A connection is provided between logical macros to allow prioritization of operations in accordance with an arbitration scheme that distinguishes between operations based on such factors as priority or size of transaction. The invention allows connection of logical macros and prioritizes the appropriate operation for the resources available to optimize data throughput to optimize the utilization of multiple buses. A first arbiter manages data transmissions over a first communication bus. Arriving short or high-priority messages are transmitted over a second communication bus managed by a second arbiter, but only if the target logical macro is not the same as currently targeted by the first arbiter.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related in general to data communications systems. In particular, the invention consists of a system for transmitting data from multiple-source logical macros to multiple-target logical macros utilizing a plurality of data buses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Transmitting data between logical macros can be problematic as multiple-source logical macros may contend for available bandwidth. Traditionally, communication between logical macros occurs via point-to-point networks over through buses. In a bus-oriented communication system, only one source device may communicate with one target device at any given time. Various resource allocation algorithms have been employed to manage competition for the data bus, such as the banker's algorithm or the round-robin schema. In a round-robin environment, each requesting device is given a turn at communicating over the bus, regardless of the length or importance of the communication. Bottlenecks occur if short or high-priority messages get queued behind large and time-consuming transmissions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,994, Hofman et al. disclose a system and method for optimizing data transfers between devices interconnected by buses operating at different clocking speeds. Hofman discloses taking advantage of unused clock cycles by differentiating between devices operating at different clock speeds. However, additional hardware is required to detect the clock speed ratio and, if a difference is detected, a cycle control detection circuit is used to transmit data to high speed and low speed devices on separate buses. It would be advantageous, however, to have a system for improving data transmission performance without utilizing different clock frequencies.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,559, So et al. disclose a technique for processor optimization utilizing unused instructions. So's approach includes dynamic balancing of computational resources, analyzing the scalability of system resources, reallocation of peripheral functions, modularization of resources, and performance modification by varying the available processor instructions. Additional hardware is required, including a digital-signal processor, to increase communication performance. Virtual service processors are utilized in a dynamic architecture to overcome bus latency issues by buffering data during busy cycles and transmitting data when the bus becomes available. This is accomplished by utilizing the virtual service processors to convert software tasks into threads and sub-tasks and implementing preemptive multi-tasking, allowing one task to be preempted to allow execution of another of higher priority. It would be advantageous, however, to improve data transmission without extensive preprocessing and reorganization of data.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,153, Pimm et al. disclose a repeater interlock scheme for transactions between two buses including transaction and interlock buffers to prevent deadlock conditions. However, only one interlock read transaction may be transmitted to memory. If a second interlock read command is received, the memory returns a busy confirmation. This busy confirmation cannot be cleared until an unlock memory write signal is received. A deadlock occurs because the unlock memory write signal will not be detected until the second interlock read command is processed. Conversely, the second interlock read command cannot be processed until the unlock memory write clears the memory lock. Therefore, the unlock memory write is stuck behind the interlock read command. This problem is solved by using an interlock state bit and an interlock buffer residing in the repeater hardware. It would be advantageous to solve this problem, however, independent of system architecture and macros connected to the bus controller.

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods, systems and articles of manufacture of processing a multi-state attribute field query. One embodiment provides a method of processing a multi-state attribute field query, comprising instantiating a plurality of live objects; performing, by each live object, an attribute operation, wherein at least one attribute operation is a comparison operation associated with attributes of the query. The plurality of live objects access a global status storage area only when an operand of the comparison operation is null or error. In any case, execution control is passed from each live object to an adjacent live object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of data processing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system and article of manufacture for processing queries on database record multi-state fields.
2. Background
A database is an organized collection of data records that can be readily searched, sorted and updated. The database is often logically arranged as tables identified by table names, with columns identified by column names and rows of records. Access to the database is typically managed by a software application known as a database management system (DBMS). RDBMS are a particular type of database management system (DBMS) applying a tuple and field architecture and have grown to be the dominant form of DBMS.
