A wafers transferring method in the heat treatment apparatus of the vertical type comprising providing a boat loading/unloading chamber under a process tube, providing an elevator in the boat loading/unloading chamber, providing a wafer loading/unloading chamber communicated with the boat loading/unloading chamber, providing a robot in the wafer loading/unloading chamber, mounting a boat on the elevator, loading wafers one by one into the boat from the bottom to the top by the robot, while lowering the boat every pitch, heat-processing the wafers in the boat in the process tube, and unloading the wafers one by one from the boat from the top to the bottom by the robot, while lifting the boat every pitch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of transferring wafers into a boat and a heat treatment apparatus provided with a system for transferring the wafers into the boat. More particularly, it relates to a method and an apparatus for transferring semiconductor wafers into the boat in a boat loading/unloading section of the vertical type CVD apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor devices have been more and more highly integrated these days and the process of manufacturing the semiconductor devices is therefore asked to meet more requisites. Various heat treatment steps are included in the semiconductor devices manufacturing process and semiconductor wafers are heated and cooled at these heat processing steps.
Conventionally, those apparatuses in which the CVD film forming, diffusing and oxidizing processes were carried out were mainly of the horizontal type. In the case of the horizontal CVD apparatus, however, air is likely to be included in the process atmosphere at the boat loading time. Naturally-oxidized film is thus formed on each of the wafers to thereby reduce the productivity of the wafers.
The vertical CVD apparatus has been therefore used more and more to carry out the CVD film forming process. In the case of the vertical CVD apparatus, the wafer boat is loaded into and unloaded from the process tube through the bottom opening thereof and this makes it difficult to include air into the process atmosphere.
The vertical CVD apparatus of this type has a boat loading chamber under the process tube. The boat loading chamber (or lower chamber) is provided with an elevator system for moving the wafer boat up and down.
When the wafers are to be transferred from a cassette to the boat, it is needed that the adhering of particles to the wafers is prevented. It is therefore preferable that the wafers transferring operation is carried out in the lower chamber if possible.
When the wafers transferring system is to be housed in the lower chamber, however, the volume of the lower chamber must accordingly be made large. This takes a long time in purging the lower chamber with inactive gas. If the lower chamber is not fully purged with inactive gas, the wafers of high temperature unloaded into the lower chamber will be oxidized and naturally-oxidized film unnecessary for carrying out the film forming process will be formed on each of the wafers. Therefore, it is needed that the lower chamber is made as small as possible.
Further, when the wafers transferring system is housed in the lower chamber, it can be seriously deteriorated by heat radiated from the process tube, the boat and the wafers. It may be protected from this radiated heat by a cover member, but when covered by the cover member, it becomes large in size. It is therefore needed that the lower chamber is made large in size. This causes the loading and unloading of the wafers and the boat to take a long time.

Wafers transferring method in vertical type heat treatment apparatus and the vertical type heat treatment apparatus provided with a wafers transferring system


A pivoting snowbrush for removing snow, ice, or debris from a surface, the pivoting snowbrush including an elongated handle, a brush, and a brush mount fixed to the handle and pivotally connected to the brush. The brush may be shiftable about the brush mount between a first orientation in which the brush extends generally parallel to the handle and a second orientation in which the brush extends generally perpendicular to the handle. The brush may include a brush body and a debris removal component attached to the brush body. The brush body may have a primary portion, a pivot extending from the primary portion, and an actuatable detent device integrally molded to the primary portion. The brush mount may rotatably connect to the pivot and may have features for selectively engaging with the detent device, thus selectively fixing the brush in the first orientation and/or the second orientation.

Various tools have been created to remove ice and snow from vehicles. First, a traditional floor broom was used. Over time, snow removal tools became more sophisticated, combining a brush for snow removal and a scraper blade for ice/frost removal. Some snow removal tools also extend, pivot, and curve and can be made of metal, plastic, and wood.
Snow removal tools that have a brush mounted along a length-wise axis of an elongated handle are fairly easy to stow. Such axis-mounted snow removal tools may be swept side-to-side to remove snow from a vehicle. This side-to-side action works well if there is not a large amount of snow on the vehicle. However, with large amounts of snow and/or when removing snow from the roof of a car, this side-to-side action is not ideal. For example, the side-to-side motion used on the roof of a vehicle just moves the snow from the roof to a hood or trunk, requiring the snow to be moved twice in order to clean the vehicle.
Snow removal tools that have the brush mounted perpendicular to the length-wise axis of the elongated handle can be pushed and pulled forward and back to remove snow from a vehicle. This works well for removal of large amounts of snow, such as on the roof of the vehicle, by moving the snow off the roof onto the ground. However, perpendicularly-mounted brushes take up more space and are therefore more difficult to transport, display, and store in small spaces, such as glove boxes.
Snow removal tools with pivoting brush heads benefit from the advantages of both axis-mounted and perpendicular-mounted brushes, because the pivoting brush head can be shifted between the axial or perpendicular-to-the-handle positions. These pivoting brush heads typically use a spring-based detent to lock the brush in a given position. The use of a spring increases the number of parts and assembly labor required to manufacture the snow removal tool having this pivoting brush head. Furthermore, attempts at compressing the spring in a small space can lead to mechanical failure of the pivoting brush head.


