The invention relates to diagnostics and therapeutics and animal models for macular degeneration, specifically as they relate to the association described herein between macular degeneration and arterial wall disruptive disorders. In one embodiment, the invention provides kits and methods for diagnosing macular degeneration comprising identifying a marker for an arterial wall disruptive disorder, including an aneurysm. In one embodiment, the invention provides therapeutics for treating macular degeneration comprising delivering to a subject an agent useful for treating an arterial wall disruptive disorder, including an aneurysm.

Macular degeneration is a clinical term that is used to describe a variety of diseases that are all characterized by a progressive loss of central vision associated with abnormalities of Bruch's membrane, the neural retina and the retinal pigment epithelium. Clinically, macular degeneration is associated with progressive diminution of visual acuity in the central portion of the visual field, changes in color vision, and abnormal dark adaptation and sensitivity (Steinmetz, et al., 1993; Brown & Lovie-Kitchin, 1983; Brown, et al., 1986; Sunness, et al., 1985; Sunness, et al., 1988; Sunness, et al., 1989; Eisner, et al., 1987; Massof, et al., 1989; Chen, et al., 1992). When the manifestations of macular degeneration occur after age 50 years, the disorder is termed age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
AMD is the leading cause of legal blindness in North America and Western Europe (Hyman, 1992) and has become a significant health problem as the percentage of individuals above the age of 50 increases. In the Beaver Dam, Wis. population, the incidence of AMD was estimated to be 9.2% for persons over the age of 40 (Klein, et al., 1995). The Framingham Eye Study found the overall incidence of AMD to be 8.8%, with a 27.9% incidence in the 75–85 year old population (Kahn, et al., 1977; Leibowitz, et al., 1980). In an Australian study, 18.5% of those over age 85 were estimated to be afflicted with AMD (O'Shea, 1996). Variations in estimated incidence are likely a result of the use of different criteria for a diagnosis of AMD in different studies, or they may result from different risk factors among the various populations studied.
Two principal clinical manifestations of AMD have been described, both of which can occur in the same patient (Green and Key, 1977). They are referred to as the dry, or atrophic, form, and the wet, or exudative, form (Sarks and Sarks, 1989; Elman and Fine, 1989; Kincaid, 1992). In the dry form, the RPE and retina degenerate without coincident neovascularization. The region of atrophy that results is referred to as geographic atrophy. While atrophic AMD is typically considered less severe than the exudative form because its onset is less sudden, no treatment is effective at halting or slowing its progression. In the less common, but more devastating, exudative form, neovascular "membranes" derived from the choroidal vasculature invade Bruch's membrane, leak, and often cause detachments of the RPE and/or the neural retina (Elman and Fine, 1989). This event can occur over a short period of time and can lead to rapid and permanent loss of central vision. If one eye is affected, there is a high degree of probability that the second eye will develop a choroidal neovascular membrane within five years of the initial event (Macular Photocoagulation Study, 1977). Important clinical signs of neovascular AMD include gray-green neovascular membranes, dome-shaped RPE detachments, and disciform scars (caused by proliferation of fibroblasts and retinal glial cells) which are best visualized by their hyperfluorescence on fluorescein angiography (Elman and Fine, 1989). A number of studies have demonstrated that the presence of macular drusen is a strong risk factor for the development of both atrophic and neovascular AMD (Gass, 1973; Lovie-Kitchin and Bowman, 1985; Lewis, et al., 1986; Sarks, 1980; Sarks, 1982; Small, et al., 1976; Sarks, et al., 1985; Vinding, 1990; Bressler, et al., 1994; Bressler, et al., 1990; Macular Photocoagulation Study). Pauleikhoff, et al. (1990) demonstrated that the size, number, density and extent of confluency of drusen are important determinants of the risk of AMD. The risk of developing neovascular complications in patients with bilateral drusen has been estimated at 3–4% per year (Mimoun, et al., 1990). A recent report from the Macular Photocoagulation Study Group shows a relative risk of 2.1 for developing choroidal neovascularization in eyes possessing 5 or more drusen, and a risk of 1.5 in eyes with one or more large drusen (Macular Photocoagulation Study, 1997). The correlation between drusen and AMD is significant enough that many investigators and clinicians refer to the presence of soft drusen in the macula, in the absence of vision loss, as "early AMD" (Midena, et al., 1997; Tolentino, et al., 1994), or "early age-related maculopathy" (Bird, et al., 1995). In addition to macular drusen, Lewis et al. (1986) found that the degree of extramacular drusen is also a significant risk factor for the development of AMD.
A number of population-based studies indicate that AMD has a genetic component, based upon the examination of the rates of AMD in different racial groups and the degree of familial aggregation of AMD (Hyman, et al., 1983). For example, Caucasians appear to be at greater risk than individuals of Hispanic origin (Cruickshanks, et al., 1997). In addition, a black population on Barbados had a lower incidence of advanced AMD than the local Caucasian population (Schachat, et al., 1995). Studies involving twins and other siblings have demonstrated that, the more related two individuals are, the more likely they are to be at the same risk of developing AMD (Heiba, et al., 1994; Klein, et al., 1994; Meyers and Zacchary, 1988; Meyers, 1994; Meyers, et al., 1995; Piguet, et al., 1993; Seddon, et al., 1997; Silvestri, et al., 1994). These findings suggest that heredity contributes significantly to an individual's risk of developing AMD, but the gene(s) responsible have not been identified. Although a recent report suggested that mutations in the photoreceptor ABCR rim protein cause up to 15% of AMD cases in the United States (Allikmets, et al., 1997), more recent data has shown this not to be the case (De La Paz, et al., 1998; Stone et al., 1998). Thus, no gene accounting for all AMD has been identified.
Other maculopathies, typically with an earlier onset of symptoms than AMD, have been described. These include North Carolina macular dystrophy (Small, et al., 1993), Sorsby's fundus dystrophy (Capon, et al., 1989), Stargardt's disease (Parodi, 1994), pattern dystrophy (Marmor and Byers, 1977), Best disease (Stone, et al., 1992), dominant drusen (Deutman and Jansen, 1970), and radial drusen ("malattia leventinese") (Heon, et al., 1996). Several of these inherited disorders, including those that map to distinct chromosomal loci or for which the genes have been identified, are characterized by the presence of drusen (or other extracellular deposits in the subRPE space). Based on this information, it is likely that: (1) AMD is not a single, genetic disease, since different diseases with distinct chromosomal loci share morphologic differences (Holz, et al., 1995a; Mansergh et al., 1995; and (2) that drusen may develop as a result of a biological pathway induced by a variety of different insults, genetic or otherwise. AMD may actually be several diseases most of which are genetic, with environmental factors play some role in its development.
A number of gene loci have been reported as indicating a predisposition to macular degeneration: 1p21–q13, for recessive Stargardt's disease or findus flavi maculatus (Allikmets, R. et al. Science 277:1805–1807, 1997; Anderson, K. L. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 55:1477, 1994; Cremers, F. P. M. et al., Hum. Mol. Genet. 7:355–362, 1998; Gerber, S. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 56:396–399, 1995; Gerber, S. et al., Genomics 48:139–142, 1998; Kaplan, J. et al., Nat. Genet. 5:308–311, 1993; Kaplan, J. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 55:190, 1994; Martinez-Mir, A. et al., Genomics 40:142–146, 1997; Nasonkin, I. et al., Hum. Genet. 102:21–26, 1998; Stone, E. M. et al., Nat. Genet. 20:328–329, 1998); 1q25–q31, for recessive age related macular degeneration (Klein, M. L. et al., Arch. Ophthalmol. 116:1082–1088, 1988); 2p16, for dominant radial macular drusen, dominant Doyne honeycomb retinal degeneration or Malattia Leventinese (Edwards, A. O. et al., Am. J. Ophthalmol. 126:417–424, 1998; Heon, E. et al., Arch. Ophthalmol. 114:193–198, 1996; Heon, E. et al.,. Invest. Ophthalmol Vis. Sci. 37:1124, 1996; Gregory, C. Y. et al., Hum. Mol. Genet. 7:1055–1059, 1996); 6p21.2-cen, for dominant macular degeneration, adult vitelloform (Felbor, U. et al. Hum. Mutat. 10:301–309, 1997); 6p21.1 for dominant cone dystrophy (Payne, A. M. et al. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 61:A290, 1997; Payne, A. M. et al., Hum. Mol. Genet. 7:273–277, 1998; Sokol, I. et al., Mol. Cell. 2:129–133, 1998); 6q, for dominant cone-rod dystrophy (Kelsell, R. E. et al. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 63:274–279, 1998); 6q11–q15, for dominant macular degeneration, Stargardt's-like (Griesinger, I. B. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 63:A30, 1998; Stone, E. M. et al., Arch. Ophthalmol. 112:765–772, 1994); 6q14–q16.2, for dominant macular degeneration, North Carolina Type (Kelsell, R. E. et al., Hum. Mol. Genet. 4:653–656, 1995; Robb, M. F. et al., Am. J. Ophthalmol. 125:502–508, 1998; Sauer, C. G. et al., J. Med. Genet. 34:961–966, 1997; Small, K. W. et al., Genomics 13:681–685, 1992; Small, K. W. et al., Mol. Vis. 3:1, 1997); 6q25–q26, dominant retinal cone dystrophy 1 (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (™). Center for Medical Genetics, Johns Hopkins University, and National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine. http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/omim (1998); 7p21–p15, for dominant cystoid macular degeneration (Inglehearn, C. F. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 55:581–582, 1994; Kremer, H. et al., Hum. Mol. Genet. 3:299–302, 1994); 7q31.3–32, for dominant tritanopia, protein: blue cone opsin (Fitzgibbon, J. et al., Hum. Genet. 93:79–80, 1994; Nathans, J. et al., Science 193:193–232, 1986; Nathans, J. et al., Ann. Rev. Genet. 26:403–424, 1992; Nathans, J. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 53:987–1000, 1993; Weitz, C. J. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 50:498–507, 1992; Weitz, C. J. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 51:444–446, 1992); not 8q24, for dominant macular degeneration, atypical vitelliform (Daiger, S. P. et al., In 'Degenerative Retinal Diseases', LaVail, et al., eds. Plenum Press, 1997; Ferrell, R. E. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 35:78–84, 1983; Leach, R. J. et al., Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 75:71–84, 1996; Sohocki, M. M. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 61:239–241, 1997); 11p12–q13, for dominant macular degeneration, Best type (bestrophin) (Forsman, K. et al., Clin. Genet. 42:156–159, 1992; Graff, C. et al., Genomics, 24:425–434, 1994; Petrukhin, K. et al., Nat. Genet. 