A semiconductor device includes: a memory circuit having a plurality of quadrants arranged at corners of the memory circuit and surrounding a bank control component; wherein a first quadrant of the plurality of quadrants includes a first bit cell core and a first set of input output circuits configured to access the first bit cell core, the first quadrant defined by a rectangular boundary that encloses portions of two perpendicular edges of the memory circuit; wherein a second quadrant of the plurality of quadrants includes a second bit cell core and a second set of input output circuits configured to access the second bit cell core, the second quadrant being adjacent the first quadrant, wherein a border between the first quadrant and the second quadrant defines a first axis about which the first quadrant and the second quadrant are symmetrical.

A conventional computing device (e.g., smart phone, tablet computer, etc.) may include a system on chip (SOC), which has a processor and other operational circuits. The SOC may also include random-access memory (RAM) implemented as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), as well as various read-only memories (ROMs). RAM may be implemented within a processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), or outside of a processor.
Currently, some CPU architectures use many wide input output (I/O) memory instances operating at 3 GHz and above. However, a wide I/O implementation at high frequencies may impact memory performance due to a resistive capacitive (RC) effect. One approach is to break larger memory circuit instances into smaller memory, circuit instances, which may reduce some of the RC effect and provide acceptable performance for 3 GEL and above. However, such approaches may also duplicate hardware, therefore incurring a leakage penalty and area penalty. Furthermore, such solutions may use routing tracks to merge the memories, and those routing tracks may themselves incur some amount of RC effect.
Another proposal is to use repeaters to support multiple memory circuits arranged horizontally within a single instance. However, repeaters may experience lower speed and may in some instances not be suitable for 3 GHz implementations. Also, such implementations may increase wordline routing complexity.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for more memory architectures that achieve a better trade-off between performance, power, and area (PPA) in systems that use memories.


A scanner has a window in its housing through which the scanning beam emerges to impinge upon an indicia to be read. The window is elongate, and adjacent each end, on the inside of the housing, there is a bar code symbol structure. In use, the scanning beam first scans across the symbol structure at one end of the window, then passes through the window to impinge upon the indicia, then scans across the second symbol structure at the other end of the window. Reflected light from the two code symbol structures and from the indicia, are received by a photodetector. The reflected light from the bar code symbol structures on the inside surface of the housing provides locating and timing information which enables the scanner to produce an accurate special reconstruction, in computer memory, of the indicia. In an alternative embodiment, the beam moves in a raster pattern, and there is a further locating/timing/synchronization bar code symbol structure adjacent a long edge of the window. At least one of the raster lines passes over this bar code symbol structure, thereby obtaining further locating and timing information.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to an apparatus for, and a method of, providing timing, synchronization and locating information during the electro-optical scanning of an indicia such as for example a matrix code or a signature.
2. Description of Related Art
Bar code scanners normally read bar code symbols by very rapidly and repeatedly scanning a light beam, for example from a laser source, across the symbol or bar code symbol structure to be deciphered. Reflected light from the light and dark areas of the bar code is received by the scanner, with the time delays between the resultant received pulses of light being used as the basis of a calculation to determine the special relationship between light and dark areas which are present in the bar code. Because of natural variations in the scanning speed (both between scans and within a single scan), and other unquantifiable variables such as movement of the scanner in the user's hand during the scanning process, some means of location and synchronization is required to ensure that the received series of light pulses can reliably be converted into the proper spatial relationship. This locating and timing or synchronization information is normally built into the bar code symbol. This can be done in many ways, but one convenient possibility is to include a series of special locating, timing or synchronization lines within the bar code symbol structure, spaced apart by a known distance. Receipt of signals from these lines enables the scanner to correct for any non-uniformities in the scanning speed.
Because of their need for locating and timing information, bar code scanners have not widely been used to decode indicia such as signatures which intrinsically contain no locating or timing information. The problem of scanning signatures has been addressed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,140, which is in common ownership with the present application. That patent teaches that one can reliably scan a signature with a bar code scanner, provided that the label on which the signature is written also carries a multi-row preamble identification code in front of the signature, and a corresponding postamble code after the signature. In practice, labels are pre-printed with preamble and postamble codes, and the signatory is asked to sign in the space between them. The codes and the signature are then scanned. The timing information provided by the preamble and postamble codes enables the reflected light pulses from the signature to be accurately converted into a digitised special reconstruction of the signature, held in computer memory.
Although effective to achieve its stated purpose, the teaching of the prior art does require the use of relatively expensive pre-printed labels. This not only adds to the cost, but limits the flexibility of the system since to be effectively scanned a signature has to be written precisely in the specified area between the preamble and postamble codes. Signatures of different sizes are not easily catered for, neither is it easy to generalise the system to allow the scanner to read many types of images, of different sizes and orientations.

Timing synchronization for image scanning


Signal sampler embodiments are provided for processing input signals along signal paths in response to mode-command signals. They include a follower transistor with a control terminal and a current terminal that establish at least part of a signal path. They also include a switched-capacitor network that receives signals from the current terminal in response to a first mode-command signal and that couple a selected one of a set of reference signals to the current terminal in response to a second mode-command signal. During a second mode-command signal, a bias switch is arranged to bias off the follower transistor by coupling a bias signal to the control terminal that approximates the selected reference signal. Accordingly, the amplitude of the reference signals can be increased to facilitate an increased dynamic range of the input signals without biasing the follower transistor into breakdown.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to signal samplers.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a variety of signal conditioning systems (e.g., pipelined signal converters), buffer amplifiers provide an analog input signal to the analog-to-digital converter of a converter stage for conversion into a corresponding digital code and also provide the input signal to a switched-capacitor network of that stage for generation of a corresponding residue signal for processing by a succeeding converter stage. This residue signal generation is facilitated with a selected one of a set of reference signals wherein the selected reference signal is determined by the corresponding digital code.
If it is desired to increase a system's dynamic range (i.e., to increase the amplitude range of the analog input signals), the amplitude of the reference signals must also increase. Because at least one transistor of the buffer amplifier is generally exposed to the selected reference signal, the system's dynamic range must be limited so that the increased reference signals do not initiate transistor breakdown.

Signal samplers with enhanced dynamic range


A metal material having a coating formed by a surface treatment on the surface of the metal material is provided. The coating has an excellent corrosion resistance with or without a further coating that is equivalent or superior to the prior art coating formed by zinc phosphate treatment or chromate treatment, is free from sludge formation or environmentally harmful components, and is formed by using a component capable of deposition with a simple method. A surface-treated metal material having on a surface of a metal material a coating layer formed by a surface treatment, the coating layer containing the following components (A) and (B), wherein (A) is an oxide and/or hydroxide of at least one metallic element selected from the group of Ti, Zr, and Hf and (B) is aluminum; wherein, in the coating layer formed by the surface treatment, the weight ratio K1 (=B/A), which is the weight ratio of the coating weight B of aluminum of the component (B) to the total coating weight A of the metallic element in the component (A), is in the range of 0.001≦K1≦2.

Corrosion resistance before and after coating of the metal material has generally been improved by using a surface-treated metal material having a zinc phosphate or a chromate coating. A zinc phosphate coating is capable of improving the corrosion resistance of steel materials such as a hot-rolled steel strip and a cold-rolled steel strip, galvanized steel strip, and some aluminum alloys.
However, the surface treatment used in forming such a zinc phosphate coating is associated with the inevitable generation of sludge which is the by-product of the reaction, and the corrosion resistance after coating had been insufficient in some steel materials such as a high tensile strength steel strip and some aluminum alloys.
Galvanized steel strips and aluminum alloys can also be provided with sufficient performance after coating by forming a chromate coating on such a material.
However, in consideration of current environmental regulation, use of the chromate treatment which inevitably includes toxic hexavalent chromium in both the treatment solution and the coating layer formed by such treatment is gradually avoided. Because of such a situation, various methods including the methods as described below have been proposed as a method capable of providing a coating layer free from toxic components by a surface treatment.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a compound containing a nitrogen atom having a lone pair, and a chromium-free coating composition for a metal surface containing this compound and a zirconium compound. This method discloses the application of the compound to provide a coating containing no harmful hexavalent chromium and having an improved corrosion resistance after coating as well as a satisfactory adhesion.
Similarly, many chemical conversion methods such as those disclosed in Patent Documents 2 to 5 were proposed as surface-treatment methods for depositing a coating exhibiting an excellent adhesion after the coating as well as an excellent corrosion resistance.
Patent Document 6 discloses a composition for surface treatment of a metal containing a metal acetylacetonate and at least one compound selected from a water-soluble inorganic titanium compound and a water-soluble zirconium compound at a weight ratio of 1:5000 to 5000:1.
Patent Document 7 discloses a surface-coated metal material having an excellent corrosion resistance produced by forming on the surface of a metal material a corrosion-resistant coating containing an oxide of at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, Cr, Nb, Ta, Al, Si, and Zr and a carbide of at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ti, V, Al, Cr, Si, W, Ta, Fe, and Zr in a total content of at least 10% by weight. Patent Document 7 also teaches that a metal material having an excellent corrosion resistance can be provided by this coating.
Patent Document 1 JP 2000-204485 A
Patent Document 2 JP 56-136978 A
Patent Document 3 JP 8-176841 A
Patent Document 4 JP 9-25436 A
Patent Document 5 JP 9-31404 A
Patent Document 6 JP 2000-199077 A
Patent Document 7 JP 7-228961 A


