Multiple signals are received from multiple receivers in a motion sensor. Each signal is amplified and undergoes a gain adjustment individually to generate multiple preamplified received ultrasonic signals. A separate demodulator circuit receives a different preamplified received ultrasonic signal and generates a sum of the demodulated signals and a difference between the demodulated signals. A low pass filter corresponding to a demodulator circuit removes the sum of the demodulated signals. The mixer circuit combines the difference between the demodulated signals to generate an integrated circuit. The gain of each preamplifier may be adjusted based on a sensitivity setting, target levels of the preamplifier, and a level of a preamplified ultrasonic signal, resulting in an integrated motion sign that originated from multiple signals to different receivers in the sensor housing.

Ultrasonic occupancy sensors are used to detect the presence of moving objects (e.g., a person) entering an area of interest (e.g., a room). When such a moving object is detected, the ultrasonic occupancy sensors perform a function (e.g., turn on lights in the room, adjust a thermostat). The ultrasonic occupancy sensor radiates (transmits) high frequency sound waves that are undetectable to the human ear. These sound waves bounce off surfaces, including people. Motion is detected via shifts in frequency that are detected as "Doppler shift" when receiving the reflected sound waves and comparing the frequency thereof to the transmitted sound wave frequency in a frequency mixer and then through a low pass filter.
The relative acoustic strength of the high frequency sound waves is affected by many factors including cubic footage of desired coverage, partitions, drapes, carpeting, furniture, potential reflection patterns, and the efficiency of the transducer converting electrical energy into acoustic energy. If adjustments in detection sensitivity are required, present technology ultrasonic occupancy sensors use either a potentiometer (manual) or algorithms in a microcontroller (automatic) to adjust the amplitude of the received signal. Adjusting the amplitude of the received signal is critical to avoid saturation (overload) of the receiver circuitry and to accommodate various noise sources such as heavy airflow from a supply register in the ceiling, floor, and/or wall. Adjusting the detection sensitivity automatically can be referred to as automatic gain control (AGC). Adjustments to the signal can be performed by a preamplifier, also called a preamp.
At times, multiple receivers are used in a single ultrasonic occupancy sensor. By using multiple receivers, the ultrasonic occupancy sensor can cover a larger area compared with an ultrasonic occupancy sensor that uses a single receiver.

Multiple ultrasonic preamplifiers with independent automatic gain control


Disclosed are exemplary techniques for compressing ATM cells by substituting reduced headers for the original headers. A header table may be maintained at the transmitting end whereby headers are stored in table entries based on a table index generated from a hash function applied to the headers. A copy of the header table may be maintained at the receiving end and may be updated by populating idle cells with header table contents. Upon receipt of a reduced ATM cell at the receiving end, the reduced header may be replaced with a full header obtained from the copy of the header table maintained at the receiving end. The present invention further provides techniques for registration and management of hash collisions.

Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)-based techniques frequently are used in data communication systems to provide for the reliability of circuit switching and the flexibility and efficiency of packet routing. ATM is particularly useful in digital subscriber line (xDSL)-based systems, such as asynchronous DSL (ADSL).
ATM provides for the transmission of fixed-sized cells which then may be grouped together into frames. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional ATM cell 100 is illustrated. The ATM cell 100 typically is constructed of 53 bytes, five of which comprise the ATM header which contains information used for network management. Generally, the ATM header includes a generic flow control (GFC) field 102, one or more virtual path identifier (VPI) fields 104, 106, one or more virtual channel identifier (VCI) fields 108-114, a payload type indicator (PTI) field 116, a congestion loss priority (CLP) field 118 and a header error control (HEC) field 120. The remaining 48 bytes of the 53 byte ATM cell 100 typically are reserved for payload field 122.
While cell headers, frame headers, and superframe headers generally are necessary in ATM for proper network management, it will be appreciated that their use often limits the nominal data transfer rate over an ATM line. To illustrate, because only 48 bytes of the 53 byte ATM cell 100 represent payload data, conventional ATM has an efficiency of approximately 90.5% on a cell-by-cell basis. Improving the size of the payload compared to the size of the header would allow payload data to be transmitted at a greater bit rate. Accordingly, a process for improving the ratio of payload size to header size in ATM cells would be advantageous.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

ATM header compression using hash tables


Video data in an encoded frame is reduced by adjusting orthogonal transform coefficients in the encoded frame during trick play operation such as fast forward or fast reverse. The orthogonal transform coefficients are adjusted by selecting essential orthogonal transform coefficients with high energy and non-essential orthogonal transform coefficients with low energy, maintaining or strengthening the essential orthogonal transform coefficients and attenuating or removing the non-essential orthogonal transform coefficients. In an MPEG bit stream, the encoded frame is an I-frame and the orthogonal transform coefficients are discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients.

Video data transmission is becoming increasingly important in business and home applications such as video storage and playback systems. Video images (pictures) of video data are represented by frames of luminance and chrominance picture signals. Since the frames contain large amounts of video data, image compression is used to increase transmission rates.
Static image compression such as JPEG removes redundant video data in the spatial domain. Moving image compression such as MPEG removes redundant video data in both the spatial and time domains by taking advantage of intra-frame and inter-frame correlation.
Intra-frame correlation reduces video data spatial redundancy by converting the video data from the time domain to the frequency domain using an orthogonal transform to generate orthogonal transform coefficients.
For example, an 8×8 pixel block with luminance and chrominance amplitudes at the respective pixels is converted by a discrete cosine transform into 8×8 discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients. The first DCT coefficient is a DC (zero frequency) coefficient and the remaining 63 DCT coefficients are AC coefficients with increasingly higher frequencies.
Inter-frame correlation uses predictive encoding between successive frames. Since a fairly small change between successive frames is typical, transmission of the frame differences generated by predictive encoding is usually more efficient than transmission of the frames. However, the frames cannot be restored if only the frame differences are transmitted. Therefore, the frames are occasionally transmitted without predictive encoding as a reference for the frame differences.
Pictures encoded with intra-frame correlation are referred to as intra-pictures or I-frames. Pictures encoded with predictive encoding relative to one preceding picture are referred to as predictive pictures or P-frames. Pictures encoded with predictive encoding relative to at most two pictures (either the following picture or both the preceding and following pictures) are referred to as bi-directionally predictive pictures or B-frames.
P-frames follow an I-frame or a P-frame. B-frames can predictively encode two I-frames, two P-frames or one of each using a reference picture based on the mean value of the two pictures. Picture groups include an I-frame and P-frames and B-frames derived from the I-frame.
For example, a picture group is provided by frames F1, F2, F3 . . . F17. The leading frame F1 is an I-frame, the second frame F2 is a B-frame, the third frame F3 is a P-frame, and the fourth and the following frames F4 to F17 are alternately B-frames and P-frames.
Video systems are increasingly expected to provide trick play operation, such as fast forward and fast reverse, in addition to normal play operation. During trick play operation, the video data is transmitted at a higher transmission rate than during normal play operation.
Video systems have been designed with higher transmission bandwidths to accommodate higher transmission rates during trick play operation, however this increases costs. Video systems have also been designed to drop some or all of the P-frames and B-frames during trick play operation and reconstruct the video data using the I-frames. However, the I-frames are considerably larger than the P-frame and B-frame counterparts. As a result, the decoder that performs the inverse discrete cosine transform on the MPEG data to generate the video data exhibits a processing bottleneck, thereby creating a low perceived motion rate of the video images. Video systems have also been designed to drop some of the I-frames during trick play operation, however this degrades the picture quality.
Therefore, there is a need for video data reduction in MPEG bit streams that preserves picture quality without increasing transmission bandwidth requirements and associated costs.


A coated glass substrate and a method of making the glass substrate is disclosed. The method comprises the following: providing a coating formulation on a glass substrate wherein the coating formulation comprises at least one polymerizable compound, a glass frit, and a non-crosslinked polymer and heating the coating formulation on the glass substrate. The coated glass substrate includes a coating provided on a surface of a glass substrate wherein the coating comprises a semi-interpenetrating polymer network including a non-crosslinked polymer and a glass frit. The coating exhibits a stud pull of about 275 psi or more.

Decorative glass is becoming more and more popular in residential, commercial, and interior applications. For instance, decorative glass is often formed by a process that involves coating a glass substrate with an organic-based paint layer and then curing the paint layer in an oven. However, many conventional organic-based paints are sensitive to corrosive materials (e.g., acids) and exhibit less than desired mechanical and adhesive properties. As such, a need continues to exist for improved decorative glass articles that are capable of exhibiting improved properties.

