A system and method for optimizing power usage and performance during data processing. A multi-processor graphics processing system includes a low power graphics processor and a high performance graphics processor. When a low power condition exists only the low power graphics processor is used to process graphics data and the high performance graphics processor is turned off. When turned off, the high performance graphics processor does not consume either static or dynamic power. When the low power condition does not exist, the high performance graphics processor is turned on and the low power graphics processor and the high performance graphics processor are used to process the graphics data.

Conventional low power systems including a graphics processor, such as system 100 shown in FIG. 1, utilize a low power graphics processor 140 which reduces power usage at least in part by reducing graphics data processing performance to compared with other graphics processors. System 100 includes a host processor 120, a main memory 110, and a chipset 130 which is directly coupled to graphics processor 140. Graphics processor 140 receives instructions and data from chipset 130. Graphics processor 140 processes the data, storing image data in frame buffer 145 for output to a display 170.
High performance graphics processors offer greater graphics processing throughput which contributes to increased power usage compared with a low power graphics processor, such as graphics processor 140. The increased graphics processing throughput may be achieved by operating at a higher clock rate, including two or more graphics processing pipelines, and using wider and/or faster internal and external interfaces. The higher performance graphics processor is implemented in a larger die size than graphics processor 140 in order to include more transistors. Even when a high performance graphics processor is not processing graphics data it contributes to overall system power consumption due to the static power resulting from transistor leakage. Therefore the static power of a high performance graphics processor is greater than the static power of a low power graphics processor. Consequently, high performance graphics processors are not used in conventional portable systems which are battery powered.
Accordingly, it is desirable to minimize overall power consumption while improving graphics processing performance.

Optimizing power and performance for multi-processor graphics processing


A method of testing circuit chips includes providing test chips, the test chips being circuit chips to be tested, emulating a first type of test handler positioner for a circuit chip coupling device that is configured to couple to the first type of test handler, and using a test handler positioner connected to the circuit chip coupling device to couple the circuit chip coupling device to a selected test chip, to move the test chip to a desired test location, and to remove the test chip from the test location.

Electronic equipment plays a large role in today's society, and in electronic equipment, electronic components such as integrated semiconductor circuits play a large role. Hundreds of thousands of integrated circuit chips are produced every year. New chips are constantly being designed to provide for faster, more powerful electonic devices to satisfy consumer demand and to provide new technologies to a tech-hungry consumer base.
As new semiconductor chips are designed, they need to be tested and test handlers are tools that automate the testing of semiconductor chips. There are many manufacturers of test handlers and these test handlers are designed and used as production tools, usually used in high volume environments.
High-volume semiconductor manufacturers are geographically dispersed, as are their chip design centers. Depending on their size and other factors, chip manufacturers may have many locations throughout the world where their chips are designed. High volume manufacturing may be performed at places where the design centers are located, but the overwhelming trend today is to have volume manufacturing performed in low labor rate areas of the world, decoupled from the design location. In addition, there is a trend for semiconductor manufacturers to utilize third party sources, or subcontractors to perform much of the volume testing of semiconductor chips. The subcontractors are also concentrated in low labor rate areas of the world. Therefore, usually, design centers are physically remote from high volume production facilities. In fact, a large chip manufacturer may have twenty or more design centers providing designs to twenty or more different manufacturing locations throughout the world. The permutations and combinations of where chips are designed and manufactured can be huge.
One of the roles of semiconductor chip design centers is to provide test programs and related hardware for newly-designed chips to the particular facility that will be manufacturing the electronic components in volume. This helps ensure that quality and reliability levels coming out of the production facilities will be in line with the results predicted by the design centers.
Testing and debugging the performance of the test program and related hardware that will be used at the production locations is another function of the design center. If the design centers do not already have the exact same high-volume test handlers as the production locations, the design centers purchase the same hardware as the production facility for the design centers. Each test handler manufacturer uses a unique set of hardware to effect the proper test of the semiconductor chip. Among other names, this hardware is called a work press by Synax, a blade pack by Seiko-Epson, or a nest by Delta Design® of San Diego, Calif. (a division of Cohu, Inc.), a puck, and possibly others, and is referred to below as a test piece coupler or chip coupler. The production handlers can be very expensive ($200K to $400K), and in a design center, their use is sporadic.


A battery powered portable human body carrying electronic human breath filtration device is an electronic nose mask and is the most ideal alternative to conventional filter paper type nose mask. It utilizes electronic ionization technique and electrostatic field to remove air borne particles, dust, pollens, contaminants, bacteria, viruses, toxic chemical, fume and tobacco smoke from human inhalation and exhalation breath. It interacts with human breathing action as the air flow driving system to move the inhalation and exhalation breaths through the electronic filter elements, in addition to a front louver cover and a rear louver cover's protection as pre-filters. The system requires very low running current and uses small batteries usually found in household electronics. This filtration system is light weight with negligible air flow resistance and is integrated into the nose mask which is connected to a pocket size control system via a connection cable.

Nose mask has been widely used in all kinds of industries from medical to industrial; from field works to home cleaning; and also in many different occasions whenever filtration of inhaling air is necessary. Usually the filter materials are of paper or fiber properties. The basic mechanism is using the human inhalation action as air suction driving force to suck the air through the filter media and stop all particles which is larger than the pores of the filtration media. It becomes very uncomfortable when someone has to wear the nose mask for an extended period of time and it is even worse if the user is kind of weak or having asthma or breathing difficulties.
Secondly, the filtration function is usually less efficient during the exhalation because the exhaust air tends to leak through the edges along the users' face rather than through the filter media.
Thirdly, the air passage resistance of the better filtration media is always higher and tougher to inhale through it.
Thus there is a need for a good inhalation and exhalation filtration system that does not exert breathing resistance to users during the normal breathing process. This filtration system shall be able to remove most of the contaminant in the air including airborne particles, bacteria and virus. The whole system shall be light enough for users to feel comfortable if wearing for extended time. It has to be very efficient in power consumption such that small consumer electronic type battery pack can support operation of the system for over a period of at least 8 hours. Easiness to clean and cost effective are also critical.
Furthermore, the filtration process shall be as efficient during both inhalation and exhalation such that if a patient is the user; the bacteria or viruses from the user breath will not get to outside ambient environment.
The present invention provides such an inhalation and exhalation filtration system nose mask.

Electronic human breath filtration device


An apparatus includes a first multileaf collimator comprising a plurality of pairs of beam-blocking leaves each comprising an end portion. The end portions of beam-blocking leaves of two adjacent pairs are configured to collectively form an aperture when the two adjacent pairs of beam-blocking leaves are closed. The aperture may be sized and shaped to allow a radiation beam to pass through for radiosurgery.

Radiosurgery is a highly precise, intensified form of radiation therapy. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is generally known as application of high doses of radiation in a single fraction based on specially defined treatment coordinates. Stereotactic radiotherapy is similar to SRS but with the exception that typically two or more fractions are used for patient treatments. It is worth noting that the term stereotactic may imply use of a stereotactic coordinate system for patient localization for treatment. Over time, image guided procedures and other forms of patient and tumor localization which do not rely on stereotactic coordinates have fallen in the category of stereotactic procedures even though by classical definitions the stereotactic localization method is not employed.
Conventionally, SRS cones are used to help achieve precise delivery of high dose of radiation. SRS cones are typically made from tungsten and have a conical hole through which radiation can pass providing a focused treatment beam. SRS cones can be mounted externally to an interface mount on a linear accelerator or internally on a positioning device in the treatment head. Inclusion of SRS cones in a treatment head requires more space for installation and complex motion axes. If mounted externally, SRS cones may present potential collision hazard with treatment couch or patient and generally involve compromises in efficiency of treatment delivery.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017-0197094 discloses a "virtual cone" approach using a multileaf collimator (MLC). According to the "virtual cone" approach, an MLC is used to form an actual elongated aperture through which radiation is delivered to a target volume at a first orientation of the MLC. Then, the MLC is rotated to a second orientation and radiation is delivered to the target volume through the actual elongated aperture. A relatively large cumulative dose of radiation can be thus delivered to the target volume through a "virtual cone" created by an area of overlap between the actual elongated apertures at the first and second MLC orientations. The "virtual cone" approach requires double passes of an MLC per couch angle and the general MLC leaf shape designed for other purposes may result in compromises in the shape of delivered radiation and may cause concerns of users that it may not produce robust implementation of radiation delivery.

