A communications system for an aircraft includes an aircraft in-flight entertainment (IFE) system and at least one personal electronic device (PED) carried by an aircraft passenger. The aircraft IFE system includes an IFE advertisement source, IFE passenger seat displays, an IFE wireless transceiver, an IFE controller, and a purchase acceptance controller. The PED includes a PED optical sensor, a PED wireless transceiver, and a PED controller for communicating with the IFE wireless transceiver via the PED wireless transceiver based upon the PED optical sensor sensing a selected advertisement token image. The purchase acceptance controller cooperates with the IFE controller to accept purchase of the selected advertisement token image.

Commercial aircraft carry millions of passengers each year, and typically include in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems for passenger enjoyment during such flights. Entertainment systems may include individual seatback displays, where movies or other stored video programming are selectable by the passengers. In addition to prerecorded video entertainment, live television broadcasts may be provided via satellite receivers.
Such aircraft IFE systems, however, suffer from several disadvantages. Some passengers find that the aircraft IFE systems are complicated to operate. Selection of the viewing content, for example, can prove difficult due to the awkward placement and operation of the user controls.
In addition, some passengers find that the viewing content is difficult to enjoy. Passenger displays typically are located overhead and/or on opposing seatbacks. In addition, some or all of the passengers traveling aboard the aircraft can be inhibited from enjoying the viewing content if the IFE video entertainment source fails.
One approach to address this disadvantage is to have the aircraft IFE system communicate with personal electronic devices (PEDs) carried by the aircraft passengers to support the aircraft IFE system. For example, the PED may be used as a remote control to control the video provided by the aircraft entertainment source. In addition, viewing content from a PED can be provided to the aircraft IFE system for viewing on a seat-back display. In this configuration, the PED operates as a video entertainment source as well as a remote control.
U.S. published patent application no. 2009/0077595 discloses a PED in communications with an aircraft IFE system via an access point. Communications may be via a wired or wireless connection. After the PED is coupled to the aircraft IFE system, viewing content from the PED can be integrated "on the fly" into the aircraft IFE system via an interactive audio/video presentation system. The interactive audio/video presentation system is part of the aircraft IFE system, and provides the user with an ability to switch between viewing content provided by the aircraft IFE system and viewing content from the PED. The PED exchanges control signals or commands, such as user control signals or user control instructions, with the aircraft IFE system so that the PED also functions as a remote control. In addition to viewing content provided from a PED to the aircraft IFE system for viewing on a passenger display, viewing content from the aircraft IFE system can be provided to the PED for viewing.
In order for a PED to wirelessly interface with an aircraft IFE system, a registration typically needs to be performed. In the above-referenced U.S. published patent application no. 2009/0077595, the PED registers via an access point using a wireless registration scheme.
Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,157, a PED is used to access a picocell, which in turn connects to a media server by dialing the appropriate numbers. In U.S. published patent application no. 2005/0044564, the PED includes a communications port that is configured to wirelessly communicate with a communications port of the aircraft IFE system.
However, these references provide a top-level discussion of how the registration schemes are implemented between the aircraft IFE system and the PEDs. A need still exists for improving how PEDs carried by aircraft passengers are integrated with an aircraft IFE system.
In addition, there is a demand for commercial transactions to be initiated for various products and services while passengers are onboard the aircraft. For example, U.S. 2009/0228908 discloses the use of portable media devices to facilitate commercial transactions onboard an aircraft, where there is a portable media device for each passenger seat. Each portable media device includes a credit card reader system, and communicates with the vehicle information system that in turn further facilitates the transaction. Nonetheless, there is still a need to improve how commercial transactions are initiated onboard an aircraft.

Aircraft IFE system cooperating with a personal electronic device (PED) operating as a commerce device and associated methods


Embodiments of this concept are directed to a video poker gaming device that deals five cards to a player and selects five more cards that represent the possible cards used in a later draw. From these ten cards, the gaming device if a winning combination above a threshold amount is possible. If such a winning combination is not possible, in some embodiments, the device automatically ends the game and deals a new hand. If a win over the threshold amount is possible, the gaming device allows the player to hold and draw cards. This increases the speed of play of the poker game and focuses game play on hands where winning combinations are likely.

Video draw poker is a popular casino game. Players spend hours wagering on the game, largely due to tradition and simplicity of the basic rules. That said, deciding which cards to discard on the deal can be challenging, especially for newer players. In a simple game such as Jacks or Better, players must play for the best paying hand with the best chance of receiving any required cards on the draw to achieve the maximum possible awards. Sometimes, deciding which cards to hold and which cards to discard is counter intuitive. That is, sometimes it is more advantageous to go for a higher paying hand even though a player is less likely to achieve it then a lower paying hand.
Also, video poker is a comparatively slow game with an average speed of 6 seconds per game. Because many of the paytables preferred by players don't allow for a large hold percentage (%), casinos often find it difficult to earn enough revenue to justify offering the game. Simple "jacks or better" draw poker, for example, holds only about 0.5% when configured with a 6/9 paytable (that is a paytable that pays 6 times the player's wager for a flush and 9 times a player's wager for a full house) and the player playing the best theoretical strategy. Given that the most popular poker games are played with a typical $1.25 wager, and with only 600 decisions per hour, the casino's profit may amount to only $1.25*600*0.5%=$3.75 per hour.
In order to earn a reasonable return, casinos must cut the amounts awarded for many jackpots, which in turn decreases player interest in the game. Hence, there exists a need for a video poker game that eliminates the drudgery of playing for small wins and simultaneously provides the standard games and paytables players prefer while increasing the hourly profits earned by casinos.


A hybrid wireless optical and radio frequency (RF) communication link utilizes parallel free-space optical and RF paths for transmitting data and control and status information. The optical link provides the primary path for the data, and the RF link provides a concurrent or backup path for the network data, as well as a reliable and primary path for the control and status information. When atmospheric conditions degrade the optical link to the point at which optical data transmission fails, the hybrid communication link switches to the RF link to maintain availability of data communications. The switch may occur automatically, based on an assessment of the quality of the optical signal communicated through the optical path.

The communications industry requires not only high-speed data communication but also reliability in those communications. In terrestrial communications, some of the most common communication links are wire line, radio frequency (RF), fiber optic and free-space optical. Each of these communication links has different relative different strengths, weaknesses and tradeoffs in speed and reliability. Typically, the optical systems have higher communication data rates, speeds or bandwidths, and the wire line, RF and fiber optic links have greater reliability.
Although fiber optic links are capable of both high speed and high reliability, they have the disadvantage of requiring a physical installation of a fiber optic cable as the communication path or media between communication points. A wire line link also requires the physical installation of wires or cables as the communication path or media. In many situations, however, it is impractical, uneconomical or impossible to install physical cable media between communication points. In these situations, the wireless RF and/or free-space optical links must be used.
Free-space optical links transmit a light or laser beam through the atmosphere between an optical transmitter and an optical receiver. The aforementioned US patent application describes an optical transceiver within a mixed fiber and free-space optical communication system. Free-space optical communication systems require a clear line-of-sight path between communication points, since the light or laser beam projects in a straight line between the communication points. The optical beam is subject to degradation by smoke, dust, fog, rain, snow and any other particles in the atmosphere between the communication points. These particles and substances refract or block light beam to the degree that it is not reliably received at the receiving communication point. At times, atmospheric conditions can so severely degrade quality of the light beam between the communication points that the free-space optics can fail to work altogether or that the communication rate is diminished to an unacceptable level.
Wireless RF communication links involve broadcasting an RF signal carrying the communication data between the communication points. Although the typical RF broadcast is capable of transmitting data at a slower rate than an optical signal, the broadcast RF signal is usually more dependable. Broadcast RF signals are not subject to the same degradations from atmospheric conditions that cause free-space optical transmissions to suffer. Although some RF systems, such as microwave systems, do require an unobstructed line-of-sight transmission path, particles and substances in the air do not cause substantial RF signal degradation. Thus, RF communications can operate reliably under conditions where free-space optical transmissions can not operate reliably, thereby providing a greater assurance of accurate and effective data transmission although at a somewhat lesser data transfer rate.
It is with respect to these and other considerations, that the present invention has evolved.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Hybrid wireless optical and radio frequency communication link


The invention provides a light source apparatus including first and second light sources that output light in mutually opposing directions along a single optical axis; a wavelength conversion element that is disposed between these light sources and that generates light of a wavelength different from that of said light due to irradiation with the light; a first optical member that is disposed between the wavelength conversion element and the first light source, that transmits the light therefrom, and that reflects back light that is scattered towards the first light source, toward the wavelength conversion element; and a second optical member that is disposed between the wavelength conversion element and the second light source, that transmits the light therefrom, and that deflects, in a direction intersecting the optical axis, the light scattered toward the second light source and the light reflected back by the first optical member.