Coated glass article containing a semi-interpenetrating network


A microwave apparatus and method for ullage measurement of agitated materials is provided. The apparatus and method utilize a transformation of the reflected time domain signal into a frequency domain signal. The frequency domain signal is averaged using the natural, inherent weighting associated with the transformation to achieve a unique corrected result. The average frequency domain signal is then used to calculate the average distance for determining the ullage measurement.

It is well known to use various mechanical, electrical and electro-mechanical devices to determine the level of material in a tank or container. Mechanical devices include floats, displacers, diaphragms or vibrating elements. Other devices use the specific gravity of the material in order to accurately determine the level of the material in the tank. Also, optical sensors are used as well as conductivity sensing devices. Lastly, microwave sensors have been used for detecting the level of solids or liquids. However, all of these devices are incapable of determining the median level of a fluid in a tank when the fluid is in a state of agitation. Devices are unable to make an accurate measurement when the uniformity of the surface of the fluid is randomly disturbed.
The disadvantages of the prior technology with respect to the agitation are overcome by the present invention, and improved methods and apparatus are hereinafter described for inexpensively and reliably determining the mean level of a fluid in a tank when the surface of the fluid is agitated. Typically, an expensive, sophisticated microwave transducer module, having a wide band width, is required to avoid the problems so elegantly solved by the present invention. With the aid of the present invention, almost any microwave transducer module can be used.

Microwave apparatus and method for ullage measurement of agitated fluids by spectral averaging


Multi-layer devices suitable for thermal cycling processes. The devices are particularly suitable for performing polymerase chain reactions (PCR). One embodiment includes a first conducting layer, a second conducting layer adjacent to the first layer, and a third conducting layer adjacent to the second layer opposite the first layer. Insulating layers are positioned between said three conducting layers. Continuous channels are formed within the layers. The channels can be formed in either the conducting layer or the insulating layers, or both. Other embodiments include two conducting layers. At least one integral or separate temperature source may be provided to maintain the conducting layers at various desired temperatures.

Various fields such as life science, medical devices and biotechnology often require thermal cycling for performing various reactions. One type of reaction is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in which a biological sample such as a DNA fragment is replicated.
PCR has been the preferred method for replicating, or "amplifying" specific and singular nucleic acid constituents in an otherwise complex sample. Among the requirements of the PCR protocol is that the PCR sample, consisting of the biologic sample and PCR reagents, be exposed to three distinct temperatures for a specific length of time. The temperature and time of the exposure is optimized for the particular nucleic acid sequence desired. It is also a requirement that the PCR sample be exposed to the three temperatures multiple times. In the scientific vernacular, these two requirements are commonly referred to as thermal cycling.
Scientific endeavors such as the Human Genome Project and other similar efforts require that an extraordinary number of PCR reactions be conducted. The costs and time associated with the performance of PCR can become prohibitive for scientific studies that require thousands or even millions of PCR reactions. Cost reduction can be realized by reducing the volumes of the materials required for a successful PCR reaction through miniaturization. Total PCR reaction time can be reduced by decreasing the time required for the sample to be exposed to, and equilibrate at each of the temperature set points in the prescribed PCR protocol.
Current art has relied on various means to achieve these goals. Each method and device contains one or more of the following attributes that prohibits rapid temperature changes in the PCR sample. The temperature of one or more sources of thermal energy must be changed to establish each temperature set point. The time required for this is determined by the thermal conductivity of the device material which is inherently slower than the PCR sample itself. If constant temperature thermal sources are employed, regional areas of the device equilibrate at the desired temperature set points but gradual temperature changes are established in the surrounding areas within the device due to the thermal conductivity properties of the materials. This results in a slow thermal transition of the sample as it moves through the device. The time to traverse these transition temperature ranges serves to increase the total reaction time in comparison to methods that offer abrupt or instantaneous changes. It also requires that the device be larger and therefore does not provide the highest degree of miniaturization. Thus, the full cost benefit from reduced PCR sample volumes is not realized.
There is substantial development of devices and methods to facilitate the temperature cycling, also referred to as thermal cycling. U.S. Pat. No. 6,337,435 TEMPERATURE CONTROL FOR MULTI-VESSEL REACTION APPARATUS by Daniel Chu, et al. describes an approach whereby a sample or samples in a multi-well container are subjected to temperature changes caused by physical contact between the multi-well container and a heating device. The time required to perform the thermal cycling is largely determined by thermal mass and other physical properties of the heating device and is therefore relatively slow.
The multi-well device is usually opened at the top to provide access to the wells for the introduction and removal of the sample. This creates an environment for the undesirable evaporation of the sample. The aforementioned patent, as well as others, strive to reduce this effect by implementing covers. The covers reduce evaporation but present an opportunity for undesirable condensation. This effect is often mitigated by heating the cover but this then introduces a competing temperature source to the system, further increasing the total PCR reaction time.
There has been a significant effort within the biotechnology community to create closed miniaturized devices in order to mitigate the disadvantages of the open well/vessel systems. The advantages of a closed miniaturized system would be to reduce sample evaporation, reduce condensation, and to reduce costs by using smaller sample and reagent volumes. Exemplary of such miniaturized systems is U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,525 MINIATURE REACTION CHAMBER AND DEVICES INCORPORATING SAME by Richard Mathies and Adam Woolley and U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,431 PROCESS FOR MICROFABRICATION OF AN INTEGRATED PCR-CE DEVICE AND PRODUCTS PRODUCED BY THE SAME by Richard Mathies, Peter Simpson, and Stephen Williams. Such devices are fabricated containing closed reaction chambers. Sample and reagent liquids flow into and out of these chambers through a network of fluid channels. Heating elements such as resistive wire elements are fabricated within these chambers and provide the heating energy required to execute the PCR assay.
As with the larger and open system, the thermal properties of the device and the structural design primarily determine the reaction time. Although these systems are an improvement over the previously described approach, the thermal characteristics of such a structure is a limiting factor. Also, fabricating, controlling, and monitoring of the in situ heating elements is complicated and adds appreciably to the cost of the device.
Another method that attempts to accelerate the PCR process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,372 METHOD AND DEVICES FOR EXTREMELY FAST DNA REPLICATION BY POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTIONS (PCR) by Jochen Fanzen. In this embodiment, a two dimensional network of microfluidic channels is contained within two temperature heating/cooling elements. The microchannel device is exposed to rapid temperature changes by changes in the heating/cooling elements above and below the device. This system is very efficient in the energy transfer between the heating/cooling elements due to complete physical contact with the elements. However, the total PCR reaction time is still limited by the ability to change temperature within the heating/elements and within the microchannel material.
The above-mentioned devices and methods address the issue of thermal cycling for PCR by various configurations of heating elements in an attempt optimize the energy transfer from the elements to the device and eventually the PCR sample contained there in. All of these methods and devices are limited by their ability to transfer thermal energy through the device and into the sample. Further limitations are present when the heating elements themselves must also change temperature in order to expose the PCR sample to each desired temperature set point in the PCR protocol.
It is therefore desirable to provide a thermal cycling device that reduces the thermal limitations of prior known devices as well as reducing evaporation, condensation and cost so that a device for rapidly performing thermal cycling is provided.


A device and method for providing an integrated circuit with a unique identification. The device is usable on an integrated circuit (IC) for generating an identification (ID) identifying the IC and includes a plurality of identification cells each utilizing one of a four wire resistor, thin film resistors, and an inverter pair. A measurement circuit measures a parameter of each cell and is utilized in generating the ID in response thereto.

In order to track chip, wafer, and lot identification (ID), e-fuses (silicided polysilicon PC) or laser-fuses can be blown into each module. Blowing the fuses, however, takes time and adds cost during wafer testing. For example, blowing fuses can take 0.75 s per PS3 cell processor.
It is also known to use random differential Idsat (high drain or saturation current) output of paired MOSFET transistors to generate a unique binary chip ID. In this case, a unique differential Idsat is stored for future reference and for chip identification. Comparator circuitry is typically used to read chip ID. For example, 16×16 arrays of paired MOSFET's are used (256 MOSFET pairs) to uniquely identify a chip running in a "high volume" manufacturing fabrication. Advantages of this technique include the elimination e-fuse or laser fuse blow test time and the possible elimination of tampering with ECID (passports, smartchips, etc.).
This latter technique has disadvantages, however. For example, measuring MOSFET Idsat requires correct biasing of the FET S/D/G and the repeatable application of test voltage, currents, and temperature since the measured differential Idsat will be a function of the test conditions. Another disadvantage relates to how the MOSFET Idsat and other electrical properties change over time due to (a) charge injection into the gate dielectric, (b) radiation (alpha particles, etc.), (c) mobile ions, and (d) wear out of the gate dielectric (trap creation), etc. Another disadvantage relates to how the electro static discharge (ESD) destructive event (blowing the MOSFET gates) can eliminate electronic chip identification (ECID) capability.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.