A system, method and computer-readable medium for developing an earth formation is disclosed. A tool conveyed in a borehole induces a stress in the earth formation proximate a borehole. A sensor assembly obtains a measurement of a physical property of the borehole at a plurality of azimuthal locations in the borehole. The values of the physical property are indicative of the induced stress in the formation. A processor forms an image of the borehole using the obtained measurements of the physical property, estimates an azimuthal variation with borehole depth of the induced stress in the formation from the formed image, and alters an operational parameter of a device for developing the earth formation using the estimated azimuthal variation with depth of the induced stress in the formation.

In the early years of oil drilling and production, wells were primarily drilled on land, to moderate depths, and with relatively minor horizontal offsets. An empirical understanding of the impact of geological forces and earth material properties on required drilling and development practice was developed region by region. Successful practices were defined by trial and (sometimes costly and spectacular) error. It was only once local conditions were understood that it became possible to drill and complete new wells with a sufficient degree of confidence to guarantee the safety and economic success of further field developments. However, techniques that were successful in one field were not necessarily successful in other fields, and therefore the trial and error learning process often had to be repeated.
As wells have become more expensive and complex, both in terms of well geometry (reach and length) and access to deep, high temperature, high pore pressure, and high stress regimes, it has become clear that the economic success of field developments can only be assured if geology and tectonics are understood and field activities are designed with that understanding. Furthermore, constraints on engineering practice based on environmental and societal requirements necessitate specially designed mud formulations and drilling techniques. Development and application of these solutions depends critically not only on an understanding of the processes that act within the earth, but also of the impact of these processes on drilling and completion practice. The study of these processes, and of the interactions between them and their effect on earth materials, is called geomechanics.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that forces in the earth are quantified by means of a stress tensor, in which the individual components are tractions (with dimensions of force per unit area) acting perpendicular or parallel to three planes that are in turn orthogonal to each other. The normals to the three orthogonal planes define a Cartesian coordinate system (x1, x2, x3). FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C together illustrate (FIG. 1A) definitions of the stress tensor in Cartesian coordinates; (FIG. 1B) tensor transformation through direction cosines; and (FIG. 1C) the principal stress axes.
The stress tensor has nine components, each of which has an orientation and a magnitude, as shown in FIG. 1A. Three of these components are normal stresses, in which the force is applied perpendicular to the plane (S11 is the stress component acting normal to a plane perpendicular to the x1-axis); the other six are shear stresses, in which the force is applied along the plane in a particular direction (e.g., S12 is the force acting in the x2-direction along a plane perpendicular to the x1-axis). In all cases, Sij=Sji, which reduces the number of independent stress components to six.
At each point there exists a particular stress axis orientation for which all shear stress components are zero, whose directions are referred to as the principal stress directions. The magnitudes of the three principal stresses acting in these directions are S1, S2, and S3, corresponding to the greatest principal stress, the intermediate principal stress, and the least principal stress, respectively. Coordinate transformations between the principal stress tensor and any other arbitrarily oriented stress tensor are accomplished through tensor rotations. It has been found in most parts of the world that, at depths within reach of the drill bit, the stress acting vertically on a horizontal plane (defined as the vertical stress, Sv) is a principal stress. This requires that the other two principal stresses lie in a horizontal plane. Because these horizontal stresses almost always have different magnitudes, they are referred to as the greatest horizontal stress, SHmax and the least horizontal stress, SHmin.
There are a number of different sources of stress in the Earth. Plate tectonic driving forces have constant orientations over wide areas. They are caused by a variety of effects, including ridge push from mid-ocean ridges, slab pull where plates are being subducted, collision resistance forces at converging plate margins such as in Trinidad or the Himalayas, forces along transform faults where plates are moving laterally past each other such as the San Andreas fault in California, and suction above subduction zones such as the NE of Australia.
Another source of stresses in the Earth is referred to as topographic loads, which can be due to large mountain chains such as the Canadian Rockies or the Himalayas, or from addition or removal of loads due to ice sheets or changes in sea level. In this category are gravitational loads such as those associated with sedimentation within basins, and down-slope extensional loads within active depositional sequences.
Lithostatic buoyancy constitutes another category of stress in the Earth because the lithosphere is lower in density than the underlying asthenosphere, it "floats" on the underlying material, and sediment loading and lateral changes in lithospheric thickness or density cause bending forces to develop. Flexural forces, still another category of stress, are generated due to localized topographic loads and to the forces acting on down-going slabs in subduction zones. Finally, earthquakes (slip on faults), active volcanism, and salt diapirism are all examples of processes that act to change local stresses.
Of each of the foregoing categories of stress, the processes that contribute to the in situ stress field primarily include plate tectonic driving forces and gravitational loading. Plate tectonic driving forces cause the motions of the lithospheric plates that form the crust of the earth. Gravitational loading forces include topographic loads and loads due to lateral density contrasts and lithospheric buoyancy. These are modified by the locally acting effects of processes such as volcanism, earthquakes (fault slip), and salt diapirism. Human activities, such as mining and fluid extraction or injection, can also cause local stress changes.
Because the largest components of the stress field (gravitational loading and plate driving stresses) act over large areas, stress orientations and magnitudes in the crust are remarkably uniform. However, local perturbations, both natural and man-made, are important to consider for application of geomechanical analyses to drilling and reservoir engineering. There are countless real-world examples of regions wherein the individual stress orientations within fields in the region are quite uniform, the stress varies systematically among the individual fields. It is also well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that stresses can be different within different geological layers, or within different fault blocks within the earth, and that adjacent to local sources of stress perturbation the stresses can change with position on a foot-by-foot basis.
Vertical stress can be the greatest, the intermediate, or the least principal stress. A classification scheme has been used to describe these three possibilities based on the type of faulting that would occur in each case. Table 1 sets forth definitions of the greatest principal stress (S1) and the least principal stress (S3) for different fault classifications.
TABLE 1FAULT REGIMES1S3NormalSVSHminStrike-slipSHmaxSHminReverseSHmaxSV
A normal faulting regime is one in which the vertical stress is the greatest stress. When the vertical stress is the intermediate stress, a strike-slip regime is indicated. If the vertical stress is the least stress, the regime is defined to be reverse. The horizontal stresses at a given depth will be smallest in a normal faulting regime, larger in a strike-slip regime, and greatest in a reverse faulting regime. In general, vertical wells are found to be progressively less stable as the regime changes from normal to strike-slip to reverse, and consequently require higher mud weights to drill.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the desirability in many instances of drilling wellbores in particular orientations relative to the in situ stresses present along the wellbore trajectory. In particular, positioning a well in a specific orientation with respect to the in situ stress field or in a specific geological horizon selected on the basis of the state of stress can significantly improve or degrade the performance of the completed well. In the latter case, it is well known that placing a well within a geological horizon with a lower stress can improve the efficiency of hydraulic fracturing as well as its effectiveness for production or injection. This is in part because when the stress magnitude is smaller it requires a lower pressure to induce a fracture by fluid injection, and also in part because when the stress magnitude is smaller it is easier to maintain the desired fracture aperture and flow properties over the life of the well.
It is also well known that the orientation of a well with respect to the stresses can also improve or degrade the efficiency with which a well can be completed using other techniques such as by means of first casing and then perforating the casing in the well to connect the well to the fluid-bearing formation. The orientation of the well with respect to the stresses can also affect the cost of the installed hardware necessary to achieve well objectives. Such objectives are discussed in further detail in U.S. Pat. No. 7,181,380 to Dusterhoft et al., having the same assignee as the present disclosure and the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. As disclosed in Dusterhoft, obtained information regarding pore pressure depletion, stress magnitudes and orientations, and strength of rock formation from hydrocarbon recovery modeling is used to determine optimum well completion design including the selection of a completion type, trajectory, and location. Additionally, the process may also consider probable failure mechanisms and identified completion requirements, and their corresponding effect on completion options.
One example of the benefit of optimally orienting a well trajectory with respect to the in situ stress field is in the case of a naturally fractured reservoir, where the flow properties of the natural fractures (which may have random or multiple orientations) depend on their orientation with respect to the principal stresses. In many cases the most permeable fractures in the earth are the subset of fractures that are optimally oriented for slip under the current stress field. In any case, the orientations of the natural fractures most likely to be permeable (the optimally oriented fractures) can be determined if the stress orientations and magnitudes are known. Because wells drilled perpendicular to the optimally oriented fractures will intersect the greatest number of these fractures and thus will have the highest likelihood of maximizing fluid flow connectivity to those fractures, it is possible simply by knowing the magnitudes and orientations of the stresses to select the best well orientation to maximize fluid flow between the well and the natural fractures in the earth.
In many cases, maximizing productivity or injectivity requires maximizing connections to natural fractures. In other cases, it is preferred to minimize connections to permeable fractures. Wells that achieve this latter objective have orientations that can also be computed using known techniques, but only if the stress magnitudes and orientations are known. Since stresses vary locally, it is advantageous in either case to have a method to determine the stresses and their orientations while the well is being drilled and to have the ability to change the well orientation if the stresses change. Knowing the stresses and their orientations then allows identifying in the current well on a foot-by-foot basis the degree of connection of the well to naturally permeable fractures, which in turn allows in either case selection of the best locations for perforations in cased and perforated wells.
Another example of the benefit of optimally orienting a well is in the case of a well that is to be completed by stimulation using hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fractures are known to propagate in most earth materials in directions such that they are perpendicular to the least principal stress. Therefore, wells that are drilled parallel to the least principal stress (SHmin), when stimulated using hydraulic fracturing, will have fractures that are perpendicular to the well axis. In a cased and perforated well, selectively perforating at discrete intervals and selectively stimulating each interval separately will result in a series of parallel fractures extending radially away from the well. This is optimal in certain circumstances to efficiently achieve maximum production from a field (or, in the case of so-called disposal wells, to achieve maximum injectivity for fluid disposal). In other cases, it is desirable to drill a well such that a single fracture is created by hydraulically stimulating the well that lies along the well axis. In this case, it is desirable to drill the well parallel to the intermediate or to the greatest principal stress. Wells drilled in orientations that deviate only a small amount from these optimal orientations will be much more difficult to stimulate, and will have geometries of the induced fractures that are significantly different from the desired geometries. Because stresses can vary locally, it is desirable to know on a localized basis (e.g., foot-by-foot) the local orientation of the stress field, so that fracture stimulations can be selectively carried out only where the well has the best orientation with respect to the local in situ stress field to achieve the desired result.
Although these and other advantages to optimally orienting wellbores relative to stress fields are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art, there remains an unmet demand for improvement in the manner by which wellbores can be so optimally oriented.