Multileaf collimator cone enabling stereotactic radiosurgery


An image-forming apparatus includes an electron source including one or more than one electron-emitting devices on a substrate, each electron-emitting device having a pair of oppositely disposed device electrodes, an electroconductive film connected to the pair of device electrodes and an electron-emitting region formed in part of the electroconductive film accompanied by a carbonaceous film which contains carbon or carbon compound as principal ingredient and is formed on and in a vicinity of the electron-emitting region, and an image-forming member for forming an image by emitting light when irradiated with electron beams emitted from the electron source. The electron source and the image-forming member are contained in a vacuum envelope, and an organic substance exists in the vacuum envelope to show a partial pressure of the organic substance greater than 1.times.10.sup.-6 Pa and a total pressure lower than 1.times.10.sup.-3 Pa. The organic substance is so selected that it shows a mean absorption time shorter than the drive period of the electron source.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image-forming apparatus comprising an electron source realized by arranging a plurality of electron-emitting devices and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Related Background Art
CRTs have been widely used for image-forming apparatus for displaying images by means of electron beams.
In recent years, on the other hand, flat panel display apparatus utilizing liquid crystal have been replacing CRTs to some extent. However, they are accompanied by certain drawbacks including that they have to be provided with a back light because they are not of an emissive type and hence there exists a strong demand for emissive type display apparatus. While plasma displays have become commercially available as emissive type display apparatus, they are based on principles that are different from those of CRTs and can not fully compete with CRTs, at least currently, from the viewpoint of contrast, chromatic effects and other technological factors. Since an electron-emitting device appears to be very promising for preparing an electron source by arranging a plurality of such devices and an image-forming apparatus comprising such an electron source is expected as effective as CRT for light emitting effects, efforts have been made in the field of research and development of electron-emitting devices of the type under consideration.
For instance, the applicant of the present invention has made a number of proposals for an electron source realized by arranging a number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices that are cold-cathode type devices and an image-forming apparatus comprising such an electron source.
There have been known two types of electron-emitting device; the thermoelectron emission type and the cold cathode electron emission type. Of these, the cold cathode emission type refers to devices including field emission type (hereinafter referred to as the FE type) devices, metal/insulation layer/metal type (hereinafter referred to as the MIM type) electron-emitting devices and surface conduction electron-emitting devices.
Examples of FE type device include those proposed by W. P. Dyke & W. W. Dolan, "Field emission", Advance in Electron Physics, 8, 89 (1956) and C. A. Spindt, "PHYSICAL Properties of thin-film field emission cathodes with molybdenum cones", J. Appl. Phys., 47, 5248 (1976).
Examples of MIM device are disclosed in papers including C. A. Mead, "Operation of Tunnel-Emission Devices", J. Appl. Phys., 32, 646 (1961).
Examples of surface conduction electron-emitting device include one proposed by M. I. Elinson, Radio Eng. Electron Phys., 10, 1290 (1965).
A surface conduction electron-emitting device is realized by utilizing the phenomenon that electrons are emitted out of a small thin film formed on a substrate when an electric current is forced to flow in parallel with the film surface. While Elinson et al. proposes the use of SnO.sub.2 thin film for a device of this type, the use of Au thin film is proposed in G. Dittmer, "Thin Solid Films", 9, 317 (1972), whereas the use of In.sub.2 O.sub.3 /SnO.sub.2 and that of carbon thin film are discussed respectively in M. Hartwell and C. G. Fonstad, "IEEE Trans. ED Conf.", 519 (1975) and in H. Araki et al., "Vacuum", Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22 (1983).
The applicant of the present patent application has made a number of proposals for surface conduction electron-emitting devices including the one schematically illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Since the configuration of such a surface conduction electron-emitting device, a method of manufacturing the same and an image-forming apparatus realized by using such devices are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-235255, they will be described only summarily here. Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the surface conduction electron-emitting device comprises a substrate 1, a pair of device electrodes 2 and 3 and an electroconductive film 4, which includes an electron-emitting region 5 as part thereof. With a method of producing an electron-emitting region 5, a part of the electroconductive film is deformed, transformed or destroyed to make it electrically highly resistive by applying a voltage to the paired device electrodes. This process is referred to as "energization forming process". In order to produce an electron-emitting region that operates well for electron emission in an electroconductive film, the latter preferably comprises electroconductive fine particles such as fine particles of palladium oxide (PdO). A pulse voltage is preferably used for an energization forming process. A pulse voltage to be used for energization forming may have a constant wave height as shown in FIG. 16A or, alternatively, it may have a gradually increasing wave height as shown in FIG. 16B.
It has also been reported by the applicant of the present patent application that a carbonaceous film that contains carbon as principal ingredient is deposited in and around the electron-emitting region to remarkably increase the rate of electron emission of the device with an activation process. An activation process is typically performed by repetitively applying an appropriate pulse voltage to the electron-emitting region in an atmosphere containing gaseous organic substances.
The carbonaceous film containing carbon or carbon compound as principal ingredient typically comprises graphite (including so-called HOPG, PG and GC, of which HOPG refers to graphite having a substantially perfect crystal structure, while PG and GC respectively refer to one having a somewhat irregular crystal structure with a crystal grain size of about 20 nm and one having a considerably irregular crystal structure with a grain size of about 2 nm) and/or non-crystalline carbon (including amorphous carbon and a mixture of amorphous carbon and graphite containing fine crystal grains).
FIG. 2C of the accompanying drawings schematically illustrates the electron-emitting region and its vicinity. The carbonaceous film may be deposited in a number of different ways depending on the pulse voltages applied to the electron-emitting region. If the pulse polarity is one-directional, a carbonaceous film containing carbon or carbon compound as principal ingredient is formed mainly on the high potential side of the fissure or fissures produced in the energization forming process (as a result of deformation or destruction). Note that, in FIG. 2C, the device electrode 3 represents the high potential side. Electrons are emitted from the fissure and its vicinity. A carbonaceous film may be deposited evenly on the opposite sides of the fissure by carrying out the activation process, frequently switching the polarity of the pulse voltage that is being applied.
Then, the electron-emitting device is preferably subjected to a process referred to as "stabilization process", where the molecules of the organic substances utilized in the activation process that have been adsorbed by the substrate of the electron-emitting device and the inner walls of the vacuum envelope of the image-forming apparatus comprising the device are removed in order to prevent the carbonaceous film containing carbon or carbon compound as principal ingredient from undesirably growing any further and make the device operate stably. More specifically, in a stabilization process, the device is placed and heated in a vacuum vessel while the latter is gradually evacuated by means of an exhaust system for producing ultra-high vacuum typically comprising a scroll pump and an ion pump so that consequently the organic substances remaining on the device are satisfactorily removed to prevent the deposited carbonaceous film from growing any further and make the device operate stably for electron emission.
The problems that arises when no stabilization process is performed include the following as specifically described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-235275 filed also by the applicant of the present patent application as cited above.
(1) If the electron-emitting device is driven to operate after a long pause, it can show varied electric characteristics (particularly in terms of the current-voltage relationship) such that the emission current produced by the device temporarily grows remarkably.
(2) The emission current of the device changes significantly if the pulse width of the voltage being applied to the device is varied, and as a result, the quantity of electron emitted from the device is hardly controlled by controlling the pulse width.
(3) The electric characteristics of the device are varied by changing the pulse height of the voltage being applied to the device, and as a result, the quantity of electron emitted from the device hardly controlled by controlling the pulse height.
(4) If the device is used in an image-forming apparatus, the brightness and the colors of the image produced by the apparatus is hardly controlled as desired because of the above problems.
The above identified patent publication also discloses that the above problems are attributable to "fluctuations in the volume of organic molecules found in the vacuum atmosphere particularly on the surface and the surrounding areas of the electron-emitting device" so that "the device may be made to show a stable electron-emitting performance without fluctuations in the emission current and the device current by minimizing the partial pressure of organic molecules". It says specifically that the partial pressure of the organic substances in the vacuum vessel is preferably less than 1.3.times.10.sup.-6 Pa (1.times.10.sup.-8 Torr), more preferably less than 1.3.times.10.sup.-8 Pa (1.times.10.sup.-10 Torr). Additionally, the total pressure in the vacuum vessel is preferably less than 1.3.times.10.sup.-4 Pa, more preferably less than 1.3.times.10.sup.-5 Pa, and most preferably less than 1.3.times.10.sup.-6 Pa.
The above identified patent documents also describe a technique of applying a pulse voltage to the device in vacuum of about 10.sup.-2 -10.sup.-3 Pa (10.sup.-4 -10.sup.-5 Torr) for an activation process in order to deposit carbon and/or carbon compounds on the device out of the organic substances found in the vacuum. An electron-emitting device that has been subjected to an activation process either shows a performance that the device current If monotonously increases with the device voltage Vf (a property referred to as MI characteristic) or shows a performance characterized by a voltage-controlled-negative-resistance (a property referred to as VCNR characteristic) depending on the conditions of the activation process, the conditions where the performance is observed, and the like. An electron-emitting device with a VCNR characteristic can shift the property depending on the conditions where the characteristic is determined by measurement. More specifically, the electron-emitting device that originally shows a VCNR characteristic shows various characteristics depending on the sweeping rate of the device voltage at the time of measurement, the time period during which the device has been left unoperated before the measurement, the highest voltage applied to the device for the measurement and other factors. For instance, the device can become to show an MI characteristic if the sweeping rate is high, although it is made to show a VCNR characteristic again when the sweeping rate is reduced. While the device shows an MI characteristic for its emission current Ie in any event, the electron-emitting performance of the device remains unstable and varies depending on the conditions of measurement.
After a stabilization process conducted to avoid the above listed problems, the device shows a relationship between the device voltage and the device current that is unequivocally defined within an operating voltage range under a maximum voltage limit. In other words, the device comes to show a monotonously increasing characteristic (MI characteristic) so that the relationship between the device voltage and the emission current is also unequivocally defined to avoid the above listed problems.
Thus, as a result of the stabilization process for stabilizing the electron-emitting performance of the electron-emitting device, the organic substances used to produce the carbonaceous film containing carbon or carbon compound as principal ingredient are effectively removed. However, a problem arises on the electron-emitting device if the carbonaceous film containing carbon or carbon compound as principal ingredient is lost for some reason or other because the organic substances used to produce the carbonaceous film are already gone and hence the carbonaceous film cannot be restored. Additionally, the electron-emitting device can gradually lose the carbonaceous film that contains carbon as principal ingredient to degrade its electron-emitting performance particularly when it is operated continuously for a prolonged period of time. The carbonaceous film may be lost for a number of reasons including evaporation due to the electric field applied to the electron-emitting region, evaporation due to the Joule's heat generated by the device current and the etching effect of ions colliding with the carbonaceous film.