Routability (or wiring congestion) in a VLSI chip is becoming increasingly important as chip complexity increases. Congestion has a significant impact on performance, yield, and chip area. The present invention targets the optimization of congestion early in technology independent synthesis prior to physical design. Instead of attempting to optimize the logic structure as well as the spatial placement of a circuit, we pose a more modest goal limiting such optimization to the scope of logic synthesis. That is, we propose an aggressive optimization approach that is cognizant of circuit structure during technology independent synthesis and produces more predictable implementations which give better routability and yield.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to circuits and, more particularly, to electronic circuit design.
2. Description of the Related Art
A major goal in the design of Very Large Scale Integration ("VLSI") chips and other integrated circuits is to combine logic synthesis methods with physical design optimization methods to meet timing, area, and other design objectives of the chip. Physical design optimization methods include methods for placement and methods for routing. Logic synthesis methods determine the type and connectivity of circuits used to implement the functionality of the chip. Placement methods assign and alter the physical locations of the circuits on the chip. Routing methods modify the physical path and wire type of the connections between the circuits.
As the size of the VLSI chip grows, the problem of design closure increases correspondingly at a geometric rate. Design closure is the process of getting a chip design ready to be submitted for manufacturing. Design closure ensures that timing along all paths in the circuit operate at least as fast as some pre-defined speed in the presence of various electrical interactions, such as capacitive coupling. During this process, locations are selected for all of the components making up the design, and those components are connected or routed with some wiring resources.
A key design parameter that affects design closure significantly is routability of the circuit. The routability of the circuit is a measurement of the relative ease of making appropriate connections on the chip implementing the design. In some cases, this may be impossible to do; that is, the chip is said to be unroutable. However, when it is possible, the relative ease of making appropriate connections on the chip implementing the design is measured by the density of wiring resources that is required per unit area of the chip. This density measurement describes the wiring congestion on the chip. Routability (or wiring congestion) affects the performance, noise sensitivity, yield, area, and power of the design.
Two of the steps in the design closure process which are relevant here are logic synthesis and physical design. Logic synthesis transforms a textual representation of the design into a boolean representation, and maps the boolean representation down onto circuits and connections. The circuits and connections are the basic building blocks in which the physical design operates. Physical design takes the circuits and assigns them physical locations on the chip for implementing the design. The logical connections are converted into physical connections taking the form of wires and accompanying wiring paths between the connected elements.
Logical synthesis comprises two optimization stages: (1) a technology independent stage and (2) a technology dependent stage. Optimizations of the technology independent stage are independent on the type of technology that will be used to implement the design. On the other hand, optimizations of the technology dependent stage are dependent on the type of technology that will be used to implement the design. Each of these stages are comprised of a one or more optimization steps. The application of one of these steps is known as a transformation or transform
The technology independent stage comprises transforming a register transfer level textual description of the design into a set of boolean equations. The set of boolean equations are then optimized for a set of given metrics such that they will, at the completion of all the steps in the full synthesis process including technology mapping and physical synthesis, lead to a good implementation for delay, area and power. Because the technology independent stage does not know the exact technological components that will be associated with the boolean equations, the optimizations in this stage must use measurements or metrics based on the equations to approximate the area and delay of the entire set of equations. The area is approximated with a literal count, which is a measure of the number of connections or edges in a graph representing all of the boolean equations. For example, assume a set of boolean equations for an output A would be of the form X=A and B, B=C and D. Here the literal count is 4 since the number of connections are 4. The connection between area and literal count is directly proportional, meaning that each literal is assumed to consume some positive, finite, yet unknown, amount of area. The technology independent optimizations attempt to minimize the amount of area that will be consumed by the equations because smaller implementations are more likely to fit within the area defined by a chip.
The delay of the design is approximated in the technology independent phase of logic synthesis by a number of levels in the boolean equation. A set of logic equations comprising a set of input signals and output signals may be represented by a graph with nodes (which represent gates) and edges (which represent connections) between the inputs and outputs. The paths between inputs and outputs comprises gates and connections encountered during a traversal of the graph from input to output. Each path comprises gates and connections. The number of levels for an output signal in the equation is the maximum number of connections from any given input signal to the output signal. There is a directly proportional relationship between delay and number of levels, meaning that each level is assumed to consume a positive and finite, yet unknown, amount of delay. The technology independent optimizations attempt to minimize the amount of delay that will be consumed by the equations because faster implementations are more likely to achieve design closure.
While the technology independent synthesis optimizations attempt to measure the size and speed of the circuit, no metrics exist to determine where the literals will be placed or how many wiring paths will want to follow similar routes, which correlates strongly with the routability of the design. So while the basic structure of the design implementation is defined by the form of the boolean equations at the end of the technology independent optimization phase, no attempt has been made to measure the wiring characteristics of the design.
The second stage of logic synthesis, which generally follows the technology independent optimization stage, is the technology dependent stage. In this stage, the boolean equations are mapped onto a set of gates that exist in some predefined technology specific library. This mapping has both logical and electrical components. The logical component says that all logic described in the boolean equations must be mapped to one or more gates, while the electrical component ensures that the electrical characteristics of the gate are not violated and that the desired speed of the design can be achieved. An example of an electrical characteristic is as follows: the amplitude of the signal transmitted from one gate is sufficiently large to cause a reaction when received by a connected gates. The strength of these transmitted signals also determines the speed at which the design will operate. This mapping to gates is done within the structure defined by the boolean equations coming out of the technology independent optimization stage of logic synthesis.
After this technology dependent mapping to gates has been completed, the physical design process can begin. Physical design consists of two main components, placement and routing. During placement, locations on a chip are assigned for each of the gates coming out of the technology dependent optimization phase of logic synthesis. Based on this placement, routing then creates physical wires between the connected gates. It is not until the locations of the gates are assigned that even a crude approximation can be made about the routability of the design. While delay receives attention early in the design process, if all of the connections between the design components cannot be made, the design cannot be implemented. Poor routability of the design also creates longer wires in the design, causing a degradation in timing. If the inability to route the design or the inability to meet timing due to poor routability is discovered only during the physical design process, a designer must return to the technology independent logic synthesis phase to alter the way the design was optimized. However, since those optimizations have no concept of a routability metric, it is difficult to direct those optimizations toward a criteria that cannot be measured.
Physical design information is generally not available early in the logic synthesis stage. Therefore, existing optimizations and transformations in the logic synthesis stage, which are primarily targeted towards timing and area, generally do not consider their impact on routability. Significant decisions regarding the circuit structure are made early in logic synthesis such as during the technology independent logic optimization step. Optimizations in this step use a literal count as a metric for optimization, and, therefore, do not adequately capture the intrinsic entanglement of the circuit. Two circuit design models with identical literal counts may have significantly different routability characteristics after physical design.
It is widely acknowledged that current electronic design automation must be able to handle the challenges and opportunities of finer-featured fabrication processes. These processes are fundamentally premised on the principle of separation of concerns in which a complex design flow is serialized into a sequence of manageable steps that are loosely coupled. In this scenario, decisions made in the early stages of design flow become binding constraints on later stages. Such serialization potentially gives less optimal designs than a process that simultaneously considers all design aspects. This is unavoidable, however, due to the practical infeasibility of concurrent optimization of all design parameters, and is deemed acceptable as long as the constraints that are fed forward by one step to the next can be met. The process breaks down, however, when these constraints become unsatisfiable (e.g., the chip becomes unroutable, and falls short of the expected yield). The typical action in such cases is to go back to the earlier steps and iterate through the steps so as to revisit earlier design stages to change suspected problematic decisions. Such iteration has become particularly necessary between the logic synthesis and placement steps.
Ideally, the time-wasting iteration between logic synthesis and placement in today's design methodologies could be eliminated by fusing these stages to simultaneously optimize the logical structure as well the spatial placement of a circuit.
Steps in technology dependent logic synthesis and placement have been combined to produce a wide variety of methods. Techniques which optimize both the logical and physical characteristics are referred to as physical synthesis Although, there is work in the area of physical synthesis that combines later stages of logic synthesis with placement, the early stages of logic synthesis are not adequately integrated with placement.
Wire planning evaluates the placement characteristics of circuits during logic synthesis and approaches the same problem from a different angle. The wire planning approach assumes that the locations of pins at the boundary of the region being optimized are known. Constraints are generated from placement models and synthesis is performed using the constraints. Although the locations of chip/partition Inputs/Outputs are typically available, assumptions about locations for pins surrounding the small region consisting of a few gates in which local optimizations (e.g., factorizations) are being performed is generally difficult to preserve during full chip placement.
Furthermore, statistical interconnect prediction methods (e.g., Rent's rule) do not distinguish between two networks which have the same number of connections. Interconnect estimates are based primarily on the number of circuits and IOs. Therefore, they are unsuitable as predictors for routability optimization during technology independent synthesis.

Method for optimization of logic circuits for routability

International Business Machines Corporation


A thermoplastic resin composition according to the present invention comprises a polymer comprising recurring units derived from a polycyclic (meth)acrylate represented by the following formula [I] and a soft polymer in the proportion by weight of the polymer to the soft polymer of 99:1 to 40:60 ##STR1## where m is 0 or a positive integer, n is 0 or 1, R is hydrogen or methyl, R.sup.1 -R.sup.18 are each independently an atom or a group selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen and hydrocarbon groups, R.sup.15 -R.sup.18, linked together, may form a monocyclic or polycyclic group which may have a double bond, or an alkylidene group, p is 0 or 1, and R.sup.a and R.sup.b each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a hydrocarbon group when p is 1.

Amorphous resins such as polyester resins, ABS resins and modified PPO resins are excellent in characteristics such as rigidity, dimension accuracy and heat resistance, and accordingly have heretofore been widely used for automobile parts, electrical appliances, office automation instruments, miscellaneous goods, etc.
However, thermoplastic resins used for products as mentioned above have recently been increasingly employed under severe conditions such as at high temperature. The sever quality is required for the thermoplastic resins used under such severe conditions depending upon the conditions of use. Few of the conventionally used amorphous resins as described above satisfy such requirements, and therefore the realization of thermoplastic resins having still higher quality has been desired.


A vial adaptor assembly, suitable for use with a vial containing a medicament and a syringe adaptor, which is in turn connectable to a syringe having a piston adapted for selectable displacement in a first direction for drawing fluid into the syringe and in a second direction for expelling fluid from the syringe, the vial adaptor assembly including: a vial connector for non-removable connection with the vial containing a medicament; a syringe adaptor connector for connection with the syringe adaptor; a pressure equalization chamber having a variable volume, which is sealed from the outside environment during use; a liquid pathway communicating between an interior of the vial containing the medicament and an interior of the syringe when the syringe adaptor is connected to the syringe adaptor connector and the syringe is connected to the syringe adaptor and the vial connector is connected to the vial containing the medicament; and a venting pathway communicating between the interior of the vial containing the medicament and an interior of the pressure equalization chamber, when the vial connector is connected to the vial containing the medicament, wherein the pressure equalization chamber and the venting pathway are mutually configured such that, when the syringe adaptor is connected to the syringe adaptor connector and the syringe is connected to the syringe adaptor and the vial connector is connected to the vial containing the medicament, substantially all of any of the medicament that becomes located within the pressure equalization chamber is removed therefrom via the venting pathway and returned to the interior of the vial by displacement of the piston of the syringe in the first direction.

Various types of vial adaptor assemblies for a closed fluid transfer systems are known in the art.
It is known that hazardous medicines are frequently applied in the treatment of certain medical conditions, however the use of such hazardous medicines presents danger to the health care providers. Accordingly, there is a need for a system that allows safe handling of hazardous medicines while reducing the exposure of health care providers and at the same time allows utilization of the entire amount of medicine contained in the system.