System and method for stress field based wellbore steering


A process and apparatus are provided for applying double-layered rigidity strips to a sealable foil web which is transported in sequences. V-shaped loops are formed at predetermined foil sections set at a distance from one another in the web transport direction. The sides of the loops are subsequently sealed together in such a way that the thus formed rigidity strips, extending transversely to the direction of transport, project collar-like from the foil web. Each foil section at which a loop is formed, a controlled auxiliary loop is arranged which serves for adaptation to changes in format regarding the distances between the foil sections. A drum, having a relatively large diameter serves as a transport roller, which drum has devices arranged around its circumference for the purpose of forming a plurality of loops and auxiliary loops.

This application claims the priority of German Application No. 103 14 688.1 filed on Mar. 27, 2003, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a process for applying double-layered rigidity strips to a sealable foil web, which is transported in sequences, whereby V-shaped loops are formed at predetermined foil sections set at a distance from one another in transport direction, and whereby the sides forming the loops are sealed to one another so that the then formed rigidity strips, extending transversely to the transport direction, project collar-like from the foil web.
From an article in the magazine Packaging Strategies dated Nov. 30, 2002, a new type of packaging pouch with the name EdgeStand is known, which is manufactured from a sealable foil web and which is provided around its entire bottom edge with a rigidity strip. This rigidity strip enables the pouch to stand on an even surface and even to be stacked. The rigidity strip is folded onto the pouch and is double-layered. There is no information provided in the article on the method of production, but the applied process is known to the applicant of the present invention through prior notorious use. The folding of the double-layered rigidity strips onto the foil web hereby occurs along a plane transport path, along which the elements required for carrying out the process are adapted to a predetermined format of the packaging pouch to be made. In the case of products with other formats, in particular in the case of varying distances between the foil sections to be folded, different function elements must be fitted in a complicated process.
It is an object of the present invention to avoid time-consuming retrofitting of the function elements in a process of the type described above.
This object has been achieved in accordance with the present invention in that a controlled auxiliary loop is arranged at each foil section on which a loop is formed, said auxiliary loop serving the adaptation to format changes regarding the distances between the foil sections.
An auxiliary loop of this type can be very easily controlled by means of notch markings arranged at the foil web, for example, or recesses or pressure marks, by means of which format changes can be very quickly carried out. If required, this can take place without interruption, whereby it is even possible in particular cases to process various formats on one and the same foil web. Furthermore, an auxiliary loop of this type ensures an additional fine adjustment in the form of a tolerance based longitudinal compensation, in which short longitudinal fluctuations are immediately and automatically corrected.
The auxiliary loop advantageously is maintained for several stages in the sequence during the transport of the foil web. Thus the overall process is accelerated by means of a shortening of the sequences times, which process is described in more detail below with the aid of description of the drawings. The auxiliary loops are maintained by means of clamping to a transport means, which ensures a reliable fixing thereof. This even permits a plurality of auxiliary loops to be simultaneously maintained, according to the subsequently occuring stages of the process.
Should the process be applied in the case of very variable format changes, the auxiliary loop can be divided into two smaller loops.
The present invention also describes an arrangement for carrying out the process, comprising a folding knife which forms the loops, also comprising two nipping jaw pairs arranged at the folding knife and clamping the foil web directly upstream and directly downstream of a loop, also comprising a pressing device which presses the sides of the loops to one another, also comprising a heating device arranged at the pressing device and also comprising a transport roller arranged at the folding knife, said transport roller being driven in sequences. For an arrangement of this type it is provided in accordance with the present invention that the transport roller is a drum having a relatively large diameter and having devices around its circumference for forming a plurality of loops and auxiliary loops.
A drum of this type permits not only the execution of the process for various formats on the foil web, but it also causes a saving of time in that the circumference of the drum goes past a plurality of control points. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention it is provided that the pressing device comprises for each loop two rotating pressing jaws which are movable in relation to one another and which rotate with the drum, said pressing jaws forming at the same time one nipping jaw for the two nipping jaw pairs, whose other nipping jaw is arranged outside of the drum, but positionable thereto.
The above mentioned positioning of the pressing jaws permits, in a simple way, the created rigidity strip to project out either forwards or backwards in transport direction of the foil web. In order to achieve this, the pressing jaws, at their areas forming the respective nipping jaw, are arranged at varying diameters of the drum. When, for example, as is seen from the description of the drawings below, the first pressing jaw in transport direction has the smaller outer diameter, the rigidity strip then projects, collar-like, forwards. When the reverse is the case, that is, the first nipping jaw in transport direction has the larger outer diameter, the rigidity strip projects, collar-like, backwards.
The application of the above mentioned drum permits all the pressing devices rotating therewith to be arranged at only one joint folding knife, arranged outside of the drum, for forming the loops. In the same way, for all the auxiliary loops there can be arranged only one joint format roller arranged outside of the drum. While there is only one function element for directly forming the loops and the auxiliary loops, there is a plurality of pressing devices for sealing the loops to one another, said pressing devices being distributed around the circumference of the drum.
For the purposes of the invention, a sector, arranged for a plurality of pressing devices and having heating devices, is arranged at the drum. Thus the sealing of the sides of the loops to one another is distributed over a plurality of stations, so that the sequence time for each individual sequence is reduced. This sequence time can be further reduced when a sector with cooling means is arranged downstream of the sector arranged for the heating elements.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description thereof when taken in conjunction with the accompanying schematic drawings wherein.