In the related art, semiconductor light sources are used as the light sources in liquid crystal projectors and so forth (for example, see Patent Literature 1). In Patent Literature 1, three types of fluorophores are irradiated with excitation light output from a single semiconductor light source, creating red, green, and blue fluorescence, and these three colors of fluorescence are used to reproduce colors in an image.
In applications such as microscopes, liquid crystal projectors, and the like, a comparatively small region is irradiated with illumination light from a light source. The apparatus in Patent Literature 1, being based on the Etendue principle, is not suitable for applications in which such a small region is illuminated.
In other words, Etendue, which is represented by the product of the cross-sectional area of the light beam and the solid angle of the light beam at a position in the optical system, is conserved from the light source to the irradiation position. Patent Literature 1 considers the arrangement of a plurality of light sources to improve the brightness of the illumination light. In that case, the light-emission area of the light source as a whole becomes large, and Etendue at the light source side becomes large. As a result, although the amount of light from the light source increases due to the increased light-emission area of the entire light source, Etendue at the light source side also increases, causing the light guiding efficiency to drop. In other words, it is not possible to efficiently guide all of the light emitted from the light source to a small illumination region at the irradiation position, and part of the light suffers from vignetting and thus does not contribute to an improvement in the brightness of the illumination region.


A computing system is provided implementing a text miner configured to mine unstructured data from unstructured text sources and extract features of a target computer system, and a data flow diagram editor configured to process the extracted features to identify system elements of the target computer system and interrelationships between the identified system elements, and to identify system-related candidate properties of the system elements, and to populate a system element template for each identified system element with the system-related candidate properties for that element. The data flow diagram editor is configured to generate a data flow diagram for the target computer system comprising each identified system element having the candidate properties adopted according to the system property adoption user input, and is configured to display the generated data flow diagram in the graphical user interface.

Cyber-attacks and data breaches are commonplace, increasing in volume, and becoming costlier by the year. Despite improvements in security technology and security practices to thwart most attacks, targeted security breaches have not declined. To help understand and reduce cybersecurity risks, threat modeling software has been developed. However, several challenges exist with the practical deployment and usage of current threat modeling software. For example, with increasing computer system complexity, the process of modeling data flows between computer system elements and associated security risks can be time consuming, prone to error, and expensive. As a result, emerging threats or newly provisioned equipment and software in a complex computer system might not be recognized until a breach has already occurred. Many of the notorious security breaches of recent times have only been discovered long after they occurred. Opportunities exist to address these and other challenges, to improve cybersecurity risk assessment.

Cybersecurity threat modeling and analysis with text miner and data flow diagram editor


A method and arrangement for treating a substrate processed using a laser beam, wherein said substrate comprises at least a body of semiconductor material. The method comprises a step of etching said substrate for removing from said body of semiconductor material recast material deposited on said body during said laser processing. The step of etching is controlled for removing in addition to said recast layer, at least a part of said semiconductor material of said body for improving mechanical strength of said substrate.

A method as described above is for example disclosed in United States Patent application number US 2002/0127824, by Shelton et. al., disclosing the removal of slag from semiconductor elements separated from a wafer using a laser dicing method. The document concentrates on the removal of slag from devices which are manufactured by separating them from a wafer, using a laser ablation scribing process for forming scribing lines followed by a step of breaking the wafer along these scribing lines. In particular, the slag is removed from the wafer after scribing, since the presence of slag may degrade the reliability of devices and inhibits wire bonding. Also, the slag can absorb some of the optical output power output of LED's.
As described in the above mentioned document, said slag is removed from said semiconductor elements by applying a protective coating, mounting the wafer on a mounting material (such as an adhesive tape), and after cutting the wafer using a laser beam, applying either a wet or a dry etch process for removing the protective coating and said slag, without affecting the mounting material.
A disadvantage of the above and other prior art methods used for separating semiconductor elements, is that it has been experienced that laser dicing of wafers results in a weaker die-strength of the single die. Especially for thin wafers, this is a critical issue. The reduced die-strength is experienced as an increased change of fracture, which can be encountered during die-handling, such as, for example, in the assembly of the die into IC-packages, e.g. die- and wire-bonding. It is noted therefore, that the above mentioned method of removing slag from a wafer during the separation process, does not effectively resolve the problems experienced with wire bonding. The reduced die-strength due to laser induced defects can be measured by a test method consisting of mechanical bending the dies in a special arrangement using four- and three-point measurements designed to focus on edge defects.
The above problem implies that handling of the product after separation is limited. It is noted for example that, in order to increase throughput, many laser dicing processes of prior art make use of cleaning methods such as high pressure cleaning. Normal cleaning methods such as high pressure cleaning cannot be applied, or are not effective in the range which can be applied, leaving debris behind on the singulated die surface. It is in particular noted that high pressure cleaning methods, where the die strength of devices is reduced as a result of the laser dicing process, may damage sensible surface structures on the device, such as vias. The debris left on the device as a result of ineffective cleaning, again causes problems such as reduced service life and degradation of reliability of the device, or decreased output power of e.g. LED's, etcetera.

Method of treating a substrate, method of processing a substrate using a laser beam, and arrangement

Advanced Laser Separation International B.V.


A child position monitoring device monitors the position of a child by detecting the signal strength of a radio frequency carrier from a transmitter attached to the child. If the signal of the radio frequency carrier is to weak, the child is to far away from the adult who has the child position monitoring device. When this happens, the adult is informed that the child has wandered to far away through the use on an audio tone or through the use of vibrations coming from the device. Once the adult is notified that the child is too far away, the device also has a locating display for indicating the relative direction of the child with respect to the adult. The display uses eight LEDs arranged around an emblem used to represent the position of the adult. The LED which lights up indicates the relative direction of the child.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to location monitoring devices which are used to alert a user when another object or person is located outside a set proximity zone. More specifically, the present invention relates to those location monitoring devices which are compact, portable, and display the relative location of the other person once outside the proximity zone.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,273 issued Jun. 3, 1986 to Bernadine O. Narcisse discloses a proximity monitoring device in which a base unit is alerted whenever a mobile unit is outside of a certain range as set by a threshold detector on the mobile unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,271 issued Jul. 25, 1967 to Stephen J. Robinson et al. discloses a receiver system for measuring the angular direction of propagation of a transmitted frequency relative to the receiver system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,807 issued May 3, 1977 to Jerry W. Culpepper et al. discloses a beacon tracking system in which the location and distance of a beacon can be monitored from a police cruiser.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,291 issued Nov. 15, 1988 to Candy C. Hawthorne discloses a proximity detector for monitoring the proximity of a child.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,469 issued Oct. 9, 1984 to David R. Lander discloses a locating device for finding commonly lost articles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,794 issued Jun. 4, 1991 to Robert A. Lawrence discloses a personal emergency locator network which may be used to locate a lost child.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,612 issued Nov. 3, 1987 to Boy et al. discloses locating transmitter and receiver system for locating a hunting arrow in which the transmitter is located before it is shot. The receiver uses a directional antenna to determine the relative angular position of the receiver relative to the arrow having the transmitter located therein.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.

Child position monitoring and locating device


A therapeutic-containing composition adapted for the oral administration of a biologically active material which comprises a water insoluble but water swellable polymer chemically modified with an enzyme inhibitor containing a chemical functionality which has an interactive affinity for target receptors located on the transport barrier walls of the digestive tract of the intended recipient, and at least one therapeutic of low oral bioavailability.