Image/forming apparatus including an organic substance at low pressure


An apparatus engageable with a water source for providing dogs access to fresh, clean water. The apparatus comprises a base member and a housing member engageable with an upper surface of the base member. Such housing member has a predetermined configuration and is formed of a predetermined material. At least one tubular member is disposed within the housing member, a first end of the at least one tubular member extends outwardly from a bottom portion of the housing member for engagement with such source of water and a second end of the at least one tubular member extends outwardly through an upper surface of the housing member. A water valve is disposed within the at least one tubular member for controlling water flow. There is a paddle member that is engageable with the water valve for activating the water valve and permitting water to flow from the second end of the at least one tubular member and for deactivating the water valve so as to stop a flow of water from the second end of the at least one tubular member.

While it is possible for pets to go without food for a period of time, such pets need to be hydrated frequently. Just like humans who do not like to drink hot, stale dirty water, pets should not be required to do so either. Unfortunately, dogs are typically left alone while their owner is at work, or is away for other lengthy obligations with only a bowl of water to drink. If the pet inadvertently knocks this bowl over, or even drinks it all, the pet is left without access to water until the owner returns. In addition, dogs that are kept outdoors can be left without water due to evaporation. They are also at risk of more easily becoming dehydrated due to constant exposure to the hot temperatures.
Thus, it would be advantageous if there were an apparatus or a means that such pet could obtain water as needed without the need for someone to provide the water.


A semiconductor chip cooling system configured with thermal inkjet type sprayers controlled by a control system. The control system can operate groups of the sprayers at different rates to controllably cool separate regions of a chip at different rates. A detection system is configured to separately detect the cooling regime occurring on the different regions of the chip by reflecting an optical beam off the chip in the region that is being sprayed.

The present invention relates generally to cooling systems for heat-generating devices and, more particularly, to a spray cooling system and a method of using the spray cooling system to cool semiconductor devices.
With the advent of semiconductor devices having increasingly large component densities, the removal of heat generated by the devices has become an increasingly challenging technical issue. Extrapolating the ongoing changes in microprocessor organization and device miniaturization, one can project future power dissipation requirements of 100 W from a 1 cm by 1 cm core CPU surface area within the easily foreseeable future.
Furthermore, as semiconductor devices are designed with larger and larger component densities, greater numbers of functions are being designed into single semiconductor chips. For example, chips are presently available that carry multiple CPU modules along with a cache to support these CPUs. Chips can include numerous modules, such as application-specific integrated circuits (ICs), various forms of random access memory (RAM), and dc-dc converters. Each module on a chip can have different types of components, different component densities, and different times of high activity. Thus, each module can have significantly different power dissipation requirements from the others, with each module""s dissipation requirements independently varying over time.
In the past, the low power dissipation of most chips accommodated the use of low cost, air-cooled heat sinks, which did not typically need to account for local differences in dissipation requirements across a chip. However, higher dissipation chips require substantially greater dissipation than air-cooled heat sinks could reasonably provide. Other known cooling methods for semiconductors include free-flowing and forced-liquid convection, pool boiling (i.e., boiling a liquid cooling fluid off a submerged device), and spray cooling (i.e., boiling a liquid cooling fluid off a device being sprayed with the liquid). Because liquids typically have a high latent heat of vaporization, these latter two methods provide for high heat-transfer efficiency, absorbing a large quantity of heat at a constant temperature.
Pool boiling is limited to a maximum power density, its critical heat flux (CHF). At higher densities, the vaporized cooling fluid forms a vapor barrier insulating the device from the liquid cooling fluid, thus allowing the wall temperature of the device to increase greatly. Spray cooling is also limited to a maximum power density, however, its CHF can be well over an order of magnitude higher than the CHF of a pool boiling system.
Critical to consistent, controlled spray cooling is the controlled application of the liquid cooling fluid in a desired flow rate, and velocity. To reach dissipation levels nearing the spray cooling CHF, the cooling fluid must be sprayed at a correct mass flow rate. At such a rate, vaporization occurs in the nucleate-boiling regime (i.e., the cooling fluid forms a thin film on the chip that vaporizes immediately). If the sprayer""s mass flow rate is decreased below a minimum level for the nucleate boiling regime, then inadequate cooling fluid is available to dissipate the heat and it surpasses the spray cooling CHF (for that cooling fluid mass flow rate), and thus the cooling enters a dry-out regime where the chip""s wall temperature increases substantially until radiant heat can dissipate the generated heat.
If, as the sprayer""s mass flow rate is increased above a maximum level for the nucleate boiling regime, cooling fluid begins to pool on the chip, it enters a pool-boiling regime, which is equivalent to immersion and has substantially lower dissipation levels than the nucleate boiling regime. Thus, the temperature rises substantially until the necessary dissipation level is reached, either in nucleate boiling or radiant heating. Therefore, it is important for spray cooling to be conducted at a proper mass flow rate, maintaining a nucleate boiling regime (or close to it). This makes critical the design of the sprayer, i.e., the design of the nozzle and its related spray devices.
With reference to FIG. 1, in spray cooling, an inert spray coolant from a reservoir 11 is uniformly sprayed by a group of one or more sprayers 13 onto an aligned group of one or more chips 15 mounted on a printed circuit board 17. The coolant preferably evaporates, dissipating heat within the chip. The sprayers and chips, and the board, are mounted within sealed cases 19 fixed within an electronic device such as a computer system. The sprayed coolant is typically gathered and cooled within a condenser 21, and then routed back to the reservoir by a pump 23. The distance between the sprayers and the chips, and the mass flow rates for the sprayers, are typically selected based upon the chip with the highest dissipation requirements.
Typically, the cooling fluid used for spray cooling has a relatively low boiling point (the temperature to maintain) and is inert to the heat source. For semiconductor devices, low boiling point fluids such as 3M FC-72 (FED. CIR.-72, i.e., FLUORINERT(copyright), sold by 3M Corporation) or PF-5060 are among a number of known suitable cooling liquids.
Current sprayer designs commonly employ either pressurized liquid spraying (i.e., pressure-assisted spraying) or pressurized gas atomizing. Because these devices are difficult to control, they are limited in their ability to limit xe2x80x9cpoolingxe2x80x9d of the fluid (i.e., building up of liquid on the cooled device due to excessive spray rates). These cooling configurations typically spray a uniform or uncontrollably varied distribution of coolant across each chip.
However, higher dissipation chips can have substantially greater differences in dissipation across the chip, and as a result can develop detrimental thermal gradients. Additionally, spray cooling systems can develop efficiency problems when uniformly spraying chips having large dissipation variances. In particular, pooling can occur on one portion of a chip when it receives the required level of spray to cool a hotter portion of the chip. As a result, not only can the lower dissipation section end up operating at a significantly higher temperature, but the excess cooling fluid can run from one portion to another, causing further cooling problems. Thus, spray cooling systems can be very sensitive to dissipation rate gradients across the surface of a semiconductor chip.
Accordingly, there has existed a need for an easily maintainable spray cooling system that maximizes spray cooling efficiency for components having complex dissipation requirements, such as may be caused by providing numerous modules of different types within a semiconductor chip. This system preferably can be adapted for a variety of chips, and electronic systems using the cooling system preferably can be easily adapted to chip upgrades. Preferred embodiments of the present invention satisfy these and other needs, and provide further related advantages.
In various embodiments, the present invention solves some or all of the needs mentioned above by providing a cooling system that efficiently operates on one or possibly more high-dissipation devices, providing cooling to various regions of the devices at various dissipation rates.
A cooling system of the invention is typically configured for cooling a device having two or more regions characterized by different thermal dissipation rates. The system includes a sprayer head having one or more sprayers targeted to spray cooling fluid substantially at the first region of the device, and one or more sprayers targeted to spray cooling fluid substantially at the second region of the device. The invention features a control system configured to separately control the sprayers targeting the first and second regions such that the first region is sprayed with a cooling-fluid mass flow rate appropriate for dissipating the thermal energy of the first region at the first thermal dissipation rate, and such that the second region is sprayed with a cooling-fluid mass flow rate appropriate for dissipating the thermal energy of the second region at the second thermal dissipation rate.
This feature of the invention provides for the different regions of the device to be cooled at dissipation rates appropriate to their needs. In some instances, this will prevent local overheating that could occur from pooling or dry-out on one portion of the device.
The cooling system also features a detection system configured to separately detect whether pooling is occurring on one or more regions of the device. Using this feature, accurate determination of the appropriate spray rate can be ascertained, providing for optimal cooling rates over each region.
The cooling system further features a housing containing the sprayer head. The housing is configured such that, when the device is mounted on a substrate, the housing can adjoin the substrate to form a spray chamber containing the device. Advantageously, this feature provides for the cooling system and device to be combined into a compact and easily installable unit. As a result, electronic device manufacturers do not need to provide separate attention to sprayer assemblies, as they come attached to the device.
A method of the invention, for cooling a device having two or more regions characterized by separate and distinct thermal dissipation rates, comprises spraying the different regions of the device with cooling fluid. It further includes controlling the spraying of the regions such that cooling fluid is sprayed on each region at a mass flow rate appropriate for dissipating thermal energy from the region at the appropriate thermal dissipation rate.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, taken with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. The detailed description of particular preferred embodiments, as set out below to enable one to build and use an embodiment of the invention, are not intended to limit the enumerated claims, but rather, they are intended to serve as particular examples of the claimed invention.