Process and apparatus for applying rigidity strips to a foil web


A hybrid clamping mechanism for a belt continuously variable transmission (CVT) is disclosed. A pulley having adjustable belt-engagement surfaces allow for a variable effective diameter of the belt when about the pulley. A clamping spring disposed to bias the belt-engagement surfaces closer together exert a clamping force on the belt. A first hydraulic drive is disposed to assist the clamping force of the clamping spring, and a second hydraulic drive is disposed to oppose the clamping force of the clamping spring. The total clamping force at the belt results from the clamping spring, the first hydraulic drive, the second hydraulic drive, or any combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

The present disclosure relates generally to vehicle transmissions, and particularly to a hybrid clamping mechanism for belt continuously variable transmission and method of use thereof.
Belt continuously variable transmissions (CVT's) transfer torque by means of the friction contacts between belt elements and pulley surfaces. A lack of a positive engagement, such as that found in a gear tooth arrangement for example, results in the application of substantial clamping forces being required at the belt element. To achieve variable clamping loads where required pressures may be controlled (modulated) as a function of input torque and speed ratio, hydraulic forces are employed. However, large clamp forces require a high capacity hydraulic pump, which consumes power and may negatively effect transmission efficiency and vehicle fuel economy. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a belt CVT that overcomes these drawbacks.

Hybrid clamping mechanism for belt continuously variable transmission and method of use thereof


A toner including a binder resin; and a colorant, wherein a hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP)-soluble component satisfies the following relationship:2,000 ≦Mn ≦7,000 and 1.5 ≦Mn/Mw ≦10                wherein Mn represents a number-average molecular weight and Mw represents a weight-average molecular weight.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to advances in electrophotographic image formation, including a toner, a developer, an image forming apparatus and an image forming method.
2. Discussion of the Background
In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and an electrostatic recording apparatus and the like, a toner is adhered to an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor to form a toner image thereon, the toner image is transferred onto a transfer material and is fixed thereon with a heat. A full-color image is typically reproduced with four color toners, i.e., a black toner, a yellow toner, a magenta toner and a cyan toner. Each color is developed with each of the toners, which are overlapped on one another and fixed together with heat on a transfer material to form a full-color image thereon.
However, users who are used to seeing prints are not typically satisfied with the image quality produced by a full-color copier yet, and a higher definition and resolution close to photographs and prints thereof are required. It is known that toner having a small particle diameter and a narrow distribution thereof is used to produce high-quality images in electrophotography.
Conventionally, an electrostatic or a magnetic latent image is visualized by a toner. The toner for use in developing the electrostatic latent image is a colored particle formed of a binder resin including a colorant, a charge controlling agent and other additives. The toner is mostly prepared by a pulverization method and a polymerization method.
The pulverization method includes kneading a colorant, a charge controlling agent, offset inhibitor and the like in a thermoplastic resin upon application of heat, uniformly dispersing them therein to prepare a mixed composition, and pulverizing and classifying the mixed composition to prepare a toner. The pulverization method can prepare a toner having good properties to some extent, however, materials therefor are limited. For example, the mixed composition prepared by kneading upon application of heat should be pulverized and classified by an economically usable pulverizer. Therefore, the mixed composition should be sufficiently blendable.
The pulverized toner tends to have a wide particle diameter distribution, and for example, fine particles having a diameter not greater than 5 μm and coarse particles having a diameter not less than 20 μm have to be removed to produce images having good image resolution and tone reproduction, and therefore yield decreases. In addition, it is difficult to uniformly disperse the colorant, charge controlling agent and the like in the thermoplastic resin by the pulverization method. Nonuniform dispersion thereof adversely affects fluidity, developability and durability of the resultant toner and image quality produced thereby.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-43909 discloses a suspension polymerization method of preparing a toner. However, the toner prepared thereby has a spherical shape but has poor cleanability. Since there is less residual toner after transferred when an image having a low image area is developed or transferred, the poor cleanability is not a serious problem. However, when an image having a high image area such as a photograph image is developed or transferred, untransferred toner remains on a photoreceptor as a residual toner after transferred, and which causes background fouling of images produced thereby when accumulated. In addition, the toner contaminates a charging roller charging the photoreceptor while contacting the photoreceptor and impairs the original chargeability thereof. Further, the toner does not have sufficient low-temperature fixability and much energy us consumed to fix the toner.
Japanese Patent No. 2537503 discloses a method of preparing an amorphous toner particle by assembling a particulate resin prepared by an emulsifying polymerization method. However, a large amount of a detergent remains not only on the toner particle but also therein, and impairs atmospheric charge stability and widens charge quantity distribution of the toner, resulting in background fouling of images produced thereby. In addition, the remaining detergent contaminates a photoreceptor, a charging roller and a developing roller and impairs the original chargeability thereof.
In a fixing process by contact heating using a heating member such as a heat roller, releasability of a toner particle from the heating member (hereinafter referred to as offset resistance) is required. The offset resistance can be improved by making a release agent present on the surface of the toner particle. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications Nos. 2000-292973 and 2000-292978 disclose a method of improving the offset resistance by not only including a particulate resin in the toner particle but also unevenly distributing the particulate resin on the surface thereof. However, a lowest fixable temperature increases and low-temperature fixability, i.e., energy saving fixability is insufficient.
Further, the method of preparing an amorphous toner particle by assembling a particulate resin prepared by an emulsifying polymerization method has the following problems. Namely, when a particulate release agent is assembled with a toner particle to improve the offset resistance thereof, the particulate release agent is taken therein, resulting in insufficient improvement of the offset resistance. Since a particulate rein, a particulate release agent and a particulate colorant are randomly fusion bonded to form a toner particle, compositions (component content ratios) and molecular weights of resins fluctuate. Therefore, surface properties of the toner particles are different from one another and images having good quality cannot be produced for long periods. Further, the particulate resin unevenly distributed on the surface of a toner impairs low-temperature fixability thereof.
A solution suspension method is known as a method of preparing a toner. The method has the advantage of being able to use a polyester resin capable of being fixed at a low temperature. However, since a polymer material is included in a process of dissolving or dispersing a low-temperature fixable resin and a colorant in a solvent in this method, the resultant liquid viscosity increases and the productivity reduces. In the solution suspension method, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-15903 discloses a method of improving cleanability of a toner by making the shape of a toner spherical and having the surface thereof concave and convex. However, when a wax is included in such a toner as a release agent, the wax and a pigment are less dispersed therein than in a kneaded and pulverized toner and the wax is granulated in a solvent. Therefore, the resultant toner does not have sufficient releasability.
The suspension polymerization method, emulsifying polymerization method and solution suspension method typically use a styrene acrylic resin, and has difficulty in controlling diameter, a distribution thereof and a shape when using a polyester resin. In addition, the lowest fixable temperature has a limit.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-133667 discloses a method of using a urea-modified polyester resin for the purpose of improving thermostable preservability and low-temperature fixability. However, the resultant toner does not have sufficient atmospheric charge stability.
In the electrophotographic field, higher quality images are studied from various angles, and particularly it is recognized that the smaller diameter and conglobation of a toner are highly effective. However, the smaller the diameter of the toner, the lower the transferability and fixability thereof, resulting in production of images having poor quality. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-258474 discloses a method of conglobating a toner to improve transferability thereof. In this surroundings, color copiers and color printers are required to produce images at a higher speed.
To produce images at a higher speed, a tandem method can be used as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-341617. The tandem method is a method of producing a full-color image on a transfer paper by sequentially overlying each of images produced by plural image forming units thereon. The tandem-type full-color image forming apparatus can use a variety of transfer papers and produces high-quality full-color images at a higher speed than the other types of full-color image forming apparatus. An attempt to use a spherical toner is also made. However, a higher fixability is required to produce images at a higher speed, and the spherical toner does not have good low-temperature fixability.
A toner is required not to agglutinate and have no or less deterioration of chargeability, fluidity, transferability and fixability even in an environment of high temperature and high humidity, and that of low temperature and low humidity when stored and transported. However, such a spherical toner is not available.
A heat and pressure fixing method of directly contacting a fixing member such as a fixing roller and a fixing belt to an unfixed image to fix the image on an image bearer such as a paper upon application of pressure and heat is preferably used because its good heat efficiency, simple structure and low production cost.
Particularly, a fixer using a belt-shaped heating medium (hereinafter referred to as a fixing belt) is widely used recently.
The fixing belt can contact the surface of a toner for a long time when fixing and can fix the toner at a lower temperature, and at the same time, toner is melted so much that fusion bonding thereof on the surface of the belt, i.e. an offset phenomenon tends to occur. Particularly, a color toner needs a moderate gloss to appeal sufficient transparency and high grade feeling, and a binder resin needs to have a sharp molecular weight and a sharp-melt property. Therefore, the color toner is melt so much that the offset phenomenon tends to occur.
The fixing belt is mostly an endless belt or a belt with an end formed of a thermostable resin, and mechanical durability thereof should be improved. An external additive and other components of a toner adhere to the belt-shaped heating medium, and which causes an abrasion or a damage thereof, resulting in occurrence of hot offset and a rift of the belt.
Various suggestions have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems as for both of the fixer and toner. Studies and suggestions of only the fixer cannot become an essential solution.
A release agent such as a wax is included in a toner to prevent offset when fixed. However, when a property of the wax and a dispersion status thereof in the toner is unsuitable, the wax is released and from the surface of the toner and exuded thereon after used for long periods in a developing unit. When such a toner is used in a two-component developer, the carrier is contaminated, resulting in deterioration of chargeability of the toner. When used in one-component developer, the wax is fusion bonded to a developing roller and a blade forming a thin layer of the toner, resulting in nonuniform development with the toner. Therefore, a wax is preferably included in a toner in a small amount.
A toner prepared by conventional kneading and pulverization typically has an amorphous shape, a broad particle diameter distribution, a low fluidity, a low transferability, a high fixable temperature, nonuniform charge quantity and a low charged stability. Particularly, the toner has a crack due to the pulverization at an interface of a release agent (wax) and the release agent is present on the surface thereof in a large amount. Therefore, the toner has a sufficient releasability, but the release agent tends to adhere to a carrier, a photoreceptor and a blade.
Japanese Patents Nos. 3413024 and 3397661 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-351143 disclose a method of controlling fixability of a toner by controlling a molecular weight distribution of tetrahydrofuran(THF)-soluble components or a ratio of tetrahydrofuran(THF)-insoluble components. However, particularly a toner including a large amount of crosslinked components does not have satisfactory hot offset resistance, cold offset resistance, fixability and glossiness without producing images having background fouling and contaminating a carrier only by controlling the THF-soluble components.
Because of these reasons, a need exists for a toner having sufficient low-temperature fixability, offset resistance, friction resistance, glossiness without contaminating a fixer and an image even after producing tens of thousands of images.