Before the advent of networks, RDBMS were employed on standalone computers, providing limited location service of data needs. However, RDBMS applications have continued to grow with and on the different hardware and network architectures to provide the organization of data, storage, updating, programmed and on demand retrieval of requested information based on the data in storage. For example, in a distributed computing environment, an application running on a first computer may require access to a database residing on a second computer. The computers each include some form of memory and a processor for the storage and execution of instructions, but they are also interconnected through communications equipment to collectively form a computer network so that they may share information. A three-tier model for database access is a common computer network architecture. As the name implies, the three-tier model includes three layers of processing, namely (1) a client, (2) a server and (3) a database server. A person, using a client application program that needs to access a database, will be using the client. For example, the client application may be an Internet browser and the database may be a directory of an Internet search engine. The client host communicates a request to the server host. The request typically includes a uniform resource locator (URL) that identifies the server host, the communications protocol, and the desired resource. The server determines the location of the database and establishes a connection to the database host, to include any handshaking necessary to secure the connection. Thereafter, the server machine relays the request to the database server. The request is managed by a DBMS also located on the database server. The requested data is transmitted from the database host to the server host, and it is thereafter relayed to the client where it is used by the client application program.
Computer communication occurs over one or more of the seven network layers provided using many public and proprietary protocols. A common method to exploit RDBMS applications evolved in the form of a 4th Generation Language (4GL) called Structured Query Language (SQL). RDBMS application level requests and responses are submitted in SQL format syntax, usually at the application layer. The functions provided by a RDBMS are driven partly by user commands sent to it in SQL. SQL is not itself a DBMS nor a stand-alone product, but an integral product of an RDBMS which facilitates communication with the DBMS. Structured query language is also a standard protocol for accessing databases and records. SQL can be used to formulate a database interface statement for subsequently executing a database transaction. SQL includes features that allow users to query, update, insert data into, and delete data from, a database. User requests to a DBMS are made in the form of an SQL command or statement.
SQL is not a "complete" computer language in that is does not have a complete complement of constructs normally attributed to a computer language. Inside the RDBMS application, SQL commands are generally parsed and translated into intermediate languages, which can then embed and expand requests/commands in a language less user friendly but richer in lower or system level constructs. Moreover, the intermediate language can differ with implementation without changes to the SQL.
Because databases can be extremely large containing millions of records and more, even one SQL command requesting a result set can produce an operation requirement in the RDBMS that includes the access, retrieval, manipulation or storage of many millions of records. Accordingly, even small changes which reduce the time of an operational step repetitively employed over millions of times in the overall process of obtaining results can significantly affect the performance of an RDBMS and consequently user response time. Response time is a function of the RDBMS internal tasks of parsing, interpreting, searching, finding, retrieving, calculating, formulating and returning results. These programming tasks are typically accomplished in high level programming languages such as C, C++, JAVA and others. Any of these tasks may use common routines in these languages, which can strategically be made more efficient through algorithmic streamlining. These incremental efficiencies, even when conceptually or programmatically small, can have significant impacts on overall RDBMS performance.
The SQL statement can have four basic root "data manipulation language" commands (SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT, and DELETE)) with a myriad of qualifiers also called clauses, aggregates and logic. These produce expressions, which allow users to define what information in the database is to be accessed and how the access or results are to be viewed. SQL expressions can be arbitrarily complex and various. The software implementing the SQL parser and downstream programmable source code must be able to dynamically interpret and execute the query. This is typically done by a compiled program parsing the SQL expression and encoding this expression into an intermediate language instruction stream. However, the bookkeeping involved with this implementation can be substantial and ways to improve performance at any of these levels are needed. Such bookkeeping may include identifying tokens, buffering of temporary variables and data, function call ordering and placing or program stack, instantiating objects for intermediate component operations, executing stack operations, keeping track of relationships between intermediate components and operations, executing the intermediate operations and applying the requested logical operations, etc.