Spray cooling with local control of nozzles


A method, computer program product, and computer system for providing, using a processor of a computer, at least a portion of text that includes a link for use by a website. A plurality of posts associated with an online social network is monitored using the processor of the computer to determine whether the link is present in at least one post of the plurality of posts. A first user of the online social network that has the link included in the at least one post is identified using the processor of the computer, where the at least one post of the first user identifies a second user of the online social network. Information associated with the first user is recorded in a data store using the processor of the computer in response to identifying that the first user has the link posted in the at least one post.

Online social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc., are collectively used by a vast number of users throughout the world. These sites enable their users to, for example, maintain relationships, promote businesses, as well as promote their opinions on various topics.
One such topic may involve politics. For example, some users of social networking sites may host discussions or comment on numerous political causes, as well as individual politicians themselves. Because such discussions and comments may be seen by certain members of the social networking site and/or by other members of the public, information may be readily disseminated to the politically active and enabling both sides of the issue to be heard.
However, the extent of political awareness and involvement may vary greatly between individual users. For example, some users may post and comment about multiple political issues, while other users may have an opinion on the topic but may not have the time or desire to put forth the effort to follow and participate in the discussion. As such, there remains a need for a more convenient way to encourage more users to follow and contribute to the political discourse.

System and method for monitoring social network conversations


A data storage device and a Flash memory control method. A data storage device comprises a Flash memory and a controller. The controller controls the Flash memory in accordance with firmware. When the firmware is available for at least a predetermined time period without being requested by a host, the controller, driven according to the firmware, performs a garbage-collection operation on the Flash memory without a request from the host.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data storage devices, and in particular to flash memory control methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flash memory is a general non-volatile storage device that is electrically erased and programmed. A NAND Flash, for example, is primarily used in memory cards, USB flash devices, solid-state drives, eMMCs (embedded MultiMediaCards), and so on.
A storage array of a Flash memory (e.g. a NAND Flash) comprises a plurality of blocks. Each block comprises a plurality of pages. To release a used block as a spare block, all pages of an entire block have to be erased at once. "Garbage Collection" is operative to move valid data distributed over several blocks to a spare space and thereby only invalid pages remain in the several blocks. The blocks containing only invalid pages can be erased and released as spare blocks.
However, "Garbage Collection" conventionally requires considerable resources for calculation. A technique for efficiently operating a Flash memory is called for.

Data storage device and flash memory control method for performing garbage collection


A sensor assembly is disclosed that includes a hollow casing having a radiation entrance opening. A radiation-transmissive optic is at the radiation entrance opening. A substrate is inside and sealed against the hollow casing. An optical sensing element is coupled to the substrate and configured to sense radiation that has passed through the radiation-transmissive optic. A method of manufacturing the sensor assembly also is disclosed.

The present disclosure relates to an optical sensing element and, more particularly, an optical sensing element having an integral package.
Optical sensors, such as those utilizing thermopile sensor arrays, are used in a variety of applications including, for example, energy-conserving home appliances, intelligent air conditioners, and ear and forehead thermometers.

Optical sensing element arrangement with integral package

Excelitas Technologies Singapore PTE. Ltd


The object of the present invention is to provide a method for burning a burner which has NOx reduction effects and has practical value, and a device therefore; the present invention provide A method for burning a burner in a heating furnace including a step of: periodically changing at least one of a flow rate of a fuel fluid and a flow rate of an oxidizing agent fluid which are supplied to the burner while periodically changing an oxygen concentration in the oxidizing agent fluid, thereby an oxygen ratio which is calculated by dividing an amount of oxygen supplied by a theoretical necessary amount of oxygen is periodically changed, and the periodical change of the oxygen ratio is made different from the periodical change of the oxygen concentration to cause combustion in periodically vibrational conditions.

At the present time when global environment problems attract people's attention, reduction of nitrogen oxides is one of important problems to be solved, and is an urgent task. In methods for reducing NOx, it is important to inhibit the NOx generation. As the method for inhibition of NOx generation, recycling of exhaust gas, lean combustion, thick and thin combustion, staged combustion, and the like can be given as examples. These methods have been widely used for industrial use or consumers. Although NOx reduction can be partially achieved by low-NOx combustors adopting these technique, a NOx reduction method, which is further effective, have been requested.
As one method for reducing NOx, which has been researched and developed from the past, there is a method (below, it is called forced vibration combustion) in which flow rate of fuel, and air which is an oxidizing agent and the like are periodically changed. Thereby, a kind of temporal thick and thin combustion is carried out (Patent Documents No. 1 to 6).
In these methods, flow rate of a fuel fluid or an oxidizing agent fluid, or flow rate of both a fuel fluid and an oxidizing agent fluid are changed to change the theoretical mixture ratio in combustion flame, and thereby making combustion in fuel rich conditions and fuel lean conditions alternatively.
In addition, Patent Document No. 7 discloses a method for reducing nitrogen oxide by using pure oxygen as an oxidizing agent, and utilizing pulsation combustion in fuel rich conditions, so called forced vibration combustion, and a device for carrying out the method.


A method and apparatus for introducing an oxidant mixed with a carrier gas into pre-heating zone of a continuous furnace for effectively removing lubricant from powder metal compacts prior to sintering at high temperatures. Mixing a controlled amount of a gaseous oxidizing agent such as moisture, carbon dioxide, air or mixtures thereof with a carrier gas and introducing the mixture into the preheating zone of a continuous furnace under controlled conditions accelerates removal of lubricant from powder metal compacts prior to sintering at high temperature by decomposing lubricant vapors into smaller and more volatile hydrocarbons, produces sintered components with close to soot- and residue-free surfaces and with the desired physical properties, prolongs the life of furnace components including muffles and belts, and reduces downtime, maintenance and operating costs.