Toner, developer, image forming apparatus and image forming method


A single scrolling control mechanism is provided for any active display window in a graphical user interface. As a different display window becomes active, a determination is made of whether the display data fits within the display window. A graphical device representing the scrolling mechanism is displayed with scrolling indicators denoting directions in which additional data may be revealed by scrolling. The scrolling indicators provide a user control for the scrolling mechanism, such that actuation of a scrolling indicator causes the display window to scroll in the indicated direction. The scrolling mechanism may be an object utilizing existing object classes and API calls for an existing operating system. The display of the scrolling indicators may be persistent (i.e. always shown) or may be contingent on whether the currently active window is scrollable. The display of scrolling indicators may be varied to visually indicate the states, including active, inactive, and in use. Other visual and auditory feedback and cues may be included in the operation of the scrolling mechanism.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to graphical user interfaces for data processing systems and in particular to scrolling control mechanisms for graphical user interfaces. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a single scrolling control mechanism for multiple windows in a graphical user interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Graphical user interfaces for data processing systems are well-known, as are scrolling mechanisms for display windows in such graphical user interfaces. The most commonly employed graphical representation of a scrolling mechanism in a graphical user interface is a scroll bar, a vertical or horizontal region at the edge of a display window having oppositely facing arrows at either end and a slider in between, movable between the two ends.
Scroll bars present numerous problems to the user, particularly novice users. Scroll bars appear and disappear from the interface, depending on whether more information is available for viewing than can be displayed in a given display window. Scroll bars detract from the aesthetic appeal of a graphical user interface. Each window contains scroll bars which occupy valuable screen real estate which could be used for displaying information.
Additionally, each window has individual scroll bars which must be separately manipulated to scroll the contents of the window. Where windows overlay each other with coterminous borders, no movement of a pointing device is necessary to actuate the scroll bars when switching between windows. In such a configuration, however, the contents of separate windows may not be viewed simultaneously. On the other hand, when windows are arranged to permit simultaneous viewing of their contents, such as by "tiling" the windows or arranging them side-by-side, the scroll bars occupy different positions within the total display area. Thus, actuating the scroll bars when switching between windows requires movement of the pointing device.
Finally, scroll bars are not analogous to any real world experience, such as flipping pages in a book. A variety of contexts exist in which a graphical user interface should preferably emulate, as closely as possible, a user's real world experiences in order to render the interface more intuitive. One example is an information kiosk at a convention or a museum. In such environments, a less intuitive user interface may distract the user, at least to some extent, from the information presented. Lowered concentration on the information by the user lessens retention of the information, decreasing the effectiveness of the presentation. It would be preferable that the user interface be as transparent as possible in presenting the underlying information.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a scrolling mechanism for a graphical user interface which would not require movement of a pointing device when switching between noncontiguous display windows. It would further be desirable for the scrolling mechanism to emulate a real world user experience, and to provide as little distraction as possible from the information presented in a display window It would also be advantageous if the scrolling mechanism allowed the graphical user interface to utilize borderless windows.

Method to provide a single scrolling control for a multi-window interface

International Business Machines Corporation


A receiver having a circuit configurable to function as a low-noise amplifier or a calibration source and having at least one circuit element that is shared between these two circuit functions. Advantageously, the shared circuit element saves at least the amount of die area that would have been taken by a second instance of that circuit element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communications equipment and, more specifically, to a signal receiver, such as a quadrature modulation receiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of quadrature modulation is a common communication technique for transmitting data, such as digitized audio streams. More specifically, the data to be transmitted are encoded using (1) an "in-phase" (I) modulation signal and (2) a "quadrature-phase" (Q) modulation signal that has a 90-degree phase difference with the in-phase modulation signal. The I and Q modulation signals are combined to form a composite I/Q signal, which is then transmitted over the communication channel.
One example of a quadrature modulation communications system is a system that complies with the IEEE 802.11a/g standards. More specifically, the IEEE 802.11a/g standards specify an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme that employs a combination of frequency division multiplexing and quadrature modulation. At an OFDM transmitter, a plurality of composite I/Q signals (OFDM sub-carriers) are frequency-division-multiplexed for transmission to a corresponding OFDM receiver so that, in the frequency domain, the primary peak of each OFDM sub-carrier coincides with a null of every other OFDM sub-carrier. As a result, in the transmitted signal, not only are the I and Q components of each OFDM sub-carrier orthogonal to one another, but also different OFDM sub-carriers are mutually orthogonal as well. These multiple orthogonality relationships advantageously enable an OFDM communications system to reliably demodulate the transmitted signal at the receiver, while operating at relatively high spectral data-transmission density.
One problem with quadrature modulation communications systems in general and OFDM systems in particular is that they are relatively sensitive to deviations from the above-specified orthogonality relationships. As a result, a quadrature modulation transmitter/receiver usually incorporates one or more calibration sources that are used to maintain signal orthogonality at various modulation/demodulation stages. However, disadvantageously, these calibration sources can take up a significant die area, thereby increasing the size and/or cost of the chip set implementing the transmitter/receiver.


A charged beam lithography method comprising the method steps shown in the Figure below.