Device and method for providing an integrated circuit with a unique identification

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to an improved method of removing and transporting empty, recyclable, aluminum and plastic beverage containers returned to redemption centers without requiring the redemption centers to sort the containers by distributor and then separate the containers into like materials for removal. The present invention also illuminates the burden imposed on the distributors from having to pick up the containers from the redemption centers, then shred or bale the materials, and then sell the materials to recyclers. The invention comprises the steps of collecting and depositing the aluminum and plastic containers into a single holding bin at the redemption center's facilities. Using a blower such as a centrifugal fan and chute to blow the contents of the holding bin into a transporter such as a semi-trailer or compactor. Transporting the transporter to a separating facility which automatically separates the aluminum and plastic containers into like materials. Then delivering to a recycling facility the separated beverage containers, thereby eliminating the need for the distributors to pick up their beverage containers from the redemption centers for delivery to recyclers.

Field of Application
The present invention relates to an improved method of collecting, removing and transporting aluminum and plastic beverage containers from a redemption center to a separating facility without requiring the redemption center to sort the beverage containers by specific beverage company or requiring the redemption center to separate the beverage containers into like materials. Additionally, the improved method relieves the beverage companies from the burden of having to remove the empty beverage containers from the redemption center.

Method of collecting recyclable containers from a redemption center for separating at a separating facility


Surgical repair of diseased or damaged endogenous connective tissue can be accomplished using a tissue graft formed from a delaminated segment of intestinal tissue. The tissue graft comprises the intestinal tunica submucosa, muscularis mucosa and stratum compactum delaminated from the tunica muscularis and the luminal portion of the tunica mucosa. The graft can be conditioned by stretching and formed as a multilayer composition for high tensile strength and resistance to tearing at its points of attachment to existing physiological structures.

Researchers in the surgical arts have been working for many years to develop new techniques and materials for use as grafts to replace or repair damaged or diseased tissue structures, particularly bones and connective tissues, such as ligaments and tendons, and to hasten fracture healing. It is very common today, for instance, for an orthopaedic surgeon to harvest a patellar tendon of autogenous or allogenous origin for use as a replacement for a torn cruciate ligament. The surgical methods for such techniques are well known. Further it has become common for surgeons to use implantable prostheses formed from plastic, metal and/or ceramic material for reconstruction or replacement of physiological structures. Yet despite their wide use, surgically implanted prostheses present many attendant risks to the patient. It will suffice to say that surgeons are in need of a non-immunogenic, high tensile strength graft material which can be used for surgical repair of bones, tendons, ligaments and other functional tissue structures.
Researchers have been attempting to develop satisfactory polymer or plastic materials to serve as ligament, or tendon replacements or as replacements for other connective tissues, such as those involved in hernias and joint-dislocation injuries. It has been found that it is difficult to provide a tough, durable plastic material which is suitable for long-term connective tissue replacement. Plastic materials can become infected and difficulties in treating such infections often lead to graft failure.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided tissue graft constructs for orthopaedic and other surgical applications which in experiments to date have been shown to exhibit many of the desirable characteristics important for optimal graft function.
The graft construct in accordance with this invention is prepared from a delaminated segment of intestinal tissue of a warm-blooded vertebrate, the segment comprising the tunica submucosa, the muscularis mucosa and the stratum compactum of the tunica mucosa. The tunica submucosa, muscularis mucosa and stratum compactum are delaminated from the tunica muscularis and the luminal portion of the tunica mucosa of the segment of intestinal tissue. The resulting segment is a tubular, very tough, fibrous, collagenous material which is fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,508 issued Feb. 20, 1990 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,178 issued Sep. 11, 1990, which patents are expressly incorporated herein by reference. In those patents, the tissue graft material is primarily described in connection with vascular graft applications.
Intestinal submucosa graft material may be harvested from a biological source such as animals raised for meat production, including, for example, pigs, cattle and sheep or other warm-blooded vertebrates. Older sows having a weight between 400 and 600 lbs. have been found to be particularly good sources of graft material for use for this invention. A graft segment removed from such an older sow can have a tensile strength of up to 1700 psi in the longitudinal direction of the intestine. Thus, there is a ready source of intestinal submucosa graft material in slaughter houses around the country, ready to be harvested and utilized in accordance with the present invention.
The tri-layer intestinal segments used to form the graft constructs in accordance with this invention can be used in their delaminate tubular form or they can be cut longitudinally or laterally to form elongated tissue segments. In either form, such segments have an intermediate portion and opposite end positions and opposite lateral portions which can be formed for surgical attachment to existing physiological structures, using surgically acceptable techniques.
An advantage of the intestinal submucosa graft formed for surgical repair in accordance with the present invention is its resistance to infection. The intestinal submucosa graft material, fully described in the aforesaid patents, have high infection resistance, long shelf life and storage characteristics. It has been found that xenogeneic intestinal submucosa is compatible with hosts following implantation as vascular grafts, ligaments and tendons because of its basic composition. The intestinal submucosa connective tissue is apparently very similar among species. It is not recognized by the host's immune system as "foreign" and therefore is not rejected. Further the intestinal submucosa grafts appear to be extremely resistant to infection because of their trophic properties toward vascularization and toward endogenous tissues surgically affixed or otherwise associated with the implant graft. In fact, most of the studies made with intestinal submucosa grafts to date have involved non-sterile grafts, and no infection problems have been encountered. Of course, appropriate sterilization techniques acceptable to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) may well be used to treat grafts in accordance with the present invention.
It has been found that unsterilized clean intestinal submucosa graft material can be kept at 4.degree. C. (refrigerated) for at least one month without loss of graft performance. When the intestinal submucosa graft material is sterilized by known methods, it will stay in good condition for at least two months at room temperature without any resultant loss in graft performance.
It has also been found that the grafts formed and used in accordance with this invention upon implantation undergo biological remodelling. They serve as a rapidly vascularized matrix for support and growth of new endogenous connective tissue. The graft material used in accordance with this invention has been found to be trophic for host tissues with which it is attached or otherwise associated in its implanted environment. In multiple experiments the graft material has been found to be remodelled (resorbed and replaced with autogenous differentiated tissue) to assume the characterizing features of the tissue(s) with which it is associated at the site of implantation. In tendon and ligament replacement studies the graft appears to develop a surface that is synovialized. Additionally, the boundaries between the graft and endogenous tissue are no longer discernible. Indeed, where a single graft "sees" multiple microenvironments as implanted, it is differentially remodeled along its length. Thus when used in cruciate ligament replacement experiments not only does the portion of the graft traversing the joint become vascularized and actually grow to look and function like the original ligament, but the portion of the graft in the femoral and tibial bone tunnels rapidly incorporates into and promotes development of the cortical and cancellous bone in those tunnels. In fact, it has been found that after six months, it is not possible to identify the tunnels radiographically. It appears that intestinal submucosa serves as a matrix for and stimulates bone regrowth (remodeling) within the tunnels. The bone tunnels with the encompassed intestinal submucosa graft have never been shown to be a weak point in the tensile-strength evaluations after sacrifice of test dogs accomplished to date.
It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide graft constructs for use as connective tissue substitute, particularly as a substitute for ligaments and tendons. The graft is formed from a segment of intestinal tissue of a warm-blooded vertebrate. The graft construct comprises the tunica submucosa, the muscularis mucosa and the stratum compactum of the tunica mucosa, said tunica submucosa, muscularis mucosa and stratum compactum being delaminated from the tunica muscularis and the luminal portions of the tunica mucosa of the segment of intestinal tissue. The graft construct has a longitudinal dimension corresponding to the length of the segment of intestinal tissue and a lateral dimension proportioned to the diameter of the segment of intestinal tissue. For tendon and ligament replacement, applications the resulting segment is typically preconditioned by stretching longitudinally to a length longer than the length of the intestinal tissue segment from which it was formed. For example, the segment is conditioned by suspending a weight from said segment, for a period of time sufficient to allow about 10 to about 20% elongation of the tissue segment. Optionally, the graft material can be preconditioned by stretching in the lateral dimension. (The graft material exhibits similar viscoelastic properties in the longitudinal and lateral dimensions). The graft segment is then formed in a variety of shapes and configurations, for example, to serve as a ligament or tendon replacement or substitute or a patch for a broken or severed tendon or ligament. Preferably, the segment is shaped and formed to have a layered or even a multilayered configuration with at least the opposite end portions and/or opposite lateral portions being formed to have multiple layers of the graft material to provide reinforcement for attachment to physiological structures, including bone, tendon, ligament, cartilage and muscle. In a ligament replacement application, opposite ends are attached to first and second bones, respectively, the bones typically being articulated as in the case of a knee joint. It is understood that ligaments serve as connective tissue for bones, i.e.. between articulated bones, while tendons serve as connective tissue to attach muscle to a bone.
When a segment of intestine is first harvested and delaminated as described above, it will be a tubular segment having an intermediate portion and opposite end portions. The end portions are then formed, manipulated or shaped to be attached, for example, to a bone structure in a manner that will reduce the possibility of graft tearing at the point of attachment. Preferably it can be folded or partially everted to provide multiple layers for gripping, for example, with spiked washers or staples. Alternatively, the segment may be folded back on itself to join the end portions to provide a first connective portion to be attached, for example, to a first bone and a bend in the intermediate portion to provide a second connective portion to be attached to a second bone articulated with respect to the first bone.
For example, one of the end portions may be adapted to be pulled through a tunnel in, for example, the femur and attached thereto, while the other of the end portions may be adapted to be pulled through a tunnel in the tibia and attached thereto to provide a substitute for the natural cruciate ligament, the segment being adapted to be placed under tension between the tunnels to provide a ligament function, i.e., a tensioning and positioning function provided by a normal ligament.
The intestinal submucosa segment, which in its preferred embodiment consists essentially of the tunica submucosa, muscularis mucosa and stratum compactum, has been found to have good mechanical strength characteristics in the same delaminated tubular form in which it is produced following the described delamination procedure. It has been found that having the stratum compactum layer inside the tubular form in a tendon or ligament graft provides good trophic properties for vascularization. It is believed that grafts used in accordance with the present invention with the intestinal segment inverted, i.e., with the stratum compactum on the outside will exhibit like functionality, but further testing is required to determine the vascularization characteristics with that structure utilized, for example, as a tendon or ligament graft.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for surgical repair of diseased or damaged tissues connecting first and second tissues structures selected from the group consisting of bone, ligament, tendon, cartilage and muscle. The method comprises the step of attaching the first and second structures to opposite end portions or opposite lateral portions of a tissue graft construct formed in accordance with the above described embodiments. The graft comprises the tunica submucosa, the muscularis mucosa and the stratum compactum of a segment of intestinal tissue of a warm-blooded vertebrate, said tunica submucosa, muscularis mucosa and stratum compactum being delaminated from the tunica muscularis and the luminal portion of the tunica mucosa of said intestinal tissue.
Because grafts used in orthopaedic applications are typically placed under tension in their surgical installation, it may be preferable to combine two or even more tissue segments to provide a multi-ply (multi-layered) graft construct. It is another object of the present invention, therefore, to provide such grafts in which two or more PG,11 intestinal segments are arranged to have their end portions joined together with the joined end portions and/or lateral portions adapted to be attached to a bone, tendon, ligament or other physiological structure. One method for providing a double intestinal segment may be to pull one tubular segment internally within another segment to provide a double-walled tube, the joined ends of which can be attached, for example, to a bone, tendon or ligament. These doubled segments will provide enhanced tensile strength and resistance to stretching under tension.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a graft in which one of said end portions is adapted to be pulled through a tunnel in, for example, the femur and attached thereto and the other of said end portion is adapted to be pulled through a tunnel in the tibia and attached thereto to provide a substitute for the natural cruciate ligament, the segment being adapted to be placed under tension between the tunnels to provide a ligament function. Similar procedures can be employed to provide ligament function to other articulating bones.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an orthopaedic graft for use as connective tissue to hold fractured bone pieces together and in proper orientation in the body, the segment being formed to serve as a fracture wrap about segments of fractured bone and to be attached to the bone.
One other object of this invention is to provide a method for promoting the healing and/or regrowth of diseased or damaged tissue structures by surgically repairing such structures with a tissue graft construct prepared from a segment of intestinal submucosal tissue as described above. The implanted graft construct is trophic toward vascularization and differentiated tissue growth and is essentially remodelled to assume the structural and functional characteristics of the repaired structure.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent as this description progresses.