Vial adaptor assembly for a closed fluid transfer system


A fan is electrically connected with an alternating current power source. The fan includes an impeller, a motor and a controlling device. The controlling device includes a commutating unit, a magnetic detecting unit, a first switching unit, a second switching unit, a third switching unit and a controlling unit. The alternating current power source is electrically connected with the first switching unit, the second switching unit and the commutating unit, respectively. The commutating unit is electrically connected with the magnetic detecting unit and the controlling unit, respectively. The controlling unit is electrically connected with the third switching unit and the first switching unit, respectively. The third switching unit is electrically connected with the second switching unit. The first switching unit and the second switching unit are electrically connected with the motor, respectively. A controlling device of the fan is also disclosed.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a fan and the controlling device thereof, and in particular to a fan and the controlling device thereof having the frequency of a rotation rate equivalent to the frequency of an alternating current power source supplied to the fan.
2. Related Art
Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a control circuit of a motor of a conventional alternating current fan. The voltages of the alternating current power source is rectified and regulated by the bridge rectification circuit D1 and the capacitor (C1) to be high direct-current voltages. Then, the high direct-current voltages are supplied to the coil L1 and the coil L2 of the motor. However, when the motor is overloaded or the capacitance of the capacitor (C1) is too small, the voltage supplied to the motor will generate ripple fluctuation (as shown in FIG. 2A); and the ripple will be smaller when the load of the motor is not so heavy or the capacitance of the capacitor (C1) is large (as shown in FIG. 2B).
Moreover, the coil L1 and the coil L2 of the motor are electrified alternately in accordance with the frequency that the alternate magnetic poles (N pole or S pole) of the motor detected by the Hall sensor, and the frequency that the alternate magnetic poles of the motor detected by the Hall sensor is not equivalent to the frequency of the alternating current power, so that the voltages on the coil L1 and the coil L2 of the motor are shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the surge voltage 5 is generated because of the inverse electromotive force of the inductance of the motor, this not only results in high temperature on the transistors Q1 and Q2 and the Zener diodes Zd1, Zd2, Zd3 and Zd4, but also make noises when the motor is rotating. Especially, as shown in FIG. 3C and FIG. 3D, the surge voltage 5 is more obvious when the load of the motor is heavier.


In one form, an imaging system comprises an imager that forms an image of an object in a field of view, a rotationally symmetric lens assembly disposed between the imager and the object, and an equalizer. The rotationally symmetric lens assembly provides increased collection efficiency for a given depth of field, whereby the rotationally symmetric lens assembly causes aberration, compared to a well-focused lens. The rotationally symmetric lens assembly comprises a front negative lens, a rear positive lens, and an aperture positioned between the front and rear lenses. The equalizer, which is connected to the imager, receives image data and at least partially compensates for the aberration caused by the rotationally symmetric lens assembly.

Most imaging systems typically employ a single focus point, at which focusing is optimum. While such systems can result in a sharply focused image when the object to be imaged is at the focus point, such systems are typically sensitive to variations in the distance between the object to be imaged and the imaging system or more particularly its focusing lens. While it is well known to increase the depth of field of a well-focused lens system by decreasing the aperture of the system, that can severely decreases light collection efficiency, thereby possibly limiting the speed at which such a system can operate.
Other techniques for imaging with an extended focusing depth have been contemplated. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,361, which is assigned to the same assignee as is this invention, discloses an imaging system having a soft-focus lens, which sacrifices the quality of mid-field focus to achieve near invariance of focus throughout a range of distances, in addition to equalization of the electronic image signal. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,371 and related works by the inventors of that patent disclose a combination of particular optics (cubic phase mask) and digital signal processing to provide an in-focus response over a wide range of object distances. The cubic phase mask has an optical transfer function that is relatively insensitive to object distance over a predetermined range, and the digital signal processing is designed to undo the effects of the cubic phase mask on the optical transfer function (other than increased depth of field). The inventors of that patent claim that jointly designing complementary cubic phase mask and digital signal processing can result in imaging results not possible with optical elements only. However, a cubic phase mask is a complicated, asymmetric part that is expensive and cumbersome to fabricate. Moreover, the asymmetry of a cubic phase mask requires that the complementary digital signal processing be performed over two dimensions.

Imaging system with a lens having increased light collection efficiency and a deblurring equalizer


In a motorcycle with a swing arm disposed on one side of a rear wheel for supporting the rear wheel. The swing arm is formed in a roughly triangular shape in a side view and a brake caliper of a rear brake is supported by the swing arm. The brake caliper is disposed relative to the rear brake so as to contrive a lowering of the center of gravity of the motorcycle and to enhance the rigidity of the swing arm. An opening portion is provided in a roughly central portion of a swing arm and a brake caliper is disposed in the opening portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brake caliper support structure for a motorcycle in which a swing arm is disposed on one side of a rear wheel for supporting the rear wheel with roughly a triangular shape in a side view and wherein a brake caliper of a rear brake is supported by the swing arm.
2. Description of Background Art
A brake caliper support structure for a motorcycle is known, for example, as set forth in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 11-115868.
In the conventional structure mentioned above, the brake caliper of the rear brake is supported by a support member attached to an upper portion of the swing arm. In order to contrive a lowering of the center of gravity of the motorcycle, it is desirable to dispose the brake caliper at a lower position and, simultaneously, to enhance the rigidity of the swing arm itself.

Brake caliper support structure for motorcycle


The present invention provides composition comprising a metal oxide semiconductor nanomaterial coated or dispersed with a hemostatic polymer.

Metal oxide semiconductor nanomaterials and especially copper oxide (CuO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanomaterials (Cu1-x/ZnxO) have been previously reported possessing antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties. Hemostatic polymers are widely known to coagulate blood through various mechanisms. Coating or adhering a hemostatic polymer onto the surface of the metal oxide semiconductor nanomaterial would provide not only antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties but also provide coagulation properties.
What is needed are improved compositions comprising metal oxide semiconductor nanomaterials which exhibit many beneficial properties which are coated or adhered to a hemostatic polymer to provide additional coagulation properties.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compositions of metal oxide semiconductor nanomaterials and hemostatic polymers


In a dental operatory system a master device coordinates the activity levels of multiple slave devices. The master device coordinates activity via a communication link with all slave devices. A communication protocol incorporates a closed system addresses scheme in which the master device learns all associated addresses of slave devices, and all slave devices learn all associated addresses of the master device. Each communication between master device and any slave device includes both the master device address and the slave device address. The master device scans all slave devices for an activity status and determines which slave device exhibits a threshold level of activity, and whether activity is increasing or decreasing. The master device passes a communication control token to the slave device to be controlled by operation of the master device.

Dental and medical professionals use many instruments that are controlled by foot control systems. For example, surgical cutting instruments, endoscopic tools, irrigation and aspiration tools, dental drills and other handpieces, ultrasonic dental scalers, and dental prophylaxis units can be activated with foot control systems. The foot control system typically includes a foot pedal device that is placed on the floor within easy reach of the practitioner. The foot pedal is used to activate a dental/medical apparatus, which includes a base-operating unit. The foot pedal is typically connected to the base unit by a connector cable in a "hard-wired" system.
Alternatively, remote, "wireless" foot control systems, which do not use a connector cable, can be used to activate the base unit in some instances. In such arrangements, a flexible instrument cable connects the dental/medical instrument, for example, a dental handpiece, to the base unit. The dental or medical practitioner activates the base unit and attached dental/medical instrument by depressing the foot pedal with his or her foot.
Some conventional foot pedals are referred to as multi-position or multi-staged switches. An operator depresses the pedal of the foot pedal to a certain position, and this action causes the dental/medical apparatus to operate in a specific mode. The particular operational mode is based on the position of the foot pedal. For example, with a two-position foot pedal, a dental practitioner can depress the pedal to a first position so that water flows through the handpiece for rinsing the teeth of a patient. Then, the pedal of the foot pedal can be depressed to a second position so that a cleaning spray flows through the handpiece for cleaning the teeth. Such foot control systems provide several advantages.
First, the foot pedal device is easy to use and efficient. The dental/medical professional can activate the instrument attached to the base unit by simply depressing the foot pedal with his or her foot. Secondly, the dental/medical practitioner's hands are kept free when working with a foot pedal device. The practitioner thus can handle other instruments and accessories while treating the patient. The practitioner is better able to concentrate on performing the needed dental/medical procedure. Thirdly, as mentioned above, some conventional foot pedals are used in wireless systems, which do not run a connector cable between the foot pedal and base unit. These wireless foot pedals are used to remotely activate the base unit and attached dental/medical instruments. Many dental/medical operatory rooms contain numerous long cords, cables, wires, and the like which can become entangled easily. The entangled cords and cables take up space and may cause potential safety hazards. A wireless foot pedal system helps minimize some of these hazards.
Existing controllers may employ a single foot pedal to control multiple devices. Such an arrangement generally requires the use of an internal switch board or a gating system mounted within the foot pedal to permit the user to select the desired device, e.g., by entering a unique code, that is to be controlled by the foot pedal. This proposed control methodology eliminates the need for a user to use a switch board or gating system to select the desired instrument which is being controlled and instead the selection is made automatically as the user picks up the desired instrument.
Foot pedal functions are not readily reconfigurable, and modifying the function of existing foot pedals can be a time consuming and complex operation. Reconfiguring a foot pedal typically requires a custom mechanical assembly or unique switch contact selection that changes the operating mode of the associated foot pedal.

Method of selectively pairing wireless controller to multiple dental/medical instruments


A binning method is disclosed for measuring semiconductor devices for certain parameters and placing specific devices into different categories or “bins” according to the measured parameters. Measurable parameters include performance/speed-grading, power consumption, current leakage, and the ability to operate at certain temperature extremes. A method for speed grading semi-custom ASIC devices is specifically described that does not require removing partially completed wafers from the fab line for testing. To speed-grade a new boat of partially completed un-customized wafers, a small number of wafers (1 or 2) are processed to completion while being customized specifically for a customer design requiring only the slowest bin. These wafer(s) are then performance tested and the remaining wafers in the boat are certified according to these results for their performance level and placed in a wafer bank for later use.