Since the advent of biotechnology many protein therapeutics have been identified as having significant therapeutic benefits for many potentially serious diseases. Such diseases include cancer, heart disease, diseases of the central nervous system, diseases of the immune system, diseases of the blood and circulatory system, and many hormonally based diseases. Unfortunately, many of these medical disorders are chronic and require continuous administration of the required therapeutic.
However, the broad utilization of protein therapeutics, and many other hard to deliver therapeutics depends on the ability to easily administer them to patients in a controllable and acceptable manner. Clearly oral administration would be the most desirable method for administering such materials to patients who must take them for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, the ability to administer proteins in this fashion has never been achieved because typically proteins and peptides are easily metabolized in the stomach and intestine when introduced orally to patients. In addition to problems related to degradation, their molecular weights are typically too high to allow for significant transport across the gut wall into the circulatory system. This is true even if they can be protected from extensive degradation prior to getting to the gut wall barrier. As a result protein therapeutics can only be given by injection (typically intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous), and this has severely restricted their broad utilization for many diseases.
A typical and very important example of a potential application for an oral protein delivery technology is the treatment of diabetes. There are currently more than 50 million people around the world who suffer from one of several well known forms of diabetes. In has been known that most forms of diabetes can be treated with regular doses of insulin administered to counter the buildup of blood glucose which takes place when diabetics ingest foods. In addition to the patient acceptability problem associated the delivery of insulin by injection, there are other serious difficulties associated with providing insulin by injection. These include supplying and using the necessary syringes and other medical devices to patients who suffer from one form or another of diabetes in many parts of the world, the inappropriate time profile associated with delivery by injection, and the excessive amounts of insulin to which various organs of the body are subjected when insulin is administered in this fashion. All of these problems would be ameliorated by the development of an oral form of insulin which could be administered, and made available in the circulatory system along with food.
Because diabetes is a common disease, the properties and effects of Insulin are well known. It is a polypeptide hormone having a molecular weight of about 6000. It influences many metabolic processes in humans and other animals. For example, it increases the diffusion of glucose into living tissues as well as its use by cells in metabolic processes. It also reduces the glycogen content in the liver and increases its concentration in muscles. Insulin also increases protein synthesis rates, and affects other metabolic processes.
Indeed, an approach which would permit the direct oral delivery of proteins and peptides has been sought for many years, as it has been generally recognized that such an approach, if developed, would have important advantages and thus greatly expand the potential uses for protein and peptide therapeutics. Nevertheless, and in spite of extensive efforts to develop insulin preparations resistant to the action of digestive proteinase and capable of delivery into the blood stream through the intestinal mucosa. No such approach has been found and used for the general administration of insulin or other protein or peptide therapeutics up to now. Extensive work continues today throughout the world in spite of repeated failures. With respect to protein and peptide therapeutics produced by biotechnology, oral delivery has remained one of the major unfulfilled goals for at least the last 15 years. Unfortunately no effective method to accomplish this has yet been found, for insulin or any other protein or peptide. The invention and approaches described herein address this critical, and as yet unresolved issue, and provide a direct pathway to the potential practical development of an oral delivery methodology for proteins and peptides, and other hard to deliver therapeutics.
Unfortunately, the principle effective method accepted for administering insulin to diabetic patients is still via subcutaneous (SQ) and intramuscular (IM injection of a preparation containing insulin. Dosage amounts, and administration profiles vary widely from patient to patient, depending on many factors such as body weight and size, the nature of the specific form and severity of diabetes in each patient, and the degree of diet control which can be exercised by each patient. It is not possible to identify a single dosage composition or amount which can be considered a standard human dosage form. Typically such treatments must be tailored for each patient to produce a given biologic and therapeutic profile and injections must be repeated several times daily for most patients. The need to inject insulin repeatedly (500 to more than 1000 times per year for many patients) results in physical pain, emotional distress, and many related problems for patients who must undergo this treatment on a regular basis. For this reason many marginal patients, or patients who do not live in areas of the world where syringes and needles are not easily accessible do not receive therapy.
Indeed, the disadvantages of administration by injection of most protein therapeutics, has been one of the principle elements limiting the use of proteins, as therapeutics for chronic diseases. The same problems and limitations apply to the use of proteins in animals where multiple doses would be required to achieve the necessary biological effect, and to non-protein therapeutics which are not orally bioavailable.
The compositions and method of this invention relates to any number of potentially efficacious proteins and peptides as well as other therapeutics. The oral delivery of insulin, and growth hormones are used to illustrate the general applicability of the methodology and the formulations described. We show animal studies, formulations, and a methodology for making the formulations which permits the creation of insulin preparations resistant to the action of digestive proteinase. The use of these formulations permits the contained therapeutic protein to penetrate the intestinal mucosa and enter the circulatory system where it can manifest its therapeutic effect. We show further that therapeutic efficacy can be achieved with dosage levels of insulin which are comparable to the dosage levels commonly used in conventional therapeutic injections.
Several approaches have been proposed by others in the past to achieving the oral delivery of insulin. One such approach involves the modification of the insulin molecule itself. Another such approach involves the modification of insulin by replacing for example, the C-end residue of threonine with a more stable glycine residue. Yet another approach involves the hydrophobization of the insulin molecule and yet other such approaches involves the preparation of monosaccharide derivatives of insulin and the binding of insulin to other proteins.
However, despite the fact that in many of these attempts the modification of the insulin molecule does result in an increase in insulin resistance to the action of proteinase in vitro, or has been shown in some cases to result in prolonging its effect in the body when injected IV or IM, effective oral formulations have never been demonstrated using these methods. The goal of general oral administration of insulin (and most other peptide therapeutics and generally non-orally available biologically active agents) remains unfulfilled.
Another approach to solving this problem which recently has been reported in the literature involves administering insulin in combination with compounds increasing the penetrability of insulin through the intestinal wall. This approach is intended to facilitate the penetration of the active agent through the intestinal barrier, and into the blood stream. This approach is also potentially applicable for other proteins as well as to insulin since the primary action of the added agent is on the physiology, permeability and penetrability of the intestinal barrier. Fatty acid salts, surfactants, bile salts (cholate), chelate-forming compounds are all examples of materials which have been proposed and for which experiments have been attempted in this regard.
In principle the increased permeability of the intestinal wall induced by such added materials should contribute to an increased amount of protein reaching the blood stream in an active state. However, up to the present time, effects have been observed only with mixtures of such materials administered directly into the intestines, by-passing the esophagus and stomach. This approach (often referred to as peroral), has not shown a therapeutic effect even when high doses on insulin or other proteins and peptides are used. Even had positive therapeutic effects been observed, this form of administration is extremely difficult, and potentially uncomfortable for a human patient. It is not an acceptable answer to the generic problem of protein delivery or even the treatment of very severe diabetes. Yet another disadvantage of such formulations as have been studied in this manner are the potential long term effects of permeation enhancers on the intestines. Still another disadvantage is that such approaches are non-specific and can result in many undesirable materials and antigenic compounds normally excluded from transport (including viruses, degrading enzymes, and other toxic materials normally found in the intestine) transporting into the blood stream. Finally, it is clear that such approaches do not protect the formulation, including the therapeutic effect, from the degrading action of proteinase and/or other chemically active agents and enzymes present in the stomach and the gullet.
While one could modify such approaches to include in the formulations protective protease inhibitors, which could theoretically protect insulin to some degree, such work has not been carried out and shown to be effective in a formulation intended for conventional oral delivery. A similar (not very useful) result has been obtained when compositions containing protease inhibitors, insulin and compounds increasing the penetrability of intestinal walls were combined and administered directly to the bowels. In fact such an approach, with the long term effect of permeation enhancers on the intestinal and bowel wall functionality, could be very damaging.
One of the more common experimental approaches to creating oral forms for insulin delivery has been to place the insulin inside a protective shell which protects the active agent as it is passing through the digestive track up to its entry into the small intestine. The protective shell is designed to disintegrate in the small intestine releasing active insulin (or other agent if the approach is used with other peptides or proteins). As such, various coating polymers have been used with solubility properties tailored to permit the coating shell to dissolve within the small intestines. This can be accomplished by selecting coating formulations with enhanced solubility at pH's appropriate to the small intestine. In addition, microparticulates such as liposomes, hydrogels, nanocapsules and specifically biodegradable polymers (nanoparticles) have been investigated. However for all the work which has been addressed to this issue, there are no effective delivery systems or formulations for the oral administration of any protein, much less insulin or growth hormone.
Injectable insulin-containing compositions have also been reported (U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,545) which are comprised of insulin immobilized on a polymer (including a polymer hydrogel). The polymers used in such compositions are represented by materials such as starch, dextran, polyoxyethylene, polyvinylpyrrolidone, cross-linked collagen, non-therapeutically active proteins and derivatives thereof, and these formulations have included inhibitors of proteolytic enzymes. This approach has resulted in the insulin-containing polymers displaying an increased resistance to the effect of blood proteolytic enzymes, and has been shown to yield formulations which show an increased duration of insulin activity when administer directly into the bloodstream. However, the insulin-containing polymer compositions synthesized in this work do not show significant stability to the attack of the digestive enzymes and hence are not useful for oral delivery.
Saffran M., Kumar G. S., et al. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 1990, v.18, N. 5,P.752 have shown and reported on insulin-containing polymer compositions comprising an insulin-containing gelatin capsule coated by a copolymer of styrene with hydroxyethylmethacrylate, said polymer then being crosslinked with a divinylbenzene azo-containing derivative. On oral administration, the crosslinked copolymer is degraded by the action of microorganisms within the intestines with the release of insulin, a small amount of which is shown to penetrate the intestinal wall. However, a disadvantage of these compositions is that they show a low resistance to the action of digestive enzymes and hence only a very small amount of insulin is demonstrated to actually pass through the intestinal wall and appear as active insulin in the circulatory system. With the oral administration of the above-mentioned crosslinked polymer into rats in an amount of from 1 to 40 mg per rat (as calculated for insulin), the maximum reduction of glucose concentration in animal blood was 25% on average (from 384 mg/100 ml to 287 mg/100 ml) and was observed 3-4 hours after administration of the preparation. This is far below the desirable reduction of blood glucose due to insulin, and demonstrates the general lack of effectiveness of this approach. Also this approach has not been shown to be useful for the administration of any other protein or peptide, nor for use in treating humans.
Damge, C., J Controlled Release, 1990, V. 13. P. 233, showed that spherical nanocapsules may be produced from biodegradable polyisobutyl-2--cyanoacrylate, said nanocapsules having a diameter of from 250 to 350 nm, said nanocapsules containing insulin dispersed in a lipid phase. However, upon oral administration of these nanocapsules, very little effect on blood glucose was observed when normal therapeutic levels of insulin were contained within them. A measurable (though not very great) reduction in glucose concentration of only 25% was observed even when very high insulin doses were used compared to generally accepted therapeutic doses. Indeed the doses used in this study were in the range of 100 U/kg (almost 20 times higher than doses typically injected into humans to achieve therapeutic efficacy). Even more significant from a therapeutic standpoint, the insulin in this demonstration was shown to be measurably active 6 days after the capsules were administered to the host animal. Such results throw into serious question the significance of the experiments since there is no therapeutically acceptable mechanism by which the delivered protein could remain the intestine of the test animals for such a period of time undigested and unmodified (complete elimination being typically effected in 12-24 hours). Even if there were an adequate explanation for these results, such a dosage level, as well as the delivery and therapeutic profile associated with this approach, is considered to be unacceptable for insulin, and indeed for most protein therapeutics whose administration and therapeutic effect must follow closely one upon the other. In particular for insulin it is desirable for this hormone to move across the intestinal wall and enter the circulatory system along with the absorbed nutrients from food which may be ingested by the host. Such a profile is clearly not associated with the work reported by Damge.
Greenley R. Z., Broun T. M. et al. Polymer Prepr., 1990, v. 31, N 2. P.182. have reported a composition which is similar in some aspects to the compositions claimed herein. In their composition insulin is immobilized within the volume of a crosslinked polymer modified with an inhibitor of proteolytic enzymes. The crosslinked polymer is substantially a polyacrylic or polymethacrylic acid polymer crosslinked with triethyleneglycoldi(meth)acrylate. The inhibitor is an aprotinin-protease inhibitor. A disadvantage of this composition is that the synthesized polymer hydrogels have little resistance to the action of digestive enzymes. As in the other studies reported above, this limitation results in a low measured activity of insulin passing through the intestinal wall and entering the circulatory system. It would certainly result in a similar limitation with respect to other proteins and peptides contained therein. Thus, when such a modified insulin formulation of the type described by Greenly et.al. was administered to rabbits in amounts corresponding to 50 IU/Kg, the concentration of glucose in the blood is reduced after 30 min from 380 to 360 mg/100 ml. After 300 min blood glucose is shown to reach 460 mg/100 ml (no therapeutic effect). In the same study the oral administration of an unmodified hydrogel with no inhibitor (containing 50 units of insulin) was accompanied by approximately a 23% reduction in blood glucose (from 310 to 240 mg/100 ml after 300 min). At the same time the subcutaneous injection of the rabbits with only 0.23 units of insulin leads to a reduction of blood glucose concentration from 330 to 120 mg/100 ml (insulin is reduced by 74%) 150 min after the injection. Again this experiment demonstrates the limited effectiveness in animal tests of formulations intended for oral administration of insulin and other similar proteins and peptides. It should be emphasized that even were such approaches successful. Indeed, the results reported by Greenley et. al. indicate that the oral formulation described in this study is somewhere between 200 to 600 times less effective on a dosage basis than normally injected insulin, and the therapeutic usage of such a dosage form would require that massive doses of insulin be fed to patients to achieve any therapeutic effect. This is not feasible from either a practical or an economic standpoint, even if the effects were in fact shown to extend to human patients, which is not the case in this study. The study further shows that simply administering a hydrogel-like material containing an enzyme inhibitor is not sufficient to cause therapeutic amounts of insulin or proteins to pass the intestinal barrier, and that the formulations of the invention described below are distinct in their nature and effect from those tested in the past.