The four basic SQL commands use clauses and qualifiers to filter out record or rows from a query and include only those wanted in the query results. For example, an SQL WHERE clause is used to specify in more detail those records of interest. The following are illustrative SQL statements using a SELECT command with a WHERE clause:    SELECT city, sales, target FROM offices WHERE sales>target;    SELECT name, sales, quota FROM salesreps WHERE empl_num=100;
City, sales, target, name, quota and empl_num are typically associated with fields or attributes in a database table. Thus, a query with fields which can have different values or attributes is called a multi-state variable query. Offices and salesreps are tables in a database. Even one SQL statement can have many logical comparisons, range tests, membership tests and pattern matching, relationship tests and/or arithmetic tests. From these simple SELECT statements, it is clear that this process can be a significant task when multiplied over millions of records.
WHERE clauses as well as other SQL constructs, can have many field comparisons, logical operations, range tests, membership tests, pattern matches and arithmetic operations. These may have to be done repeatedly for many records. Some of these records may have a null field (missing data) or one that can give the SQL statement cause to return an error due to anomalous data such as data causing a divide by zero or out of range error. This can occur at anytime and wastes previous work done by not processing the remaining records or otherwise intelligently handling the nullity or error. Therefore, ways are needed to transform nulls and errors produced by field variables to manageable True/False logic without impairing the process progress or process integrity.
User SQL commands, statements, requests or clauses are parsed and processed by computer programs built from software applications running on various computers and computer systems. Although built to handle the SQL statements for a particular common industry standard syntax and grammar, software applications are uniquely architectured from a programming standpoint to achieve different goals and to comply with different programming philosophies and methodologies. Many SQL parsers use the interpretive method of accepting and processing SQL statements sequentially. Using the interpretive method, each statement is completely translated and executed before the next statement without building an object file and executable program.
One problem with the foregoing approach is the resulting substantial bookkeeping overhead required for such an implementation. Once the instruction stream is generated, much of the program logic is structured and an interpretation phase is setup to respond along prescribed paths. For example, when encountering Boolean logical operators such as AND and OR the execution logic may be set to only handle True and False. The generated instruction stream poses limitations to implementations which force a less than optimal approach when encountering nulls or errors. These approach limitations dictate function calls, returns and return handling, temporary buffers, larger working sets etc. What is needed is a more streamlined implementation of this process which reduces function calls, stack space use, cycle time, returned call handling, path length and all around working set size while operating under the dynamic input response requirements of the application.

Method for efficient processing of multi-state attributes


The apparatus for reading a luminescence pattern is equipped with a stage on which the sample to be read is mounted. A photoreceptor disk is installed in the lower part of the stage and scans and condenses light from the luminescent pattern of the sample at positions determined by the rotation of a rotary plate. A transport mechanism causes the stage and the photoreceptor disk to undergo relative motion. An optical guide part guides the light from the luminescent pattern to a photoelectric converter. The optical guide part may include mirrors or one or more optical fibers. The photoelectric converter converts the light into an electrical signal. A controller controls how scanning is performed by the photoreceptor disk and transport mechanism and generates a read scanning position signal. A data processor performs data processing by converting the electrical signal into a digital signal and obtains a scanning position signal from the controller. Additionally, a laser light source may be used to shine laser light onto an electrophoresis gel of the sample.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for reading a luminescence pattern that scans a faint luminescence pattern emitted from a planar sample by scanning it with a rotary disk.
Gel electrophoresis analysis methods have hitherto been widely used for the differentiation and structural analysis of biological macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. In the gel electrophoresis, they are analyzed by exploiting the principle that the migration distance of a sample in electrophoresis differs according to its molecular weight. This analysis method is appropriate for the analysis of minute sample quantities, and in general the sample amounts that can be obtained using gel electrophoresis are therefore often limited. In such cases there is a particular requirement for reliability and high sensitivity in the analysis process.
Reliability is an important concern when only a small amount of sample is available, and so electrophoresis patterns have hitherto been read by using a radioisotope to label the sample to be analyzed before it is injected into the gel where electrophoresis is performed, after which the gel is pasted to an X-ray film or the like which is thereby exposed, and this X-ray film is developed to bring out the pattern exposed by the radioisotope, which is then read.