The present invention relates to the field of powder metallurgy and in particular to the treatment of powder metal compacts.
Powder metallurgy is becoming increasingly important for producing near net shape simple- and complex- geometry components used by the automobile and appliance industries. It involves pressing metal powders to make green compacts and sintering them at high temperatures in the presence of a protective atmosphere. Small amounts of a lubricant, such as metallic stearates (zinc, lithium and calcium), ethylene bisstearamide (EBS), polyethylene waxes, etc., is usually added to metal powders prior to pressing green compacts. The addition of a lubricant reduces interparticle friction and improves powder flow, compressibility and packing density. It also helps in reducing friction between the metal powder and die wall, thereby decreasing force required to eject compacts from the die, thus reducing die wear and prolonging die life.
Although it is important to add a small amount of lubricant to metal powders prior to pressing green compacts, it is equally important to remove it from compacts prior to sintering them at high temperatures in a furnace. A continuous furnace equipped with three distinct zones: a pre-heating zone, a high heating zone, and a cooling zone is commonly used to thermally process and sinter metal powder components. The pre-heating zone of the continuous furnace is used to preheat components to a predetermined temperature. The high heating zone is obviously used to sinter components, and the cooling zone is used to cool components prior to discharging them from a continuous furnace.
It is common practice in the industry to remove the lubricant from green compacts prior to exposing them to sintering temperature in the high heating zone of a batch or continuous furnace. Improper removal of lubricant from powder metal compacts prior to sintering is known to result in poor metal bonding and produces components with low strength. It can also increase porosity, cause blistering and provide poor carbon and dimensional control in the sintered components. Furthermore, improper lubricant removal results in internal and external sooting of components and deposits in the pre-heating and high heating zones of the furnace, which in turn reduce the life of furnace components, such as the belt and muffle.
Lubricant is usually removed by (1) heating powder metal green compacts to a temperature ranging from 400.degree. F. to 1,450.degree. F., (2) melting and vaporizing the lubricant, (3) diffusing lubricant vapors from the interior to the surface of compacts, and (4) sweeping vapors away from the surface or decomposing them into smaller and more volatile components (or hydrocarbons) as soon as they diffuse out to the surface of compacts. Lubricant can be removed from compacts prior to sintering in an external lubricant removal furnace (or de-lubricating furnace) or in the preheating zone of a continuous furnace simply by sweeping vapors away from compacts with a protective atmosphere. It is believed that an effective sweeping of lubricant vapors from the surface of compacts with a protective atmosphere reduces partial pressure of vapors close to the surface of compacts, thereby (a) increasing rate of diffusion of vapors from the interior to the surface of compacts and (b) improving efficiency of removing lubricant. An effective sweeping of vapors from the surface of compacts requires very high flow rate of a protective atmosphere, making the use of high protective atmosphere flow rate economically unattractive. Furthermore, the use of a separate de-lubricating furnace is not desirable because it is expensive and it requires extra floor space which is generally not available in existing plants.
Lubricant can alternatively be removed by decomposing lubricant vapors to smaller and more volatile components as soon as they diffuse out to the surface of compacts. Decomposition of vapors to more volatile components or products as soon as they (vapors) diffuse out to the surface decreases partial pressure of lubricant vapors close to the surface of compacts, thereby accelerating the de-lubricating process. This can, once again, be accomplished in a separate de-lubricating furnace or in the pre-heating zone of a continuous furnace. For example, lubricant has been removed from compacts in a separate de-lubricating furnace by treating lubricant vapors with high temperature combustion by-products such as carbon dioxide and moisture. These separate de-lubricating furnaces are currently marketed by, Drever Company of Huntington Valley Pa., by C. I. Hayes of Cranston R. I. as a rapid burn off system (RBO), by Sinterite Furnace Division of St. Marys, Pa. as an accelerated de-lubricating system (ADS), and by Abbott Furnace Co. of St. Marys Pa. as a quick de-lubricating system (QDS). However, separate de-lubricating furnaces are expensive and require additional floor space that is generally not available in existing plants. Furthermore, they are very expensive to maintain and operate.
Decomposing lubricant vapors to smaller and more volatile components or products as soon as they diffuse out to the surface of compacts can be accomplished by using a high concentration of hydrogen in the protective atmosphere or by adding an oxidant such as air, moisture or carbon dioxide in the pre-heating zone of a continuous furnace. Numerous attempts have been made by researchers to use a high concentration of hydrogen in the protective atmosphere to decompose lubricant vapors and accelerate de-lubricating process, but with limited success. Likewise, several attempts have been made by researchers to accelerate de-lubricating in the pre-heating zone of a continuous furnace by using an oxidizing agent such as moisture, carbon dioxide or air, once again with limited success. Therefore, there is a need to develop an effective and economical method for de-lubricating powder metal compacts in the pre-heating zone (or prior to sintering them in the high heating zone) of a continuous furnace.

Method for de-lubricating powder metal compacts


A semiconductor integrated circuit has a 3-dimmensional interconnection line structure for high-speed operation. One aspect of the present invention, there is provided a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) having a 3-dimmensional tournament tree shaped multilayer interconnection lines, wherein a single electric feeding point on a top surface of the MMIC is divided, layer by layer, into plural electrodes on the semiconductor substrate of the MMIC via a plurality of laminated interconnection layers and vertical interconnection layers therebetween shaped like a tournament tree.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit for high-speed operation, and more particularly, to three-dimensional interconnection wiring structure forming the semiconductor integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) for comprising high frequency devices such as a High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) or a Hetero-junction Bipolar Transistor (HBT), unlike a conventional silicon integrated circuit, needs high frequency wave guides for its interconnection lines. A microstrip line has been conventionally used for high frequency interconnection lines because it has stable wiring characteristics and low dispersion characteristics which means that frequency dependence of propagation constant is weak. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a high frequency wave-guide for a 3-dimensional MMIC of prior art, particularly using multilayer microstrip lines. As shown in FIG. 1, the multilayer MMIC of prior art has a grounded plate 3 on a surface insulating layer 2 formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, and the grounded plate 3 is coupled with each of interconnection layers 5 formed on the respective insulating layers 4 to form the respective microstrip lines. The multilayer MMIC of prior art has an advantage in high-density integration over a usual MMIC having interconnection lines laid out on a single plane. However, signal propagation time in the high frequency interconnection lines depends significantly upon not only effective length of interconnection layers but also geometrical relationship with each other, particularly between the interconnection layers and the grounded plate. Therefore, it is not easy to feed an identical signal from a single node to plural nodes with identical timing. Nevertheless, there has been no report on multilayer interconnection lines for high frequency signals in consideration for signal timing. Additionally, it is not allowed that any conductive layer is laid out between the grounded plate and a microstrip line coupled therewith, which considerably restricts freedom of circuit layout design for high-density integration.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an MMIC having a 3-dimmensional tournament tree shaped multilayer interconnection lines, whereby a single electric signal on the uppermost interconnection layer can be fed to plural electrodes on the lowest interconnection layer with identical timing.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a 3-dimmensional MMIC having a smaller chip area with the same design rule and higher speed operation than prior art, in which electric feeding lines are allowed to overlap other interconnection layers.
In accordance with the stated objects, one aspect of the present invention is a multilayer interconnection structure for a 3-dimmensional MMIC, in which a semiconductor device for high frequency operation comprises a semiconductor substrate having an insulating layer on the surface thereof, a grounded plate formed on the semiconductor substrate connecting to a ground potential, a plurality of laminated interconnection layers formed on the grounded plate, the plurality of laminated interconnection layers being insulated from each other and also the grounded plate by insulating layers therebetween, and a vertical interconnection layer for connecting each immediately opposed upper and lower pair of the plurality of laminated interconnection layers in a through-hole penetrating the corresponding one of the insulating layers therebetween, the vertical interconnection layer being disposed at an electric center point of each of the plurality of laminated interconnection layers on a first surface of the corresponding one of the plurality of laminated interconnection layers, and at each end of the corresponding one of the plurality of laminated interconnection layers on a second surface of the corresponding one of the plurality of laminated interconnection layers opposing to the first surface.

Semiconductor integrated circuit having three-dimensional interconnection lines


Various embodiments of the invention provide techniques and supporting systems for allowing a user to interrupt operation of an application in a hands-free manner. In one example, a software application responds to a combination of predefined physical actions and/or verbal utterances from the user, and cause the mobile communication device to pause or change its actions.

Mobile devices have become ubiquitous in the everyday life of the general consumer. No longer are cellular phones, electronic personal data assistants, and Internet-connected hand-held devices reserved for the elite. As these devices become ingrained in consumers' daily routines, the use of the devices in situations in which safety, convenience and even appropriateness have become issues.
Users frequently need to interrupt or "barge in" during the operation of a software application in order to issue a command, pause or stop the application, and frequently need to do so without touching or looking directly at the device running the software. As one example, drivers routinely attempt to text, email and talk on their phone while driving. In other instances, the device may be out of reach (e.g., across the room, or inside a clothing pocket, backpack, briefcase or purse. The device may be purposefully hidden to avoid theft or snooping, such as when being used in a crowd or subway. The user may wish to avoid touching the device due to risks of dirtying, ruining or breaking the device, such as when jogging, biking, cooking, or performing manual labor. In some instances, the user may be visually impaired or otherwise physically challenged and need to rely on other means for interacting with the device.
The present state of the art, however, does not provide a simple and accurate method for a user to effectively "barge in" as a device and/or application on the device is in operation. While "hands-free" operation has made use of these devices somewhat more acceptable in certain instances, but the user experience is less than ideal.
Attempts to solve this challenge using voice-response and voice-recognition applications have not fully addressed the challenges users encounter during actual use of their devices. This situation may be exacerbated over speakerphone systems—such as are common in automobiles for hands-free cell phone use—because the mobile communication device microphone may be picking up both the voice of the user and other sounds. For example, speakerphone systems actually exacerbate the problem because their microphones do not discriminate among sounds in the acoustic environment, which sounds can include voices other than that of the user, as well as other background sounds such as road noise. Hence, "barging in" or "getting the attention" of a device by speaking a specifically predefined voice command is ineffective by virtue of the limited accuracy of conventional speech recognition.
Additionally, some mobile voice-controlled applications deliver audio content themselves, such as simulated speech (text-to-speech), music or video. Because many devices place the speaker used for delivering the audio content in close proximity to the microphone used for detecting voice commands, it is even more difficult for the device to hear and distinguish the user's voice over audio content it is delivering.
For "barging in" or "getting the attention" of a device via user voice command, the device must be constantly listening to all acoustic signals in the environment and attempting to detect a specifically predefined "barge in" command. Today's mobile devices and the applications that run on such devices perform much of their speech recognition using cloud-based services, so constantly listening can be prohibitively expensive for the user from a data usage standpoint under current mobile data plans offered by cell carriers. There is also a latency associated with transmitting every utterance and sound from the mobile device to the cloud for speech recognition processing, which makes the mobile device inadequately responsive to such spoken barge-in commands. Moreover, "barge-in" commands are useless if the data connection between the mobile device and the network is lost, and constant listening takes a dramatic toll on battery life.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and techniques that allow a user to effectively and reliably interrupt or "get the attention" of an application under a variety of acoustic conditions and in the presence of competing audio signals or noise, and without requiring access to a data network.