Protein-containing polymer composition for oral administration


A burner gas supply apparatus for increasing flame turbulence, the apparatus comprising a conduit having a characteristic width, W, defined by an inner surface having a circumferential direction and an axial direction, the axial direction terminating in a nozzle defining a nozzle exit plane and having a characteristic dimension, d, where d<=W; and three bluff bodies each with a characteristic dimension, Dbb-i, projecting a length, Li into the conduit from the inner surface, and an axial spacing Xi between adjacent bluff bodies (between the downstream bluff body and the nozzle exit plane in the case of X1) wherein 0.5<=Li/W<=1 and wherein Xi/Dbb-i<=30.

Effective design of a combustion burner requires control of flame properties, most notably the flame length. Precise knowledge of flame length is particularly important since many burners are installed in combustion chambers that afford no visual access to verify the flame properties during operation. While experimentation and engineering guidelines are helpful for predicting flame length based on burner and combustion chamber design and operational parameters, it is known that prediction and control of flame length is more reliable for turbulent flames than for laminar flames. While many factors can influence the transition point from a laminar to a turbulent flame, a non-dimensional Reynolds Number, Rej, based on the properties of the flow and geometric properties of the burner's central jet is conventionally employed. This is defined as follows in equation 1:Rej=ρVjDj/μ  (1)
where ρ is the central jet density at the nozzle exit plane; V is the central jet average nozzle exit velocity, D is the nozzle diameter and μ is the central jet dynamic viscosity, again determined by conditions at the nozzle exit plane.
As pointed out in a seminal paper by Hawthorne et al ("Mixing and Combustion in Turbulent Gas Jets", Third Symposium on Combustion, Flame and Explosion Phenomena, pp. 266-288, 1949), the characteristically different response of flame length to gas flow rate in laminar and turbulent flows is rooted in the inherent difference between molecular and eddy diffusivity. Mixing in a laminar flame is governed by molecular diffusivity, a material property of the gases being mixed, while mixing in turbulent flames is driven by turbulent "eddies." Unlike molecular diffusivity, so-called eddy diffusivity is not a material property, but scales with the product of flame jet velocity and nozzle exit plane diameter. The resultant effect on flame length associated with these disparate modes of mixing is summarized in FIG. 1. That is, the normalized length, L/D (L is flame length and D is nozzle exit plane diameter), of a laminar jet flame increases with nozzle flow rate while that of a turbulent jet flame remains constant.
It is further evident from FIG. 1 that the maximum length of a laminar flame may be substantially longer than that of a fully turbulent flame. So, although a flame may be designed principally for turbulent operation, it is possible that off-design, reduced flow operation could lead to a longer-than-desirable flame that may impinge on combustor end-walls and thereby lead to premature failure of wall insulating and structural materials or heat transfer surfaces.
Finally, in most practical combustion applications the furnace internal environment is generally not quiescent. Long, laminar flames tend to be relatively difficult to control in these situations since much of the fuel stream remains unreacted while its momentum has dissipated. By contrast, the turbulent jet flame mixes rapidly and the stability of the flame jet thereby benefits from increased velocity of the expanding hot gases. Consequently, laminar flames are much more prone to deflection by furnace gas currents and incomplete combustion than turbulent flames, and these deficiencies often lead to performance and operational shortfalls related to reduced and/or mis-directed flame-to-load heat transfer and reduction in process fuel efficiency.