19:241–247, 1998; Marquardt, A. et al., Hum. Mol. Genet. 7:1517–1525, 1998; Nichols, B. E. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 54:95–103, 1994; Stone, E. M. et al., Nat. Genet. 1:246–250, 1992; Wadeilus, C. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 53:1718, 1993; Weber, B. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 53:1099, 1993; Weber, B. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 55:1182–1187, 1994; Weber, B. H., Genomics 20: 267–274, 1994; Zhaung, Z. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 53:1112, 1993); 13q34, for dominant macular degeneration, Stargardt type (Zhang, F. et al., Arch. Ophthalmol. 112:759–764, 1994); 16p12.1, for recessive Batten disease (ceroid-lipofuscinosis, neuronal 3), juvenile; protein:Batten disease protein (Batten Disease Consortium, Cell 82:949–957, 1995; Eiberg, H. et al., Clin. Genet. 36:217–218, 1989; Gardiner, M. et al., Genomics 8:387–390, 1990; Mitchison, H. M. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 57:312–315, 1995, Mitchison, H. M. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 56:654–662, 1995; Mitchison, H. M. et al., Genomics 40:346–350, 1997; Munroe, P. B. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 61:310–316, 1997; 17p, for dominant areolar choroidal dystrophy (Lotery, A. J. et al., Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 37:1124, 1996); 17p13–p12, for dominant cone dystrophy, progressive (Balciuniene, J. et al., Genomics 30:281–286, 1995; Small, K. W. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 57:A203, 1995; Small, K. W. et al., Am. J. Ophthalmol. 121:13–18, 1996); 17q, for cone rod dystrophy (Klystra, J. A. et al., Can. J Ophthalmol. 28:79–80, 1993); 18q21.1–q21.3, for cone-rod dystrophy, de Grouchy syndrome (Manhant, S. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 57:A96, 1995; Warburg, M. et al., Am. J. Med. Genet. 39:288–293, 1991); 19q13.3, for dominant cone-rod dystrophy; recessive, dominant and 'de novo' Leber congenital amaurosis; dominant RP; protein: cone-rod otx-like photoreceptor homeobox transcription factor (Bellingham, J. et al., In 'Degenerative Retinal Diseases', LaVail, et al., eds. Plenum Press, 1997; Evans, K. et al., Nat. Genet. 6:210–213, 1994; Evans, K. et al., Arch. Ophthalmol. 113:195–201, 1995; Freund, C. L. et al., Cell 91:543–553, 1997; Freund, C. L. et al., Nat. Genet. 18:311–312, 1998; Gregory, C. Y. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 55:1061–1063, 1994; Li, X. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 95:1876–1881, 1998; Sohocki, M. M. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 63:1307–1315, 1998; Swain, P. K. et al., Neuron 19:1329–1336, 1987; Swaroop, A. et al., Hum. Mol. Genet. In press, 1999); 22q12.1–q13.2, for dominant Sorsby's fundus dystrophy, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteases-3 (TIMP3) (Felbor, U. et al., Hum. Mol. Genet. 4:2415–2416, 1995; Felbor, U. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 60:57–62, 1997; Jacobson, S. E. et al., Nat. Genet. 11:27–32, 1995; Peters, A. et al., Retina 15:480–485, 1995; Stöhr, H. et al., Genome Res. 5:483–487, 1995; Weber, B. H. F. et al., Nat. Genet. 8:352–355, 1994; Weber, B. H. F. et al., Nat. Genet. 7:158–161, 1994; Wijesvriya, S. D. et al., Genome Res. 6:92–101, 1996); and Xp11.4, for X-linked cone dystrophy (Bartley, J. et al., Cytogenet. Cell. Genet. 51:959, 1989; Bergen, A. A. B. et al., Genomics 18:463–464, 1993; Dash-Modi, A. et al., Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 37:998, 1996; Hong, H.-K., Am. J. Hum. Genet 55:1173–1181, 1994; Meire, F. M. et al., Br. J. Ophthalmol. 78:103–108, 1994; Seymour, A. B. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 62:122–129, 1998), the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. In addition, the world wide web site http://WWW.SPH.UTH.TMC.EDU/RETNET/disease.htm lists genetic polymorphisms for macular degeneration and for additional retinal degenerations that also may be associated with macular degeneration. However, none of the above genes or polymorphisms has been found to be responsible for a significant fraction of typical late-onset macular degeneration.
"Environmental" conditions may modulate the rate at which an individual develops AMD or the severity of the disease. Light exposure has been proposed as a possible risk factor, since AMD most severely affects the macula, where light exposure is high. (Young, 1988; Taylor, et al., 1990; Schalch, 1992). The amount of time spent outdoors is associated with increased risk of choroidal neovascularization in men, and wearing hats and/or sunglasses is associated with a decreased incidence of soft drusen (Cruickshanks, et al., 1993). Accidental exposure to microwave irradiation has also been shown to be associated with the development of numerous drusen (Lim, et al., 1993). Cataract removal and light iris pigmentation has also been reported as a risk factor in some studies (Sandberg, et al., 1994). This suggests that: 1) eyes prone to cataracts may be more likely to develop AMD; 2) the surgical stress of cataract removal may result in increased risk of AMD, due to inflammation or other surgically-induced factors; or 3) cataracts prevent excessive light exposure from falling on the macula, and are in some way prophylactic for AMD. While it is possible that dark iris pigmentation may protect the macula from light damage, it is difficult to distinguish between iris pigmentation alone and other, cosegregating genetic factors which may be actual risk factors.
Dietary factors may also influence an individual's risk of developing AMD. Anecdotal evidence from Japan suggests that the incidence of AMD, while very low 20 years ago, has increased as urban Japanese acquired a more Western diet and lifestyle (Bird, 1997). Chemical exposure (Hyman, et al., 1983), smoking (Vingerling, et al., 1996), cardiovascular disease/atherosclerosis (Hyman, et al., 1983; Vingerling, et al., 1995; Blumenkranz, et al., 1986), hypertension (Christen, et al., 1997), dermal elastotic changes in non-sun exposed skin (Blumenkranz, et al., 1986), dietary fat intake (Mares-Perlman, et al., 1995b), low concentrations of serum lycopene (Mares-Perlman, et al., 1995a), and alcohol consumption (Ritter, et al., 1995) have been identified, in some studies, as additional risk factors for the development of wet and/or dry AMD. One recent prospective dietary study found that it is often possible to increase macular pigment density and/or serum concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin by dietary intake (Hammond, et al., 1997), although the significance of this alteration in modulating macular disease remains to be determined. Thus, dietary consumption of some vegetables, (e.g., spinach, collard greens, kale) may be inversely associated with the risk of developing AMD (Seddon, et al., 1994), an effect which is presumably due to their lutein and zeaxanthin content.
Currently, there is no therapy that is capable of significantly slowing the degenerative progression of AMD, and treatment is limited to laser photocoagulation of the subretinal neovascular membranes that occur in 10–15% of affected patients, which may halt the progression of the disease but does not repair the damage or improve vision. A few clinical studies have shown that drusen regress and that visual acuity improves in some cases, following laser photocoagulation (Sigelman, 1991; Little, et al., 1997; Figueroa, et al., 1994; Frenneson and Nilsson, 1996). While prophylactic laser treatment may be helpful for some patients (Little, et al., 1997), it appears that other patients react adversely to laser treatment of the macula (Hyver, et al., 1997). In addition, while there may be long term benefits for the patient following photocoagulation, these may not be worth the loss of vision frequently associated with this procedure. Indocyanine green angiography is a promising imaging tool that may help identify those patients likely to benefit from laser therapy.
Better understanding of the biology of AMD may allow the development of therapies that can alter the natural history of the disease, serving to halt or reverse its progression. It is understood in the medical arts that any therapeutic intervention is more likely to have a beneficial effect on a patient if undertaken before irreversible pathological changes have occurred. In AMD, however, there exists no readily undertaken screening test that can identify those individuals at risk for developing the disease or for experiencing its unremitting progression. Early identification of AMD could also permit early intervention with greater likelihood of success using established or experimental treatment modalities, including photocoagulation or other techniques familiar to skilled artisans in ophthalmology. Discerning various phenotypes of AMD may identified that respond notably better or worse to a particular method of local treatment, and treatments may be selected accordingly. If the biological basis for certain phenotypes of AMD can be identified, then preventive measures may be undertaken to forestall the onset of the disease or to attenuate its progression. Hence, there exists a need in the art for diagnostic methods adapted for early detection of the disorder when it may still be at a stage amenable to therapeutic intervention.
Further, if the pathophysiological mechanisms for the disease can be elucidated, they can be compared to those mechanisms at work in diseases that appear to coexist with AMD with statistically significant frequency. Then, as therapies are identified for those coexistent diseases, there will be a rational basis for applying those same therapies or their analogues to treat AMD. Thus there exists a need for determining those pathological mechanisms that AMD shares with other disease entities, and a further need for using research in other fields of medicine to apply in the treatment of AMD. As common mechanisms for co-existent diseases are understood, it would be desirable to formulate therapies that beneficially affect the co-existent disease and the AMD, either by preventing the onset of the ocular disorder or by limiting its progression.
A method for diagnosing risk for AMD would permit the clinician to undertake those dietary, environmental or lifestyle interventions that may prevent the onset of the disease or limit its progress. For example, eliminating certain risk factors such as smoking and hypertension from the patient's lifestyle may positively affect the patient's likelihood of developing AMD, or may limit the severity of the disease. Determining an increased risk for developing AMD would provide the patient motivation for making difficult, though healthful, lifestyle choices, or would provide motivation for modifying her or his environment to minimize the risk of developing the disease. Further, determining an increased risk for developing AMD might provide for the patient a rational basis for undertaking other nutritional modifications or supplementations, such as increasing intake of vegetables, vitamins, minerals or nutriceuticals, that may decrease the likelihood of developing AMD or may decrease the severity of its progression. Susceptible individuals could then be targeted for improved health promotion and disease prevention measures for this disabling and highly prevalent disorder.