Graft for promoting autogenous tissue growth


A hydraulic bushing assembly includes an inner tube, an elastomeric bushing disposed around the inner tube, an insert disposed around the elastomeric bushing and an outer tube disposed around the insert. The elastomeric bushing and the insert define a pair of chambers which are connected by a passageway defined by the insert. A pair of intermediate tubes are disposed in the elastomeric bushing at opposite axial ends of the insert.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Hydraulic bushings typically used in automobile suspensions are expected to damp low frequency large displacement oscillations as well as contribute to high frequency acoustic isolation from relatively small displacements. Hydraulic bushings typically have two hydraulic chambers connected by a channel. The resonance of the fluid in the channel creates a mass damper effect. A single piece intermediate tube is utilized in some designs to improve the durability of the bushing and to separate the working part of the elastomeric bushing where the loads are taken from the outer part of the elastomeric bushing where the channels are formed and the fluid sealing is provided for the fluid within the bushing.
Typically, the intermediate tube is only needed at the ends of the bushing and the center portion of the intermediate tube is used predominantly to provide an interconnection between the two end portions. The single piece intermediate tube is an expensive component that presents various difficulties during the assembly of the hydraulic bushing.


A method for fabricating a non-volatile memory device. The method includes providing a substrate, e.g., silicon. The method also includes forming an oxide layer overlying the substrate; and forming a buffer layer overlying the oxide layer. A ferroelectric material is formed overlying the substrate and is formed preferably overlying the buffer layer. The method also includes forming a gate layer overlying the ferroelectric material, where the gate layer is overlying a channel region. The method further includes forming first source/drain region adjacent to a first side of the channel region and a second source/drain region adjacent to a second side of the channel region. In other embodiments, the method can also include other steps.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of objects. More particularly, the invention provides a method and resulting structure for a memory device using a ferroelectric material.
Memory cells are used in the implementation of many types of electronic devices and integrated circuits. These devices include microprocessors, static random access memories ("SRAMs"), erasable-programmable read only memories ("EPROMs"), electrically erasable programmable read only memories ("EEPROMs"), Flash EEPROM memories, programmable logic devices ("PLDs"), field programmable gate arrays ("FPGAs"), application specific integrated circuits ("ASICs"), among others. Memory cells are used to store the data and other information for these and other integrated circuits.
As integrated circuit technology and semiconductor processing continue to advance, there is a need for greater densities and functionality in integrated circuits, which are often determined in a large part by the size of the memory cells. Further, it is desirable that the memory cells have improved operating characteristics, such as lower power consumption, nonvolatility, greater device longevity, improved data retention, better transient performance, superior voltage and current attributes, and improvements in other similar attributes.
Volatile memory devices are commonly used in many integrated circuit applications. These memory devices include, among others, dynamic random access memory ("DRAMs") and others. Unfortunately, DRAM devices often require power to maintain the memory state of the device. Accordingly, other devices such as flash memory devices and the like have been proposed. These devices, however, are often larger and more difficult to scale than DRAM devices.
Other types of technologies such as ferroelectric random access memory ("FRAM") devices have also been proposed. FRAM devices attempt to take advantage of the densities of the DRAM designs to create a non-volatile memory cell. Here, the ferroelectric material is often used as an alternative-material to replace conventional capacitor materials of DRAMs with the FRAM capacitor. An example of this technology has been proposed by Ramtron International of Colorado in the United States. A variety of limitations also exist with this FRAM technology. For example, a one transistor and one capacitor approach uses a reading process that is often destructive to support the charges. This is commonly called destructive read out process, also called DRO. After each read, the state must often be reinstated, which often calls for an additional programming step. Continued read and write operations degrade the FRAM material, and causes reduced reliability and efficiency of the device.
Furthermore, the FRAM capacitor size is often fixed in size. This size cannot be changed, according to scaling rules. Here, the transistor size is reduced but capacitance cannot be reduced. FRAM capacitors therefore cannot be reduced according to manufacturing problems. FRAM capacitors are often plagued with contamination and also process compatibility and reliability. Accordingly, conventional FRAM devices are often difficult to make for highly dense devices.
What is needed is an improvement FRAM technique for the manufacture of memory devices.