The present invention relates to a charged beam lithography method and apparatus for drawing a desired pattern, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for drawing a microscopic pattern such as a semiconductor integrated circuit pattern, etc., on a semiconductor substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, a photo lithographic mask, etc., by use of a charged beam.
Conventionally, in order to form a circuit pattern on a substrate (e.g., semiconductor wafer, mask, etc.), there have been adopted a method of projecting a pattern in accordance with optical, projection lithography technique or a method of forming any desired pattern by use of a charged beam. In particular, the charged beam pattern drawing apparatus is mainly being used to fabricate, a photo lithographic mask used for the optical projection lithography. In this case, a pattern whose dimensions are four to five times larger than actual pattern dimensions on a wafer are drawn on the mask, under consideration of the reduction ratio of the optical projection lithography apparatus.
Recently, however, since there exists a tendency that the pattern dimensions decrease more and more with the advance of the device microminiaturization, the pattern dimensions are now approaching to the light resolution limit.
To overcome this problem, therefore, an ultra high resolution technique is now being put to practice use. In this technique, the resolution and depth of focus can be improved by improving the conventional photo lithographic mask (e.g., a phase shift mask) and the conventional optical projection system (e.g., modified illumination). In the case where a pattern is formed on wafer in accordance with the ultra high resolution technique, however, when a pattern formed on a mask is projected onto a wafer, there arises a problem in that such a optical proximity effect that the pattern image quality deteriorates becomes prominent. In order to reduce this optical proximity effect, a optical proximity effect correction technique has been proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) No. 58-200238 (1983). In this correction technique, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality (e.g., four) of auxiliary patterns 2 to 5 having a predetermined shape smaller in dimension than a pattern 1 desired to be drawn on a mask (referred to as a desired pattern) are drawn at predetermined positions (e.g., corners or sides) relative to the desired pattern 1 together with the desired pattern 1. Here, the desired pattern 1 to be drawn on the photo lithographic mask implies a pattern enlarged at a predetermined magnification without deformation of a pattern 6 to be formed on a wafer. Further, this magnification is an inverse number of the reduction ratio of the optical projection apparatus.
Further, although the auxiliary patterns 2 to 5 are drawn on the mask in finite dimensions and shape, when the mask pattern is transcribed onto the wafer by the optical projection apparatus, the finite dimensions and shape are no more transcribed onto the wafer and therefore the auxiliary patterns are not actually formed on the wafer. Further, all the auxiliary patterns 2 to 5 are denoted by a comprehensive reference numeral 7 sometimes, hereinafter.
Further, in the following description, the desired pattern and the auxiliary pattern both to be formed on the photo lithographic mask are discriminated from each other in accordance with the above-mentioned definition.
Conventionally, in an electron beam pattern drawing apparatus for making a mask, an acceleration voltage of about 10 KV to 20 kV has been so far adopted. This is because a high resolution is not required for a pattern drawn on the photo lithographic mask, as compared with that required for the pattern formed on the wafer, and further the influence of the proximity effect is small for above acceleration voltage. Here, the scattering range (forward scattering) of the electron beam in resist (which exerts a direct influence upon the resolution) is about 0.1 to 0.2 .mu.m. Further, the resolution of the electron beam apparatus is designed at about 0.1 to 0.2 .mu.m. Therefore, for instance, when the desired pattern size on the wafer is reduced as small as about 0.25 .mu.m, so the pattern size on the photo mask of 1 .mu.m, the acceleration voltage and the beam resolution are both sufficient to draw a desired pattern on the photo lithographic mask. In this case, however, when the pattern dimension of a desired pattern is 1 .mu.m, since the dimension of the auxiliary pattern for compensating for the optical proximity effect is as fine as about 0.25 .mu.m (about 1/4 of the pattern dimension of the desired pattern) on the mask, there exists a problem in that the auxiliary pattern cannot be resolved on the mask on the basis of the above-mentioned acceleration voltage and the resolution.
In addition, in the conventional mask fabrication process, when the patterned resist is being developed or after having been developed (i.e., a light shading substance (e.g., Cr)) is etched, a dimension conversion difference is present. Therefore, in order to obtain a desired pattern dimension on the photo lithographic mask after the light shading substance has been etched, pattern drawing data are adjustably processed in such a way that the pattern width can be narrowed or widened under consideration of the dimension conversion difference, In this case, however, when there exist the auxiliary pattern for compensating for the optical proximity effect, since the pattern drawing data are adjustably processed so as to be narrowed under consideration of the dimension conversion difference, there exists a problem in that the auxiliary patterns cannot be formed or lost and thereby disappears.
In addition, in the case where the auxiliary patterns are added to mask pattern exposure data which includes the desired pattern, the number of figures in the mask pattern exposure data is increased. So, there exists a problem that a data amount of mask pattern exposure data is increased.
In addition, in the case where the auxiliary patterns are added to mask exposure data which includes the desired patterns, the number of the figures to be drawn by charged beam exposure apparatus is increased. So, there exists a problem that drawing process speed will become low.
The multi-pass-exposure is adopted to a charged beam exposure method in order to improve pattern positioning accuracy and pattern size accuracy.
In this case, since same patterns are drawn for two times or more than, the above problem becomes more serious by adding the auxiliary patterns to the mask pattern exposure data.


The invention relates to an apparatus and method to assess the fluid level in lungs. An implantable medical device or external monitor is used to sense or monitor the patient's respiratory patterns to identify the presence of periodic breathing or Cheyne-Stokes Respiration (CSR) which is common in patients with congestive heart failure. A fluid index is used to assess the severity of congestive heart failure in a patient. A ratio of Δ blood gas/Σtotal lung volume can be used to determine the lung fluid index.

One common form of central sleep apnea, commonly known as Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR), is generally a breathing pattern that is first shallow and infrequent and then gradually increases to become abnormally deep and rapid, before fading away completely for a brief period. Breathing may be stopped for an extended period before the next cycle of shallow breathing begins. CSR is common in patients with congestive heart failure. Common symptoms of congestive heart failure (CHF) are shortness of breath and chest pain. These symptoms occur as a result of decreased cardiac output as well as a decreased gas exchange area due to fluid in the lungs.
Heart failure is a disease of the cardiac mechanical system: it is primarily a failure of the myocardium to meet the mechanical pumping demands required of it. In monitoring the status of a heart failure patient, measuring the mechanical hemodynamic variables is clearly desirable. However, because of the complex feedback network that monitors and controls cardiac performance, measuring variables that do not directly reflect the mechanical performance of the heart is also useful. Recognition of Cheyne-Stokes respiration via respiratory pattern analysis, hemoglobin saturation analysis, and blood gas analysis allows one to detect the presence of pulmonary edema, and thereby detect an acute heart failure exacerbation.
Many chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart failure, require close medical management to reduce morbidity and mortality. Because the disease status evolves with time, frequent physician follow-up examinations are often necessary. At follow-up, the physician may make adjustments to the drug regimen in order to optimize therapy. This conventional approach of periodic follow-up is unsatisfactory for some diseases, such as heart failure, in which acute, life-threatening exacerbations can develop between physician follow-up examinations. It is well known among clinicians that if a developing exacerbation is recognized early, it can be easily and inexpensively terminated, typically with a modest increase in oral diuretic. However, if it develops beyond the initial phase, an acute heart failure exacerbation becomes difficult to control and terminate. Hospitalization in an intensive care unit is often required. It is during an acute exacerbation of heart failure that many patients succumb to the disease. It is often difficult for patients to subjectively recognize a developing exacerbation, despite the presence of numerous physical signs that would allow a physician to readily detect it. Furthermore, since exacerbations typically develop over hours to days, even frequently scheduled routine follow-up with a physician cannot effectively detect most developing exacerbations.
It is therefore desirable to have a method that allows the routine, frequent monitoring of patients so that an exacerbation can be recognized early in its course. With the patient and/or physician thus alerted of the need for medical intervention, a developing exacerbation can more easily and inexpensively be terminated early in its course.

Method and apparatus for assessing fluid level in lungs


A semiconductor device is manufactured by forming a first insulating layer on a semiconductor substrate. First contact pads and second contact pads are formed that penetrate through the first insulating layer and are electrically connected to the semiconductor substrate. A second insulating layer is formed that has guide contact holes that expose upper surfaces of the first contact pads. An etch stopper is formed on bottoms and sidewalls of the guide contact holes of the second insulating layer. Bit lines are formed that are electrically connected to the semiconductor substrate by the second contact pads. The bit lines are electrically isolated from the first contact pads.