Diagnostics and the therapeutics for macular degeneration


A surface emitting semiconductor laser includes: a substrate; a first semiconductor multilayer reflection mirror of a first conduction type; an active region; a second semiconductor multilayer reflection mirror of a second conduction type; a first selectively oxidized layer that is formed in one of the first and second semiconductor multilayer reflection mirrors and includes a first oxidized region selectively oxidized, and a first conductive region surrounded by the first oxidized region; and a second selectively oxidized layer that is formed in one of the first and second semiconductor multilayer reflection mirrors and includes a second oxidized region selectively oxidized, and a second conductive region surrounded by the second oxidized region. A first semiconductor layer next to the first selectively oxidized layer has an Al composition greater than that of a second semiconductor layer next to the second selectively oxidized layer, the first conductive region having a size smaller than that of the second conductive region.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a surface emitting semiconductor laser, an optical semiconductor device, an optical transmission apparatus, an optical spatial transmission device, an optical transmission system, an optical spatial transmission system, and a method for fabricating a surface emitting semiconductor laser.
2. Related Art
A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) has a vertical resonator that is formed on a substrate and includes an active region. The vertical resonator amplifies laser emitted in a direction vertical to the substrate.
A VCSEL of a typical type has a current confining function for efficiently injecting current in the active region and a light confining function for efficiently confining light generated in the active region. A VCSEL of selective oxidation type having a mesa structure has a conductive region (oxidized aperture) surrounded by an oxidized region formed by selectively oxidizing a semiconductor layer having a high Al composition from the sidewall of the mesa. The conductive region is used for current confinement and light confinement.

Surface emitting semiconductor laser and method for fabricating the same


One embodiment of the present invention is an electronic assembly which may have a first integrated circuit package mounted to a first side of a substrate and a second integrated circuit package mounted to a second side of the substrate. A thermal plate may be thermally coupled to the first integrated circuit package. A heat sink may be mounted to the thermal plate. A thermal bus may be is thermally coupled to the second integrated circuit package and the thermal plate. The thermal bus bar allows heat to flow from the second integrated circuit package to the thermal plate and heat sink. The electronic assembly of the present invention can thus remove heat from integrated circuit packages located on both sides of a substrate with only one heat sink.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic assembly.
2. Background Information
Integrated circuits are typically assembled into a package that is mounted to a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board may have an electrical connector which mates with a corresponding connector located on a motherboard.
The integrated circuits generate heat which must be removed from the package. The heat must be removed in a manner which maintains the junction temperatures of the integrated circuits below a threshold level.
Some printed circuit board assemblies incorporate thermal plates and heat sinks which efficiently transfer heat from the integrated circuits. The heat sink is typically mounted to a side of the printed circuit board which contains the integrated circuit(s) that generates the largest amount of heat.
Some printed circuit board assemblies contain integrated circuit packages which are mounted on both sides of the board. Effectively removing heat from both sides of the printed circuit board may require two separate heat sinks located on each side of the board. The additional heat sink will increase the weight, size and cost of the circuit board assembly. It would be desirable to provide an electronic assembly which has a single heat sink and can effectively remove heat from integrated circuit packages mounted on both sides of a printed circuit board.

Thermal bus bar design for an electronic cartridge


An apparatus including two or more spaced apart ferromagnetic sensors arranged to detect and screen ferromagnetic objects, and, when a ferromagnetic object is detected, the screening is configured to be substantially independent of the sensor-object distance.

Ferromagnetic sensors are used to detect ferromagnetic containing objects (e.g. objects containing iron). Some non-limiting examples include: to detect and prevent ferromagnetic objects being taken into an MRI room (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 7,113,092); to screen for dangerous weapons like assault rifles, while at the same time ignoring smaller non-threat objects like mobile phones; and to detect contraband items (like mobile phones and improvised knives) in controlled spaces like detention centres.
Ferromagnetic sensors generally work by measuring the magnetic field produced by a magnetic moment of a ferromagnetic object. More particularly, these sensors measure the change in the local magnetic field caused by the magnetic moment of a nearby ferromagnetic object. The local field being the Earth's magnetic field together with any local sources. The change in the local magnetic field being an indication that a ferromagnetic object is nearby, and has caused the fluctuation. As a general rule, the larger the magnetic moment of the object, the larger the disruption/fluctuation caused. As a further generalization, where all other things are equal, the more ferromagnetic material in an object, the greater the magnetic moment of the object.
The effective operation of a ferromagnetic sensor is discussed further below. Also, for simplicity, hereafter unless stated otherwise, the term 'object' refers to an object having a magnetic moment, and the term 'sensor' refers to a ferromagnetic sensor.
It is well known that the magnetic field strength (B) produced by an object (having a magnetic moment m) decays exponentially as you move away from the object. More specifically, this can be mathematically generalised as:
                    B        ∝                  m                      r            3                                              Eq        .                                          1
where B is the size of the magnetic field at a distance r away from the object. Equation 1 is illustrated graphically in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, Object 1 (having a magnetic moment of m1) is shown at different distances (r) away from the sensor, the sensor located at r=0. Therefore, it can be seen that as Object 1 is moved away from a sensor, the magnetic field at the sensor drops away rapidly. As such, as r increases, 8 rapidly decreases to the baseline level.
FIG. 2 is the same as FIG. 1, but includes a further object, Object 2 (with a larger magnetic moment m2). While Object 2 generates a stronger magnetic field than Object 1, the field strength is still subject to the rapid decay with distance r.
As a result of this rapid decay in magnetic field strength with distance, it can be difficult to discriminate between a 'weak' object close up and a 'strong' object further away. Weak and strong referring to relative magnetic moments. For example, with reference to FIG. 2, Objects 1 and 2 give the same field strength (B1) at the sensor when Object 1 is at r1, and Object 2 is further away at r2. In effect, from the sensor's standpoint, the objects would appear to be identical.
In practice, to compensate for the rapid decay in the magnetic field produced by an object with distance, it is known in the prior art to use spaced apart sensors. This is a bit like using two partially overlapping flashlights, the second flashlight being used to illuminate a dim area not well covered by the first flashlight. As such, if wishing for example to screen a doorway for passing ferromagnetic objects, the ferromagnetic sensors are placed on either side of the doorway. If only one sensor were used, a ferromagnetic object might evade detection by passing through the doorway, but along the side most remote from the sensor (i.e. where the sensitivity is weakest).
By placing sensors on either side of a doorway (portal, passageway etc. leading to an area to be protected), like in the prior art, this gives a detection sensitivity profile corresponding to that shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.
From FIGS. 3 and 5, it can be seen that a U-shaped detection sensitivity profile is obtained in the plane of the doorway. That is, the sensitivity is much greater near each side of the doorway (i.e. nearest the sensors) and much less sensitive in the middle of the doorway (i.e. in the region corresponding to the bottom of the U-shape).
Therefore, in the prior art, if all objects of interest are to be detected as they pass through the doorway, these objects must be detectable in the middle of the doorway (i.e. in the region corresponding to the bottom of the U-shape, where the sensitivity is lowest). As a consequence, the detection threshold of the sensors is set so as to correspond to the object's field strength when located in the middle of the doorway. In the prior art, an alert is generated if either sensor detects the object of interest. So, if a protected doorway of the kind described above in the prior art were set to detect an assault rifle at the point corresponding to the bottom of the U-shape, the rifle would also be detected at all points closer to each sensor.
However, problems arise when it is desirable to have a system which discriminates between larger and smaller objects (in this case, 'smaller' and 'larger' are referring to the object's respective magnetic moments). For example, to screen for and detect objects like an assault rifle, but to ignore more innocuous items like a mobile phone (i.e. cell phone). Problems arise in such systems because, as explained above with reference to Objects 1 and 2 (in FIG. 2), an assault rifle in the middle of the doorway could give a magnetic field at the sensor which is the same as a mobile phone much closer to the sensor. This means that multiple 'false alerts' could be generated by innocuous items when trying to screen a body of people looking for just assault weapons. False alerts cause worry and can waste time and resources. At worse, when 'false alerts' are frequent, this could lead to a lack of diligence by any person responsible for monitoring the doorway. A failure to detect a dangerous weapon could have serious and potentially lethal consequences. Similarly, inadvertently allowing a ferromagnetic object into a MRI room is dangerous, as these items can be turn into dangerous metal projectiles.
There remains a need in the art for improve ferromagnetic sensing capabilities.