In general, binning refers to measuring semiconductor devices for certain parameters and placing a specific device into different categories or "bins" according to the measured parameters. Most familiar of these methods are the speed grades offered on microprocessors such as Intel's Pentium processor which is offered in a number of speed-grades depending on the measured performance. Binning can also be performed for a variety of measurable parameters in addition to performance/speed-grading, such as power consumption, current leakage, or ability to operate at certain temperature extremes, to determine that a certain degree of functionality to be guaranteed when required.
Among digital semiconductor devices, standard products are often offered in a variety of speed grades (bins) at different prices—the higher performance devices selling for a premium. ASICs however, have never been offered in different speed grades, the assumption being that the performance of a completed device could fall anywhere within the overall process performance window. For Standard Cells, the type of ASIC that has grown the most in popularity over the last decade, this is certainly true. A standard cell requires all of the masks for the fabrication process to be custom for the particular customer application. Since these devices are custom for a particular customer's application, all the devices on a wafer must be purchased by that customer, hence there has never been a way to bin for Standard Cells.
However, there are other types of ASIC technology that that are semi-custom, that is they are partially prefabricated, requiring only the metal layers or a subset of the metal layers to be customized in order to adapt the ASIC devices to a particular customer application. Prior to this final customization, the devices on all such wafers are the same, regardless of the final customer application.
Semi-custom ASICs typically have all of the diffusion/poly layers and sometimes some or most of the metal layers in common for all the wafers in a boat (a boat is a group of wafers that are processed at the same time and/or under very similar conditions). As a result, most of the diffusion-related performance level, and some of the metal layer-related performance level, will essentially be common to all wafers in a boat since the diffusion layers and common metal layers were applied at the same time by the same equipment. Other parameters, such as power consumption and or current leakage, will also be similar for all wafers in a boat.
"Wafer banking" refers to storing partially completed ASIC wafers prior to application of whatever metal layers are required for final customization. Traditional Gate Arrays are banked prior to application of any metal layers, so the performance effect related to the metal layers on one wafer is not related to that of wafers that are metalized on a different day or using different equipment. However, it is known that most of the variation in performance between wafer runs is due to process variations in building the diffusion and poly layers as opposed to the metal layers. ASICs that have more metal layers applied prior to banking will show even less variation between wafers in a boat.
Little art exists for binning partially completed ASIC wafers as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,399,400 and 6,133,582 previously granted to this inventor. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,399,400 and 6,133,582 refer to testing partially completed wafers before the final metal layers are applied. Unfortunately, in a typical semiconductor fab environment, this requires the wafers to be removed from the fab for testing and then re-introduced to the fab for final customization—a procedure that is impractical today. An alternate method is required for binning semi-custom ASICs, one that does not require wafers to be removed from the fab environment until all processing steps have been completed.


The invention provides seed and plants of the pea line designated 08520689. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of pea line 08520689, and to methods for producing a pea plant produced by crossing a plant of pea line 08520689 with itself or with another pea plant, such as a plant of another line. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of a plant of pea line 08520689, including the seed, pod, and gametes of such plants.

The goal of vegetable breeding is to combine various desirable traits in a single variety/hybrid. Such desirable traits may include greater yield, resistance to insects or pests, tolerance to heat and drought, better agronomic quality, higher nutritional value, growth rate and fruit or pod properties.
Breeding techniques take advantage of a plant's method of pollination. There are two general methods of pollination: a plant self-pollinates if pollen from one flower is transferred to the same or another flower of the same plant or plant variety. A plant cross-pollinates if pollen comes to it from a flower of a different plant variety.
Plants that have been self-pollinated and selected for type over many generations become homozygous at almost all gene loci and produce a uniform population of true breeding progeny, a homozygous plant. A cross between two such homozygous plants of different varieties produces a uniform population of hybrid plants that are heterozygous for many gene loci. Conversely, a cross of two plants each heterozygous at a number of loci produces a population of hybrid plants that differ genetically and are not uniform. The resulting non-uniformity makes performance unpredictable.
The development of uniform varieties requires the development of homozygous inbred plants, the crossing of these inbred plants, and the evaluation of the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection are examples of breeding methods that have been used to develop inbred plants from breeding populations. Those breeding methods combine the genetic backgrounds from two or more plants or various other broad-based sources into breeding pools from which new lines are developed by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new lines are evaluated to determine which of those have commercial potential.
One crop species which has been subject to such breeding programs and is of particular value is the pea. Peas are the round embryos which grow in a pod of a leguminous vine, belonging to the family Leguminosae (Fabaceae). The most well known species is Pisum sativum L., which includes the edible garden pea, a vegetable, and the field pea—grown preparing hybrid pea seed or plants, wherein a first pea plant is crossed with a second pea plant of a different, distinct line to provide a hybrid that has, as one of its parents, the pea plant line 08520689. In these processes, crossing will result in the production of seed. The seed production occurs regardless of whether the seed is collected or not.
In one embodiment of the invention, the first step in "crossing" comprises planting seeds of a first and second parent pea plant, often in proximity so that pollination will occur for example, mediated by insect vectors. Alternatively, pollen can be transferred manually. Where the plant is self-pollinated, pollination may occur without the need for direct human intervention other than plant cultivation.
A second step may comprise cultivating or growing the seeds of first and second parent pea plants into plants that bear flowers. A third step may comprise preventing self-pollination of the plants, such as by emasculating the male portions of flowers, (i.e., treating or manipulating the flowers to produce an emasculated parent pea plant). Self-incompatibility systems may also be used in some hybrid crops for the same purpose. Self-incompatible plants still shed viable pollen and can pollinate plants of other varieties but are incapable of pollinating themselves or other plants of the same line.
A fourth step for a hybrid cross may comprise cross-pollination between the first and second parent pea plants. Yet another step comprises harvesting the seeds from at least one of the parent pea plants. The harvested seed can be grown to produce a pea plant or hybrid pea plant.
The present invention also provides the pea seeds and plants produced by a process that comprises crossing a first parent pea plant with a second parent pea plant, wherein at least one of the first or second parent pea plants is a plant of the line designated 08520689. In one embodiment of the invention, pea seed and plants produced by the process are first generation (F1) hybrid pea seed and plants produced by crossing a plant in accordance with the invention with another, distinct plant. The present invention further contemplates plant parts of such an F1 hybrid pea plant, and methods of use thereof. Therefore, certain exemplary embodiments of the invention provide an F1 hybrid pea plant and seed thereof.
In still yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method of producing a plant derived from line 08520689, the method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a progeny plant derived from line 08520689, wherein said preparing comprises crossing a plant of the line especially for animal feed. Depending on taxonomic interpretation, other members of the genus Pisum L. include Pisum elatius Steven ex M. Bieb. (wild pea), Pisum fulvum Sibthorp & Sm. (tawny pea), and Pisum syriacum Lehman. (Syrian pea). There are many varieties of garden peas. These can be grouped into those with low-fiber, edible flat pods, such as snow peas and sugar peas, those with low-fiber, edible, thick pods, such as snap peas, and those with fibrous stringy pods, intended to be shelled for the edible embryos inside, such as English peas.
Pea plants are able to reproduce by self-fertilization and cross-fertilization. Thus far, however, commercial pea varieties have been inbred lines prepared through self fertilization (McPhee, 2005).
Peas are one of the top vegetables used for processing in the United States; with approximately 90% of the grown pea acreage used for processed consumption (NASS Census of Agriculture 2002). The pea is an annual cool season plant, growing best in slightly acidic soil. Many cultivars reach maturity about 60 days after planting. Pea plants can have both low-growing and vining cultivars. The vining cultivars grow thin tendrils from the leaves of the plant, which coil around available supports. The pea pods form at the leaf axils of the plant.
As with other legumes, pea plants are able to obtain fixed nitrogen compounds from symbiotic soil bacteria. Pea plants therefore have a substantially reduced fertilizer requirement compared to non-leguminous crops. This advantage adds to their commercial value, particularly in view of increasing fertilizer costs, and has generated considerable interest in the creation of new pea plant cultivars.
While breeding efforts to date have provided a number of useful pea lines with beneficial traits, there remains a great need in the art for new lines with further improved traits. Such plants would benefit farmers and consumers alike by improving crop yields and/or quality.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for reconstructing a control message, an apparatus for restoring a control message, a method of reconstructing a control message, and a method of restoring a control message. To this end, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for reconstructing a control message, the apparatus including an index parameter generating section that classifies a plurality of first parameters in a control message according to a predetermined criterion to generate group information and generates one or more index parameters corresponding to the group information, and a control message reconstructing section that reconstructs the control message on the basis of the group information and the index parameters. According to the present invention, the size of a control message to be transmitted and received between a base station and a terminal can be reduced, thereby providing more additional services to the terminal through a limited radio resource.