Systems and methods for hands-off control of a mobile communication device


Remote frequency synchronization is achieved between two or more nodes in a packet-switched network using differential timestamps. A line is fit to multiple differential time values using a minimum delay principle. Frequency synchronization and/or absolute time synchronization between the two nodes may be achieved using one or both of uplink and downlink differential time values and fitting one or both of first and second lines to differential time values by different means of the minimum delay principle.

The present invention relates to remote node synchronization, and more particularly, to remote node synchronization over a packet-switched network where all intermediary nodes are not necessarily synchronized.
Because synchronous networks tend to be expensive, packet-switched networks are usually not synchronized meaning that there is no common reference clock in the network. The IEEE 802.3 standard, often referred to as Ethernet, is an example asynchronous network that uses free-running clocks in all nodes. Although asynchronous networks are appropriate for many applications, in other applications, synchronization is important or otherwise desirable.
One example application where synchronization is important is radio access network (RANs) used in mobile radio communications. Present day, circuit-switched RANs use plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH), (e.g. E1), or synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH), (e.g., STM-1), links between RAN nodes. Due to the well-controlled jitter and wander characteristics of these transmission technologies, clock-recovery techniques can be utilized to reach 50 parts-per-billion (ppb) frequency accuracy necessary for the third generation, wideband code-division multiple access (WCDMA) air interface.
Instead of using circuit-switched communications where synchronization is based on SDH or PDH, it would be desirable to employ packet-switched network technologies for RAN node communications since packet-switched network infrastructures already exist. If that were to occur, there will be intermediary repeaters, switches, and routers (hereafter referred to as intermediary nodes) between the RAN nodes like radio base stations (RBSs), radio network controllers (RNCs), or the like. The intermediary nodes inject delays and uncertainties into the synchronization process not encountered in circuit-switched networks. Nonetheless, certain applications, such as WCDMA as mentioned above, require frequency-synchronization at a very high accuracy, and may also require absolute time synchronization. The latter is important for several positioning method of cellular terminals, e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS)-assisted positioning. Moreover, clock-recovery techniques can not be used for packet-switched, asynchronous network technologies like Ethernet, Internet Protocol (IP), or Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).
A solution is needed that generally provides means for remote node synchronization over packet-switched networks between a sending node and a receiving node without requiring synchronization of any intermediary nodes, That solution should also solve specific problems and needs associated with synchronizing RAN nodes that employ packet-switched communications, e.g., very accurate synchronization for both frequency and absolute time.
Synchronization over packet-switched networks can be achieved using several approaches. One approach is to adjust the receiving node's clock based on the "filling level" of an elastic jitter buffer, as shown in FIG. 1. Upper and lower window boundaries are defined around the middle of the jitter buffer. For every n samples, the average position of a buffer pointer is calculated. In normal operation, the average pointer position should be around the middle of the window. If the average pointer position goes above the upper window boundary or below the lower window boundary, the receiving node's clock is corrected to return the average pointer position to the middle of the buffer.
Drawbacks of this approach include sensitivity to frame/packet loss. If a frame/packet is lost, the buffer decreases. Another drawback is the requirement for timeservers with very accurate periodicity. Few accurate periodicity timeservers which allow ppb accuracy to be reached are available on the market, and they are slow, with a periodicity on the order several seconds.
Another approach for frequency synchronization over packet-switched networks employs periodic timestamp transmission illustrated in FIG. 2. A Timeserver Q (e.g., an RNC) sends timestamps to a client receiver P (e.g., an RBS) with a predetermined periodicity. The frequency drift and time offset between Q and P are estimated from the timestamp periodicity so the periodicity must be accurate. Drawbacks of this approach are similar to those described for the jitter buffer approach described above including sensitivity to frame/packet loss and timeservers with very accurate periodicity.
A third approach relies on time differences between the timeserver Q and the client P. Advantages include insensitivity to frame/packet loss and no periodicity requirement. FIG. 3 illustrates a one-way timestamp procedure. A timestamp message, e.g., a network time protocol (NTP) message, is sent from the timeserver to the client through a number of intermediary nodes (e.g., switches). When sending the message, the timeserver inserts an absolute local time t3 in the message. When the client receives the message, it adds the absolute local time t4 to the message. The differential time Δt43=t4−t3 can then be calculated and evaluated by the client.
The differential time, in this case Δt43=t4−t3, is compared with the absolute local time t4 in the client. FIG. 4 shows multiple differential times Δt43 being plotted relative to the absolute local time t4. An oscillator frequency drift in the client appears as a drift in the differential time which is shown in FIG. 4 as a dashed line. The drift slope ρ (i.e., the slope of the dashed line), corresponds to the client's frequency drift compared to the timeserver. A least-squares algorithm may be used to estimate the differential time drift, but it unfortunately requires a long convergence time.

Remote synchronization in packet-switched networks


A method of forming a contact for a photosensitive element of a photosensitive imager including a common electrode separated from a bottom contact by intervening layers of an SiOx transistor passivation layer over the bottom contact and an SiNx diode passivation layer over the transistor passivation layer. Controlled etching through the passivation layers exposes but does not damage the thin film transistor passivation layer extending in regions beyond the common electrode, and also improves adherence of a protective gasket in such regions. The contact pad formed in this process has a layer of diode passivation material and a layer of transistor passivation material disposed between the upper common electrode material layer and the underlying source and drain electrode material layer, with a via provided having smooth and sloped sidewalls over which the common electrode material extends to provide electrical contact between the common electrode material layer and the source and drain electrode material layer.

Photosensitive elements (for converting incident radiant energy into an electrical signal) are commonly formed into arrays for use in applications such as x-ray imagers and facsimile devices. Photosensitive elements, such as photodiodes, are formed in conjunction with necessary control or switching elements, such as thin film transistors (TFTs), in relatively large area arrays of such elements.
Photosensitive elements of the general type to which the present invention is applicable are described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,181 of Robert F. Kwasnick and Jack D. Kingsley entitled "Photosensitive Element With Two Layer Passivation Coating", issued Aug. 3, 1993, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.
The photodiodes in the photodiode array are addressed by scan lines (rows) which switch the gate voltage of the TFTs associated with each photodiode allowing the charge collected on the photodiode to be transferred to columns of data lines which are connected by external connectors to read out circuitry. A common electrode layer at predetermined potential biases all of the photodiodes in parallel. The photodiode array is formed on a substrate and the scan lines, data lines and common electrode are electrically connected by contact fingers from the outside edge of the array to contact pads at the ends of the contact fingers. External connectors, typically flexible connectors with conducting lines on them, are pressed into contact with the contact pad surfaces to connect to and address the photodiode array.
The imager can be made sensitive to x-ray radiation by formation on the surface of, or coupling to, an X-ray sensitive scintillator. For environmental protection, the scintillator is sandwiched between a cover plate and the imager with the cover plate attached to the imager by a gasket adhering to both the cover plate and imager surfaces.
The contact pads differ from the contact fingers by necessarily having a conducting material on the exposed pad surface to which electrical contact is made. The conducting material is usually the common electrode material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or a related transparent conducting material. The ITO connects to the underlying conducting materials which in turn connect to the array through vias formed in the dielectric layers. The vias are formed in the TFT passivation dielectric which typically is plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) deposited silicon oxide (SiOx). It is desirable to avoid exposed conducting material in the contact finger region (the region between the contact pads and the array) of the imager because it can lead to excessive surface leakage between the contact fingers, corrosion, and degradation of imager performance.
In devices such as that described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,181, a two layer diode passivation dielectric is included in which the bottom layer is commonly PECVD silicon nitride (SiNx). Because adhesion of gasket material is better to SiOx than to SiNx, in such devices the SiNx is removed from the contact finger and contact pad region. It has been found that defects may occur if the SiNx is removed over the contact finger region by wet etching due to attack of the underlying SiOx during the overetch of the SiNx, especially at regions where the SiOx overlays steps formed by layers of underlying array components, such as edges of the source and drain metal or gate metal used in TFT formation. Accordingly, it is desirable to improve the sealing of the contact finger lines by the passivation of dielectric layers overlying the contact finger lines.
In addition, the contact vias in the contact pads in such devices do not inherently include a desired sloped profile or sides even though they are normally wet etched. At the relatively low temperature (about 250.degree. C.) used in the PECVD of SiOx, the resultant contact via profile often has a vertical sidewall profile or even an overhanging profile after wet etch in an HF-based solution, typically a 10% solution of 10% HF buffered with NH.sub.4 F. An overhang has been observed not only with the use of tank wet etch, but also with the use of spin and spray tools. The resultant overhang increases the difficulty of forming an electrically continuous layer of ITO across the edges of the via from the top surface of the contact pad to the underlying metals which connect to the photodiode array. Since flexible external connectors only contact the top surfaces of the contact pads, discontinues ITO across the via edges results in uncontacted lines. Because an imager may have thousands of conducting lines, the ITO must make a very reliable connection across the via sidewall. Methods such as via bonding which would contact the bottom of the vias are not practical because of the thousands of bonds required.
It is thus desirable to provide an improved method of fabricating the electrical contact for a photosensitive element in which etching of the diode passivation layer does not adversely affect the underlying thin film transistor passivation dielectric and which provides improved yield and reliability of the common electrode contact to the underlying conductors, and in which the SiNx used as a diode passivation dielectric is removed from the contact finger region surrounding the array in order to improve the adherence of gasket materials used to seal the array.