A method and apparatus encodes and decodes machine readable signals in audio signals for producing humanly perceived audio transmissions. The encoding device includes circuitry for identifying portions of the audio signal having relatively low energy in a given band and relatively high energy in a band proximally below the given band. The machine readable signals are then inserted into the identified portions of the audio signal. According to another embodiment, the machine readable signals are encoded as a spread-spectrum signal which is added to the original audio signal. The spread-spectrum signal is scaled using a unique technique referred to as Common Mode Scaling.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus and method for encoding and decoding information in audio signals, such as those commonly recorded on records, tapes, and compact discs.
2. Description of Related Art
Audio codes have been used for centuries. Audio codes include the use of jungle drums to communicate information. Defined broadly, audio codes even include human speech. In the modern age audio codes have included the transmission of morse code, in the form of tones of varying length, over the airwaves. Such codes function well when conveying information to humans and have served useful functions.
In this modern age in which electronics are making it possible for machines to perform an ever increasing number of functions, it is desirable to combine machine readable codes with an audio signal designed for human listening. For example, audio cue tones have been placed on audio tapes to help a tape player advance to and stop at the location at which the tone occurs. The problem with such tones is that their presence can interfere with the enjoyment of listening to audio signals by human listeners, and they do not carry very much information.
It is also known to pulse-width modulate a signal to provide a common or encoded signal carrying at least two information portions or other useful portions. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,060 to Yang (1985) binary data is transmitted as a signal having two differing pulse-widths to represent logical "0" and "1" (e.g., the pulse-width durations for a "1" are twice the duration for a "0"). This correspondence also enables the determination of a clocking signal.
Various techniques for encoding signals are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,807 to Weitz et al. (1990) discloses a method and apparatus for encoding signals for producing sound transmissions with digital information to enable addressing the stored representation of such signals. Specifically, the apparatus in Weitz et al. converts an analog signal for producing such sound transmissions to clocked digital signals comprising for each channel an audio data stream, a step-size stream and an emphasis stream. The device and method also include editing the encoded digital signals to add other information to enable high volume storage, direct access and higher throughput.
With respect to systems in which audio signals produce audio transmissions, U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,617 to Best et al. (1989) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,437 to Best et al. (1992) disclose encoders for forming relatively thin and shallow (e.g., 150 Hz wide and 50 dB deep) notches in mid-range frequencies of an audio signal. The earlier of these patents discloses paired notch filters centered about the 2883 Hz and 3417 Hz frequencies; the later patent discloses notch filters but with randomly varying frequency pairs to discourage erasure or inhibit filtering of the information added to the notches. The encoders then add digital information in the form of signals in the lower frequency indicating a "0" and in the higher frequency a "1". In the later Best et al. patent an encoder samples the audio signal, delays the signal while calculating the signal level, and determines during the delay whether or not to add the data signal and, if so, at what signal level. The later Best et al. patent also notes that the "pseudo-random manner" in moving the notches makes the data signals more difficult to detect audibly.
An area of particular interest to certain embodiments of the present invention relates to the market for musical recordings. Currently, a large number of people listen to musical recordings on radio or television. They often hear a recording which they like enough to purchase, but don't know the name of the song, the artist performing it, or the record, tape, or CD album of which it is part. As a result, the number of recordings which people purchase is less than it otherwise would be if there was a simple way for people to identify which of the recordings that they hear on the radio or TV they wish to purchase.
Another area of interest to certain embodiments of the invention is copy control. There is currently a large market for audio software products, such as musical recordings. One of the problems in this market is the ease of copying such products without paying those who produce them. This problem is becoming particularly troublesome with the advent of recording techniques, such as digital audio tape (DAT), which make it possible for copies to be of very high quality. Thus it would be desirable to develop a scheme which would prevent the unauthorized copying of audio recordings, including the unauthorized copying of audio works broadcast over the airwaves.
The prior art fails to provide a method and an apparatus for encoding and decoding analog audio frequency signals for producing humanly perceived audio transmissions with signals that define digital information such that the audio frequency signals produce substantially identical humanly perceived audio transmission prior to and after encoding. The prior art also fails to provide relatively simple apparatus and methods for encoding and decoding audio frequency signals for producing humanly perceived audio transmissions with signals defining digital information. The prior art also fails to disclose a method and apparatus for limiting unauthorized copying of audio frequency signals for producing humanly perceived audio transmissions.

Apparatus and method for encoding and decoding information in audio signals


Navigation solutions for a pedestrian or vehicle user are obtained by determining whether the direction and location of the user obtained from a map at least substantially conform to the direction and location of the user based on one or more measurements obtained from one or more sensors, and if the direction and location of the user obtained from the map at least substantially conform to the direction and location of the user based on one or more measurements obtained from one or more sensors, computing the navigation solutions based, at least in part, on the direction and location of the user.

Various satellite-based navigation systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) have been utilized by individual users for navigation. For example, satellite-based navigation devices, which may be either stand-alone devices or integrated as part of handheld mobile telephones or tablets, have been used by individuals who need navigation instructions as drivers or pedestrians. Satellite based navigation systems have also been provided as integral parts of motor vehicles. A typical navigation device is capable of not only indicating the current position, but also providing recommended routes, turn-by-turn instructions, and expected time of travel, and so on, based on signals received from navigation satellites as well as digital maps and road information stored in the memory or storage medium of the navigation device.
A conventional navigation device typically requires nearly constant good reception of satellite-based navigation signals for updating the current position of the device on the map. Good reception of satellite-based navigation signals, however, is not guaranteed in all environments. For example, in close proximity to tall buildings or other obstructions, GPS or GNSS signals are often degraded due to reflections, attenuations or multipath effects. When a user is inside a building with walls, beams, and other structures that reflect or absorb radio waves, for example, reception of GPS or GNSS signals may be significantly degraded. Degraded reception of satellite-based navigation signals due to various environmental effects, such as the presence of buildings, other structures or natural obstructions, may result in unreliable or inaccurate navigation solutions.

Sensor assisted validation and usage of map information as navigation measurements


A fluid ejection device and a method for identifying a fluid ejection device are provided by determining first identification information and based upon the first identification information, querying one or more elements on the fluid ejection device that include second identification information. Then determining the second identification information based upon the query and a plurality of operating of parameters of the fluid ejection device based upon the first and second identification information.

A conventional inkjet printing system includes a printhead, an ink supply which supplies liquid ink to the printhead, and an electronic controller which controls the printhead. The printhead ejects ink drops through a plurality of orifices or nozzles and toward a print medium, such as a sheet of paper, so as to print onto the print medium. Typically, the orifices are arranged in one or more arrays such that properly sequenced ejection of ink from the orifices causes characters or other images to be printed upon the print medium. The operation of the printhead is a function of various parameters, including but not limited to, ink type, number of nozzles in the orifice plate, spacing between the nozzles, data transfer rates, among others. In addition, different print cartridges may operate according to different protocols. As such, the printer must utilize the protocol of the print cartridge in order to achieve proper ejection of ink and to prevent damage to the print cartridge.
In an ink jet printer it is desirable to have several characteristics of each print cartridge easily identifiable by a controller. Ideally the identification data should be supplied directly by the print cartridge. The "identification data" provides information to the controller to adjust the operation of the printer and ensures correct operation. The identified characteristics include, but are not limited to, ink color, architecture revision, resolution, number of nozzles in the orifice plate, spacing between the nozzles, among others as described in the previous paragraph. In addition to the above characteristics of the print cartridge, it may be further desirable to characterize each print cartridge during manufacturing and to supply this information to the printer. In this manner, it would be possible compensate for variations in energy supplied to the resistor array in the integrated circuit, ink drop volume, ink drop velocity, missing nozzles, and various other manufacturing tolerances or defects such as orifice plate misalignment or non-planarity and angled orifice holes.
Print cartridges and printers employ electrical interconnects between the cartridge and the printer, so that operation of the print cartridge can be controlled by the printer. The electrical interconnects can be in the form of an interconnect array having a plurality of discrete interconnect pads. The use of replaceable print cartridges in inkjet printers allows the possibility that a user may install or attempt to install a replacement print cartridge that is not designed for use with the user's particular printer or with the particular chute of the particular printer. The installation of a print cartridge into an incorrect chute in a printer can result in dangerous situations where electrical circuits are energized incorrectly, e.g. using the improper protocol or improper signal magnitudes, causing damage to the print cartridge, the printer, or both. This damage may cause substantially loss for users. Therefore, consideration must be given to the prevention of use of a print cartridge that will not operate properly in the chute or printer.
One solution to prevent incorrect use of a print cartridge in a printer is to make each print cartridge with a physically different shape from other print cartridges for other printers or chutes, so that there is no possibility of a printer accepting an incorrect cartridge. This solution requires very different production lines for print cartridges and printers and is consequently costly to implement. Another solution is to have similar print cartridges, but provide unique physical keys on the cartridge and printer so that an incorrect cartridge cannot be inserted into a printer. This solution can be defeated by a user who removes or modifies the physical keys. Yet another solution is to have physically similar print cartridges, and to make sure that the positions of the interconnect pads do not overlap between cartridges intended for different printers or different chutes. This solution becomes unreasonably difficult to implement, as eventually interconnect pad positions will overlap as the number of interconnect pads increases (increasing performance) and/or the size of the interconnect array decreases (decreasing cost).
In addition, it is possible that different types of print cartridges are capable of being inserted into a single chute. In this instance, it is necessary to identify the operating parameters of the print cartridge that is inserted and operate that print cartridge accordingly. To do this, a number of parameters of the print cartridge need to be identified.
As the different types of cartridges and their operating parameters increase, there is a need to provide a greater amount of identification information. At the same time, it is not desirable to add further interconnections to the flex tab circuit to carry such identification information.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A combination fuel vapor storage canister and vapor vent/tipping valve in a common housing with ports for connection to a fuel tank, a purge line and an atmospheric vent. The vapor vent/tipping valve includes a pressure relief valve which prevents vapor venting until a predetermined vapor pressure is reached; and, the pressure relief valve may also include a vacuum relief valve.