A broadband wireless access system is a next generation communication system that supports mobility, in addition to a local area data communication system such as a known wireless LAN system that uses a fixed access point.
Various standards for the broadband wireless access system have been suggested. At present, international standardization of portable Internet is in progress on the basis of IEEE 802.16 and IEEE 802.16e-2005 standards.
The wireless LAN system based on IEEE 802.11 provides a data communication system that allows wireless communication within a short range from a fixed access point. However, the wireless LAN system only supports local area data communication in a wireless manner, not in a wired manner, while not providing mobility of a subscriber terminal.
The wireless portable Internet system that has been proposed by the IEEE 802.16 working group provides an endless data communication service by ensuring mobility even if a subscriber terminal moves from a cell that is managed by one base station to a cell that is managed by another base station.
The IEEE 802.16 and IEEE 802.16e-2005 standards basically support a metropolitan area network (MAN). The MAN is an information network that covers a larger geo-graphical area than that covered by the local area network (LAN) and the wide area network (WAN).
Accordingly, the broadband wireless access system supports a handover of a subscriber terminal, like the mobile communication service, and performs dynamic IP address allocation when the subscriber terminal moves.
A control message (or management message) that is transmitted and received between the subscriber terminal and the base station is defined by the IEEE 802.16 and IEEE 802.16e-2005 standards, and includes a plurality of parameters.
In recent years, many attempts have been made to provide various kinds of services to the subscriber terminal. Data transmission/reception between a subscriber terminal and a base station is performed through a limited radio resource. Accordingly, there is a need for reducing the size of the control message.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Apparatus for reconstructing control message, apparatus for restoring control message, method of reconstructing control message, and method of restoring control message

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A weather monitoring system comprising a laser precipitation sensor, including a housing, incorporating a bracket, for holding a prism or reflector means useful for deflecting the beam of laser light emitted from a transmitting diode, and for collimating said light and diverting it back into the housing for reception by a receptor diode, wherein the electronic components of the device including a microprocessor, RAM, ROM, and EEprom, all functioning in cooperation to provide an historical analysis and retention of data pertaining to the precipitation type, size, and intensity, of the precipitation that passes through the beam of laser light transmitted by the sensor.

This invention provides a reliable sensor that combines the useful features of presently available related devices upon the market, but does so in a manner that substantially eliminates the inaccuracy generated by inferior features normally used in currently available devices. More specifically, the current invention utilizes a microprocessor based electronic circuitry, that is designed to record the size, intensity, and nature of the precipitation involved, and being encountered.
Generally, sensing devices currently available in the field of weather observation and monitoring all share one or more characteristics, and as a result, suffer in deficiencies or inaccuracies of detection, due to the effects of environmental conditions. Most of the currently available devices are contact devices, which suffer mechanical problems caused by the environment and the impurities generated and currently prevailing within the environment, at the time of gauging. Some of these earlier devices utilize destructive means to distinguish between the liquid and solid, such as whether water or ice precipitation is being gauged, and as to whether or not precipitation is in the liquid stage, or is generated through heat, evaporation, or artificial refrigeration. Many of these earlier devices utilize electrical properties in the category of resistance, capacitance, or inductance, to provide for their generation of a charge that is supposed to be detective of the type of environment being monitored. But, many of these devices have generally proven unreliable, due to many circumstances, but primarily due to the pollutants that exist in the atmosphere, which can cause changes in the electrical properties of the sensing means, depending upon the environmental conditions existing for that moment. Devices which employ any of the mechanical or electromechanical components normally used, have likewise proven to be generally unreliable, due to the elements of weather itself, and that is whether the environment is currently composed of wind, temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure, or their rapidly changing conditions. Lightning and elements of pollution also add to inaccuracy in the operations of the conventional monitoring devices.
Conventional instruments for monitoring atmospheric phenomenon use a number of different approaches. For example, various types of instruments are available that detect rain, mist, snow, snow flurries, frozen rain, and fog. Haze, dust and smoke are some of the other phenomenon in the atmosphere which can effect the efficient monitoring of these current type meteorlogical instruments.
One instrument available measures the rate and volume of liquid precipitation, and is known as the tipping bucket concept, which utilizes two reservoirs of known volume to collect the liquid precipitation, in its liquid state, and then have reporting intervals for monitoring when light or intermittent precipitation occurs. But, when wind effects come into play, the tipping bucket instrument may understate the actual rate and volume of the precipitation being generated by the atmosphere.
Another device for measuring volume of liquid precipitation employs the use of a collection chamber. This collection chamber empties itself via an orifice at the bottom of the chamber. The orifice causes water to form droplets which are theoretically of the same size, and are counted by optical or electrical means. Errors in volume reported can be caused by foreign matter intefering with the orifice, or having some effect upon the viscosity of the liquid involved.
Another device which employs the use of a conductive grid is used to indicate the pressence of a liquid precipitation. Corrosive elements in the atmosphere acting upon the exposed metal components of the conductance grid causes electrolysis which eventually deteriorates the grid or its electrical connections. This can lead towards deficient results.
A laser weather identifyer (LWI) is another means for sensing precipitation, and utilizing optical technology. The light source of the LWI consists of a gas filled HeNe laser modulated at a particular frequency. The receiver consists of three individually mounted optical detectors. All three of these optical detectors measure the amount of change of light present in their respective fields of view. Two of the detectors are mounted off-axis of the transmitted light source. The purpose of these two off-axis detectors is to detect forward scatter light difused as a result of a particle of precipitation passing through the sample volume. The LWI unit has several deficiencies inherent primarily due to the type of technology utilized in its design. False alarms due to vibration caused by strong winds or aircraft or automotive activity in the area affected can deplete the reliability of results obtained from this device. Strong vibrations induced into the instrument can cause a false signal to be indicated due to movement of the transmitter and receiver in different directions. This results in a change in the amount of light received by the detector. Furthermore, changes in ambient light can cause false readings. Direct or reflective light from any source radiation on the detector or detectors results in a change in the amount of apparent light measured from the light transmitter. Errors caused by multiple particles in the sample volume simultaneously can cause improper readings. When two or more particles are present in the sample volume simultaneously, the amount of light detected by the receiver is reduced, thus presenting an indication of particle size larger than the actual size of the individual particles present. The aforementioned multiple particles can effect the indicated velocity of the weather being detected. When two or more particles enter and leave the beam in succession there will likely be an indication that a single particle is moving at a slower velocity than it actually is.
High energy requirements, due to the use of an inert gas filled laser and the excessive quantity of parts in the integrated circuits to incorporate three receivers limits the possibility of mounting at remote sights. It is difficult to maintain four optical instruments in precise alignment in any harsh environment of the atmostphere, to provide satisfactory results from an LWI type of instrument. The physical size of the LWI unit, once again, limits the possible sights to which it can be mounted and used, primarily due to lack of available space. Meteorlogical stations are usually located in remote areas, employing tripods or towers. The large size of the LWI unit limits its usage on these types of supporting members. The mounting of a large instrument must be structurally sound due to the increased amount of wind resistance. Furthermore, some times this will dictate that the instrument be mounted at ground level, thereby reducing its sensitivity, and accuracy, in providing the type of concise readings required. Large, high visible instruments and remote locations are also likely to be targets of vandalism.
Earlier sensors that rely on changes and amplitude of light at the detector source are susceptible to accumulation of foreign matter upon the lenses, which can likewise cause errors in readings.
An example of earlier patented instruments utilized for weather observing is shown in the United States patent to Hansen, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,938, and entitled "Present Weather Observing System Utilizing Particulate Size and Velocity Measurements." This device provides a beam radiation in the atmosphere, including means having a field of view intersecting said beam to define a sample volume, for use for detecting scattered radiation from particles within the sample volume. From that, the size and velocity of at least one particle precipitating through the sample volume can be determined.
The United States patent to Chadwick, U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,684, is upon a precipitation measurement gauge. This particular measurement device is for use for monitoring the degree of precipitation in isolated areas. The device includes a precipitation-receiving vessel, a hydraulic-pressure responsive means connected to the vessel to respond to changes in the hydraulic pressure of precipitation received by the vessel, and a signaling means connected to the pressure responsive means. In its defined preferred form, a magnetic core is utilized, carried by a hydraulic bellows, that moves in and out of a stationary electric coil in proportion to the hydraulic pressure of the precipitation received by the vessel. Means are included to provide in circuit form having a coil to record or transmit signals in accordance with the position of the core in the coil.