Photosensitive imager contact pad structure


Processes for stabilizing active PAI-1 protein comprising combining active PAI-1 protein with an aqueous buffer having an ionic strength of at least about 5 millisiemens and a sugar selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides and disaccharides, and/or subjecting the active PAI-1 protein to lyophilization, are disclosed. Also described are compositions, including pharmaceutical compositions and kits, which include the stabilized active PAI-1 protein, and therapeutic processes employing the same in the treatment of fibrinolysis.

Human tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is a key physiological regulator of fibrinolysis. It converts the zymogen plasminogen into plasmin, the enzyme which degrades the fibrin network of the thrombus. Apparently, in the presence of a clot, both tPA and plasminogen bind to fibrin and form a ternary complex in which plasminogen is efficiently activated. The affinity for fibrin makes tPA clot-specific, and useful as a therapeutic agent for fibrinolytic therapy in man. Stump et al., Semin. Thromb. Hemos., Vol. 16, No. 3. pp. 260-273 (1990); Lijnen et al., Fibrinolysis, Vol. 3, pp. 67-77 (1989).
The principal physiological regulator of tPA appears to be a specific, fast-acting, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1). PAI-1 is a protein of a molecular weight of about 50,000 which binds to tPA in a 1:1 complex, and inactivates it. Recent clinical studies suggest that elevated levels of PAI-1, by reducing the net endogenous fibrinolytic capacity, may contribute to the pathogenesis of various thrombotic disorders, including myocardial infarction, deep vein thrombosis, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Van Mourik et al., J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 259, pp. 14914-14921 (1984); Colucci et al., J. Clin. Invest., Vol. 75, pp. 818-824 (1985); Almer et al., Thromb. Research, Vol. 47, pp. 335-339 (1987); Hamsten et al., New England J. of Medicine, Vol. 313, pp. 1557-1563 (1985); Wiman et al., J. Lab. Clin. Med., Vol 105, pp. 265-270 (1985).
Two forms of PAI-1 differing in tPA inhibitory activity and referred to as active and inactive or latent (inactive/latent) forms have been observed with PAI-1 protein from both natural and recombinant sources. Reilly et al., J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 265, No. 16, pp. 9570-9574 (1990); Lambers et al., Fibrinolysis, Vol. 2, Supp. 1, p. 33 (1988); Vaughan et al., J. Clin. Invest., Vol. 84, pp. 586-591 (1989). Considerable efforts have been directed to maximizing the amount of the active PAI-1 protein isolated, and researchers have achieved some success in this regard. For example, it has been reported that inactive/latent PAI-1 protein may be converted to an active form by treatment with denaturants such as sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS), guanidium hydrochloride and urea, or with negatively-charged phospholipids. Reilly et al., J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 265, No. 16, pp. 9570-9574 (1990); Vaughan et al., J. Clin. Invest., Vol. 84, pp. 586-591 (1989). Recombinant techniques have also been developed which yield substantial quantities of functionally active, E. coli-expressed, human PAI-1 protein. Reilly et al., J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 265, No. 16, pp. 9570-9574 (1990); Sisk et al., Gene (Amst.), Vol. 96, pp. 305-309 (1990); Davis et al., U.S. Ser. No. 350,264, filed May 11, 1989, entitled "High Level Expression of Functional Human Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor in E. coli". In addition, purification procedures have been discovered in which active PAI-1 may be separated from the inactive/latent form. Hayman et al., U.S. Ser. No. 671,433, filed Mar. 20, 1991, entitled "Purification of Active and Inactive/Latent Forms of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1". Although some progress has been made in maximizing the amount of active PAI-1 protein, one problem which has not been fully addressed to date is the inherent instability of the PAI-1 active form. Indeed, it has been reported by researchers that active PAI-1 is rapidly converted following synthesis to a latent form by some unknown mechanism. Reilly et al., J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 265, No. 16, pp. 9570-9574 (1990); Kooistra et al., Biochem. J., Vol. 239, pp. 497-503 (1989). In view of the labile nature of the active form, some scientists have concluded that obtaining a pure sample of active PAI-1 is "an unrealistic goal". Franke et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta, Vol. 1037, pp. 16-23 (1990).
Thus, although some success has been achieved in increasing the amount of active form PAI-1 obtained, means for stabilizing this active form and minimizing its conversion to inactive/latent PAI-1 are needed. The present invention is directed to this important end.

Stabilization of active plasminogen activator inhibitor-1


A sunroof apparatus includes: a movable panel that can open or close an opening formed in a roof of a vehicle; guide rails having a pair of rail-side holding portions provided side by side in a lateral direction, and respectively provided in both edge portions of the opening in the lateral direction; support brackets, front end portions of which are supported by the guide rails, having vertical walls, and each of which has bracket-side held portions; sliding members are provided so as to be able to move along the guide rails, and each of which has a connection wall; sliding member-side held portions, and sliding member-side holding portions; and an electric driving source driving the movement of the sliding members.

In the related art, JP 2013-184648A (Reference 1) discloses a sunroof apparatus. This sunroof apparatus includes a movable panel which can open or close an opening formed in the roof of a vehicle; guide rails which are respectively provided in both edge portions of the opening in a lateral direction of the vehicle; support brackets, front end portions of which are supported by the guide rails, and which support both edge portions of the movable panel in the lateral direction of the vehicle; and sliding members which are provided so as to be able to move along the guide rails, and are connected to the support brackets. An electric driving source drives the movement of the sliding members. Along with the movement of the sliding members, in a fully closed state of the movable panel, when the support brackets pivotally turn relative to front and portions of the support brackets such that rear ends of the support brackets are raised, the movable panel is tilted upward, and when the front end portions continuously move to the rear of the vehicle, the movable panel slides while being tilted upward.
A substantially U-shaped holding groove is formed in each of the sliding members in such a manner that the holding groove opens toward the rear of the vehicle. A substantially circular column-shaped holding pin is fixedly attached to each of the support brackets in such a manner that the holding pin protrudes toward the inside of the vehicle in the lateral direction of the vehicle. Since the holding pins are engageably inserted into the holding grooves when the movable panel is in a fully closed state, even if a load is applied to the movable panel from a vehicle's passenger compartment (from below the movable panel), for example, when the head of a passenger comes into contact with the movable panel, the support brackets are prevented from being twisted in a certain direction, and both the support brackets are in more stable positions due to the movable panel.
In the sunroof apparatus disclosed in Reference 1, for example, when a large load is applied to the fully closed movable panel from the vehicle's passenger compartment due to a vehicle rolling over, both the support brackets may be twisted in a reverse direction, and may be in unstable positions.