Ferroelectric memory transistor with highly-oriented film on gate insulator


Amorphous and polycrystalline III-V semiconductor including (Ga,As), (Al,As), (In,As), (Ga,N), and (Ga,P) materials were grown at low temperatures on semiconductor substrates. After growth, different substrates containing the low temperature grown material were pressed together in a pressure jig before being annealed. The annealing temperatures ranged from about 300° C. to 800° C. for annealing times between 30 minutes and 10 hours, depending on the bonding materials. The structures remained pressed together throughout the course of the annealing. Strong bonds were obtained for bonding layers between different substrates that were as thin as 3 nm and as thick as 600 nm. The bonds were ohmic with a relatively small resistance, optically transparent, and independent of the orientation of the underlying structures.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a method of bonding layers together and in particular relates to a method of bonding semiconductor substrates and device layers together as well as the adhesive bonding layer itself.
2. Background Information
The ability to bond semiconductor materials together has become increasingly important for improving device applications, such as those of high-brightness light emitting diodes (LEDs). Until recently, non-semiconductor materials such as polymer, ceramics and metals have been used as bonding agent (also referred to as a bonding layer) between the two structures to be bonded. Similarly, semiconductor materials provided through epitaxial growth have been used in the bonding process. Each of these materials has disadvantages, however.
Use of epitaxial growth for bonding is especially problematic in certain respects. For example, if single crystal grown material is used and this material has a different lattice constant from the single crystal substrate on which it is grown, strain builds up in the grown material. If this strain is high and the thickness of the grown material exceeds a critical thickness, misfit and threading dislocations that relieve the strain will form in the material. Such defects damage the electrical and optical properties of the material and impede the performance of devices formed with the structure. Selection and growth of particular material that is lattice matched to substrates thus presents one challenge in using epitaxially grown material.
Conventional bonding processes using semiconductor materials have basically consisted of putting two semiconductor wafers together and applying force at certain temperatures to the wafers to make them fuse together. The most extensively used wafer bonding approach used currently is direct wafer bonding. In this technique, the bonding is achieved without any bonding agent between the two semiconductors.
Direct bonding processes employ two different techniques. The first approach consists of contacting one wafer, such as GaAs, and another wafer (for example Si or GaAs) in solution. The two wafers are bonded by natural intermolecular surface forces (Van der Waals bonding). Unfortunately, this type of bonding usually results in very poor current conduction through the bonding interface, thereby limiting the usefulness of the technique. In addition, the bonds formed using this technique are generally very weak unless they are subjected to a high temperature heat treatment (anneal) to convert the Van der Waals bonding into chemical bonding, that is, temperatures well in excess of about 600° C. Unfortunately, large thermal stresses produced during such high temperature annealing can cause problems, in part at least due to differences in the thermal expansion coefficients between the different materials. Such a problem is also present when bonding agents are present between the wafers.
In another approach, two single crystal surfaces of different materials are brought together in contact in an N2 or H2 environment with applied pressure and heat treatment at a temperature higher than that of the above technique. Given a sufficient amount of annealing, these two wafers fuse together. This bonding process involves surface-energy-induced migration and growth, in which interdiffusion of the constituent molecules or atoms of the two materials occurs at the surface. Examples of structures using direct wafer bonding include InP-based semiconductor laser diodes on Si or GaAs substrate which show a uniform bonding interface.
In this approach, although the temperature that must be used varies with the materials used, high temperatures in excess of 600° C. for GaAs and InP, 800° C. for GaP, and 1000° C. for GaN-based materials are used during the heat treatment to ensure that the bonding is strong enough to withstand the further processing. Besides the thermal stresses generated, in many situations involving compound semiconductors, such high temperatures cause the semiconductor materials to structurally break down due to the migration of atoms between layers. This consequently lowers the electrical performance of devices which rely on relatively sharply defined interfaces of the crystalline structure and dopants in the structure.
In addition, as mentioned above, conventional wafer fusion requires strict physical alignment between the structures prior to bonding so that bonding interface can be freely conducting, as shown in the examples of FIGS. 1a and 1b. As illustrated in the graphs of FIGS. 1a and 1b, even a slight misalignment of 6° or less between n-GaP and n-InGaP layers causes a relatively large amount of deviation from pure ohmic characteristics. Thus, alignment is crucial to direct wafer bonding technology since misalignment affects the amount of current flowing through the device. If enough misalignment exists, the number of die that may be used to form the final device decreases, the yield decreases, and the cost consequently increases. Also, extremely flat surfaces are required for the bond to be electrically conductive.
An alternative method to direct wafer bonding, as previously noted, is using a foreign material as a bonding agent, such as Au—Ge metal, spin-on-glass (SOG) or some organic adhesion layer such as an epoxy, photoresist or polyimide. In general, this bonding technique is performed by first depositing the bonding agent on both wafers to be bonded. The bonding agent can be in liquid form and solidified while bonding or be deposited in a solid form. The surfaces are brought in contact and pressed together under a particular pressure at a set temperature. The bonding agents fuse together and hold wafers to achieve heterogeneous integration.
A bonding process that uses such a bonding agent can be performed at lower temperatures than direct wafer bonding. In addition, the bonding is generally chemically and thermally stable at the lower temperatures used. Unfortunately, the use of foreign bonding materials has a number of detrimental consequences in many device applications. Most notably, this technique is not amenable to the subsequent chemical and thermal processes that are employed in semiconductor device manufacturing, such as metal alloying or chemical vapor deposition (such as that used in post-bond growth). High temperatures or temperature cycling used in these later processes cause many of the materials used for bonding to break down, or at least weaken substantially. If an organic adhesion layer is used, additionally such a layer in general changes chemistry upon drying or heating. Furthermore, chemicals, such as acetone, commonly used in further processing dissolve many of such organic adhesive materials. Other materials and specific problems include SOG layers, which have reliability problems or metallic bonding layers, which block light from being transmitted through the bonding layer. The latter, of course, limits the use of the metallic bonding layer in optoelectronic integrated circuit applications. Metal bonds may also undergo extensive alloying in high temperature processing. In addition, most of the materials used in this bonding technique make the bonding electrically isolating; that is, electrical current cannot be conducted across the bond.
Despite each of these techniques having its own problems, conventional direct wafer bonding or wafer bonding with a bonding agent are used in many applications. One of these applications includes LED production, as mentioned above. In LED production, using the direct wafer bonding process, the amount of light from the device may be increased by a factor of 2-3 by wafer bonding the LED to a substrate that is transparent to the wavelength of light emitted by the LED. In one example of this technique, an LED structure that includes an active region of AlGaInP on a GaAs substrate followed by a 50-μm GaP layer is grown using vapor phase epitaxy (VPE). Next, the substrate is etched off, leaving just the active region and the GaP support layer. The GaP layer is used both for support after the GaAs substrate is removed as well as for current spreading. A high density of dislocations form in the GaP current-spreading layer due to the lattice mismatch between GaP and the AlGaInP, but since it is not part of the light emitting region it does not affect the performance. Finally, a GaP substrate, which is transparent to the light emitted by the LED structure, is bonded to the active region at a temperature of at least 800° C. The GaP substrate is transparent as it is an indirect bandgap material whose bandgap is about 2.2 eV, which is larger than the energy of photons emitted by the active region. A similar process having similar results can be achieved in the formation of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) used for long-range fiber optic communications.
While the results obtained are desirable, the amount of time spent processing the device, and thus the overall cost of the device, increases dramatically as a result of the exactitude necessary during processing. The growth, wafer alignment, and structural thinning as well as handling of the thinned structure all require a large amount of time and care to maintain a suitable device yield.
It would thus be advantageous to provide a bonding arrangement and method that is relatively simple to grow, in which the bonding layer can be grown on any surface, the various substructures within the overall bonded structure are independent of orientation relative to each other, and in which sensitive preparations are not necessary. Further, it would be advantageous to provide an arrangement and method that is optically transparent for a large range of useful wavelengths, electrically conductive, as well as being performed at a relatively low temperature compared with conventional bonding processes. All of these lead to a product having decreased cost.

Adhesive bonding with low temperature grown amorphous or polycrystalline compound semiconductors

Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


An open roof construction for a vehicle having an opening in its fixed roof comprises a panel for selectively closing or at least partially opening the roof opening. An operating mechanism for the panel comprises a plate-shaped link, which is connected to the panel at the location of at least one point of attachment via an at least substantially vertical lip on the underside of the panel. The link and the lip are provided with a hole for allowing passage of a fixing element therethrough. The link includes two plate members at least at the location of the point of attachment, between which the lip of the closure element is accommodated.