A method of forming a polycrystalline silicon layer and an atomic layer deposition apparatus used for the same. The method includes forming an amorphous silicon layer on a substrate, exposing the substrate having the amorphous silicon layer to a hydrophilic or hydrophobic gas atmosphere, placing a mask having at least one open and at least one closed portion over the amorphous silicon layer, irradiating UV light toward the amorphous silicon layer and the mask using a UV lamp, depositing a crystallization-inducing metal on the amorphous silicon layer, and annealing the substrate to crystallize the amorphous silicon layer into a polycrystalline silicon layer. This method and apparatus provide for controlling the seed position and grain size in the formation of a polycrystalline silicon layer.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a method of forming a polycrystalline silicon layer and an atomic layer deposition apparatus used for the same, and more particularly, to a method of forming a polycrystalline silicon layer and an atomic layer deposition apparatus in which a crystallization-inducing metal may be deposited on an amorphous silicon layer at a predetermined position and a uniform concentration by modifying a predetermined region of a surface of the amorphous silicon layer into a hydrophilic surface or a hydrophobic surface. Thus, seed position and grain size may be controlled.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, polycrystalline silicon layers are widely used as semiconductor layers for thin film transistors since the polycrystalline silicon layers have high field effect mobility, and enable application to high-speed operating circuits and formation of CMOS circuits. Thin film transistors using the polycrystalline silicon layers are mainly used for active devices of active-matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) devices, and switching and driving devices of organic light emitting diode (OLED) display devices.
Examples of methods of crystallizing amorphous silicon into polycrystalline silicon include solid phase crystallization (SPC), excimer laser crystallization (ELC), metal-induced crystallization (MIC) and metal-induced lateral crystallization (MILC) methods. In the SPC method, an amorphous silicon layer is annealed for several to several tens of hours at a temperature of about 700° C. or less, which is the thermal deformation temperature of glass forming a substrate of a display device using a thin film transistor. In the ELC method, an excimer laser is applied to an amorphous silicon layer to locally heat the amorphous silicon layer for a very short period of time at high temperature. In the MIC method, a crystallization-inducing metal such as nickel, palladium, gold or aluminum is in contact with or injected into an amorphous silicon layer to induce a phase change into a polycrystalline silicon layer, and in the MILC method, a silicide produced by reacting a crystallization-inducing metal with silicon then laterally propagates, sequentially inducing crystallization of the amorphous silicon layer. However, the SPC method requires a long processing time, and easily causes deformation of a substrate due to long annealing at high temperature, and the ELC method requires high-priced laser equipment and has poor interface characteristics between the polycrystallized silicon semiconductor layer and a gate insulating layer due to protrusions occurring on the polycrystallized surface.
Today, research into methods of crystallizing an amorphous silicon layer using a crystallization-inducing metal has been widely conducted because of faster crystallization at a lower temperature than the SPC method. Examples of these crystallization methods using a crystallization-inducing metal include MIC, MILC, and super grain silicon (SGS) crystallization methods.
In the crystallization methods using a crystallization-inducing metal, the crystallization-inducing metal is deposited on an amorphous silicon layer by sputtering, ion implantation or thermal evaporation. However, in these methods, metal particles to be deposited randomly propagate from a metal target, and thus there is a limit in being able to uniformly deposit a metal catalyst to have a concentration as high as 1011 to 1016 atoms/cm2. Recently, while a technique of uniformly depositing crystallization-inducing metals on an amorphous silicon layer using micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology has been disclosed, this has disadvantages of length of preparation time in mass-production, which may not be suitable for commercialization.

Method of forming polycrystalline silicon layer and atomic layer deposition apparatus used for the same


Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for allowing an update to an executable component, such as a logical partitioning operating system, running on a computer system without requiring a reboot (or IPL) of the computer system are provided. Processors or tasks executing in a portion of code being updated may be forced to a known or “quiesced” state (e.g., designated wait points) before applying the update. If any of the processors or tasks are not in their quiesced state, the update is not applied or may be rescheduled for a later time, in an effort to allow the system to reach the quiesced state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to logically partitioned computer systems and more particularly to applying concurrent updates to a logical partitioning operating system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a computing environment, parallel processing generally refers to performing multiple computing tasks in parallel. Traditionally, parallel processing required multiple computer systems, with the resources of each computer system dedicated to a specific task, or allocated to perform a portion of a common task. However, recent advances in computer hardware and software technologies have resulted in single computer systems capable of highly complex parallel processing, by logically partitioning the system resources to different tasks. In a logically partitioned computer system, available system resources are allocated among multiple logical partitions, each designed to appear to operate independently of the other. Management of the allocation of resources among logical partitions is typically accomplished via a layer of software components, commonly referred to as a partition manager.
An objective of the partition manager is to allow each logical partition to independently run software (e.g., operating systems and operating system-specific applications), typically developed to run on a dedicated computer system, with little or no modification. For example, one logical partition may be running a first operating system, such as IBM's OS/400, a second logical partition may be running a second operating system, such as IBM's AIX, while a third logical partition may be running a third operating system, such as Linux. By providing the ability to run multiple operating systems on the same computer system, a logically partitioned system may provide a user with a greater degree of freedom in choosing application programs best suited to the user's needs with little or no regard to the operating system for which an application program was written.
Like any other layer of software in the system, the partition manager may require updates to fix problems that occur in the field (e.g., at a customer location), or to provide product enhancements (e.g., support of additional features). In some cases, to ensure no component accesses a portion of code as it is being updated, which may result in unpredictable behavior, a developer may require a system initial program load (IPL) to apply the update.
An IPL (also referred to as a system boot) generally refers to the process of taking a system from a powered-off or non-running state to the point of loading operating system specific code. This process could include running various tests on components and, in a multi-processor system all functioning processors would go through the IPL process, which may require a significant amount of time. Considering the fact that a logically partitioned system may include several partitions, requiring a system IPL to apply an update to partition manager code may represent unacceptable downtime for the several partitions. Therefore, it is generally desirable that an update to partition manager code be applied while the system is running (i.e., as a concurrent update).
However, a number of difficulties arise when applying a concurrent update, due to the fact that processors or tasks may be running or "executing in" code that may be replaced by the update. According to a conventional approach, an old copy of the code being updated may be maintained to accommodate processors or tasks that were running in the portion of the code being updated (at the time the update is applied). For example, processors executing in the code to be replaced by the update may be interrupted in order to apply the update. After the concurrent update is complete, the processors may be released to resume execution from their interrupted points in the old copy of the code. As another example, when the update is applied, some tasks that were executing in the code may be blocked on a wait object (e.g., a queue, gate, or semaphore). The blocked task will have saved addresses of code that may be replaced by the update. Therefore, at some point after the concurrent update has been applied, the blocked task will complete its wait and return to executing in the old copy of code.
Thus, a developer designing a concurrent update has to carefully consider the implications of a processor or task executing in the old copy of the code while another processor or task is executing in the updated version of the code. However, a developer may have difficulty in anticipating the number of complex interactions that may occur between different components executing in different versions of the partition manager code. Determining these interactions may require extensive testing and it may be difficult or impossible to recreate some of the complex interactions when testing the concurrent update. As a result, some interactions may be complex enough that they prohibit an update from being applied concurrently.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and system for applying an update to a portion of partition manager code that does not require an IPL.

System quiesce for concurrent code updates

International Business Machines Corporation


Aspects of a method and system for redundancy-based decoding in 8-PSK GSM systems are provided. A burst process may utilize a gradient search equalization operation to process a received 8-PSK modulated symbol sequence. A frame process may generate a redundancy-based decoded output bit sequence based on the burst process results. Iterative steps of the gradient search equalization operation may be utilized to converge to the burst process results. The redundancy-based decoded output bit sequence of the frame process may be fed back to a subsequent burst process. Results from the subsequent burst process may be utilized to generate a subsequent redundancy-based decoded output bit sequence by a subsequent frame process. The fed-back redundancy-based decoded output bit sequence may be combined with results from a Viterbi equalization operation within the subsequent burst process. Symbol-to-bits and bits-to-symbol conversions may be utilized during the burst process and during the subsequent burst process.

In some conventional receivers, improvements may require extensive system modifications that may be very costly and, in some cases, may even be impractical. Determining the right approach to achieve design improvements may depend on the optimization of a receiver system to a particular modulation type and/or to the various kinds of noises that may be introduced by a transmission channel. For example, receiver optimization for wireless systems such as global system for mobile communication (GSM) and general packet radio systems (GPRS) may consider the characteristics of Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) modulation, while receiver optimization for enhanced data rate for GSM evolution (EDGE) systems may consider the characteristics of eight phase shift keying (8-PSK) modulation. In this regard, consideration may be given to, for example, the fact that EDGE system receivers may need to provide three times higher nominal bit rates than GSM receivers systems as 8-PSK modulation transmits three bits-per-symbol in contrast to one bit-per-symbol for GMSK modulation. Improvements in the design and implementation of optimized receivers for decoding convolutional encoded data may require modifications to the various algorithms used by these receivers.
Optimization of a receiver system may also be based on whether the signals being received, generally in the form of successive symbols or information bits, are interdependent. Signals received from, for example, a convolutional encoder, may be interdependent signals, that is, signals with memory. In this regard, a convolutional encoder may generate NRZI or continuous-phase modulation (CPM), which is generally based on a finite state machine operation.
One method or algorithm for signal detection in a receiver system that decodes convolutional encoded data is maximum-likelihood sequence detection or estimation (MLSE). The MLSE is an algorithm that performs soft decisions while searching for a sequence that minimizes a distance metric in a trellis that characterizes the memory or interdependence of the transmitted signal. In this regard, an operation based on the Viterbi algorithm may be utilized to reduce the number of sequences in the trellis search when new signals are received.
Another method or algorithm for signal detection of convolutional encoded data that makes symbol-by-symbol decisions is maximum a posteriori probability (MAP). The optimization of the MAP algorithm is based on minimizing the probability of a symbol error. In many instances, the MAP algorithm may be difficult to implement because of its computational complexity.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Method and system for redundancy-based decoding in 8-PSK GSM systems