However, radioisotopes are dangerous and must be handled with extreme care. In recent years, therefore, highly sensitive detection methods employing fluorescence and chemical luminescence (fluorescence method, chemiluminescence method) have been developed. These methods are also used in DNA base sequencing and in various types of tests such as southern plotting, western plotting and northern plotting.
The fluorescence method determines a sample's electrophoresis pattern by labeling the sample with a fluorescent substance and--once the electrophoresis has finished--irradiating laser light onto it and measuring the intensity distribution of fluorescent light emitted by this fluorescent substance. An example of apparatus for reading a fluorescence pattern is disclosed in Examined Japanese Patent Publication (JP-B) No.H8-3481 (or in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,769).
Also, chemiluminescence reading methods that have hitherto been developed include the method described by C. Martin, L. Bresnick, R.-R. Juo, J. C. Voyta and I. Bronstein (Improved Chemiluminescent DNA Sequencing; Bio Techniques 8, pp. 110-113, 1991).
In the chemiluminescence method, the electrophoresis pattern is normally read in by hybridizing an enzyme that undergoes luminescence to a labeled probe or the like after electrophoresis has been completed, whereby the luminescence pattern of the sample to be analyzed is made to emit light in a particular way. The luminescence pattern of the luminescent sample is exposed to film for 10 to 30 minutes or thereabouts by bringing a fast film into close contact with a membrane from which the luminescent sample has been transferred, placing it inside a light-shielding case, and regulating the exposure time according to the luminescence.
It is noted that various types of fast film can be used here, such as the X-ray film used for radioisotopes. After the exposed film has been developed, it can be analyzed by visual pattern analysis or by various types of image processing software using image acquisition apparatus such as a camera or image scanner.
Incidentally, the abovementioned conventional luminescence pattern reading apparatus is dedicated to the analysis of samples by the fluorescence method, since reading luminescence patterns with the chemiluminescence method involves manual intervention, no dedicated reading apparatus has yet been specifically developed for reading luminescence with both the fluorescence method and the chemiluminescence method with a single reading apparatus.
Also, in the luminescence pattern reading apparatus of the chemiluminescence method, the light from a planar luminescence pattern that is faintly luminescent over its entire surface must be read before there is any change in the amount of luminescence. This necessitates the use of an optical sensor that is highly sensitive, in which case it is also necessary to have an optical system with a photoreceptor path and a scanning mechanism that condenses and inputs the faint light at the position of each pixel in the luminescence pattern.
To successively scan each individual pixel in the luminescence pattern while distinguishing their positions, it is necessary to have a mechanism that transports a photoreceptor window in two dimensions to positions corresponding to the pixels. To increase the speed at which the entire plane is scanned, the scanning window must be transported at high speed. With a conventional scanning mechanism where the scanning window is transported in straight lines and the sample has a width of, say, 200 mm, it is limited to about 3 reciprocating motions per second even if the mass of the condenser unit constituting the moving photoreceptor window is reduced to the bare minimum.
Incidentally, even if the transport speed at which the photoreceptor window scans the sample surface is increased, it does not necessarily mean that the reading speed of the overall apparatus can be increased without limit, as there is an upper limit determined by the relationship between the amount of light obtained from the position of each individual pixel in the luminescence pattern of the sample and the photosensitivity of the photosensor that is used.
If the condenser unit constituting the moving photoreceptor window is mechanically scanned at high speed (by a scanning mechanism), the photosensor (photoelectric conversion element) where the light from this condenser unit is introduced and detected has to detect amounts of light emitted very faintly such as fluorescence. Consequently, highly sensitive photosensors such as photomultipliers, cooled CCDs and image intensifiers, for example, are used. In this case, to ensure that the photosensor sensitivity remains stable, it is preferable to adopt a mechanical structure whereby the photosensor is attached at a static position rather than being mounted on a moving structure such as the carrier of the scanning mechanism. Furthermore, it is also preferable to be able to read the luminescence patterns of samples emitting different colors of light by discriminating between these colors.