After providing a patterned nitride layer over a patterned layer of oxide in turn disposed on a silicon substrate, a covering layer of oxide or polysilicon is deposited over the resulting structure to contact the substrate to hold the patterned nitride layer portions in position as field oxide is grown. In addition, field oxide growth rate slows at the edges of the nitride layer portions, allowing additional time for field oxide to flow as it is grown, relieving lifting force on the nitride layer portions, and providing an increase in silicon active area between field oxide regions.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a typical method of growing field oxide (SiO.sub.2) in a semiconductor device is shown. Initially (FIG. 2), a semiconductor substrate 10 is provided, and a thin layer of silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) 12 is grown thereover. A silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4) layer 14 is patterned over the oxide layer 12 as is well known, resulting in nitride layer portion 14A, 14B and 14C shown in cross section in FIG. 2. These nitride layer portions 14A, 14B, 14C may be quite long as shown in FIG. 1, and are used to define regions therebetween in which field oxide will be grown.
The thin oxide layer 12 is then patterned to the configuration of the nitride layer 14 (FIG. 2) forming oxide layer portions 12A, 12B, 12C. This leaves exposed areas 10A of the silicon substrate 10 which will subsequently be oxidized to form field silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) regions 16A, 16B, 16C.
An important fact for consideration is that during the conversion of silicon to silicon dioxide (FIG. 3), the volume of material from original silicon to silicon dioxide is increased by a factor of approximately two. With such field oxide typically being grown at 1100.degree. C., the silicon dioxide has a glass transition temperature at approximately 950.degree. C., so that at 950.degree. C. or greater, the silicon dioxide has a viscous flow. However, even with such viscous flow, the increase in volume as the silicon is converted to silicon dioxide, along with the fact that the silicon dioxide grows rapidly at 1100.degree. C., causes substantial stress to be placed on the edges of the nitride layer portions 14A, 14B, 14C as the oxide grows thereunder. That is, a large lifting force is applied to the nitride layer portions 14A, 14B, 14C along the elongated sides thereof, and particularly at the tip thereof where such lifting force is applied on three sides of the nitride layer portion 14A (FIG. 1). With dimensions of semiconductor devices becoming ever smaller, a width of a nitride layer portion 14A may for example be 0.5 micron. Because a small area of nitride layer portion 14A is in contact with the underlying oxide 12, which contact area grows smaller and smaller as the field oxide is grown inward under the nitride layer portion 14A, the force holding the nitride layer portion 14A in place may be reduced to the point where under the lifting force of the growing field oxide region, the nitride layer portion 14A lifts away from the thin oxide 12 to form a void 18 thereunder. And, as pointed out above, the faster the field oxide is grown, the less time is allowed for oxide flow to alleviate such stress on the nitride layer portion 14A.
Obviously, creation of such a void in a semiconductor device is undesirable and can lead to device failure.
In addition, with the contact area of the nitride layer portion 14A becoming smaller and smaller as the field oxide is grown inward under the nitride layer portion 14A, the silicon surface remaining for incorporation of circuit elements is reduced.

Method of forming oxide isolation in a semiconductor device


An apparatus has a) a flat, flexible test tube holder ring, and b) a mechanism to manipulate the angular orientation of the flat flexible test tube holder ring. The test tube holder ring includes: (1) an outer circumference, (2) an inner circumference, and (3) apertures to hold test tubes, wherein alternate apertures have circumferential walls to enable positioning the test tubes higher compared to their adjacent test tubes. The mechanism includes an engagement mechanism that orients the angle of the test tube holder ring. When the test tube holder ring is at one angle, the test tube holder ring is flat and planar, and when the test tube holder is at a different angle the test tube holder ring has a conical shape.

It is customary at present to place test tubes in an upright position in a rectangular rack, and after adding samples and/or reagents into the test tubes, to manually transfer each test tube separately into cells of a circular centrifuge at an angle. As a result, there is a problem of time wasted in transferring the test tubes one by one into the centrifuge. There are many kinds of centrifuges; the most common ones contain either 24 or 36 cells for test tubes. It is important to point out that the centrifuge cells are set at an angle and, therefore, the test tubes are required to be inserted therein a at about a 45-degree angle. The use of Eppendorf centrifuge test tubes and suitable centrifuges are very common in research laboratories and medical institutions worldwide.
The Eppendorf centrifuge tube has become a generic trademark for microfuge tubes or microcentrifuge tubes. They are small, cylindrical plastic containers with conical bottoms, typically with an integral snapcap, disposable and inexpensive. They are used in molecular biology and biochemistry to store and centrifuge small amounts of liquid. They are used by many chemists and biologists as convenient sample vials in lieu of glass vials and are particularly useful when there is only a small amount of liquid sample or when small amounts of reagents are to be added, because microcentrifugation can be used to collect the drops at the bottom of the tube after pipetting or mixing. Eppendorf is a major manufacturer of test tubes of this type, but it is not the only one. A typical table-top laboratory centrifuge today is provided with a circular rotor (see, for example, the Ohne FC&W model EBA 12R centrifuge). The rotor is conical providing a 45-degree slope for the cells into which the test tubes containing samples are to be inserted for centrifuging.
As mentioned earlier, one problem with such a centrifuge method is that much time is needed to place each test tube individually into the cells of the rotor. Furthermore, the current method of using a rectangular test tube racks makes it impossible to place the test tubes directly from the rack into a conical, i.e., circular, rotor of a centrifuge.
The present invention comes to solve this problem by providing a flexible, test tube holder ring which, when placed lying flat on a corresponding round rack, can accommodate a number of test tubes inserted vertically, and when these are to be transferred to a centrifuge by means of the holder ring, the test tubes are pivoted at an angle to match the angle of the conical centrifuge cells due to the change in shape of the flexible, flat holder ring. Moreover, when retrieving the test tubes from the centrifuge, the flexible holder ring is able to adjust its angle to accommodate the angle of the test tubes as these are removed from the angular centrifuge cells.
The prior art that relates to the field of the present invention includes: U.S. Pat. No. 3,361,343; U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,771; U.S.2006/0198759, U.S.2010/0031760 A1; U.S.2010/0314344 A1 and DE 3217625 A1. All these patents provide racks for receiving test tubes for centrifuging and inserting them into a centrifuge at an angle. The '771, '760, and DE patents in particular, relate to flexible holders for centrifuge test tubes.
It should be noted that the problem which the present invention comes to solve also relates to the removal of test tubes from a centrifuge without the need for individual manipulation of each test tube. With specific reference to U.S. patent application 2010/0031760, this prior art teaches the use of a flexible strip test tube holder that can change its shape and assume a conical shape having an angle corresponding to that of a centrifuge rotor. The flexible strip has an additional rib by which it is wedged into a corresponding recess in the centrifuge. In standard, legacy centrifuges, however, this recess does not exist and therefore in order to use this flexible strip the centrifuge apparatus requires modification, limiting the usefulness of this test tube holder, since it is unsuited for the most common types of centrifuges in use today. In contrast, the present invention is suited for use with most centrifuges that are found in a majority of laboratories. There is no need, as in the previous case, for changes or adaptations in existing legacy systems.
In addition, the flexible strip of the above-mentioned, patent publication, because it is a strip and not a ring, enables simple entry of all the test tubes at one time into corresponding designated cells in a centrifuge. This entry is effected with the assistance of an additional hard strip that is not flexible. The difficulty is that such an arrangement does not allow simultaneous removal of all the test tubes that are aligned in a circle in the centrifuge, as a group. There is no provision for holding the strip in order to pull it out of a centrifuge. Moreover, there is no provision for allowing withdrawal of all the test tubes together in a cyclic manner (upward and inward, as explained hereinafter).
In contrast, the present invention enables vertical and angular movement of all the test tubes (or centrifuge tubes) together in a circular manner. Thus all the test tubes may also be removed at one time and transferred as a group to a rack.
In short, the problem which the present invention addresses is not only the entry of the test tubes into a centrifuge rotor at an angle, a problem which has been solved in many ways, but in their simultaneous removal. The solution to the problem provided by the present invention is unique and comprehensive and applicable to commercial centrifuges available in the vast majority of laboratories and institutions worldwide.
It is therefore, desirable to provide an inexpensive and efficient apparatus, system, and method that will allow the simple entry and removal, respectively, of all the test tubes into and from, a centrifuge simultaneously, without the necessity of handling each test tube individually.
Furthermore, the present invention comes to orient the test tubes into a ready position for simultaneous entry into and removal from the apertures of a centrifuge rotor. This additionally overcomes the problem of individual, time-wasting handling and positioning of the test tubes as is generally done today. After centrifuging, the test tubes can be conveniently and simultaneously lifted out of the centrifuge and returned to a rack for further inspection and processing as needed.
The present invention further involves providing a round test tube rack suitable for holding test tubes for transfer and retrieval from standard centrifuges.

Apparatus and method for transferring test tubes


A method and application that utilizes a signal processing algorithm is provided for detecting plug-in electric vehicle charging events through interrogation of smart meter data. The method is a form of non-invasive load monitoring that allows the utility to track plug-in electric vehicle charging events in real time or over extended periods. These parameters are suitably flexible so as to accommodate diverse electric vehicle technologies and a range of electric vehicle owners' charging habits. Application of the method facilitates the integration of electric vehicles into utilities' electrical grids, protection of the utilities' assets, geographic mapping of electric vehicle owners and charging events, managed charging through communication between the utility and the vehicle or owner, managed charging through the offer of time of use rates for electric vehicle owners, and an enabling technology to accompany other Smart Grid functions such as Vehicle-to-Grid distributed energy storage.