Apparatus and method for drilling a drain hole from a well are provided. A flexible tubing used for conveying fluid to a jet bit is confined radially by a reduced-diameter tubing piece or a liner in production tubing near the diverter used to direct the flexible tubing. Concentric tubing pieces allow location of the bit in a well by measuring weight of a work string.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to jet drilling drain holes from well bores, primarily in oil and gas wells.
2. Description of Related Art
Oil and gas wells are usually drilled vertically and cased with steel pipe. Typical casing pipes are from 4.5 to 8 inches in diameter. In a typical short-radius jet drilling technique, a flexible tubing or hose attached to the bottom of small rigid tubing (work string) turns 90 degrees within a channel in a diverter attached to a larger (production) tubing inside the casing. Fluid is pumped through the work string, flexible tubing and a bit on the flexible tubing to drill drain holes that may extend 15 to 100 ft. or more from the casing into the rock formation. The drain holes allow more contact area with the rock formation, increasing the flow capacity of the well. Buckman (U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,948), Landers (U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,184) and others have developed short-radius drilling systems that have a radius of 4 inches or less, in which a jet bit (nozzle) and hose pass down through a tubing string in a vertical well to a diverter, which contains a path to deviate the jet bit and flexible hose to enable drilling deviated or horizontal laterals or drain holes in oil and gas wells.
There are limiting factors that can prevent a flexible hose from passing through a tight 90-degree turn in a 4-inch radius. Like coiled tubing, a flexible hose can sinusoidally, helically buckle, causing extra friction or drag. Reduction of friction between a flexible hose and surrounding pipe can allow more force to be applied at a bit. Excess friction may lead to "lockup." When lockup occurs, no matter how much force is applied the tubing can no longer move. If excessive force is continually applied from above in a larger tubular (well tubing) having sufficient diameter, the work string and the flex hose can "pass by itself," meaning that the flexible tubing turns enough to pass alongside the work string and inside the larger (production) tubing. In this condition, an observation at the surface of the work string rapidly going down the production tubing creates the illusion of jet drilling of the formation while the jet bit is not moving.
Another problem in conventional short-radius drilling is that a jet bit may "catch" inside threaded connections of jointed production tubing. If this occurs during the deployment of the jet bit and flex hose downhole, it has been observed that it is near impossible to complete the trip of the bit to the diverter.
A further problem is knowing when the jet bit is at the diverter and then in a position to be engaged at the formation. Without simple and precise knowledge of formation engagement one can falsely claim the drilling of a formation.
Method and apparatus are needed to eliminate the jet bit catching on tubing connections as it is inserted through the tubing down the well. A signal or indication at the surface is also needed when the jet bit encounters the diverter and the formation, and a technique to transmit greater axial force to the jet bit as it passes through the diverter and jet drills is needed.


The present invention provides a spray-drying granulation apparatus having a chamber comprising (a) an upper section which is a spray-drying section for spraying a feed solution from a nozzle and drying the formed droplets with hot air and (b) a lower section which is a fluidized granulation section, in which apparatus there is used, as the nozzle for spraying a feed solution, a two-fluid pressure nozzle comprising a centrifugal pressure nozzle for spraying a feed solution and a cylindrical pipe for blowing out a high-speed gas, provided around the centrifugal pressure nozzle. This spray-drying granulation apparatus enables spraying of even a feed solution of large volume with only one nozzle. Further with the two-fluid pressure nozzle of the apparatus, there is no need of replacement of nozzle parts when the feed rate, concentration, viscosity, kind, etc. of the feed solution are changed greatly, because the diameters of droplets formed by spraying can be controlled by controlling the speed of the high-speed gas, while in the conventional nozzles the replacement of nozzle parts such as orifice, core and the like has been necessary when the above change is made.

The present invention relates to a spray-drying granulation apparatus which accommodates both a spray dryer and a granulator in one chamber.
As the spraying nozzle of spray-drying granulation apparatus, there have conventionally been used a centrifugal pressure nozzle 3 as shown in FIG. 8 which has, at the back of the orifice, a section for generating a strong whirl flow of feed solution (this section is called core, whirl chamber or the like) to provide fine droplets and give a hollow cone-shaped spray pattern for good contact with hot air. Such a centrifugal pressure nozzle is used in, for example, a spray-drying granulation apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 and a spray-drying granulation apparatus as shown in FIG. 7 U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,093) in which a nozzle for binder spraying is provided in the fluidized granulation section in addition to the centrifugal pressure nozzle provided in the spray-drying section. However, there has been used no spraying nozzle capable of giving a narrow spraying angle and droplets having appropriately distributed diameters.
Generally in spray dryers, it is necessary to stabilize the temperature inside the spray-drying chamber, at the start of the operation, in order to prevent the product from scorching caused by excessive heating and assure thermal protection for the subsequent steps. For this purpose, water is sprayed using the same centrifugal pressure nozzle.
In conducting the water spraying, the amount of the water sprayed must correspond to the water content in feed solution. Since the water content in feed solution is generally 30-80% by weight, the amount of water sprayed is also 30-80% by weight based on the amount of feed solution to be sprayed. Consequently, the spraying pressure is reduced to about 10-70% because of the characteristics possessed by the centrifugal pressure nozzle although the pressure varies depending upon the viscosity of feed solution, etc. As a result, the water droplets formed are large making the drying difficult, and they stick to the inner wall of drying chamber in a liquid state and wet the wall. When the feed solution is sprayed successively, the dried powder particles stick thereonto and are solidifed.
Hence, means as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 have been employed conventionally.
FIG. 10 is a spray-drying granulation apparatus using a plurality of centrifugal pressure nozzles. In this apparatus, a plurality of centrifugal pressure nozzles 25 are provided at the top of the spray-drying chamber and, when water spraying is conducted, water is sprayed with only part of the nozzles 25 to avoid lower-pressure spraying.
FIG. 11 is a spray-drying granulation apparatus using a nozzle 26 for water spraying, independently from a nozzle 27 for feed solution spraying.
In the conventional centrifugal pressure nozzle 3 mentioned above, the spraying angle .alpha. is generally large and 40.degree.-90.degree., as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. When spraying is made from the centrifugal pressure nozzle 3, the inside 12 of the resulting hollow cone comes to have a negative pressure and the air 17 flows from the outside 16 of the hollow cone to the inside 12. This air movement allows the fine droplets 24 to be concentrated at the inner surface of the cone with the coarse droplets 23 remaining at the outer surface of the cone. The fine droplets 24 are dried easily. Meanwhile, the coarse droplets 23 are hard to dry, remain at the outer surface of the spray pattern, reach the lower portion 18 of the spray-drying section 1 with a large amount of water contained therein, and stick onto and accumulate at the lower portion 18, as shown in FIG. 9. As a result, the yield of product is low and, when the product is a substance of low heat resistance, such as food, medicine, organic compound or the like, the product gives rise to thermal deterioration, resulting in reduced quality. When excessive drying is made in order to avoid the above sticking and accumulation, the water content in each droplet is too low and granulation is not promoted.
In the conventional pressure nozzle having no section for generating a strong whirl flow, at the back of the orifice, the spraying angle can be made small. However, the droplets are too coarse and reach the fluidized granulation section without being substantially dried; as a result, no powder is produced and no fluidized layer is formed.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a known spray-drying granulation apparatus. When there is used a centrifugal pressure nozzle 3 as the spraying nozzle of the apparatus, granulation is not promoted unless each of the powder particles formed by spray-drying contain an appropriate amount (about 3-15% by weight) of water. When each powder particle is allowed to contain an appropriate amount of water, the coarse droplets formed by spraying are not sufficiently dried and stick onto the inner wall of the apparatus chamber because the spraying angle of nozzle is large.
Sticking can be avoided by making large the height of the straight cylindrical portion 14 of the apparatus chamber. However, it makes small the granulation rate in the fluidized granulation layer and consequently there is required a large fluidized layer. In the case of, in particular, substances (e.g. amino acid-containing substance) whose granulation is possible in a narrow water content range and which tend to stick outside said water content range, a high granulation rate is employed while avoiding sticking; hence, the selection of operating conditions is difficult.
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of other known spray-drying granulation apparatus. In this apparatus, the height of the straight cylindrical portion 14 is made large in order to solve the above-mentioned sticking problem; as a result, the powder particles have a low water content and the granulation rate is low. Hence, a two-fluid nozzle for binder spraying is provided for improved granulation. This has solved the sticking problem, but has made the apparatus larger and requires a larger space for apparatus installation. Further, use of a two-fluid pressure nozzle for binder spraying requires a large amount of compressed air. Furthermore, the apparatus cost is higher.
Further in the apparatus shown in FIG. 10, the distance between nozzles must be large and part of the nozzles uses no water. Consequently, the droplets do not spread uniformly, giving rise to humidity variation between droplets. Further, the nozzle(s) using no water incurs (incur) clogging.
Further in the apparatus shown in FIG. 11, the nozzle for feed solution spraying is neither cooled nor washed with water and incurs clogging with the feed solution.


A computer network for generating instructions for photomask manufacturing equipment, based on photomask specification data input by a customer. A series of order entry screens are downloaded to a remote customer's computer, typically via an internet connection. The customer is prompted to enter photomask specification data, which is delivered to computing equipment on the manufacturer's local network. The manufacturer's computing equipment validates the photomask specification data, and uses this data to generate fracturing instructions and equipment control instructions. The fracturing instructions, together with pattern design data from the customer, are delivered to a fracture engine, which provides fractured pattern data. The control instructions and the fractured pattern data may then be electronically delivered to the manufacturing equipment.