Increased integration of semiconductor memory devices may be obtained by decreasing the minimum critical dimensions of the device features. However, the extent to which feature dimensions can be reduced can be limited by process overlay margins, which are related to the need to prevent the creation of a pattern bridge (i.e., electrical connections) between layers. For example, in a 90-nanometer dynamic random access memory (DRAM), at least 30-nanometer misalignment margins are sometimes required on a critical layer. Accordingly, improvement in process margins may allow increased integration of memory devices.
With a sharp decrease in the minimum critical dimension of semiconductor capacitor devices that have storage nodes stacked over bit lines, the need for improvement in their process margins may be particularly important. When storage nodes are formed over bit lines, the storage nodes should be electrically connected to a semiconductor substrate thereunder to operate a capacitor. For example, an interconnection structure may connect the storage nodes to the semiconductor substrate. The interconnection structure may use buried contacts (BC), and BC pads under the BC to connect the storage nodes to the semiconductor substrate.
However, as the minimum critical dimension of the semiconductor memory device decreases, it may become difficult to reliably obtain a process margin for forming the interconnection structure. As a result, the interconnection structure may not be completely insulated from a bit line interconnection structure, which connects bit lines to the semiconductor substrate. The bit lines have a structure in which a contact for the connection to the bit lines, e.g., a direct contact, is connected to a direct contact pad thereunder. However, a sharp decrease in the minimum critical dimension may cause the BC to not be completely insulated from the direct contact pad, which may render the storage node inoperable.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device having conventional storage nodes. Referring to FIG. 1, capacitor storage nodes 60 are formed over a semiconductor substrate 10 so as to be electrically connected to the semiconductor substrate 10. The storage nodes 60 are positioned over bit lines 51 and 52 and are cylindrical so as to secure a wider effective area of a capacitor.
The storage nodes 60 are electrically connected to an active region 11 of the semiconductor substrate 10 via buried contact pads 41 penetrating through first dielectric layers 31 and buried contacts 61 penetrating through second dielectric layers 35. An isolation region 15 defines the active region 11 in the semiconductor substrate 10.
The buried contacts 61 penetrate through the second dielectric layer 35 in plug form passing apart from the bit lines 51 and 52. A capping isolation layer 56 is formed on the bit lines 51 and 52 and a spacer 57 is formed on the sidewalls of the bit lines 51 and 52 so that the bit lines 51 and 52 are isolated from the buried contacts 61. The buried contact pads 41 are connected to the semiconductor substrate 10, passing between gates 22 and 23. Capping dielectric layers 26 are formed on the gates 22 and 23 and spacers 27 are formed on the sidewalls of the gates 22 and 23 so that the gates 22 and 23 are insulated from the buried contact pads 41. The bit lines 51 and 52 are electrically connected to the semiconductor substrate 10 via a direct contact 55 penetrating through a second dielectric layer 35 and a direct contact pad 45 penetrating the first dielectric layer 31.
However, as the minimum critical dimensions of semiconductor devices get smaller, an overlay margin or a misalignment margin between layers is reduced. Accordingly, it may be difficult to obtain the necessary process margins. For example, in area A of FIG. 1, if a small misalignment occurs in a state of a small process margin, one of the buried contacts 61 may lie very close to the direct contact pad 45 for the bit lines 51 and 52. As a result, in area A, a pattern bridge, or an electrical bridge, may be created between the direct contact pad 45 and one of the buried contacts 61.
Accordingly, to avoid a pattern bridge, or electrical bridge, a sufficient process margin or an alignment margin should be obtained between the direction contact pad 45 and one of the buried contacts 61. However, if the sizes of the buried contacts 61 are reduced in an attempt to obtain the alignment margin, their contact resistance may increase unacceptably and may deteriorate performance of the semiconductor device. Accordingly, limitations may exist to reducing the sizes of the buried contacts 61 to obtain alignment margins.
A pattern bridge or electrical bridge may also hinder an attempt to change the arrangement of the storage nodes 60. Currently, the storage nodes 60 extend and are repeated in a longitudinal direction. However, as the minimum critical dimension of a semiconductor device decreases, a gap between nodes 60 may become insufficient, and a pattern bridge or electrical bridge may occur between the storage nodes 60.

Semiconductor devices having storage nodes


A spark-plug wire includes a boot of electrically insulative material defining a central bore configured to receive a spark plug, an electrical connector disposed in the central bore and configured to connect with the spark plug, and a cylindrical heat shield circumscribing the boot. The heat shield has retaining features extending past a distal end of the boot and configured to radially flex to engage with a hex of the spark plug to increase a retaining force of the spark-plug wire to the spark plug.

An internal-combustion engine may include spark ignition. The spark ignition is provided by spark plugs that are positioned in combustion chambers of the engine. The spark plug includes first and second electrodes that are spaced apart from each other to produce an electric arc (spark) when current is supplied to the spark plug by an ignition system. Current is supplied to the spark plugs at select timing to ignite the air-fuel mixture within the combustion chamber according to engine timing. Spark-plug wires connect the spark plugs to the ignition system. The wire includes a boot configured to couple with the spark plug and a cable portion that extends from the boot to connect with a component of the ignition system, such as a coil pack or distributor.

Spark-plug wire having heat shield with retention features


Aspects of the invention are directed to an acoustic resonator with improved impingement cooling effectiveness. The resonator includes a plate with an inside face and an outside face. A plurality of passages extend through the plate. The resonator includes a side wall that extends from and about the plate. A plurality of cooling tubes are attached to the resonator plate such that an inner passage of each cooling tube is in fluid communication with a respective passage in the resonator plate. The resonator can be secured to a surface of a turbine engine combustor component to define a closed cavity. The ends of the cooling tubes are spaced from the surface. Thus, a coolant can enter the passages in the plate and can be directed to the surface so as to impingement cool the surface. The cooling tubes can minimize coolant loss by dispersion in the cavity.

The use of damping devices, such as Helmholtz resonators, in turbine engines is known. For instance, various examples of resonators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,221, which is incorporated herein by reference. Resonators can dampen undesired frequencies of dynamics that may develop in the engine during operation.
One or more resonators can be attached to a surface of a turbine engine component, such as a combustor liner. The resonators are commonly attached to the component by welding. Some resonators can include a plurality of passages through which air can enter and purge the cavity enclosed by the resonator. One beneficial byproduct of such airflow is that the component to which the resonator is attached can be impingement cooled. That is, cooling air can pass through the passages and directly impinge on the hot surface underlying the resonator housing.
The operational demands of some engines have necessitated resonators with greater damping effectiveness, which can be achieved by increasing the size of the resonators. However, one tradeoff to these larger resonators is that the cooling holes becomes less effective in cooling the surface below, especially when resonator height is increased. As the distance between the impingement cooling holes and the hot surface beneath increases, greater amounts of cooling air can disperse within the closed cavity of the resonator without impinging on the hot surface. As a result, the impingement cooling holes become less effective in cooling the hot surface. Thus, there can be concerns of overheating of the component and/or the junction between the resonator and the component (i.e. welds), which can reduce the life cycle of these components.
Increased amounts of cooling air can be directed through the resonators. However, an increase in the coolant flow through the resonator can detune the resonator so that it will no longer dampen at its target frequency range. Alternatively, additional resonators can be provided on the component; however, adding more resonators at a sub-optimal location can provide less damping effectiveness than a larger resonator at an optimal location. Further, other design constraints may sometimes limit the ability to attach more resonators at other locations.
Thus, there is a need for a system that can maintain resonator cooling effectiveness.

Acoustic resonator with impingement cooling tubes


A holder for securing a printed circuit board in an edge connector on a mother board in a computer having a cover. The holder body is secured to the top of an installed printed circuit board. An adjustable post is held by the holder and is adjusted so that the head of the post extends slightly past the plane in which the computer cover rests. Next, the cover is installed depressing the head. The head is spring loaded on the post, thereby providing a continuous force on the printed circuit board to hold into the edge connector on the mother board.

The field of the invention is computer accessories and the invention relates more particularly to the problem of holding a printed circuit board in an edge connector on a mother board of a computer in spite of vibration.
Add-in cards are invariably used in computers for purposes such as holding a modem, a sound card, or other circuits. The printed circuit boards have one edge which extends below the bottom of the card and has a plurality of gold fingers on its sides. This edge with its gold fingers are pressed into the slot of an edge connector which has contacts which press against the gold fingers. One edge of the card is held down by a screw which passes through a slot in a metal tab affixed along one edge of the card. The other edge of the card, however, is typically unsupported and when a computer is shipped, it is often subjected to a great deal of vibration and the far edge of the card away from the screw can work its way out so that the electrical contacts between the gold fingers and the contacts of the edge connector may be compromised. Depending on the degree of severity of the contact compromise, it may result in a total loss of contact, meaning the add-in card jumped out of the edge connector slot; or intermittent contact, meaning that there are still some contacts between the gold fingers and the contacts of the edge connector, but the contact has been compromised to the degree that it is no longer reliable. This could cause the computer to malfunction. Failures of this nature are troublesome for diagnostic quality and repair reasons because the imperfect contact can work some of the time and fail some of the time, and is thus not easy to diagnose, or the failure to make good contact can make it difficult to pinpoint the root cause of the failure, such as a bad component, a bad circuit design, and the like.
Various approaches have been taken to try to solve this problem. One such approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,198. This patent shows a notched retainer which clips on the outer edge of the printed circuit board. A retainer is then trimmed to a length where it abuts the housing of the computer, thereby holding the circuit board in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,396 utilizes an elongated rod which has an adjustable hold-down fastener which is held between the rod and the top of the circuit board. A rod must be held above the circuit board in order for this device to function.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,793 uses a ratcheted card holder which is held to a post which is secured to the side of the edge connector. However, with most personal computers, there is no slotted clamp along the side of the edge connector. Also, the room between adjacent edge connectors often would not permit the securing of such a member.
Another approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,628 where a tie down strap is secured at both ends to the edge connector and tightened to hold the card in place. Once again, the edge connectors do not come with a place to hold such a tie down strap.
An expandable thermal-clamp is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,353 which clamp includes a spring. This clamp presses against the bottom edge of the card to hold it against the contacts. However, the conventional edge card does not have room for such a device.