There is an increasing interest in PEVs (plug-in electric vehicles), particularly with the introduction in 2011 of the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt. The Nissan Leaf is a purely electric car that requires no gasoline and provides the consumer with a 100-mile driving range per charge. The Chevrolet Volt is a PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) which extends its electric driving range with a gasoline generator. Owners can charge the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt using either a 240V or 120V power supply. Charging at 240V requires a separate infrastructure (EVSE) that supplies electric energy for charging electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, while 120V charging can be done from a regular house outlet.
Though the chargers are similar for all EVs, there are several differences between the battery sizes of various EVs. For example, the Leaf has a battery size of 24 kWh while the Volt battery is at 16 kWh. Fully charging a Leaf at 240V/16 A requires around 6.5 hours while charging at 3.7 kW, whereas fully charging a Volt at 240V/16 amps requires around 4 hours while charging at 3.7 kW. On the other hand, charging at 120V takes substantially, longer, as approximately 20 hours are required to fully charge the Leaf at 1.4 kW, while approximately 11.5 hours are requires to completely charge the Volt at 1.4 kW.
On average, a typical household draws 0.7 kWh of load from their local power utility. This might consist of typical household appliances such as washers, dryers, ovens, etc. However, the household load can change depending on several variables, notably weather related HVAC usage. There may also be luxury variables such as pools, spas and on-site PV (photovoltaic) generation. In contrast, an EV can draw up to 3.7 kW per hour. This presents a problem because one EV owner alone can indirectly add 4 households worth of load to a service transformer, which can place that transformer at risk of being seriously overloaded. Modern transformers can withstand a certain degree of overloading, however as the popularity and adoption of PEVs grows, the risk of multiple PEVs clustered on a single transformer will increase that risk. Moreover, the next generation of PEVs are poised to come out with bigger batteries that require higher kWh charging, further heightening the risk to, transformers.
When buying a PEV, the consumer has no obligation to inform the utility company of their purchase. As a result, some utility companies have initiated programs where customers can work with the utility to benefit from special power pricing structures, and utilities can be made aware of the additional load to their grid. For example, San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) has participated in the federally funded EV Project; this project works with different utility companies to help provide new PEV customers with free 240V chargers. In addition, SDG&E has put most of these customers on special billing rates that incentivize owners to charge during off-peak hours. Knowing the location of the PEVs, SDG&E is then able to monitor load on the infrastructure that serves that customer. This situational awareness allows the utility to limit power interruptions and to preserve power quality. Additionally, knowing the location of electric vehicles facilitates programs such as demand response to shut off charging when the grid is under stress, and Smart Grid applications such as Vehicle-to-Grid distributed energy storage. As incentive programs such as these come to an end, it is increasingly difficult for utilities to keep track of the influx of PEVs to their grid. As such, it is incumbent upon the utilities to employ advanced methods of tracking electric vehicle charging.

Method for detection of plug-in electric vehicle charging via interrogation of smart meter data


A method of generating a plurality of data streams using a data protocol is disclosed. The method comprises steps of receiving an input data stream comprising a periodic sequence of data words, wherein each the data word of the input data stream is associated with a data stream of a plurality of data streams. The data words of the input data stream are sequentially processed by a data control circuit. Finally, data output by the data control circuit is demultiplexed to generate a plurality of output data streams. A circuit for generating a plurality of data streams using a data protocol is also disclosed.

Data communication is a critical function of many electronic devices, and integrated circuits are typically an integral part of a data transmission scheme. Data is typically transmitted at a variety of levels, such as between elements of an integrated circuit, between integrated circuits on a circuit board, between circuit boards, or between systems, which could be local or remote. Data can also be transmitted as a serial data stream or in parallel data streams. Transferring data by way of a serial data stream makes efficient use of the available resources, such as the number of input/output pins used to transfer data. However, the transmission of data in any data transmission scheme must not only be reliable, but must also be usable when received at a destination.
Accordingly, data is often transferred according to predefined protocols. For example, the Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol defined by the I.E.E.E. 802.03 standard establishes the data link layer for the telecommunications and information exchange between local and metropolitan area networks. The I.E.E.E. 802.03 MAC protocol could be used to provide the data link layer of an Ethernet LAN system, for example. The relationship of the data link layer to other layers of the I.E.E.E. 802.03 standard is shown in FIG. 1. The MAC protocol generally encapsulates payload data by adding a header (Protocol Control Information (PCI)) before the data and appending a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) after the data. The entire frame is preceded by a small idle period and a preamble. However, the circuitry required to implement various data transfer protocols is typically different. Even within a given protocol, data could be transferred at different rates, and could require different circuitry.
While various types of integrated circuits provide different levels of flexibility in implementing circuits, one class of integrated circuits which provides particular flexibility in implementing circuits is a programmable logic device (PLD), such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA). While a programmable logic device provides a number of programmable functions, as will be described in more detail in reference to FIG. 11, a programmable logic device could also provide other features which are provided in fixed hardware, and therefore are non-programmable. For example, the programmable logic device could include one or more data transceivers, such as multi-gigabyte data transceivers. Although the programmable logic portions provide flexibility to the user, the user may be restricted by a fixed portion of a programmable logic device. For example, a programmable logic device having a high speed data transceiver is limited to a data protocol for that transceiver to transmit the data. That is, the user may be required to transmit only a single stream of data at a given data rate.
Further, the needs of a user for transmitting data in an integrated circuit may vary. A user may need to transmit data at multiple data rates. For example, it is very common that numerous Ethernet MAC cores are required for debugging and communicating with embedded processors; implementing an Ethernet switcher/router application; providing chip to chip or backplane interfaces, etc. However, in order to transmit the various data streams at different data rates, multiple data transceivers would be required. As shown for example in FIG. 2, each of a plurality of data streams 202 would have a data control circuit 204 which receives data from a FIFO 206 and outputs the data to a FIFO 208 and a media independent interface (MII) 210, as is well known in the art. Each data control circuit would require a data link layer according to a protocol, such as a MAC protocol defined by I.E.E.E. 802.03. That is, the data link layer provided according to the MAC protocol would have to be duplicated, in programmable logic of a programmable logic device, for example, for each of the data streams received by the data transceivers or by general I/O ports.
While circuit designers are always working to reduce the area occupied by circuits of a given design to either reduce the size of the integrated circuit or increase the circuit capacity of a given integrated circuit, implementing multiple data link layers requires considerable space on the integrated circuit, as well as increases the noise on the integrated circuit. Also, a given integrated circuit may have a data link layer which has a certain data rate and an overall throughput. That is, an integrated circuit may implement a high speed data protocol which has the capacity to transmit a certain amount of data at a high rate, but would be unable to transfer the same amount of data as a plurality of data streams at a lower data rate to achieve the same overall throughput. For example, a conventional 1 Gigabits per second (Gbps) MAC core would not be able to transmit 10 streams of data at 100 Megabits per second (Mbps).
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of and circuit for generating a plurality of serial data streams employing a single data control circuit.

Method of and circuit for generating a plurality of data streams


Methods for playing a video game executed by a game cloud system are provided. One method includes generating a user interface for displaying game interactivity for playing the video game. The user interface includes controls for selecting a mode of play that includes a shadow mode. The method further includes detecting game play of the video game by a current user and identifying one or more previous plays of the video game by other users. After one of the other users is selected to be used in the shadow mode, for a set period of time, the shadow mode is enabled for the selected other user such that an image of the object controlled by the other user along a game sequence that is to be played by the current user of the video game is displayed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for enabling play of video games in a game cloud executed system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cloud systems, using computing resources (hardware and software), deliver services over a network (typically the Internet). The services, in the context of gaming, enable streaming of content to remote clients, wherein most processing is done on servers, which may be distributed. Input provided at the remote clients will in turn drive execution of the game, without the need for dedicated gaming hardware at the client's location. Cloud gaming, therefore, has been increasing in popularity because users find it easier to access more titles without complex hardware restrictions and game suppliers find it easier manage game code from centralized locations.
It is in this context that embodiments of the invention arise.

Systems and methods for enabling shadow play for video games based on prior user plays


Described herein are compounds and pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds which inhibit transglutaminase 2 (TG2). Also described herein are methods for using such TG2 inhibitors, alone or in combination with other compounds, for treating diseases or conditions that would benefit from TG2 inhibition.

Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is a member of the human transglutaminase family of enzymes, which is abundantly expressed in various tissues and is found in both intra- and extracellular locations. It possesses the catalytic activity of crosslinking of glutamine sidechains on substrate peptides or proteins with biogenic small molecule or protein-bound amines, which is subject to elaborate posttranslational regulation. TG2 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a broad range of human diseases, particularly inflammatory disorders.