Photomasks are an integral part of the lithographic process of semiconductor manufacturing. Photomasks are quartz or glass plates that contain precision images of layers of integrated circuits. They are used to optically transfer the images to semiconductor wafers during photoresist exposure.
Photomasks require complex mathematical algorithms for their design and use sophisticated manufacturing techniques. To make a photomask, a customer, such as a chipmaker, provides the photomask manufacturer with circuit design data and photomask specifications. This data is used to generate photomask pattern data in a format appropriate for the manufacturing equipment. Each photomask is then created by using photolithographic techniques.
Conventionally, the data provided by the customer is in whatever format is convenient for the customer, based on the customer's design system. The circuit design data is typically from a CAD type system, with a design for each pattern. The data might be delivered to the manufacturer on various media, such as a floppy disk, magnetic tape, cassette, or via a modem connection. The photomask specifications might be in hardcopy form or in electronic form, on some sort of physical media delivered to the manufacturer, or delivered electronically. There is no guarantee that this customer-provided data will be complete or that it will result in a manufacturable photomask.

Network-based photomask data entry interface and instruction generator for manufacturing photomasks


Brain stimulation is used to promote or induce slow-wave activity thought to be associated with the restorative properties of sleep. In a preferred embodiment, transcranial magnetic stimulation is used to provide neural stimulation at a frequency approximating natural slow-wave activity.

The present invention relates to devices for promoting or inducing restorative sleep and, in particular, to a non-pharmacological method of promoting slow-wave activity in the brain thought to be essential for restful sleep.
The importance of regular, adequate restful sleep is well recognized, however, many people find it difficult to obtain the amount or quality of sleep they require. Generally, techniques for promoting restful sleep do not increase the efficiency of sleep, but still require an individual to obtain approximately eight hours of sleep for every 24 hours.
Conventional sleeping pills can facilitate the induction of a sleep-like state, but are generally ineffective in promoting the restful stages of sleep thought to be necessary to provide the full benefits of sleeping. Sleeping pills of all kinds have the disadvantage of being difficult to counteract if the person taking the sleeping pill needs to be roused unexpectedly, for example, when used by first responders, physicians who are on-call, or military personnel.
Stimulants, such as caffeine, may postpone the need for sleep, but increase a sleep deficit which must ultimately be repaid.

Method and apparatus for promoting restorative sleep


A charged particle beam system and scanning control method capable of imaging, and possibly editing, a device under test (DUT). The charged particle beam system contains a charged particle beam generation unit, such as a focused ion beam (FIB) column, which emits a charged particle beam onto the DUT. Also included is a scan controller arrangement implementing a finite state machine to control the application of the charged particle beam onto the DUT according to a plurality of scanning control parameters. The scanning control parameters may describe one or more scan regions that are rectangular in shape. Further, the parameters may describe one or more scan regions describing other shapes by way of a bit-map. Similarly, a method for controlling the scanning of a charged particle beam that involves obtaining a set of scanning control parameters, and then directing the charged particle beam as specified by the scanning control parameters by way of a finite state machine, is disclosed.

Focused ion beam, or "FIB," systems, represent a type of charged particle beam system that has become an important tool for integrated circuit (IC) manufacturers in bringing to the electronics marketplace highly reliable ICs that expand the bounds of capacity and performance.
To explain, a newly-designed custom IC typically is fabricated over a process of several weeks, involving preparation of silicon substrate wafers, generation of masks, doping of the silicon substrate, deposition of metal layers, and so on. Only after performing a long series of such steps is an actual IC produced for testing purposes.
Unfortunately, a new integrated circuit of any complexity rarely works as expected when first fabricated. Normally, some defects in the operation of the IC are discovered during testing. Also, some functions of the IC may operate properly under limited conditions, but fail when operated across a full range of temperature and voltage ranges in which the IC is expected to perform.
Once the IC has been tested, the designer may then make changes to the design, initiate the manufacture of a second prototype IC via the lengthy process described above, and then test the new IC once again. However, no guarantee exists that the design changes will correct the problems previously encountered, or that all of the problems in the previous version of the IC have been discovered.
To address these issues, IC manufacturers sometimes employ a FIB system to edit the prototype IC, thereby altering the connections between the transistors and other electronic structures embedded in the silicon layer of the device. By removing various sections of metal and other material to eliminate unwanted electrical connections, and by possibly adding metal segments to produce previously nonexistent circuit links, the design of the IC may be changed in a matter of a few hours or days instead of weeks, thereby greatly contracting the multiple-pass design-and-test cycle often employed to produce a defect-free IC.
Additionally, a FIB system is often used to generate an image of the integrated circuit. In conjunction with a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) layout of the various layers that make up the IC, a video image may be generated by the FIB system to aid in locating the specific areas of the IC that are to be edited. Use of such an image helps prevent editing mistakes which would normally render an IC useless.
With ICs generally becoming increasingly complex, and the number of transistors available within an IC continually growing, the use of a FIB system for imaging and editing an IC for altering the circuit design of the IC without engaging in multiple passes of the normal design-and-test cycle is well-known to improve overall time-to-market.
Generally speaking, FIB systems employ a high-powered, focused beam of metal ions, such as gallium, impinging the surface of an IC to provide the aforementioned imaging and editing capabilities. The width of the beam is typically on the order of a few nanometers so that extremely small features of the IC may be edited without unintended damage to the surrounding portions of the circuit. The beam is normally moved by electrostatic deflection of the beam by electronic control over the surface of the IC in a raster fashion. In other words, the beam is deflected across the surface in a series of closely-spaced horizontal parallel line segments, called "scan lines," which together typically cover a rectangular area of the IC, called a "scan frame" or "edit box." Along each scan line, the ion beam remains momentarily focused on each of a series of locations, called "pixels." Accordingly, the length of time the ion beam remains focused on a particular pixel, called the "pixel dwell time," determines the amount of etching or deposition that occurs on each impacted pixel of the DUT. The analog deflection of the beam, which ultimately determines the area to be scanned, the speed of the scan, the pixel dwell time, and so on, is typically controlled digitally by a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), or similar software-driven algorithmic processor.
While the use of a microprocessor, DSP or similar device allows programmable, direct control of the focused ion beam in a FIB system, the potential speed and functionality of FIB system operation typically is restricted compared to a more hardware-intensive solution, thus possibly limiting the overall throughput and functional capability of the FIB system to edit an IC. For example, the pixel dwell time for current FIB systems typically is maintained constant throughout an entire scanning frame, and is normally determined by the size of the frame (or edit box) and the current of the ion beam. Modification of the pixel dwell time on a per-line or per-pixel basis, given typical dwell times on the order of 50–100 nsec, generally is not possible for even the fastest processors or DSPs, given the amount of overhead incurred in terms of the number of clock cycles required to execute each instruction of the software controlling the ion beam. In most FIB systems, limits on the number and length of the scan lines, the amount of pixel "overlap," and other scanning parameters are also prevalent.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for an improved charged particle beam scanning control method and apparatus.

Enhanced scanning control of charged particle beam systems


A molded rotor assembly (20) for a vehicle alternator and method for making the same are disclosed. The rotor assembly includes first and second pole pieces (24,26) aligned along a longitudinal axis (40), the pair of pole pieces (24,26) defining a region therebetween. A coil wire (46) is located in the region. The pole pieces (24,26) and a slip ring assembly (36) are mounted on a rotor shaft (38). The slip ring assembly (36) has a pair of slip rings (102,104) connected to a pair of terminals (96,98) which are attached to respective free ends of the coil wire (46) to form a pair of connections (126,128). A molded insert (22) is injection molded filling the region between the pole pieces (24,26) thereby encapsulating the connections (126,128) and the coil wire (96) and forming a smooth cylindrical periphery on the rotor assembly (20).

Rotor assemblies for vehicle alternators are often of a claw-pole type design. These rotor assemblies typically include a pair of annular pole pieces aligned along a longitudinal axis and having bores at their centers. Each of the pole pieces has on its radial periphery a number of axially extending fingers giving that pole piece a claw-like appearance. A coil wire is wound about an annular bobbin forming a bobbin assembly. The bobbin assembly is placed in a region formed between the pole pieces. The pole pieces are mounted on a rotor shaft with the fingers of the respective pole pieces being interleaved with one another. The coil wire, bobbin and pole pieces are coated with a varnish and then baked to hold the coil wires in a fixed position relative to one another.
A slip ring assembly is also mounted on the rotor shaft. The slip ring assembly has a pair of axially spaced slip rings which are adapted to mate with exterior brushes. The slip ring assembly includes a pair of terminals which are connected to respective slip rings. A pair of stamped metal fans is then attached to the axially outboard faces of each pole piece.
The rotor assembly is mounted inside a stator and an alternator housing to form an alternator. When voltage is supplied to the slip ring assembly and the rotor assembly is rotated, the rotor assembly induces the flow of current in the windings of the stator. This current is output from the alternator. Heat generated by current flowing through the coil wire and windings is carried away by air currents, created by the rotation of the fans, through perforations in the alternator housing.
Alternators, constructed as described above, have several shortcomings. First, the high speed rotation of the rotor assembly within the alternator housing creates a significant amount of noise. A portion of this noise is originated by air flowing between the pole pieces and the bobbin assembly during rotor assembly rotation. Likewise, during operation of the alternator, the fingers of the pole pieces may vibrate radially due to forces associated with changing magnetic fields, thereby creating additional noise. An annular support ring, made from a nonmagnetic material, is often placed within the interleaving fingers to provide radial support to the fingers thereby reducing vibration and noise. Also, separate spacer pieces, configured to fit between the interleaving fingers, are sometimes placed between the pieces to reduce air flow disturbance resulting from the nonuniform surface of the rotor.
Second, connections formed between the terminals of the slip ring assembly and the respective ends of the coil wire are subject to failure. The high speed rotation of the rotor assembly, which may be on the order of 18,000-23,000 RPM, subjects the connections to substantial acceleration forces. As these connections are generally isolated from and are not supported by the rest of the rotor assembly, fatigue failures of the connections may occur, with corresponding failure of the entire alternator. Consequently, the alternator must be disassembled, the connections repaired, and the alternator reassembled. Alternatively, the alternator must be completely replaced. In either case, the repair or replacement is expensive and time consuming.
The present invention addresses problems associated with the above-identified shortcomings.