In small engines of less than 50 horsepower (37.2 kilowatts) such as those employed for garden tractors, lawn mowers, portable generating sets and marine applications it has recently been mandated that such engines be equipped with fuel vapor emission controls.
Small engines used for such applications commonly have the fuel tank disposed approximate the engine for facilitating engine installation on the appliance employing the engine. The more widely used configuration utilizes a gravity feed fuel supply from the tank to the engine carburetor; however, in certain applications on engines approaching 50 horsepower, fuel pumps are employed.
Efforts to provide fuel vapor emission control systems on such small engines and particularly in the aforesaid applications of small engines have required additional components, modifications to the fuel tank and have resulted in significant increases in the cost of installing the engine and fuel system in the appliance. This is particularly the case where it is required to not only prevent fuel vapor emission during periods of engine shutdown but where it is also required to provide a valve which will close the tank make up air vent in the event of disorientation such as tipping or rollover of the appliance in service.
The more widely employed technique of preventing fuel vapor emission from a large engine tank and fuel system has employed a storage canister charged with adsorbent to retain the fuel vapors until the engine is started and the vapors can then be drawn into the engine air inlet and the canister purged by induction of atmospheric air as the vapors are drawn into the engine. Such systems have long been employed in large engines such as in motor vehicles with fuel tanks remote from the engine.
However, it has been found difficult and costly to provide these functions for small engines having fuel tanks which are typically bracket mounted on the engine or the appliance in a position adjacent the engine where it is necessary to keep the volume of the engine and tank to a minimum. This has been particularly difficult to achieve for air cool engines where the engine is closely cowled to provide adequate airflow over the cylinder head for proper cooling. In addition, most small engine applications employ gravity feed fuel tanks which are placed above the engine and thus require a particular configuration for the appliance into which the engine is installed, particularly where the engine is cowled. Thus it has been desired to find a way or means of providing the necessary functions for fuel vapor emission control on small engines, particularly those employing gravity feed fuel tanks without requiring complete retooling for the fuel tank and associated fuel system and tank mounting components.

Vapor vent valve with pressure relief function integrated to carbon canister


A shipping box (11), shipping box and pallet assembly (10), and a blank (B1, B2, B3) for making the shipping box. The box has integral attaching tabs (38) projecting downwardly therefrom, with at least one slot (31, 32) therein for receiving an extended end (41) of at least one slat (40) on a pallet (13), to releasably attach the box to the pallet. A reinforcing insert (70) is placed in the box against opposite walls. The insert has a center panel (77) of the same width and height as the box wall against which it is placed, and double thickness end panels (78) at opposite sides of the center panel, extending perpendicular to the center panel and lying against adjacent box walls.

Heavy duty boxes formed from one or more plies of corrugated cardboard are commonly used for shipping products in bulk. These boxes are frequently fastened to a pallet by staples or straps prior to filling the box with product. The end user must either have the container shipped to it in its set-up condition and already fastened on the pallet, or the end user must have the necessary stapling or strapping equipment available to set up the container in-house. In the former case, shipping the set-up container and pallet is expensive, and in the latter case, the assembly and set up requires added capital cost for equipment, is labor intensive, and presents safety issues for the end user and its employees. Also, because of the large size of a typical bulk box, it is difficult to reach into the box to apply staples. Moreover, the staples must penetrate both the box and the pallet, and strapping normally crushes the box. Both methods require hand tools to apply and remove the fasteners, and cause damage to both the box and the pallet, making re-use impractical.
Further, the boxes, with attached pallets, are commonly stacked on top of one another up to three pallets high. The side walls must have sufficient stacking strength to withstand the compressive load imposed on them. Conventional boxes of the type with which the present invention is concerned typically have a capacity of 500 pounds, i.e., they can safely be stacked three high when loaded with 500 pounds of product. However, some bulk products have greater weight than this, and although conventional boxes have a built-in safety factor, greater stacking strength is desirable.
Accordingly, there is need for a bulk shipping box and pallet assembly that can be manufactured and shipped to an end user in a knocked-down or flattened condition and then easily set up by the end user and fastened to a pallet, and easily detached from the pallet when desired, without requiring the use of hand tools or other equipment, and without causing damage to either the box or the pallet, whereby they are suitable for reuse. Further, there is need for a bulk shipping box having improved stacking strength.

Bulk shipping box assembly with detachable pallet


In a method for operating a medical imaging system and a medical imaging system operating according to such a method, a measurement sequence is divided into a number of partial sequences, with each of the partial sequences resulting in a loading of at least one of these system components when the measurement sequence is executed. The partial sequences are evaluated, in terms of their number and duration, using a computerized model in order to determine whether a load limit for the at least one of the system components is exceeded. If so, the number or duration of the partial sequences is modified, and a check using the computer model is again implemented. A number or respective duration of the partial sequences that results in the load limit not being exceeded is then used as a final output in order to operate the medical imaging system.

Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an operating method for a computer, that receives information about a measurement sequence to be implemented by a medical imaging system, wherein the measurement sequence includes a predetermined number of successive partial sequences, and wherein the execution of the partial sequences leads to a loading (stressing) of at least one component of the imaging medical technology system.
The present invention furthermore concerns a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that includes machine code that can be executed directly by a computer, in order to cause the computer to be operated according to an operating method of the above type.
The present invention furthermore concerns a computer at which is stored such a computer program executable by the computer.
The present invention furthermore concerns a medical imaging system that has at least one component that is loaded by operation of the system with a measurement sequence composed of a predetermined number of partial sequences, and that has a control device designed as a computer of the type described above, or is connected with such a computer.
Description of the Prior Art
Methods, systems and computers of the above type are described in DE 10 2008 015 261 B4 and the corresponding US 2009/0 240 379 A1, for example.
In such known operating methods, using a model of the medical imaging system, a computer checks whether a resulting loading of the component of the medical imaging system remains below a load limit during the control of the medical imaging system with the measurement sequence. If yes, the computer retains the measurement sequence without modification. If no, the computer inserts a pause between two partial sequences that are in immediate succession.
The known operating method leads to good results if a partial sequence can be executed at any time, in principle. In some cases, however, the partial sequences must be executed in a number of measurement periods, with the measurement periods split into a measurement interval and a pause interval. In such cases, partial sequences can be executed only during the measurement intervals. In such cases, the known procedure does not always lead to optimal results. This is explained in detail in the following using an example.
It is assumed that a medical imaging system should be operated with a number of partial sequences, for example with 300 partial sequences. Each partial sequence requires 200 ms for its execution. An execution of the partial sequences one immediately after another (thus without pause between the individual partial sequences) leads to an impermissibly high loading of a component of the medical imaging system. By contrast, the loading remains within permissible bounds if a pause of 100 ms is respectively introduced between the partial sequences. Furthermore, it is assumed that the measurement sequence should be applied to a living examination subject, with applications of the partial sequences being executed only in phases in which a slight breathing-dependent movement occurs—for example only during breathing pauses or exhalation phases of the examination subject. A breathing period (=measurement period) amounts to 4 s, which is divided in equal parts into an exhalation or breath-hold phase (=measurement interval) and an inhalation or deep breathing phase (=pause interval).
In such a case, seven respective partial intervals can be assembled into a partial sequence group according to the procedure of the prior art. In this case, the duration of the partial sequence groups amounts to7×200 ms+6×100 ms=2000 ms=2 s.
For 300 partial sequences in total, 300/7=43 partial sequence groups must thus be formed. The total duration for execution of the entire measurement sequence thus amounts to 43×4 s=172 s.
In the division of the measurement sequence into the individual partial sequence groups, in the prior art, no consideration is given to the fact that a pause interval (in the form of an inhalation or deep breathing phase) is inevitably present between each of the individual partial sequence groups. In some cases, it can be sufficient (or at least beneficial) to use the pause intervals in order to execute more partial sequences in the measurement intervals, and thus to reduce the number of measurement periods. This is also explained in detail in the following using an example.
Based on the above example, it is additionally assumed that the loading of the component of the medical imaging system remains within allowable bounds even if a pause of 10×100 ms=1000 ms=1 s is respectively introduced after ten respective partial sequences. In such a case, ten partial sequences can be combined into one partial sequence group. In this case, the duration of the partial sequence groups amounts to10×200 ms=2000 ms=2 s.
Nevertheless, the loading of the component of the medical imaging system remains within permissible bounds because a pause interval (=inhalation or deep breathing phase) respectively follows after the execution of the respective partial sequence group, which pause interval—with its duration of 2 s—exceeds the required minimum length of 1 s. For 300 partial sequences in total, it is no longer 43 partial sequence groups, but rather only 300/10=30 partial sequence groups that must be formed. The total duration for execution of the entire measurement sequence thus amounts to 30×4 s=120 s.