The invention relates to an open roof construction having a roof opening in a fixed roof.
Such an open roof construction is known, for example from European patent application No. 0899 140. In this prior art open roof construction, the link consists of a metal plate member at the location of the point of attachment, the hole being provided with screw thread for screwing the fixing means in the form of a fixing screw therein. The lip of the closure element is placed in abutment with the metal plate member and the lip and the metal plate member are screwed together by means of one or more shims.
The object of the present invention is to further improve the open roof construction of the kind referred to in the introduction.
In order to accomplish that objective, the open roof construction according to the invention is characterized in that the link includes two plate members at least at the location of the point of attachment, between which the lip of the closure element is accommodated.
By accommodating the lip of the closure element between the plate members, forces from the panel are as much as possible transmitted to the center of the link, seen in a transverse direction, thus minimizing the flexural forces to which the operating mechanism is exposed, in particular when the link is positioned centrally in the operating mechanism, seen in the transverse direction. Accommodating the lip between the two plate members makes it possible to refrain from the use of additional shims when the fixing element is a fixing screw, which reduces the number of parts. Furthermore a stable and solid connection is obtained by clamping the lip between the surfaces of the plate members. If there is a possibility of adjusting the lip and the link relative to each other, in particular for adjusting the height of the panel with respect to the link, the position of the lip between the link plate members and the abutment of the link against both sides of the lip provide increased friction, as a result of which the adjustment that has already been made will not change during definitive fixation.
When the plate members form the link or an important part thereof, it is advantageous if they are bent outwards at the location of the point of attachment so as to form a receiving slot for the lip of the closure element.
In the situation wherein each operating mechanism is accommodated in a guide rail which extends in the longitudinal direction of the open roof construction, and the operating mechanism includes a slide which is capable of sliding movement in the guide rail, it is very advantageous if the length of the fixing element and its position in the transverse direction of the open roof construction is such that in a lowermost position of the closure element, the fixing element is at least partially accommodated between walls of the slide and/or of the guide rail. This design makes it possible to realise a very compact construction, thus minimizing the amount of space that is lost.


A standard gas introduction passage and an air inlet port are provided on positions downstream and upstream a dehumidifier respectively. A zero gas and a span gas are measured in dry states, a value of the atmosphere introduced from the air inlet port which is measured in the same moisture concentration as the sample gas is subtracted as a moisture interference value from the measured value of the sample gas for correcting moisture interference, and calibration curve data are applied to a result of measurement after the correction. Calibration can be finished in a short period, whereby the capacities of standard gas cylinders can be reduced and the overall device can be miniaturized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a continuous gas analyzer for continuously analyzing a target gas component contained in a sample gas, and more particularly, it relates to an analyzer such as an SO.sub.2 measuring device for analyzing a component which is exposed to interference by moisture.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional SO.sub.2 measuring device. A sample gas introduction passage 6 for sucking a sample gas by a suction pump 2 and introducing the same into an analyzer 4 is provided with a flow control valve 8 on a position upstream the pump 2, while a dehumidifier 10 is provided between the pump 2 and the analyzer 4 as a constant humidity device for keeping the moisture concentration in the sample gas at a constant level. A standard gas introduction passage 14 is connected to the passage between the pump 2 and the dehumidifier 10 through a three-way cock 12. The standard gas introduction passage 14 is connected with cylinders 16 and 18 of a zero gas containing no SO.sub.2 and a span gas containing SO.sub.2 in a constant concentration through switching valves 20 and 22 respectively. The three-way cock 12 is switched and the switching valves 20 and 22 are opened/closed for switching and introducing the sample, zero and span gases into the analyzer 4 through the dehumidifier 10.
The analyzer 4 comprises a data processing part having a calibration curve storage part for holding measured values of the zero and span gases supplied from the standard gas introduction passage 14 as calibration curve data for calculating the sample gas concentration on the basis of the calibration curve data.
In relation to measurement of SO.sub.2, a detection part of the analyzer 4 also has sensitivity to moisture. Therefore, moisture positively acts on detected values as moisture interference.
In calibration, the three-way cock 12 and the switching valves 20 and 22 are switched to introduce the zero and span gases into the analyzer. At this time, the standard gases are also supplied with moisture of a constant concentration from the dehumidifier 10. Thus, moisture interference constantly acts between zero and a span value.
FIG. 2 shows the relation between calibration curves and moisture interference. When the zero and span gases are guided to the analyzer 4 through the dehumidifier 10, a calibration curve (b) is formed due to positively oriented indication by moisture interference. Due to calibration in a wet state containing moisture at zero and span points, however, an apparent calibration curve (a) passes through the origin after the calibration. Namely, it comes to that the calibration is made with addition of the moisture interference.
When the target gas component is SO.sub.2 which is exposed to moisture interference, the speed of response of the sample gas is retarded due to adsorption of the target gas component by the moisture in a wet state, and hence the calibration time is increased. Consequently, the zero and span gases are consumed in large amounts and the capacities of the standard gas cylinders cannot be reduced, to hinder miniaturization of the overall device.


An ink-jet printer is provided and includes: a motor, generating a driving force that prompts an ink-jet head moving in a main scanning direction relative to a print object; a motor, generating a driving force by which the ink-jet head is moved; a motor pulley, being rotated by the driving force generated by the motor; a first belt wound around the motor pulley to transmit the driving force from the motor pulley toward the ink-jet head; and a decelerating pulley on which the first belt is wound around to be rotated by the driving force transmitted on the first belt. At least one of a group of motor-side teeth of the motor pulley and belt-side teeth of the first belt and a group of deceleration-side teeth of the decelerating pulley and the belt-side teeth of the first belt is a combination of intermeshable spur gear teeth and helical gear teeth.

Among the known devices wherein motive power is generated by drive sources and transmitted to operating units to realize desired operations, some of such devices transmit motive power using belts. For example, the Patent Literature 1 describes a floor nozzle for vacuum cleaner. This floor nozzle has a rotary brush rotatably attached to the interior of the floor nozzle, and a motor installed as a drive source to drive the rotary brush, wherein pulleys are attached to rotating shafts of the rotary brush and the motor, respectively. Further, a timing belt is wound around the pulleys in a tensioned condition to transmit the rotative force of the motor to the rotary brush to be rotated.
This floor nozzle for vacuum cleaner has an additional feature to reduce noises generated when the brush is rotating and to prevent the timing belt from disengaging from the pulleys. That is to say, spur gear teeth or helical gear teeth are included in teeth of the two pulleys and teeth of the timing belt to have the spur or helical gear teeth be intermeshed in any of sections of the two pulleys and the timing belt to be intermeshed.


The invention is directed towards methods and compositions for identifying the specific microorganisms present in a particular portion of a papermaking processes. The method involves obtaining and comparing a diversity index of a sample from the process. Because no system is completely free from biological infestation, utilizing information taken from the changes in the populations provides information useful in protecting the system from unwanted effects. Not only does the diversity index allow for the distinguishing between biological and non-biological events, it even allows for the prediction of problems without previously knowing that a particular organism will cause a particular problem.