Apparatus for reading a luminescence pattern of a sample


The invention relates to a temperature-control element (4) for a multiwell plate (1), which comprises a plurality of cavities (2) arranged in rows and columns for freezing and/or thawing biological samples. The temperature-control element (4) comprises a base body (6) which is made of a thermally conductive material and is flown through by a temperature-control fluid; and a plurality of protruding temperature-control fingers (5) arranged in rows and columns on an upper side of the base body (6), which are connected in a thermally conductive manner to the base body (6), wherein a grid spacing of the temperature control fingers (5) corresponds to a grid spacing of the cavities (2) of the multiwell plate (1). The invention further relates to a device and method for freezing biological samples, in particular for cryopreservation, and/or thawing biological samples, in particular a cryopreserved sample.

The invention relates to a temperature-control body for a multiwell plate. Furthermore, the invention relates to an apparatus and a method for freezing of biological samples, in particular for cryopreservation, and/or for thawing of biological samples, in particular a cryopreserved sample.
The increasing spread of institutional and commercial cryobanks, in particular for the storage of living cell material with sample numbers ranging from a few tens of thousands to several million requires automation of the process sequences. On the one hand this is necessary in order to achieve cost-effective storage conditions and on the other hand for the systematic implementation of SOP conditions (SOP: Standard Operation Procedure), for seamless documentation and for excluding subjective influences through laboratory personnel, as currently increasingly required in the field of biomedicine.
In the pharmaceutical sector, in medicine and in large parts of biotechnology automated sample receiving standards have become established which mainly came about during the developments of high-throughput screening (so-called SBS standard). Here, used in laboratory practice are multiwell substrates of very small, round comb structures forming reaction spaces, also known as wells, cavities or cups, being arranged in rows and columns, into which smallest portions of a sample, e.g. cell material, a blood sample etc. are introduced. These are flat plastic multiwell substrates with 6, 8, 16, 24 to 96 and more individual wells. These formats have in the meantime been globally standardized and are used in pipetting machines, cell culture machines and also in the device platform in analysis technology as well as diagnostics.
Such multiwell substrates are also known as multiwell plates or micro-titer plates. In accordance with the ANSI standard as recommended by the Society for Biomolecular Screening (SBS), the precise dimensions (length×width×height) are 127.76 mm×85.48 mm×14.35 mm. On the recommendation of the Society for Biomolecular Screening (SBS), ANSI published standards for micro-titer plates which, in particular, relate to the dimensions and positions of the recesses in micro-titer plates with 96, 384 and 1536 recesses. These are the standards ANSI/SBS 1 to 4—2004 and the standard SBS-6—2009.
Increasingly forming part of the chain of processing, characterizing and handling samples in medicine, pharmaceuticals development and biotechnology are cryo-biobanks in which samples, in particular living cells and stem cells from animals and humans are stored, and, if required, utilized again. This generally takes place by means of cryopreservation, defined freezing and thawing protocols as well as a storage temperature below −140° C., though in individual tubes, straws, individual plastic containers etc. so that the suspensions located in the well substrates have to be removed and transferred.
As numerous experiments have shown, the quality of a biological sample decreases with every transfer, especially if cells grow adhering to surfaces, as these have to be released through enzyme treatment or mechanical treatment and are thereby subject to not inconsiderable stress. It is also important that all the samples of a well plate, e.g. with 96 wells, are treated in the same or pre-definable way and can thus also be frozen, stored and thawed out.
From practice both controlled cooling and also heating systems are known, such as the "Gyro Freezers" by the company Planar Plc with programmable temperature programs or simple cryoboxes such as the "Mr. Frosty" cryobox by the company ThermoFischer Scientific Inc. Particularly in the case of important medical cell types such as immune cells, stem cells, especially IPS cells (Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells) controlled freezing and thawing protocols have recently proven to be of extreme importance for the quality of the sample and its vitality. Here, very good results have been achieved with very rapid cooling and heating. All this and in particular cooling and heating below 1°/sec are so far not available for multiwell substrates, for which reason the biological samples have to be transferred to other containers. But in the conventional plastic tubes, due to the thickness of the plastic wall and arrangement of the volumes, such exact, but above all rapid temperature courses cannot be achieved either.