Molded rotor assembly for an alternator and method for making the same


Disclosed are novel muteins of IL-1 compounds which can be used to regulate excess IL-1 produced in various diseases in humans and animals. The IL-1 muteins can be prepared by site-directed mutagenesis whereby a positively charged residue is replaced with a negatively charged or neutral residue at a designated position in the molecule. The resulting IL-1 muteins have reduced biological activity but retain receptor binding affinity.

Despite the fact that alpha- and beta-interleukin-1 molecules show limited amino acid homology (Auron, P. E. et al. [1985] J. Mol. Cell Immunol. 2:169-177; Webb, A. C., L. J. Rosenwasser, P. E. Auron [1987] In: Recombinant Lymphokines and Their Receptors, S. Gillis, ed., Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, pp. 139-158), the proteins bind to the same membrane receptor protein (Dower, S. K. et al. [1986] Nature 324:266-268; Kilian, P. L. et al. [1986] J. Immunol. 136:4509-4514), which has recently been cloned (Sims, J. E. et al. [1988] Science 241:585-588). Human IL-1.beta. protein is synthesized as a 31,000 dalton precursor protein (proIL-1.beta.; 269 amino acids) which binds receptor specifically and has relatively low, but distinct biological activity (Jobling, S. A. et al. [1988] J. Biol. Chem. 263:16732-16738). ProIL-1.beta. is processed by undefined mechanisms to generate the mature protein (IL1(117-269 )), which has maximal biological activity. The numbering system used here is based upon the 269-amino acid unprocessed proIL-1.beta. precursor molecule (Jobling et al., 1988; Auron, P. E. et al. [1984] Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81:7907-7911). The processed "mature" form of IL-1.beta. corresponds to positions 117-269. The crystal structure of human IL-1.beta. (Priestle, J. P., H. P. Schar, M. G. Grutter [1988] EMBO J. 7:339-343) has been described as a tetrahedron with edges formed by antiparallel .beta.-strands, but the amino acids which interact with receptor have not been defined. It is very likely that the biological activity of IL-1.beta. is tightly linked to the structural integrity of the protein molecule, for deletion of amino acids from the mature protein is accompanied by severe diminution of bioactivity. Several groups have introduced point mutations in an attempt to probe receptor ligand interactions (Jobling et al., 1988; Dechiara, T. M. et al. [1986] Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:8303-8307; Mosley, B., S. K. Dower, S. Gillis, D. Cosman [1987] Proc. Natl. Acad Sci. USA 84:4572-4576). Huang et al. (Huang, J. J. et al. [1987] FEBS Letters 223:294-298) reported that the biological activity of IL-1.beta. was increased four- to seven-fold by changing the native NH.sub.2 -terminal sequence from ala-pro-val-arg-ser to thr-met-val-arg-ser; however, further alteration of arginine.sub.120 to generate thr-met-val-glu-ser effectively abolished bioactivity. Circular dichroism data demonstrated no major structural differences among the proteins. Gronenborn et al. (Gronenborn, A. M., P. T. Wingfield, H. F. McDonald, U. Schmeissner, G. M. Clore [1988] FEBS Letters 231:135-138) mutated IL-1-alpha histidine and tryptophan residues without effect upon receptor binding affinity, while MacDonald et al. (MacDonald, H. R. et al. [1986] FEBS Letters 209:295-298) reported IL-1 histidine muteins with 2-100 fold less competitive binding activity than the wild-type protein. Although receptor binding affinity and bioactivity are, in general, correlated, the relationship is apparently not always direct.

Interleukin-1 muteins, their preparation and method of use to inhibit interleukin-1 activity

New England Medical Center Hospitals, Inc.


A latch plate for use with a seat belt and seat belt buckle, the latch plate comprising: a metal load-bearing plate including a generally flat tongue engageable with a locking feature of the seat belt buckle, a first portion of the bearing plate, rearward of the tongue, having a first surface, the first surface including a lateral extending rearward edge; the bearing plate, in a second portion thereof, including an integrally formed tab having a laterally extending forward edge, the forward edge of the tab overlaying the rearward edge of the first surface, the tab being spaced a determinable distance from the first surface defining a thin channel or opening therebetween through which the seat belt is received, the distance being sufficiently narrow to lessen the likelihood of the seat belt becoming twisted in the channel.

The invention generally relates to safety restraint devices and more particularly to an anti-roping latch plate.
Reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 2, which illustrate a prior art latch plate 20. The latch plate comprises a tongue portion 22 having a first latching feature 24 such as an opening, which is engageable by a locking mechanism of a buckle. The latch plate 20 further includes a rear or plate portion 26 having an oblong opening 28 of sufficient size to permit the seat belt 30 to extend therethrough. The rearward end 26a of plate 26 is often bent away from the plane of the tongue as illustrated in FIG. 2. While not illustrated, to reduce the wear on the seat belt 30, the latch plate 20 in the vicinity of opening 28 may be covered by a low-friction plastic coating.
Over time as the vehicle occupant buckles and unbuckles the seat belt about his or her body, the seat belt often curls upon itself or otherwise twists in the opening 28. In the industry, this curling, twisting, or folding of the seat belt is called xe2x80x9croping.xe2x80x9d
It is an object of the present invention to provide a seat belt that is less prone to roping.
Accordingly the invention comprises: a latch plate for use with a seat belt and seat belt buckle, comprising: a metal load-bearing plate including a tongue engageable with a locking feature of the seat belt buckle, the load-bearing plate also defining a belt receiving opening located between first and second generally parallel surfaces, the first and second parallel surfaces defining a channel to guide the seat belt as it exits the belt receiving opening.
Many other objects and purposes of the invention will be clear from the following detailed description of the drawings.


An optical disk device for projecting laser light emitted from a laser light source on an optical disk to reproduce information has a support shaft which is disposed nearly parallel with an optical axis of the laser light. The support shaft is fixed on a mount. A lens holder is rotatably disposed around the support shaft and reciprocally movable along the support shaft as well as holding an objective lens for converging the laser light upon a recording plane of the optical disk. The device also includes a tracking drive for energizing the rotation movement of the lens holder, and a focusing drive for energizing the reciprocative movement along the support shaft of the lens holder. An optical path length changing member is provided which has a change region where an optical path length is changed when the laser light is transmitted therethrough and an unchanged region where an optical path length is not changed when the laser light is transmitted therethrough is located closer to the optical disk than the lens holder and rotatably disposed around the support shaft and reciprocally movable along the support shaft. Completing the device is a linking mechanism for variably effecting the engagement or disengagement of the optical path length changing member with the lens holder.

Conventionally, there is a technique that two optical disks with a thickness half that of a normal optical disk are fixed together to produce a high-density optical disk. There has been developed an optical disk device which is applicable to both a normal optical disk and such a high-density optical disk. For example, Japanese patent application laid-open No. 6-282866(1994) discloses an optical disk device with a transparent plate which can be releasably placed on the optical path of laser light to be projected so as to change the optical path length from an optical head to a recording plane of an optical disk between a normal optical disk and a high-density optical disk.
However, the optical disk device disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 6-282866(1994) has problems in that the mechanism for releasably positioning the transparent plate requires a separate driving source inside the optical disk device which prevents miniaturizing the device complicates the device structure and increases the number of parts.
On the other hand, in this optical disk device, an objective lens of the optical head is driven to perform the focusing operation to change the distance (working distance) from there to the optical disk. However, the distance from the transparent plate to the optical disk is fixed when the transparent plate is located in the optical path of laser light. Therefore, when the driving distance of the objective lens is greatly increased due to a great plane pitching of the optical disk, the objective lens may contact the transparent plate.

Optical disk device with optical path length changing member


A comparator includes a first amplification unit suitable for differentially amplifying a pixel signal and a ramp signal, a second amplification unit suitable for amplifying a signal outputted from the first amplification unit and outputting a comparison result, a current control unit suitable for controlling a current flow in response to the comparison result and a current compensation and noise removal unit suitable for compensating for current and removing noise under control of the current control unit.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an image sensor circuit, and more particularly, to a comparator capable of current compensation and noise reduction, and an analog-to-digital converter using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
At the present time, with an increase in demands for a high frame rate of an image sensor, a read-out scheme of the image sensor has been changed from a serial analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) to a column parallel ADC in order to reflect the demands.
A single-slope ADC (SS-ADC) adapts the column parallel ADC scheme. In the column parallel ADC structure, since an ADC is arranged to each of columns, many more ADCs are necessary as an image size increases.
For this reason, the aforementioned conventional art has a concern that power noise such as current noise, which is generated in one column, is reflected in an image by an amount corresponding to the total number of columns (for example, about 2500 columns in a 5M CMOS image sensor). The power noise reflected in the image results in horizontal noise (HN). Furthermore, the conventional art has a concern that output noise is generated in every comparator of the ADC arranged at each of columns. The output noise is voltage noise kicked back from an output terminal of the comparator through a parasitic capacitor.