The present invention relates generally to compositions of matter, apparatuses and methods useful in detecting, identifying, and addressing microorganisms present in commercial process systems.
The presence and growth of certain microorganism in commercial process systems is an ongoing challenge. Many of the various stages of commercial process systems contain a variety of conditions having different amounts of water, nutrients, heat, shelter, anchoring substrates, chemical conditions, and/or an absence of predators which often function as environmental niches suitable for colonization by all sorts of microorganisms. Population growth by these microorganisms often pose a number of problems including degrading process functions and fouling the end products.
One such problem is microorganism induced crust deposit formation. Crust is the accumulation on a surface of an item present in a commercial process system of a rigid solid composition comprising deposited organic and/or inorganic material. The crust can be secretions and/or colonies of microorganisms themselves. In particular crust can include or consist of the accumulation of one or more kinds of hard shelled and/or chitin bearing and/or coral organisms. Crust can have many negative impacts on systems such as decreased operational efficiency, premature equipment failure, loss in productivity, loss in product quality, and increased health-related risks. Worst of all crust must often be physically removed by scraping or other physical means and this requires expensive shut downs or disassembly of part or all of the process system.
Another problem microorganisms pose is through the formation of biofilms. Biofilms are layers of organic materials comprising microorganisms or exopolymeric substance secreted by microorganisms which aid in the formation microbial communities. Biofilms can grow on the surfaces of process equipment as well as in pools of fluid. These biofilms are complex ecosystems that establish a means for concentrating nutrients and offer protection for growth. Biofilms can accelerate crust, corrosion, and other fouling processes. Not only do biofilms contribute to reduction of system efficiencies, but they also provide an excellent environment for microbial proliferation of other microorganisms including pathogenic organisms. It is therefore important that biofilms and other fouling processes be reduced to the greatest extent possible to maximize process efficiency and minimize the health-related risks from such pathogens.
Several factors contribute to the extent of biological contamination and govern the appropriate response. Water temperature; water pH; organic and inorganic nutrients, growth conditions such as aerobic or anaerobic conditions, and in some cases the presence or absence of sunlight, etc. can play an important role. These factors also help in deciding what types of microorganisms might be present in the water system and how best to control those microorganisms. Proper identification of the microorganism is also crucial to responding appropriately. Differences regarding whether the microorganisms are plants, animals, or fungi, or if they are planktonic or sessile determines how effective various biocontrols will be. Because different microorganisms induce different problems, proper identification is crucial to properly remediating unwanted microbial effects. Finally because chemically caused problems cannot be remediated with biocides, it is also necessary to identify which problems have non-biologically based origins.
Standard techniques typically used to monitor process systems include standard plate count techniques. These techniques require lengthy incubation periods and do not provide adequate information for pro-active control and prevention of problems related to microbial growth. More recently, adenosine triphoshphate (ATP) measurements have been used as a means of pro-active control. However, the reagents are costly and small volumes are sampled from large water systems. While it is possible to quantify microbial activity in a sample with the use of the ATP assay, the reaction is unable to discriminate between ATP that is produced by one type of microorganism compared to another and it does not detect organisms that are viable but inhibited. Another disadvantage is that this method cannot be used to determine microbial contribution to sheet defects because most organisms are not viable following exposure to the heat of the dryer section. Data collection is also infrequent, leading to significant gaps in data. Therefore, this approach provides limited information on the status of microorganisms in the system of interest. In addition, these approaches are typically used to monitor planktonic bacteria. Although in some cases, surfaces might be swabbed and analyzed in order to quantify biofilm bacteria. These approaches are very tedious and time-consuming.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) probes have been used to measure microbial activity in fluids, as it is well known that microbial activity and aerobic metabolism leads to a decrease in dissolved oxygen concentrations. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,190,728 and 5,282,537, disclose a method and apparatus for monitoring fouling in commercial waters utilizing DO measurements. However, the approach requires the use of nutrient additions to differentiate biological from non-biological fouling and there is no mention of how the probe is refreshed for further measurements after the probe surface has fouled. In addition, the approach disclosed requires a means of continuously supplying oxygen.
The standard Clark style electrochemical DC) probe has many limitations such as: chemical interferences (H2S, pH, CO2, NH3, SO4, Cl−, Cl2, ClO2, MeOH, EtOH and various ionic species), frequent calibration and membrane replacement, slow response and drifting readings, thermal shock, and high flow requirements across membranes. A new type of dissolved oxygen probe, which has recently been made commercially available by a number of companies (e.g., HACH, Loveland, Colo.), overcomes nearly all of these limitations so that DO can be measured on-line in process waters. This new DO probe (LDO) is based on lifetime fluorescence decay where the presence of oxygen shortens the fluorescence lifetime of an excited fluorophore. The fluorophore is immobilized in a film at the sensor surface and the excitation is provided with a blue LED. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,698,412 and 5,856,119 disclose a method for monitoring and controlling biological activity in fluids in which DO is measured in combination with pH and/or ORP (oxidation-reduction potential) to measure transitions in metabolic behavior, specifically related to nutrient/substrate depletion.
Conventional plating techniques and oxidant residuals may indicate adequate biocide dosing and control of microbial growth, while deposition, defects and breaks remain prevalent. There is a clear need to provide more accurate information regarding microbial growth and biofilm formation in industrial systems. Quantitative PCR techniques allow for rapid analysis of sheet defects, felts, process water samples, etc. to determine the contribution of microorganisms to quality issues. This new approach has been demonstrated to allow for a more proactive diagnosis of problems leading to improved machine efficiency and product quality.
Thus it is clear that there is clear utility in novel methods and compositions for the proper identification of microorganisms present on in commercial process systems. The art described in this section is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is "Prior Art" with respect to this invention, unless specifically designated as such. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 CFR §1.56(a) exists.

Method for constructing a diversity index and a viability index of microorganisms in process samples


This invention provides methods and reagents for screening plants, particularly geraniums, for infections with bacterial pathogens. Specifically, the invention provides nucleic acid amplification and detection methods for specifically detecting a certain pathovar of a bacterial infectious agent in geraniums. The invention provides a nucleic acid hybridization probe that is specific for Xanthomonas campestris pathovar pelargonii, and paired sets of oligonucleotide primers for polymerase chain reaction-catalyzed amplification of DNA fragments comprising the nucleic acid sequences of the invention specific for Xanthomonas campestris pathovar pelargonii template DNA. The invention also provides PCR-based methods for detecting Xanthomonas campestris pathovar pelargonii DNA, and in particular for distinguishing pathovar DNA from the DNA of the host infected plant. Methods for producing detectably-labeled hybridization probes using PCR are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and reagents for screening plants, particularly geraniums, for infections with bacterial pathogens. Specifically, the invention is related to nucleic acid amplification and detection methods for specifically detecting a certain pathovar of a bacterial infectious agent in geraniums. The invention provides a nucleic acid hybridization probe that is specific for Xanthomonas campestris pathovar pelargonii, and paired sets of oligonucleotide primers for polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-catalyzed amplification of DNA fragments comprising the nucleic acid sequences of the invention and specific for Xanthomonas campestris pathovar pelargonii. The invention also provides PCR-based methods for detecting Xanthomonas campestris pathovar pelargonii DNA, and in particular for distinguishing pathovar DNA from the DNA of the host plant. Methods for producing detectably-labeled hybridization probes using PCR chain reaction are also provided.
2. Background of the Invention
Cultivation of flowering plants is an important economic resource in many countries in the both developed and developing world. However, disease and infestation with a variety of bacterial pathogens causes significant economic losses in this industry. This is particularly true for vegetatively-propagated plants, in which infection of the stock plant can result in infection of all the progeny derived from such plants, as well as vertical propagation to other stock plants.
Geraniums (Pelargonium) are one such vegetatively-propagated plant afflicted with bacterial pathogens. The most important pathogen of geraniums worldwide is Xanthomonas campestris pathovar pelargonii (Brown) Dye (Knauss and Tammen, 1967, Phytopathology 57: 1178-1181; Strider, 1985, "Geranium" in Diseases of Floral Crops, vol. 2., (Strider, ed.), Praeger Publishers: New York, pp. 142-156). This bacterial pathogen is the etiologic agent of bacterial blight, a disease that often causes significant losses to commercial geranium propagators.
Following infection of the plant, the bacteria become distributed systemically in the xylem of the stems, petioles and leaves. Affected plants are characterized by the development of wilting and water-soaked leaf spots, but when cultivated under conditions unfavorable for symptom development, infected plants often remain asymptomatic. Symptomless geraniums may be inadvertently distributed by domestic and international growers through cuttings taken from infected stock plants. American and European growers currently employ a costly and time consuming quarantine and certification procedure to identify geranium stock plants infected with X. campestris pathovar pelargonii. However, even with extensive indexing and elaborate quarantine programs, sporadic outbreaks of bacterial blight continue to occur in geraniums.
A variety of methods have been used to detect X. campestris pathovar pelargonii in geranium plants, including pathogenicity, biological recovery, and antibody-based tests.
Lazo et al., 1987, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 37: 214-221 disclosed the use of restriction fragment length polymorphism to distinguish pathovars of X. campestris.
Tuinier, 1989, Plant Diseases 73: 875-878 disclosed the use of serological reagents to detect X. campestris pathovar pelargonii in aqueous extracts of geranium plants.
Benedict et al., 1990, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 56: 572-574 disclosed pathovar-specific antigens of X. campestris pathovar pelargonii detected with monoclonal antibodies.
Anderson & Nameth, 1990, Phytopathology 80: 357-360 disclosed the development of a polyclonal antibody-based serodiagnostic assay for the detection of X. campestris pathovar pelargonii in geranium plants.
Vauterin et al., 1990, Syst, Appl. Microbiol. 13: 166-176 disclose taxonomic analysis of X. campestris pathovars by protein electrophoretic and DNA hybridization techniques.
Vauterin et al., 1991, Gen. Microbiol. 137: 1766-1787 disclosed grouping of X. campestris pathovars by SDS-PAGE analysis of proteins.
Rasmussen & Reeves, 1992, J. Biotechnol. 25: 203-220 disclose DNA probes for the detection of plant pathogenic bacteria.
Hartung, 1992, Plant Diseases 76: 889-893 disclose plasmid-based hybridization probes for detection and identification of X. campestris pathovar citri.
Seal et al., 1992, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58: 3751-3758 disclosed specific DNA probes and oligonucleotide primers for PCR detection of Pseudomonas solanacearum DNA.
More recently, the feasibility of exploiting polymerase PCR amplification to detect laboratory isolates of X. campestris pathovar pelargonii has been described.
Manulis et al., 1992, Phytoparasitica 2: 263 disclosed the use of random amplified polymorphic DNA methods for identifying X. campestris pathovar pelargonii.
Louws et al., Can. J. Bot. 14: 245 disclose genomic fingerprinting of X. campestris pathovar vesicatoria by PCR of repetitive sequences.
Hartung et al., 1993, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 59: 1143-1148 disclose polymerase chain reaction-based detection assay for X. campestris pathovar citri.
Judd et al., 1993, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 59: 1702-1708 disclose the use of PCR amplification of repetitive sequences to genetically classify strains of Bradyrhizobium japonicum.
Manulis et al., 1994, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60: 4094-4099 disclose the use of PCR methods to detect X. campestris pathovar pelargonii with DNA primers and probes identified by random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis.
Sulzinski et al., 1995, J. Phytopathology 143: 429-433 disclosed fingerprinting of Xanthomonas campestris pathovar pelargonii and related pathovars using random-primed PCR.
The prior art does not describe a rapid, economical, specific and sensitive method, or reagents for implementing such method, for detecting X. campestris pathovar pelargonii in cultivated geraniums. Thus, there remains a need in the art for such methods and reagents.