Computer card retainer and process for using the same


Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for providing a virtual federation of remote portals. According to one embodiment, providing a virtual federation of remote portals can comprise defining, by a portal system, a configuration of a virtual federation of a plurality of nodes. For example, each node can comprise an application server executing a different enterprise application and maintaining application content for the enterprise application in a separate database. The portal system can also define access control information for a user of the portal system. Each node of the virtual federation can similarly define access control information for the user. The system can then provide access to the application content of the nodes at runtime based on the configuration of the virtual federation and the access control information for the user defined by the portal system and the access control information for the user defined by the nodes.

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to methods and systems for providing a virtual federation of remote portals and more particularly to providing a federation that dynamically accesses remote and separate portals to retrieve application content at runtime.
Today portal federations are available but it is not virtually federated and it is implemented with limitations. First, a portal content's data pointer/link has to be copied manually to the federated portal and the integrity of this pointer/link has to be maintained manually which creates a never ending maintenance process for the customers. Also, user's security synchronization has to be done manually across the portals to federate. Due to these limitations, portal customers need to perform an initial setup for the federation including manually copying or importing the content pointer/link from different portals and manually copying or importing the user's security information from different portals. These systems also require constant maintenance work including but not limited to manually maintaining the integrity of the remote portal's content pointer/link manually for any change/unavailable, manually update/upgrade imported remote portal's pointer/link after any changes, updating or synchronizing portals manually on user security information changes, etc. Hence, there is a need for improved methods and systems for providing a virtual federation of remote portals that dynamically accesses remote and separate portals to retrieve application content at runtime.


Embodiments provide a method, apparatus and computer program for operating a user equipment (UE). The method begins by determining that a valid authentication for the UE, generated with a radio network operating with a first radio access technology (RAT), is not a mutual authentication between the UE and the network operating with the first RAT. In response, the UE unilaterally takes action to prevent the valid authentication that is not a mutual authentication from being used to authenticate with a radio network operating with a second RAT that utilizes mutual authentication.

The various cellular type radio access technologies typically establish some security between the network and the mobile device (more generically referred to as a user equipment or UE) to better ensure that a) only authorized UEs utilize the resources of a given network, and b) the network that the UE accesses is a preferred network when more than one network is available. In the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio access technologies (RATs), information security is based on an authentication procedure such as for example an Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA; for background see 3GPP TS 33.102 v11.5.0, December 2012). The AKA procedure produces security keys, also known in the wireless arts as a security context, which are used in confidentiality and data integrity procedures in the UE and in the network.
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) provides for an authentication procedure that results in the establishment of a GSM security context which helps protect the network against unauthorized use and also helps protect the GSM public land mobile network (PLMN) subscribers by denying the possibility for intruders to impersonate authorized users. The GSM authentication procedure only authenticates the UE; that is, the GSM authentication procedure does not provide a means for the UE to authenticate the network that initiated the authentication procedure.
The inventors have identified a security "hole" in which a security context established using the GSM authentication procedure can be used as the basis for establishing security in a different RAT whose native security protocol would establish a mutual authentication between the UE and the network. Mutual authentication between a UE and a wireless network means that the UE authenticates the network and the network authenticates the UE. More generally, these teachings prevent a UE's context established in one RAT from being be re-used in another RAT for the case in which the earlier-established security context is not sufficiently secure for the other RAT.

Method, apparatus and computer program for operating a user equipment


A method for detecting Brucella infection in an animal which is reliable, rapid, and able to identify species and biovars of Brucella. The detection method includes the amplification of the omp2 gene locus of Brucella and analysis of restriction digestion fragments specific to Brucella and to individual species and groups of biovars of Brucella.

Brucella is a genus of pathogenic bacteria which cause acute or chronic illness in many animal species, including humans and cattle. Six species of Brucella and multiple biovars have been characterized by phenotypic methods, although such methods are not always reliable. The six species and multiple biovars of Brucella may also be characterized by their natural host and a strain's geographical origin (See Table 1), however, a species may infect an animal other than its natural host, and a single strain may now be found in multiple geographic locations.
Early detection and characterization of the species or biovar of the infecting Brucella organism would be of great value in medical and veterinary practice. Rapid and reliable detection of Brucella infection is important to permit removal of infected cattle from a healthy herd and prevent the spread of the disease. Characterization of the species or biovar of Brucella would provide epidemiological data to determine the source of the infection.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ SPECIES BIOVAR STRAIN HOST ORIGIN ______________________________________ B. abortus 1 19 U.S. 1 2308 cattle U.S. 1 RB51 d.2308.sup.a U.S. 1 45/20 d.45/0 England 2 ATCC 23449 cattle/ England 3 ATCC 23450 bison Uganda 4 ATCC 23451 " England 5 ATCC 23452 " England 6 ATCC 23453 " Africa 7 ATCC 23454 " 9 ATCC 23455 " England B. melitensis 1 ATCC 23456 goat U.S. B. suis 1 ATCC 23444 pig U.S. B. neotomae ATCC 23459 desert U.S. wood rat B. canis ATCC 23365 dog U.S. B. ovis ATCC 25840 sheep Africa ______________________________________ ATCC American Type Culture Collection, Bethesda, Maryland. d. derivative
Heretofore, standard serological tests used to detect Brucella have required several weeks time to complete and have not been able to distinguish between species of Brucella. The methods currently available to identify species of infecting Brucella require the isolation of bacteria on selective media followed by quantitative analysis of phenotypic properties of the organism. Phenotypic characterization may be based on such features as lipopolysaccharide antigens, phage typing, dye sensitivities, CO.sub.2 requirements, H.sub.2 S production, and metabolic properties. Such methods are time consuming (requiring 1-4 weeks) and are unreliable. (see Alton, 1988, Techniques for the Brucellosis Laboratory; Moriera-Jacob, 1963, Nature 197:406; Shibata, 1962, Nat. Inst. Anim. Health Q. 2:10-14) Time delays in obtaining test results and uncertainty due to unreliable test results can result in great economic losses. Suspect animals may require quarantine or may contaminate healthy animals in the herd during the waiting period.
Identification of Brucella species using DNA probes has not previously been possible, due to the high degree of inter-species DNA homology (approximately 90%).
There remains a great need for a rapid and accurate method for detecting the presence of pathogenic Brucella organisms in a suspect animal. It is also greatly desirable that such a detection method have the ability to distinguish between and identify the species and/or biovars of Brucella.

Method for detecting species and biovars of Brucella


A thermo-forming packaging machine has a machine frame and a cutting station including a complete cutting tool. The thermo-forming packaging machine includes the complete cutting tool being extractable from the machine frame in a direction of production of the packaging machine.

Known thermo-forming packaging machines made by the applicant comprise cutting stations with complete cutting tools. Characteristic for a complete cutting tool, which is also referred to as form cutting tool, is that a package is cut from the film composite with it in only a single cutting motion, where the cutting blade has the outer contour of the package. In this, guide columns, which are required for receiving an upper cutting tool and a movable lower cutting tool, are each arranged on both sides between the chain guide for guiding the clip chain, the clip chain itself, and the machine frame. For maintenance purposes or for replacing the complete cutting tool, for example for a change of format, the upper and the lower cutting tool (as well as the guide columns) are removed upwards from the thermo-forming packaging machine. For this, the clip chain and the chain guide must be removed in the region of the cutting station on both sides. This requires a particularly high assembly effort and tong downtime for the thermo-forming packaging machine.

Cutting station with complete cutting tool