A medical system which has a robotic arm that can move a surgical instrument. The surgical instrument is coupled to a tool driver of the arm that allows for a quick connect and disconnect of the instrument. The system does not require any tools to attach the surgical instrument to the tool driver. The instrument has an end effector that is actuated by the driver.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for performing minimally invasive cardiac procedures. More particularly, the present invention relates to a robotic system and surgical instruments that may be removably attached thereto, wherein said system aids in performing minimally invasive surgical procedures.
2. Description of Related Art
Blockage of a coronary artery may deprive the heart of the blood and oxygen required to sustain life. The blockage may be removed with medication or by an angioplasty. For severe blockage a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is performed to bypass the blocked area of the artery. CABG procedures are typically performed by splitting the sternum and pulling open the chest cavity to provide access to the heart. An incision is made in the artery adjacent to the blocked area. The internal mammary artery (IMA) is then severed and attached to the artery at the point of incision. The IMA bypasses the blocked area of the artery to again provide a full flow of blood to the heart. Splitting the sternum and opening the chest cavity, commonly referred to as 'open surgery', can create a tremendous trauma on the patient. Additionally, the cracked sternum prolongs the recovery period of the patient.
There have been attempts to perform CABG procedures without opening the chest cavity. Minimally invasive procedures are conducted by inserting surgical instruments and an endoscope through small incision in the skin of the patient. Manipulating such instruments can be awkward, particularly when suturing a graft to a artery. It has been found that a high level of dexterity is required to accurately control the instruments.
Additionally, human hands typically have at least a minimal amount of tremor. The tremor further increases the difficulty of performing minimally invasive cardiac procedures.
To perform MIS, the surgeon uses special instruments. These instruments allow the surgeon to maneuver inside the patient. One type of instrument that is used in minimally invasive surgery is forceps, an instrument having a tip specifically configured to grasp objects, such as needles. Because forceps and other instruments designed for minimally invasive surgery are generally long and rigid, they fail to provide a surgeon the dexterity and precision necessary to effectively carry out many procedures in a minimally invasive fashion. For example, conventional MIS forceps are not well suited for manipulating a needle during a minimally invasive procedure, such as during endoscopy. Therefore, many MIS procedures that might be performed, have, as of yet, not been accomplished.
In essence, during open surgeries, the tips of the various instruments may be positioned with six degrees of freedom. However, by inserting an instrument through a small aperture, such as one made in a patient to effectuate a minimally invasive procedure, two degrees of freedom are lost. It is this loss of freedom of movement within the surgical site that has substantially limited the types of MIS procedures that are performed.
Dexterity is lacking in MIS because the instruments that are used fail to provide the additionally degrees of freedom that are lost when the instrument is inserted into a patient. One problem associated with this lack of dexterity is the inability to suture when the instruments are in certain positions. As a result, surgeries that require a great deal of suturing within the surgical site are almost impossible to perform because the surgical instruments to enable much of this work are not available.
Another problem associated with MIS is the lack of precision within the surgical site. For procedures such as the MICABG (Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Graft), extremely small sutures must be emplaced in various locations proximate the heart. As such, precise motion of the tool at the tip of a surgical instrument is necessary. Currently, with hand positioned instruments, the precision necessary for such suturing is lacking.
As such, what is needed in the art is a tool and class of surgical instruments that may be articulated within the patient such that a surgeon has additional degrees of freedom available to more dexterously and precisely position the tool at the tip of the instrument, as is needed.
Additionally, what is needed in the art is a method and mechanism that provides simple instrument and tool changing capabilities so that various tools may be easily and readily replaced to enable faster procedures to thus minimize operating room costs to the patient and to lessen the amount of time a patient is under anesthesia.
It is to the solution of the aforementioned problems to which the present invention is directed.

Method and apparatus for performing minimally invasive cardiac procedures


An EGR recovery system and method includes calculating a transient volume of EGR sufficient to maintain NOx emitted by an engine below a predetermined level during a period of transient operation of said engine, supplying an actual volume of EGR during said period of transient operation, measuring said actual level of EGR during said period of transient operation, calculating an EGR deficit between said transient volume of EGR and said actual of volume of EGR during said period of transient operation, integrating said EGR deficit over said period of transient operation to calculate a deficit volume of EGR, calculating a following steady-state volume of EGR sufficient to maintain NOx emitted by said engine of said engine below said predetermined level during a following period of substantially steady-state operation of said engine, and supplying said following steady-state volume of EGR plus said deficit volume of EGR during said following period of substantially steady-state operation of said engine.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) recovery.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are competing controls at work with an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) equipped engine. One is trying to keep the brake specific oxides of nitrogen (BSNOx) levels at the emission standard while the other is trying to maintain a drivable vehicle. EGR may be provided to an intake air charge to damp combustion temperatures, thus reducing the amount of BSNOx that is being produced. EGR, however, replaces some of the air in the intake charge, promoting smoke generation if the air-to-fuel ratio falls too far. Large amounts of smoke can occur with EGR application when the driver wants to quickly accelerate the vehicle. Under these conditions EGR flow may be suspended briefly while fuel is added and the turbocharger is used to accelerate the vehicle. Higher levels of BSNOx emissions, however, are produced while the EGR flow is suspended.
The BSNOx emission standard is based on a 20 minute driving cycle and contains numerous quick accelerations. The overall engine calibration may be lowered in order to make up for the higher level of BSNOx produced during rapid accelerations. Lowering the engine calibration continuously to make up for brief periods of higher BSNOx, however, hurts the steady state fuel economy.


A nematic liquid-crystal composition for active matrix displays has a high voltage holding ratio and extremely good low temperature stability.

The invention relates to a nematic liquid-crystal composition for active matrix application.
Active matrix displays (AMD) are highly favored for commercially interesting displays with a high information content. Such AMDs are used for TV application and also for displays with high information content for automobiles and aeroplanes.
AMDs have non-linear electrical switching elements which are integrated at each picture element. As non-linear driving elements thin film transistors (TFT) [Okubo, U., et al., 1982, SID 82 Digest, pp. 40-41] or diodes (e.g.,: metal insulator metal: MIM) [Niwa, K., et al., 1984, SID 84, Digest, pp. 304-307]can be applied. These non-linear driving elements allow the use of an electro-optical effect with a rather flat electro-optical characteristic if a good viewing angle characteristic can be obtained. So a TN-type LC cell [Schadt, M. and Helfrich, W., 1971, Appl. Phys. Lett., 18, 127] with a twist angle of 90. can be used. To provide the good contrast over a wide viewing angle, operation in the first minimum of transmission [Pohl, L., Eidenschink, R., Pino, F. Del., and Weber, G., 1980, German Pat., DBP 30 22 818, and 1981, U.S. Pat. 4,398,803; Pohl, L. Weber, G., Eidenschink, R., Baur, G., and Fehrenbach, W., 1981, Appl. Phys. Lett., 38, 497; Weber, G., Finkenzeller, U., Geelhaar, T., Plach, H. J., Rieger, B., and Pohl, L., 1988, Int. Symp. on Liq. Cryst., Freiburg, to be published in Liq. Crys.]is required. These AMDs are very well suited for TV applications and consequently are of high commercial interest. For these applications some physical properties of the liquid crystals become more important than for passive TN displays. Some of the decisive properties for the performance of an AMD are resistivity and stability of the liquid crystal [Togashi, S., Sekiguchi, K., Tanabe, H., Yamamoto, E., Sorimachi, K., Kajima, E., Watanabe, H., Shimuzu, H., Proc. Eurodisplay 84, September 1984: A 210-288 Matrix LCD Controlled by Double Stage Diode Rings, p. 144 ff, Paris; Stromer, M., Proc. Eurodisplay 84, September 1984: Design of Thin Film Transistors for Matrix Addressing of Television Liquid Crystal Displays, p. 145 ff, Paris].
In an AMD, the non-linear switching elements are addressed in a multiplex scheme. So they charge the electrodes of a pixel in the limited time they are active. Then they become inactive until they are addressed again in the next cycle. Consequently the change of the voltage on an activated (charged) pixel is a nondesired but a very decisive feature of such a display. The discharge of a pixel is determined by two factors. They are the capacity of the electrodes of the pixel and resistivity of the dielectric material between the electrodes, namely the liquid crystal. The characteristic time constant of the decay of the voltage at a pixel (RC-time) has to be significantly bigger than the time between two addressing cycles (t.sub.adr). A parameter frequently used to describe the performance of an AMD is the voltage holding ratio HR of a picture element: ##EQU1## As the voltage at a pixel decays exponentially, an increase of the holding ratio necessitates liquid crystal materials with exceptionally high resistivities.
There are several points of importance for the resistivity of the liquid crystal inside a display, e.g., orientation layers, and curing condition of the orientation material. But by no means less important are the electrical properties of the liquid crystal used. Especially the resistivity of the liquid crystal in the display determines the magnitude of the voltage drop at the pixel.

Nematic liquid-crystal composition for active matrix application

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