Polymerase chain reaction-based diagnostic test for the detection of Xanthomonas campestris pathovar pelargonii


In an elevator, a drive device, a traction sheave, and a weight-side stop portion are arranged above one of a pair of left and right cage-side guide rails, and a cage-side stop portion and speed governor are arranged above the other cage-side guide rail. A wide workspace is realized in the middle of the floor of the machinery chamber, since the control panel is arranged along the middle of the inside wall surface of the front face of the machinery chamber. Furthermore, provision of an additional supporting beam mounted in the building is unnecessary, since the machine beam can extend fully in the forwards/rearwards direction in the interior of the machinery chamber.

Conventionally, as disclosed in Laid-open Japanese Patent Publication No. H. 8-175776 (FIG. 6 and FIG. 7), a machinery chamber is provided above the elevator shaft whereby the elevator cage (cage) and/or counterweight (balancing weight) and the like ascend and descend and the hoisting machine and/or control panel and speed governor and the like are provided within this.
For example, in the machinery chamber 1 of the conventional elevator shown in FIG. 1, a hoisting machine 2 is arranged in the center, a control panel 3 is arranged along the left side wall 1a and a speed governor 4 is arranged along the rear wall 1b, respectively.
The cage and counterweight, not shown, are suspended in the manner of an elevator cage by means of a main rope 5 that passes over a traction sheave 2a and a deflector sheave 2b that are driven in rotation by the hoisting machine 2.
In addition, a machine bed 6 on which the hoisting machine 2 is placed is supported by means of anti-vibration rubber elements 7a, 7b on a total of three machine beams 8 that extend horizontally in the left and right directions of the drawing.
Also, these machine beams 8 are supported by means of supporting beams 10a, 10b mounted in the building and extending in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, by means of level-raising machine beams 9a, 9b, as illustrated in for example Laid-open Japanese Patent Publication No. H. 11-79624 (FIG. 7).
In the case of the conventional elevator shown in FIG. 1, the hoisting machine 2 is arranged in the middle of the machinery chamber 1 for convenience in suspending the elevator cage and the counterweight.
In this way, the working space needed for maintenance and inspection of the hoisting machine 2 and control panel 3 and speed governor 4 and the like is disposed so as to surround the hoisting machine 2; however, it is still possible to ensure sufficient width necessary for performing the maintenance and inspection tasks.
However, the laws relating to buildings and the standards etc relating to ensuring safety of elevators are different in Japan and foreign countries and in some countries it is obligatory to guarantee a total working space in the machinery chamber of width providing more than a certain fixed area for purposes of maintenance and inspection. It is of course obligatory on the applicant to observe the law of the country in which the application is made.
In this case, if the working space is arranged so as to surround the hoisting machine 2, the safety standards of this country cannot be satisfied, so it is necessary to provide a machinery chamber of a floor area larger than the horizontal cross-sectional dimension of the elevator shaft.
Furthermore, in the case of the conventional elevator shown in FIG. 1, it is necessary to arrange the control panel 3 on the line of extension of a machine beam 8, for reasons to do with the layout in the machinery chamber 1.
Consequently, if it is not possible to extend the tips of the machine beams 8 to the supporting beam 10c that is mounted on the building and is below the left-hand wall 1a, a supporting beam 10a mounted on the building must be added.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2, if the tips of the machine beams 8 were to be extended as far as the supporting beam 10c that is mounted on the building and is below the wall 1a on the left-hand side, it would be necessary for the control panel 3 to be mounted on a machine beam 8 and a working platform 11 to be arranged so as to guarantee a workspace for maintenance and inspection of the control panel 3.
In this case, it may sometimes be necessary to restrict the dimension in the height direction of the control panel 3 so that the top of the control panel 3 does not interfere with the ceiling portion of the machinery chamber 1.
However, as can be seen from FIG. 2, arranging the hoisting machine in substantially the middle of the machinery chamber for reasons to do with the mechanical construction and, accompanying such arrangement of the hoisting machine in the middle, arranging the control panel etc at the periphery of the machinery chamber was in fact the conventional arrangement. However, as explained above, this made it impossible to observe the standard for elevator installation of the country in question.


A test cell and method for stress testing a test specimen including a first platen and a second platen. Each platen having a loading surface, an inclined surface, and a longitudinal axis. The inclined surface being inclined relative to the longitudinal axis at an angle and the inclined surface having a specimen recess formed therein for receiving a portion of the test specimen such that when the inclined surface of the second platen is positioned in a face-to-face relationship with the inclined surface of the first platen, a shear stress is applied to the test specimen when an axial load is applied to the first and second platens. The platens further including fluid ports to subject the test specimen to fluid flow at various pressures and fluid chemistries and ultrasonic transducers to determine acoustic, compressional, and shear wave velocities and in multiple orientations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus that allows characterization of material mechanical and physical properties, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a test cell that is capable of applying a shear stress to a small test sample of material, such as rock, bone, and cartilage, and which incorporates the ability to determine acoustic compressional and shear wave velocities in multiple orientations while the sample is subjected to an axial load and to fluid flow at various pressures and various fluid chemistries.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Knowing the effects of fluid exposure and the directional dependency of mechanical properties such as strength and elastic/poroelastic coefficients is crucial for well-bore stability analysis, hydraulic fracturing design, and many other field applications in the oil and gas industry. Conventional test cells for loading test specimens apply a generally uniform radial pressure or confining stress and an axial stress. A Hoek cell, for instance, applies axial stress on the two ends of a cylindrical specimen, while the radial stress is developed by pressurizing a hydraulic fluid such as oil, around the cylindrical surface of the specimen, in a test chamber in which the specimen is held. The radial stress is angularly uniform in that it is the same in all radial directions and the only variations possible in relation to differential stress loading are axial and radial (angularly uniform) relative to each other.
Test data from the field has shown that the radial stress, more usually referred to as the horizontal stress, is defined by two principal stresses and is asymmetrical. The horizontal stress applied by a Hoek cell is symmetrical and, as such, not suitable for certain testing, such as well break-out, shear wave splitting, and fracture propagation testing. In order that specimens may be tested with asymmetrical, horizontal stresses, it has been necessary to prepare cubes of test material which much more accurately reflect the principal stresses encountered in an actual three dimensional situation. Such cuboid samples are, however, more difficult and expensive to prepare and test. Furthermore, cuboid samples generally cannot be prepared from the cylindrical test specimens normally obtained by conventional coring techniques used for sample recovery, e.g., in the petroleum industry.
To this end, a need exists for a test cell and method capable of subjecting a test sample to different applied stress states, and fluid circulation for any desired time of exposure, while the dynamic elastic moduli can be simultaneously acquired and monitored applying a shear stress to a test sample while also applying an axial load as well. It is to such a test cell and method that the present invention is directed.

Test cell for applying a shear stress to a test specimen

The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma


A locking device for locking an outboard motor onto a boat. The locking device includes a housing of greater length than a line formed between the clamping screws holding the motor onto the transom of the boat. A slot is formed in one side of the housing, and is closed on both ends, permitting only transverse sliding application of the housing onto the clamping screws, with the screw handles being received by and confined within the slot. The locking device also includes a padlock, at least one leg of the shackle of that padlock being insertable through a corresponding leg opening formed for that purpose in the housing. The leg opening is positioned so that the handles are thereby trapped in the slot. The padlock thereby locks the shackle into the body so as to impede unauthorized removal of the housing from the clamping screws, thus forming a stop to prevent sliding removal of the housing from the screws.

This invention relates to locking devices for outboard motors, and more specifically to locking devices to prevent the theft of the motor by preventing the loosening of the clamping screws which secure the motor to the transom board of a boat or a motor stand used in sales and/or servicing of motors.
Numerous devices have been proposed in the past to inhibit or curb the theft of outboard motors attached to and used in connection with private boats. For instance, Foote, U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,738 provides a relatively thin-walled housing which is greater in length than the distance between the two clamping screws, and slid endwise onto the screw heads. A padlock is then provided to prevent the housing from being slid off the screw heads.
Similarly, Wiggins, U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,809, discloses a particular adaptation of the thin-walled housing of Foote, specially designed for those motors that have substantially rounded heads or knobs with notches or recesses formed in those knobs. Wiggins provides special stops shaped to mate with the recesses of those knobs.
This invention relates to improvements to the apparatus described above, and to solutions to some of the problems raised or not solved thereby.