Comparator and analog-to-digital converter using the same


An ultrasonic wave having a narrow directive angle and an ultrasonic wave having a wide directive angle are transmitted in water by two ultrasonic transducers, echo signals to the ultrasonic waves having the narrow and wide angles are displayed by the two luminous elements in unity in a flasher display, whereby the condition of fishes in the water can be seen widely.

The present invention relates to a flasher type fish sonar in which two ultrasonic waves having wide and narrow directive angles are transmitted in water and the echo signals of the two ultrasonic waves reflected in the water are received and flashed in the same portions of a flasher display by different colors.
Generally, in the fish sonar, when an ultrasonic transducer is put in the water and an ultrasonic pulse wave is transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer to the water, the ultrasonic pulse wave is propagated to the bottom of the water by conically spreading in an angle (a directive angle), one part of the echo ultrasonic pulse wave reflected by fishes and the residual echo ultrasonic pulse wave reflected by the bottom in the water are returned to the ultrasonic transducer and are converted to the electric signal in the ultrasonic transducer. Then, the time difference between the transmitting of the ultrasonic pulse wave and the receiving of the echo ultrasonic pulse wave is displayed as a distance information by a display means and we can see the fishes and the bottom in the water.
In such a fish sonar, when the transmitted ultrasonic pulse wave has one frequency (one directive angle), the distance between the water surface and the fishes in the directive angle of the ultrasonic pulse wave is detected by the position relation between the surface and the bottom in the water. However, the bottom and the fishes in the water, which are removed from the directive angle of the ultrasonic pulse wave, cannot be detected.
Also, there is proposed a fish sonar in which the two ultrasonic pulse waves having different frequencies and the wide and narrow directive angles are transmitted to the water by the ultrasonic transducers and the echo ultrasonic waves are received by the ultrasonic transducers and are displayed in the separate display portions of the display means. However, the fish positions must be decided by comparing the separated pictures with each other.


A method is provided for determining the best combination of components/supplies/goods matched to a price provided by a supplier of those components/supplies/goods, such that costs are minimizing subject to a given supply function, fixed costs and various considerations that can be factored into a selection criteria. More specifically, a Lagrangian function is minimized subject to the supply function and an ensemble of costing formulations are considered subject to weighting factors as applied to a variety of criteria to arrive at an optimized selection of components/supplies/goods.

Selection of supplies from a collection of suppliers, given a host of variable considerations, can be a daunting task. Often, as the size of a production project increases, so does the general complexity. Component reliability, component performance, supplier reputation, price, quantity requirements, second and/or third supply source availability, and maintenance support all figure prominently in product and supplier selection. Given constraints based on these factors, a method, system and apparatus are needed in order to ensure that selection of products and suppliers are optimized.
Applicable reference numbers and symbols have been carried forward.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Optimized component selection for project completion


A facetting area setting device for setting a facetting area so as to perform a facetting on an edge corner of an eyeglass lens which has been finished, includes: an input unit that inputs a target lens shape; a display unit that displays a front outline graphic based on the input target lens shape; a position setting unit that sets at least three points in the displayed front outline graphic; and an area setting unit that sets a facetting area on the basis of the input target lens shape and the set points. The area setting unit sets the facetting area by joining the set points with at least one of a straight line and a curved line.

The present invention relates to a facetting area setting device for setting a facetting area of an eyeglass lens and an eyeglass lens processing apparatus having the same.
There has been suggested an apparatus for facetting an edge corner of an eyeglass lens, which has been finished, to be attached to a rimless frame such as a two-points frame and a Nylor frame (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,460 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-126983). In such an apparatus, there are a need for an increase in efficiency of a series of processing works and particularly a need for an increase in efficiency of a processing condition setting work.

Facetting area setting device and eyeglass lens processing apparatus


A first data stream for a first data transmission system having a first data rate contains ATM data cells and structural data, which are distributed as spaced apart data in accordance with a specified instruction and are assigned to a section including in each case a plurality of ATM data cells. While retaining its ATM data cell format, the first data stream is converted into a second data stream containing only ATM data cells for a second data transmission system having a second data rate which is higher than the first data rate. The structural data are thereby selected (or picked out) from the first data stream and are input into a marked structural cell having the ATM cell format, for the section. The structural cell is inserted into the second data stream to partially fill an unoccupied section resulting from the differing data rates.

Data transmission technology has been implemented which uses different dataorganization structures for data streams. An organizational structure that is becoming more and more prevalent in conjunction with the increasingly widespread broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) is the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), in which the data cells of the data stream are structured in the ATM cell format (referred to in the following as: ATM data cells). The fundamentals of the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) are described, for example, in "Grundlagen der Vermittlungstechnik" Fundamentals of Switching Technology!, by G. Siegmund, Decker Publishers, 1992, pp. 377-389 and in the German Laid Open Document No. A1-40 12 850. The ATM data cells have a header used, inter alia, for addressing, identification, and testing, and a payload to which useful data can be allocated. Measuring and testing devices are known (e.g., from the catalog "The First Total Testing Solution for Broadband", No. 5091-7305E, 1993, of the firm HEWLETT PACKARD with the designation HP 75 000 or from the catalog "ATM Test System ME3505A", No. ME 3505A-1, 1990, of the firm ANRITSU CORP., TOKYO, JAPAN), which test data transmission and/or data processing systems, whose data streams are comprised exclusively of ATM data cells (referred to in the following as pure ATM data cell stream). These devices have an interface, via which the ATM data cells are read into an input stage of the measuring or testing device for further evaluation and, if indicated, can be output, as needed, together with measuring results via an output stage of the measuring device. It is customary for the input stage and the output stage to be linked with one another via a so-called "local bus" to exchange data.
From "ntz", Vol. 45, 1992, issue 2, p. 92, a generator-analyzer application for ATM data cells is known, whereby an interface module accesses a B-ISDN transmission line in order to analyze or generate a data stream of two ATM data cells. The interface module thereby separates call signals from the data signals. Subsequently, only the ATM cell-structured data signals are analyzed by an external device (e.g. a logic analyzer), while a further processing, evaluation and/or manipulation of the separated call signals and/or of control signals are not mentioned and apparently are not possible.
Already installed data transmission or data processing systems work with so-called PDH (plesiochronous digital hierarchy) transmission processes, which do not use any ATM data cells, but rather data streams. Besides the useful data, the data streams additionally contain frame-forming structural data. With respect to the term "plesiochronous", reference is made to "Pulstechnik" Pulse Technology!, E. Holzer/ H. Holzwarth, Springer Publishers, 1984, page 312. In this publication two signals are described as being "plesiochronous" with respect to one another when their clock pulse frequencies deviate only slightly from one another within specified limits. The fundamentals and bit rates of hierarchical processes known per se are described in CCITT Rec., vol. III, fascicle III.3, G.702. The structural data are allocated in each case to a section of the data stream consisting of a plurality of data and are distributed in accordance with a specified instruction as spaced apart data (or cyclically interleaved data) in the data stream.
An increasing need is expected for installed systems to be operated with a data stream containing data cells in a PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy) frame. In such a data stream, the structural data are distributed on a byte by byte basis in the stream of the ATM data cells. The structural data (PDH frame information) interrupt and divide the ATM cells (for example within the payloads of the ATM data cells). Because the structural data contained in the data stream are spaced apart, a data stream of this type is not suited for direct testing by means of a device designed for pure ATM data streams. In accordance with CCITT Rec. G.7xx and G.7zz or ETSI DE/TM-3007, 2, 34 or 140 mbit/s are used as data transmission rates (data rates or bit rates) in the case of PDH-framed ATM data cell streams. On the other hand, a data rate of 155 mbit/s is recommended for the pure ATM data stream.
To be able to further process the structural data and the measuring results obtained from this data in an existing measuring device, which, as described at the outset, is designed for pure ATM data cells, it would be conceivable, in principle, to feed this data into the local bus of the measuring device. This would be comparatively expensive, however, since in the case of the measuring device, the bus structure would have to be altered accordingly, which can lead to conflicts with measuring modules contained in the measuring device.
The German Laid Open Document No. A1-41 21 863 discloses a process for operating a buffer memory, in the case of which plesiochronous digital signals read in on the input side are adapted to a data rate required on the output side, in that filler or stuffing (bit rate justification) bits are inserted, as needed, in place of data bits at defined positions of the emitted, non-cell-structured data stream. Details about the contents of the filler or stuffing bits are not included in the German Laid Open Document No. A1-41 29 863.

Process for converting digital data streams having an ATM cell structure


Systems and methods are provided for loading data from a database into a task database, via a stage database. One exemplary method includes accessing a backup database where the backup database includes multiple flat files and where each of the multiple flat files includes data and having a filename. The method also includes appending, by a computing device, the filename of one of the multiple flat files to an index stored in the computing device and changing a global variable associated with a data loader for the one of the multiple flat files to the filename. The method then further includes loading the data from the one of the multiple flat files into a stage database in memory of the computing device and transferring the loaded data in the stage database to a task database, thereby making the data available to queries associated with tasks relying on the loaded data.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
In connection with payment network transactions, for a given payment network, a substantial volume of transaction data is generated, compiled, and stored in one or more data structures. The data structures may be utilized to perform certain operations related to the payment networks, such as, for example, clearing and settlement. Additional tasks, which may further rely on the transaction data, include, for example, fraud analytics, advertising analytics and/or incentives analytics. Often, the data structures are accessed for only the data included therein that is needed to perform the tasks, such that unnecessary or undesired data is not accessed. What's more, sizes of the data structures are known to impact the ability of computing device(s) to access the data in the data structures, whereby time to perform the tasks is often related to the sizes of the data structures. With that said, several tools exist for the management and/or handling of data structures having significant amounts of data included therein. One example tool is the IBM™ DB2 Analytics Accelerator (IDAA), by IBM™.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Systems and methods for use in loading data from backup databases to task databases