Operating method for a computer to determine an optimized measurement sequence for a medical imaging system


The formation of a cobalt silicide layer of uniform thickness over the source/drain regions and the polysilicon gate electrode of an MOS structure, which does not thin out adjacent the edges of the top surface of the polysilicon gate electrode, i.e., adjacent the oxide spacers, is achieved by first forming a titanium capping layer over a cobalt layer deposited over the MOS structure prior to formation of the cobalt silicide, and while excluding oxygen-bearing gases from the cobalt surface prior to the deposition of the titanium capping layer. Oxygen-bearing gases are then excluded from contact with the titanium capping layer prior to at least the initial annealing step to form cobalt silicide, by forming a protective titanium nitride layer over the titanium layer, either: (1) in the same chamber used to deposit the titanium layer, or (2) while still maintaining the titanium-coated semiconductor substrate in an oxygen-free atmosphere during transfer of the titanium-coated semiconductor substrate from the titanium deposition chamber to a separate titanium nitride deposition chamber. In either event, the titanium capping layer is deposited over the cobalt layer, and the protective titanium nitride layer is then formed over the titanium capping layer, prior to the first annealing step, to thereby protect the cobalt layer from oxygen-bearing gases, resulting in the formation of cobalt silicide of substantially uniform thickness over the top surface of the polysilicon gate electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the formation of integrated circuit structures on semiconductor substrates. More particularly, this invention relates to a process for forming a cobalt silicide (CoSi.sub.2) conductive layer on an integrated circuit structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the formation of integrated circuit structures, and particularly in the formation of MOS devices using polysilicon gate electrodes, it has become the practice to provide a metal silicide layer over the polysilicon gate electrode, and over the source/drain regions of the silicon substrate, to facilitate electrically and metallurgically connecting the silicon to metal interconnects. Thus, for example, a titanium metal layer is usually blanket deposited over the polysilicon gate electrode and the source/drain regions of the silicon substrate, as well as over the silicon oxide insulation regions of the substrate, e.g., the field oxide regions. The structure is then heated sufficiently to cause the titanium in contact with the silicon to react, thereby forming titanium silicide, e.g., heated to about 700.degree. C., while the titanium over the silicon oxide does not react. The unreacted titanium is then removed, leaving only titanium silicide over the silicon source/drain regions of the substrate and over the polysilicon gate electrode. The resulting titanium silicide is then further annealed at a higher temperature, e.g., higher than about 750.degree. C., to cause the earlier formed titanium silicide, formed as a high resistivity C49 phase, to convert to the more electrically desirable (lower resistivity) C54 phase (the structure is not initially annealed at the higher (C54-forming) temperature because the titanium tends to also react with the silicon oxide insulation at the higher temperature). A metal layer, such as tungsten, aluminum, etc. can then be deposited over the titanium silicide layer.
However, as the sizes of integrated circuit structures have continued to become smaller and smaller, problems have arisen with the continued use of titanium silicide, particularly in the formation of narrow lines, because the higher resistivity C49 phase of titanium silicide tends to predominate on narrower lines. This is apparently due to the failure of the C49 phase to convert to the low resistivity C54 phase when the line width approaches the grain size of the C49 phase. It has, however, been found that cobalt silicide (CoSi.sub.2) is not subject to the same phase problems when used in forming narrow lines. However, cobalt does not reduce oxide as well as titanium, and thus the cleanliness of the semiconductor substrate is much more critical if cobalt is used to form the desired metal silicide. Furthermore, the variation in oxidation rates of differently doped silicon substrates can also cause cobalt silicide formation to be substrate dependent.
Berti et al., in an article entitled "A MANUFACTURABLE PROCESS FOR THE FORMATION OF SELF ALIGNED COBALT SILICIDE IN A SUB MICROMETER CMOS TECHNOLOGY", published on pages 267-273 of the VMIC Conference held in Santa Clara, Calif. in 1992, state that processing temperature, resistivity, contact resistance, junction leakage, and stress are all lower when using cobalt silicide instead of titanium silicide. However, they report that the difficulty in implementing cobalt silicide in a manufacturing environment has been due to the inability to repeatedly avoid unwanted cobalt silicide overgrowth on the oxide spacers (which can result in electrical shorting) while simultaneously forming thick and uniform cobalt silicide. They reported that the problem of cobalt silicide overgrowth on the oxide portions of the integrated circuit structure could be eliminated by the reactive sputtering of a capping layer of titanium nitride over the layer of cobalt prior to the annealing step to form cobalt silicide.
A later article by Yamazaki et al., entitled "21 psec switching 0.1 .mu.m-CMOS at room temperature using high performance Co salicide process", published on pages 6.7.1-6.7.3 of 906 IDEM 93, reports that in conventional cobalt salicide (self-aligned silicide), the gate sheet resistance increased below a 1.0 .mu.m gate length because the cobalt layer was oxidized during the first silicidation annealing. They reported that the use of a titanium nitride capping layer over the cobalt salicide effectively avoided the oxidation and drastically improved the gate length dependence of the gate sheet resistance, resulting in the achievement of a gate delay of 21 ps for a 0.1 .mu.m gate length and 19 ps for a 0.075 .mu.m gate length.
It has also been proposed to provide a capping layer of titanium over the cobalt layer prior to the silicidation step. Wang et al., in an article entitled "New CoSi.sub.2 SALICIDE Technology for 0.1 .mu.m Processes and Below", published on pages 17 and 18 of the 1995 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, report that the use of titanium over cobalt in the formation of cobalt silicide provides a much smoother CoSi.sub.2 /poly interface than the conventional process with less sensitivity to pre-sputtering surface conditions and annealing conditions. They also indicate, however, that it is difficult to form thin CoSi.sub.2 on a sub-0.1 .mu.m poly-Si runner using the conventional process, but that the use of a thin titanium capping layer improves both the formation and thermal stability of sub-0.1 .mu.m CoSi.sub.2 /Poly stacks.
While the foregoing articles indicate superior results in the use of cobalt silicide (CoSi.sub.2) for 0.1 .mu.m line technology when the cobalt layer is capped with either titanium or titanium nitride, it has been found that there still exists problems with the use of even capped cobalt silicide, at least with respect to the uniformity of the thickness of cobalt silicide (CoSi.sub.2) formed over the polysilicon gate electrode. An example of this is illustrated in prior art FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a portion of an integrated circuit structure comprising a silicon substrate 2 having a conventional NMOS structure formed thereon, it being understood that the problem is not limited to the construction of NMOS devices, but is also applicable to PMOS devices. In the illustrated MOS structure, N+ source/drain regions 4 and 6 are formed in P type silicon substrate 2 adjacent field oxide portions 8, with a gate oxide layer 10 and a polysilicon gate electrode 12 formed over silicon substrate 2 in between source/drain regions 4 and 6, and with oxide spacers 13 formed on the sidewalls of polysilicon gate electrode 12. FIG. 1 further shows cobalt silicide (CoSi.sub.2) segments 14 and 16 formed respectively over source/drain regions 4 and 6 and cobalt silicide segment 18 formed over the top surface of polysilicon gate electrode 12. In this conventional prior art formation of cobalt silicide, wherein the substrate and/or the cobalt layer is not sufficiently protected from exposure to oxygen prior to the annealing step, the silicide formation will be degraded. For example, it will be noted in prior art FIG. 1 that the end portions 19 of cobalt silicide segment 18 on the top surface of polysilicon gate electrode 12 adjacent oxide spacers 13 are thinner than the remainder of cobalt silicide segment 18.

Process for forming improved cobalt silicide layer on integrated circuit structure using two capping layers


A medical information retrieval system comprises a natural language processing system that processes a vocal user query to identify key words and phrases. These key words and phrases are provided to an inferencing engine that provides a set of knowledge-based inferences from medical knowledge sources, based on these key words and phrases. Thereafter, these knowledge-based inferences are provided to an information retrieval engine that retrieves a corresponding plurality of medical articles based on these knowledge-based inferences, and ranks each with respect to the knowledge-based inferences. A summary engine receives the ranked articles and creates a model based on the topical keywords and candidate sentences found in the highly ranked articles. A paraphrase engine processes the candidate sentences to provide a summary response based on a knowledge-based paraphrase model. An audio output device renders the summary report as the response to the user's original vocal query.