A water-decomposable absorbent article including an absorbent body that has a water-decomposable top sheet, a water-decomposable back sheet, a water-decomposable adsorbent core sandwiched between the top sheet and the back sheet, and an adhesive layer provided on the back sheet to fit the absorbent article to an external support; and a water-decomposable release sheet for protecting the adhesive layer before use with covering the adhesive layer. The release sheet includes a release layer that faces the adhesive layer, a water-decomposable fibrous layer, and a water-soluble polymer layer sandwiched between the release layer and the fibrous layer. A basis weight of the release layer is at least 0.05 g/m2 but smaller than 0.3 g/m2, and an equilibrium contact angle between a surface of the release layer and a water drop thereon is at least 100 degrees.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water-decomposable absorbent article for pantiliners, sanitary napkins, incontinence pads, diapers, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, water-decomposable absorbent articles disposable in flush toilets have come available, including, for example, pantiliners, sanitary napkins, incontinence pads, diapers, etc. Such a water-decomposable absorbent article comprises a water-decomposable top sheet to face the skin of a wearer (i.e., the top sheet serves as a body facing surface), a water-decomposable back sheet to face an external support such as an underwear (i.e., the back sheet serves as a garment facing surface), and a water-decomposable absorbent core sandwiched between the top sheet and the back sheet. In general, the back sheet is provided with an adhesive layer via which the absorbent article is fitted to the external support such as an underwear, and the adhesive layer is covered with a release sheet so as not to degrade its adhesiveness until use. Before use, the release sheet is peeled off to expose the adhesive layer outside, and the absorbent article is fitted to the external support via the thus-exposed adhesive layer.
Water-decomposable absorbent articles have self-sustaining strength enough to keep their shape during use, and, after used, they are disposed of in toilets and readily decomposed in water. However, the release sheet which is to be peeled off before use, is made of a resin sheet or-a cardboard sheet coated thick with silicone, and is very troublesome since it must be treated as wastes. If the release sheet is also made from a water-decomposable material, it can be disposed of in toilets without requiring treating as wastes, and thereby being convenient to users.
In that situation, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. Heisei 11-47187 discloses a water-decomposable individual packaging absorbent article, for which is used a water-decomposable release sheet. The water-decomposable release sheet used for it is made of a water-soluble resin film or a water-soluble paper coated with a silicone or Teflon for release treatment, and the absorbent article is individually wrapped with the release sheet.
However, the water-soluble resin film coated with a silicone or Teflon for release treatment is problematic in that, when it is stored for a long period of time in high-humidity environments, the film absorbs water and swells, and, as a result, the strength of the wrapping bag of the film is lowered. Another problem with it is that the swollen film will cause surface defects such as pin holes through the release treatment portion of silicone or the like. Such surf-ace defects tend to zip the release sheet when the release sheet is released from the adhesive layer of the absorbent article, and, as a result, smoothly releasing the release sheet from the adhesive layer will be often difficult. In case where the water-soluble resin film is made thick to increase its wet strength, such a thick film will gel in water when disposed of in flush toilets, and will clog drainpipes. The water-soluble paper coated with the lubricant (silicone) is also problematic in that the hydrophobic, three-dimensionally crosslinking release layer of silicone or Teflon will bond fibers of the water-soluble paper to each other, and, as a result, the release sheet will be poorly or hardly decomposable in water.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. Heisei 8-48950 discloses a release sheet prepared by sizing a water-decomposable paper with a water-soluble sizing agent followed by coating a surface thereof with silicone. However, the invention disclosed in this patent publication is essentially directed to a technique of recycling used paper for regenerated paper, and not to a technique of ensuring rapid decomposition in water of silicone-coated water-decomposable paper and of preventing the surface defects of the coating film of silicone. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. Heisei 6-218006 discloses a water-degradable release liner prepared by coating water-degradable paper with a solution of polyvinylpyrrolidone, drying it, and further coating it with a lubricant silicone layer. In the disclosed release liner, however, the polymer material of polyvinylpyrrolidone is not heat-sealable. Therefore, when the release liner is tried to individually wrap absorbent articles with it, it cannot be formed into bags through heat-sealing via polyvinylpyrrolidone.
In those disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) Nos. Heisei 6-218006 and 8-48950, a water-soluble resin is infiltrated into the fiber-to-fiber space in water-decomposable paper, or water-decomposable paper is coated with a water-soluble resin solution thereby to size the paper. However, the composite film of water-decomposable paper and a water-soluble resin, which is produced by infiltrating the water-soluble resin into water-decomposable paper or by coating water-decomposable paper with the water-soluble resin solution in the manner disclosed, is still problematic in that a surface of the composite film tends to be roughened owing to the roughness of the constituent fibers. In case where a release layer of silicone or the like is formed on such a rough surface of the composite film, it could not have a uniform thickness since the underlying composite film does not have a flat surface. As a result, when the water-soluble resin in the composite film has absorbed water to swell, the release layer that overlies the composite film will have surface defects such as pinholes. Still another problem with the composite film produced by coating water-decomposable paper with the water-soluble resin solution is that the composite film is often warped in the step of drying it after coated with the resin solution, owing to the difference in the wet expansion coefficient between the water-decomposable paper and the water-soluble resin. As a result, when a release layer of crosslinked silicone or the like is formed on such a warped composite film, it will be cracked or will have surface defects such as pin holes.
Through the surface defects (cracks and pin holes) of the release layer, water will penetrate into the underlying water-soluble resin layer to swell or gel it, and the thus-swollen or gelled resin layer will be exposed outside through the surface defects of the release layer. If so, the release properties of the release layer for facilitating easy release of the release sheet from an adhesive layer will be thereby lowered, and, as a result, smoothly peeling the release sheet from the adhesive layer of an absorbent article will be difficult.
An object of the invention is to provide a water-decomposable absorbent article provided with an adhesive layer to which is fitted a water-decomposable release sheet, wherein the release sheet is improved so that its release layer is flat and is resistant to water, that it is well decomposable in water and that its releasability from the adhesive layer is surely kept for a long period of time.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a water-decomposable absorbent article, in which the release sheet can be formed into a bag for packaging the absorbent article and it can be heat-sealed via a water-soluble polymer layer that underlies the release layer.
According to one aspect of the invention, a water-decomposable absorbent article may comprise: an absorbent body that includes a water-decomposable top sheet, a water-decomposable back sheet, a water-decomposable adsorbent core sandwiched between the top sheet and the back sheet, and an adhesive layer provided on the back sheet to fit the absorbent article to an external support; and a water-decomposable release sheet for protecting the adhesive layer before use with covering the adhesive layer, wherein;
the release sheet includes a release layer that faces the adhesive layer, a water-decomposable fibrous layer, and a water-soluble polymer layer sandwiched between the release layer and the fibrous layer,
a basis weight of the release layer is at least 0.05 g/m2 but smaller than 0.3 g/m2, and an equilibrium contact angle between a surface of the release layer and a water drop thereon is at least 100 degrees.
Preferably, the release layer is made from a silicone compound layer, and its weight is at most 0.15 g/m2.
The release sheet for the water-decomposable absorbent article of the invention comprises a release layer of silicone or the like formed on a water-decomposable fibrous layer of, for example, water-decomposable paper or water-decomposable non-woven fabric, via a water-soluble polymer layer therebetween. In this, therefore, the lubricant constituting the release layer does not penetrate into the fiber-to-fiber space in the fibrous layer to bond the constituent fibers, and the decomposability in water of the release sheet is not lowered. When the release sheet is disposed of in flush toilets, water penetrates into the water-soluble polymer layer existing between the fibrous layer and the release layer, to thereby dissolve the polymer layer, and, after all, the release layer is readily peeled off from the thus-dissolved polymer layer in water jets.
In the invention, the weight of the release layer is specifically defined to fall within the range as above, and, in addition, the equilibrium contact angle between the surface of the release layer and a water drop thereon is specifically defined to be at least 100 degrees. Being so defined, the release layer is flat and is resistant to water. Therefore, even when the release sheet is stored under a high-humidity condition for a long period of time or water adheres thereto in the process of producing it, or while its release layer is kept in contact with a water-soluble adhesive, water hardly penetrates into its water-soluble polymer layer via its release layer. As a result, the water-soluble polymer that constitutes the polymer layer is prevented from being swollen or gelled by water, as little water penetrates into the layer, and the release layer is hardly damaged to have surface defects such as pin hole. For these reasons, the release sheet ensures good releasability from the adhesive layer for a long period of time. In addition, the release layer is readily dispersed in water, as the uppermost limit of its weight is defined as set forth above.
Preferably, the thickness of the water-soluble polymer layer falls between 5 xcexcm and 20 xcexcm. Also preferably, the water-soluble polymer layer is formed from a polyvinyl alcohol, and the polyvinyl alcohol for the layer has a degree of saponification of at least 70%.
In case where such a water-soluble polymer layer of which the thickness falls within the defined range is formed on the water-decomposable fibrous layer, the influence of the surface roughness of the fibrous layer on the polymer layer can be reduced than conventionally, and the release layer can be well formed on the polymer layer in a more stable condition. In addition, the polymer layer of which the thickness falls within the defined range can reduce the stress to warp the release sheet.
Also preferably, the release sheet is to form a bag to entirely wrap and envelop the absorbent article therein, and its outer periphery is heat-sealed via the polyvinyl alcohol layer to form the bag.
According to another aspect of the invention, the method for producing the water-decomposable absorbent article that includes a water-decomposable top sheet, a water-decomposable back sheet, a water-decomposable absorbent core sandwiched between the top sheet and the back sheet, and an adhesive layer provided on the back sheet to fit the absorbent body to an external support, may comprise;
a step of melt-extruding and laminating a water-soluble polymer layer having a thickness of from 5 xcexcm to 20 xcexcm on a surface of a water-decomposable fibrous sheet made of hydrophilic and water-insoluble fibers,
a step of applying a release material onto a surface of the water-soluble polymer layer to form thereon a release layer having a weight of at least 0.05 g/m2 but smaller than 0.3 g/m2,
a step of crosslinking the release material such that an equilibrium contact angle between the surface of the release layer and a water drop thereon is at least 100 degrees, thereby forming a release sheet, and
a step of fitting the release sheet to the adhesive layer of the absorbent body via the release layer.
In the method, the water-soluble polymer layer is melt-extruded and laminated on the fibrous layer. In this, therefore, it is easy to define the thickness of the polymer layer to fall within the desired range.

Water-decomposable absorbent article and method for producing it