) of the frame currently being constructed, and data describing the differences between the two areas. This thereby allows the video data for the area of the frame currently being constructed to be constructed from video data describing the area in the reference frame pointed to by the vector value and the difference data describing the differences between that area and the area of the video frame currently being constructed.
The process of identifying which areas in different video frames most (or sufficiently) closely match and accordingly determining the vector to be stored to point to the relevant area in the reference video frame is usually referred to as "motion estimation". This process is usually carried out by comparing video data values (usually luminance values) for each pixel in a given area or block (typically a 16×16 pixel block in MPEG systems) of the video frame currently being encoded with a succession of corresponding-sized pixel blocks in the reference video frame until the closest (or a sufficiently close) match in terms of the relevant video data values is found. The vector pointing to the so-identified pixel block in the reference frame is then recorded and used for the encoded data stream. The relative closeness or match between relevant video data for the pixel blocks being compared is assessed using difference comparison or cost functions, such as a mean-squared difference (MSD) function.
However, because they require a comparison between a large number of pixel video data values (e. g. 256 pixel values where 16×16 pixel blocks are being tested), such "motion estimation" processes are computationally intensive, even if the range of the search over the reference frame (i.e. the region of the reference frame over which the search for the closest matching frame area is carried out) is deliberately limited.
The data that describes the differences between the two areas in the two frames (i.e. the current and the reference frame) is typically represented in the encoded data stream as a set of frequency coefficients. The process of calculating the appropriate frequency coefficients typically involves performing a frequency transform operation, such as a discrete cosine transform. Again, this operation can be computationally expensive.
These computational expensive operations can be disadvantageous generally, but particularly are so where the processing power of the encoding system may be limited. This could, e.g., particularly be the case where it is desired to encode "real time" video data using, e.g., a mobile device that may accordingly have limited processing capacity.
The Applicants believe therefore that there remains scope for improvements to differential encoding techniques.


A ferroceneylphosphine ligand and complexes prepared therefrom for homogeneous catalytic enantioselective hydrogenation, the ligand having the formula (I): ##STR1##. Another aspect of the invention is directed to a ferroceneylphosphine ligand of formula (II), ##STR2##

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to ligands and complexes for homogeneous catalytic enantioselective hydrogenation. More particularly, the invention relates to ligands of formula (I) ##STR3##
Another aspect of the invention is related to complexes of formula (II), and to ##STR4##
a method for their preparation and use.
Enantioselective introduction of stereogenic centers into organic molecules by homogeneously catalyzed hydrogenation is established industrially for special applications. The enantioselective products are valuable starting substances for the production of biologically active agents.
2. Discussion of the Background
The use of catalysts containing bisphosphine ligands for enantioselective homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation for the above purposes is known (Burk et al., Tetrahedron, 1994, 4399).
Knochel et al. (Chem. Eur. J. 1988, 4, 950-968), Hayashi et al. (J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun. 1989, 495-496) and Ikeda et al. (Tetrahedron Lett. 1996, 4545-4448) describe Pd complexes with C.sub.2 symmetric ferrocenyl (bis-tert-phosphine) ligands. However, these complexes were used only in asymmetric allylations.
In contrast, Yamamoto et al. (Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 1980, 53, 1132-1137) reported the use of non-C.sub.2 -symmetric ferrocenyl(bis-tert-phosphine) ligands in enantioselective homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation reactions. However, only very sporadically good enantiomer excesses are obtained with these ligands.
The basic suitability of non C.sub.2 symmetric ferrocenyl ligands for enantioselective hydrogenation is taught in WO 96/32400 and WO 95/21151.

Ligands and complexes for enantioselective hydrogenation


A high-frequency filter (10) includes resonators (21, 31, and 32), an inductor (41), and a switch (51). The resonator (21) is connected between a first input/output terminal (P1) and a second input/output terminal (P2). One end of the inductor (41) is connected between the resonator (21) and the first input/output terminal (P1). One end of the resonator (31) is connected to the other end of the inductor (41). The switch (51) selects either a connection portion that connects the inductor (41) and the resonator (31) or the resonator (32) and connects either the connection portion or the resonator (32), which has been selected, to a terminal of the resonator (21) on the side of the second input/output terminal (P2). The switching between the connection modes of the switch (51) changes the circuit configuration of the high-frequency filter (10).

Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a high-frequency filter utilizing the resonant frequency and anti-resonant frequency of a resonator, a front-end circuit, and a communication apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Various high-frequency filters have been devised. These high-frequency filters include a variable-frequency filter disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. A variable-frequency filter, which is a single high-frequency filter, can provide a plurality of filter characteristics (bandpass characteristics and attenuation characteristics) corresponding to different passbands.
The variable-frequency filter disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a plurality of piezoelectric resonators and a switch. The variable-frequency filter disclosed in Patent Document 1 changes the combination of piezoelectric resonators by switching between connection modes of the switch. As a result, a plurality of different transmission characteristics (attenuation characteristics) are provided.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-207116

High-frequency filter, front-end circuit, and communication apparatus


The guiding device comprises a body, the size of which corresponds to that of a fuel assembly, intended to rest on the lower core plate (20), equipped with holding means intended to be grasped by an assembly-handling machine, extended downwards by means (18) for positioning it on the lower core plate at an assembly location adjacent to the one intended to receive the assembly to be guided, and two wings (30) carried by the bottom part of the body, forming an angle of 90.degree. in a horizontal plane, each one having an inclined guide face (32) ending at the bottom above the location intended to receive the assembly when the device is in place. Each wing (30) can be retracted, starting from a deployed state, towards a position in which it is withdrawn within the horizontal size of the body.

The subject of the present invention is a device for guiding fuel assemblies which is intended to bring it, while it is being loaded, to a location of a lower plate of the core intended to receive it in a nuclear reactor.
Various devices intended to fulfil this function are already known, such as those described in documents JR-A-2,588,689 and FR-A-2,614,128. The guiding device according to the latter document comprises=
a body, the horizontal size of which corresponds to that of a fuel assembly, intended to rest on the core plate, equipped with holding means intended to be grasped by an assembly-handling machine, extended downwards by means for positioning it on the lower core plate at an assembly location adjacent to the one intended to receive the assembly to be guided, and PA1 two wings carried by the bottom part of the body, forming an angle of 90.degree. in a horizontal plane, each one having an inclined guide face ending at the bottom at the location intended to receive the assembly when the device is installed.
Such a device is placed, with the aid of the mast of the loading machine, at the location diagonally adjacent to the one which is to receive an assembly to be loaded. It makes it possible to bring the base of the assembly to its correct location and facilitates the engagement of the centring holes with which the assembly is equipped in the fingers of the plate which are intended to receive them, even when the assembly has been deformed as a result of earlier irradiation.
In this known device, the wings are fastened rigidly to the body. They make the overall size of the device in plan view very much greater than that of a fuel assembly and as a consequence complicate the handling and storage of the device. What is more, the device cannot be used for guiding an edge assembly into its receiving location.

Device for guiding a fuel assembly during loading

Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires


A filling system for a machine used, in a tobacco industry for filling trays with rod-shaped articles that are dispensed from a dispenser, the filling system comprising a filling unit comprising rotary rollers for facilitating the passing or traversing of the rod-shaped articles from the dispenser to the tray below the filling system and a blocking unit for blocking passing or traversing of the rod-shaped articles from the dispenser to the tray. In an embodiment, the blocking unit may comprise pressing elements movable in a direction of axes of the rotary rollers between a blocked position, in which the pressing elements are located at a first distance, not greater than a length of the rod-shaped articles, from a back wall of the dispenser and an unblocked position, in which the pressing elements are located at a second distance, greater than the length of the rod-shaped articles, from the back wall of the dispenser.

The tobacco industry involves manufacture of various products, such as cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars and filter rods, which may be generally classified as rod-shaped articles. The "rod-shaped" term relates both to final and intermediate products that undergo further manufacturing processes. The manufactured rod-shaped articles may be transported between consecutive machines of the manufacturing line or stored. The products are often transported between consecutive sites of the manufacturing line, or stored, in parallelepiped-shaped trays having two open walls. These trays are filled utilizing machines for filling trays with rod-shaped articles, so called "tray fillers." A problem in construction of the tray filler is appropriate functioning of the filling system, which may be responsible for distributing a specified amount of rod-shaped articles into consecutively supplied trays and arranging the consecutive layers of articles so that the articles form a honeycomb-like structure. After filling up of every consecutive trays, the filling system may be closed. After the closure, no more articles should move into to the area below the filling system.
There are known various filling systems, for example from the German patent application DE 198 29 735 and US patent documents U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,487,001 and 4,489,534.
Another method for blocking articles in the filling system is disclosed in GB 1 186 348 A publication.
The documents presented above do not provide a solution which would provide an appropriate arrangement of higher layers of a tray, in particular due to, even after closing of the filling system, single articles may still may pass through the filling system.

Filling system for a machine for filling trays and a method for filling trays

International Tobacco Machinery Poland Sp. z o.o.