Routine processes available on computer systems are not well suited for responding to queries of a non-clinical expert regarding the information contained in records that are designed and implemented for clinical experts, such as queries from a patient regarding the 'meaning' or 'impact' of the information contained in the patient's medical records.
Often, a patient may visit a practitioner to receive the results of a given test or series of tests. The test results may be highly technical, and the practitioner provides a 'translation' of this technical data (hemoglobin count, lipid count, systolic pressure, etc.) into terms that the patient is likely to understand. At the time of this visit with the practitioner, the patient may ask questions and may depart with at least a basic understanding of his/her condition.
In many cases, however, the patient may subsequently realize that he/she doesn't have a complete understanding of his/her condition and thinks of questions that he/she should have asked the practitioner, or thinks of questions to ask of another professional that may serve to validate or contradict the practitioner's diagnoses.
Using conventional computer search techniques, the patient may use a search engine to search for particular terms that the practitioner used, or go to a reference site, such as Wikipedia, to receive an explanation of particular terms or conditions. The results of such searches or references, however, will typically be 'spotty', and provide a less-than-satisfying explanation, because it will be based on the patient's presentation of the particular terms to be searched, and the results may be in a language (medical jargon) that the patient doesn't truly understand.
In essence, due to the patient's non-expert comprehension of the highly technical terms and phrases used in the medical profession, the patient is often limited in his/her ability to formulate a query that reflects the patient's concern while at the same time is sufficient to effect an efficient and effective search through material that is published by professionals in the field. Similarly, even if the patient's query is sufficient to locate applicable references in the field, the mere presentation of the located reference material may be virtually unintelligible to the patient, or the volume of located reference material may simply be too overwhelming for the patient to assimilate in any reasonable amount of time.
Given the current drive for patients' and consumers' access to adequate evidence and relevant information to facilitate well-informed health-related decision-making, there is a need for enhancing existing computer search and reporting tools to process and relay the vast amount of computer-accessible health information to the often 'curious and/or anxious' patient seeking answers to his/her medical dilemmas.
In addition to providing meaningful information to non-clinical experts by aggregating and summarizing the massive amount of facts and findings in existing large volumes of biomedical literature, there is a need to address the fact that patients and consumers may also experience difficulties tailoring their search by using the appropriate technical language to provide efficient retrieval of evidence typically documented in the literature. Enhancing the capabilities of a computer networking system to provide support for patients and consumers to enable construction of efficient and effective queries and provide appropriate answers can significantly improve patient engagement towards motivating adherence to preventative and therapeutic interventions, health awareness and literacy, lifestyle modifications and healthy living.

Patient-centric clinical knowledge discovery system


Specific novel compounds of aromatic bis-acetoamide structures are provided as intermediate compounds to forming different types of coloring agents, at least. Such compounds are useful as intermediates in the production of certain bis-acetoanilide azo dyes, pigments, and polymeric colorants. Such compounds facilitate production of such coloring agents that exhibit favorable tinctorial strength and intense color from orange to greenish yellow within and on different substrates and media. Coloring agents and methods of making such agents are encompassed within this invention as well.

This invention relates to specific novel compounds of aromatic bis-acetoamide structures. Such compounds are useful as intermediates in the production of certain bis-acetoanilide azo dyes, pigments, and polymeric colorants. Such compounds facilitate production of such coloring agents that exhibit favorable tinctorial strength and intense color from orange to greenish yellow within and on different substrates and media. Coloring agents and methods of making such agents are encompassed within this invention as well.
All U.S. patents cited within this specification are hereby incorporated by reference.
Bis-acetoacetanilide azo yellow and orange pigments, dyes, and dyestuffs are well known and are commonly used in various types of printing inks. They also generally provide effective coloration to certain substrates, such as plastics, paints, textiles, and the like. Such coloring agents provide acceptable colorations; however, the versatility of such coloring agents within and on different media and substrates has been rather limited. Such limits have been noticeable due to a limit on the number and types of different bis-acetoacetanilide coloring agents available from the low number of known and utilized bis-acetoacetamide intermediates within the industry. Furthermore, such coloring agents have exhibited toxicity problems primarily due to the specific bridging groups between the two acetoacetamide moieties of such traditional intermediates. Such toxicity issues are basically related to the decomposition by-products of traditional bis-acetoacetanilide, and the like, coloring agents, particularly in plastic applications, and are rising concerns to consumers. For example, Pigment Yellow 17 (structure below) is a strong greenish-shade bis-acetoacetanilide yellow and has often been incorporated within plastics.
However, as reported by R. Az et al in Dyes and pigments, 15, 1 (1991), such a coloring agent degrades into potentially carcinogenic by-products (e.g. 3,3xe2x80x2-dichlorobenzidine) in plastics processed above 200xc2x0 C., a temperature lower than that used in processing most plastics (e.g., from about 230xc2x0 C. to about 330xc2x0 C.). In efforts to overcome these disadvantages, azo pigment manufacturers have actively pursued development of other types of bis-acetoacetanilinde colors by using various intermediates.
Alternative pigments have been developed by coupling diacetoacet-1,4-phenylenediamide with aniline derivatives. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,778 discloses coupling diacetoacet- 1,4-phenylenediamide with 2,5-dicarbomethoxyaniline to produce Pigment Yellow 155 (structure below). As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,216 discloses 47 different examples of coupling diacetoacet-1,4-phenylenediamide with various aniline derivatives and describes the related processes for making such bis-acetoacetanilide pigments. Other examples of such alternatives include the following patents: German Patent 3,501,199, Canadian Patent 1,135,688, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,889,162, 4,146,558, and 4,103,092.
Very few reports exist in the pertinent literature regarding the coupling of such alternative bis-acetoacetamide starting materials with 4,4xe2x80x2-bi-o-acetoacetotoluidine (Naphthol AS-G) into anilines to another type of Bis-AAA colorants. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,146,558 and 4,206,144 describe a process to make a water-soluble bright yellow dyestuff having the formula
Such biphenyl bridged coloring agents, however, exhibit toxicity which limits its use to certain products.
As noted above, there is still a noticeable need to develop new intermediates to synthesize new bis-acetoanilide azo coloring agents, to meet various coloration needs in diversified commercial market requirements, such as toxicity, brightness, strength and the like. Hence, there still exists a need to develop a method, and well as possible intermediate compounds, which facilitate production of such bis-acetoanilide azo coloring agents.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide a novel method of producing such desirable bis-acetoacetanilide coloring agents through the reaction of a novel bis-acetoacetamide intermediate with any number of amine groups. Another object of this invention is to provide a novel bis-acetoacetamide intermediate compound.
It is to be understood that the term alkyl as used throughout is intended to encompass any straight or branched alkyl moiety, having anywhere from 1 to 30 carbons therein; the same chain length applies to the term xe2x80x9calkoxyxe2x80x9d as well. Also, the term substitued phenyl is intended to encompass any phenyl system having any type of pendant group attached thereto, including, without limitation, alkyl groups, alkylene groups, alcohol groups, ether groups, ester groups, amine groups, amide groups, hydroxyls, and the like. Phenyl is basically an unsubstituted ring system (and thus includes hydrogens only).
The present invention preferably encompasses the utilization of and the compound of Formula (I)
wherein R is alkyl, phenyl, polyphenyl, or substituted phenyl; E is H, halogen, alkyl, alkoxy, or phenyl; and a is 1 or 2, wherein if a is 1, then A is O, SO2N, methylene, S, N(Rxe2x80x2) or a moiety of Structure (II)
wherein Rxe2x80x2 is alkyl or hydrogen, and if a is 2, then A is O, SO2, methylene, S, N(Rxe2x80x2), wherein Rxe2x80x2 is alkyl or hydrogen.
Such an intermediate is thus utilized as a reactant with any number of amine-containing compounds to form bis-acetoacetanilide azo coloring agents. It is intended that the term xe2x80x9ccoloring agentxe2x80x9d encompasses any color-producing or -exhibiting compound including, without limitation, dyes, pigments, polymeric colorants, dyestuffs, and the like. Basically, any bis-acetoacetanilide color-producing or -exhibiting compound falls within such definition.
In order to produce such coloring agents, the aforementioned novel intermediate must be reacted with an amine, particularly in a 1:2 molar ratio to produce the necessary two azo groups to provide the desired colorations. To produce a bis-acetoacetanilide pigment, dye, or dyestuff, the inventive intermediate is reacted with any number of aniline derivatives. The production of a pigment or dye is dependent primarily upon the types of pendant groups present on such aniline derivatives. Other amine compounds may be utilized as reactants as long as azo groups result from such reaction and thus produces a coloring agent. Also, the molar ratio of the intermediate in relation to amine may be anywhere from about 1:0.1 to about 1:3, depending on the degree of azotization desired. Preferably, again, this ratio is 1:2 intermediate to amine.
The specific formulations below, as well as the following exemplified methods of producing such and methods of coloring using such are thus indicative of the preferred embodiments of this invention:
Intermediate Formation