It is therefore the objective of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for freezing of biological samples, in particular for cryopreservation, and/or for thawing of biological samples, in particular a cryopreserved sample with which the drawbacks of conventional techniques are avoided and which makes cryopreservation with rapid cooling and/or heating as well an increased vitality rate possible. A further objective is to provide such an apparatus which can be integrated in a process-efficient manner into automated high-throughput processes, e.g. high-throughput screening processes. It is also an objective of the invention to provide an improved method of freezing biological samples, in particular for cryopreservation and/or thawing biological samples, in particular cryopreserved samples with which vitality-influencing drawbacks of conventional techniques are overcome and which, in particular, makes simple post-processing of the thawed biological samples possible.
These objectives are achieved by the apparatuses and methods of the invention and will be described in more detail in the following description with partial reference to the figures.

Temperature-control element for a multiwell plate and method and device for freezing and/or thawing biological samples

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e. V.


Disclosed are a reflection type LCD and method of manufacturing the same. A wiring layer having a first and second metal layer (102, 104) is formed on a substrate (100) including a display region (D) and a pad region (P). Upon the substrate (100) and the wiring layer is formed a first passivation layer (155), and contacts with a wiring terminal (115) and the first metal layer (102). A second passivation layer (180) is formed on the substrate except the pad region (P). The pad contact hole (160) extends to a position under the second passivation layer (180). The second passivation layer (180) covers a region in the pad contact hole (160) where the step coverage of the pad electrode (170) is poor, thereby preventing a battery effect.

In the information society of these days, electronic display devices are more important as information transmission media and various electronic display devices are widely applied for industrial apparatus or home appliances. Such electronic display devices are being continuously improved to have new appropriate functions for various demands of the information society.
In general, electronic display devices display and transmit various pieces of information to users who utilize such information. That is, the electronic display devices convert electric information signals outputted from electronic apparatus into light information signals recognized by users through their eyes.
In the electronic display devices dividing into an emissive display device and a non-emissive display device, the emissive display device displays light information signals through a light emission phenomena thereof and the non-emissive display device displays the light information signals through a reflection, a scattering or an interference thereof. The emissive display device includes a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) and an electroluminescent display (ELD). The emissive display device is called as an active display device. Also, the non-emissive display device, called as a passive display device, includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), an electrochemical display (ECD) and an electrophoretic image display (EPID).
The CRT has been used for a television receiver or a monitor of a computer as the display device for a long time since it has a high quality and a low manufacturing cost. The CRT, however, has some disadvantages such as a heavy weight, a large volume and high power dissipation.
Recently, the demand for a new electronic display devices is greatly increased such as a flat panel display device having excellent characteristics that thin thickness, light weight, low driving voltage and low power consumption. Such flat panel display devices can be manufactured according to the rapidly improved semiconductor technology.
In the flat panel devices, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device has been widely utilized for various electronic devices because the LCD device has thin thickness, low power dissipation and high display quality approximately identical to those of the CRT. Also, the LCD device can be operated under a low driving voltage and can be easily manufactured so that the LCD device is widely used for various electronic apparatuses.
The LCD devices are generally divided into a transmission type LCD device, a reflection type LCD device and a reflection-transmission type LCD device. The transmission type LCD device displays information by using a light source such as a backlight and the reflection type LCD device displays information by using an external natural light. The reflection-transmission type LCD device operates in a transmission mode for displaying an image using a built-in light source of the LCD device in a room or in a dark place where an external light source does not exist, and operates in a reflection mode for displaying the image by reflecting an incident light in the outside.
At present, a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display device (TFT-LCD) is predominantly used. The thin film transistor-liquid crystal display device has a structure that two substrates respectively having electrodes are provided and a thin film transistor (TFT) for switching a voltage applied to the electrodes is generally formed in a pixel region of one of the substrates. The thin film transistor-liquid crystal display devices are divided into an amorphous typed TFT-LCD and a polycrystalline typed TFT-LCD.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views showing a reflection type liquid crystal display device according to a conventional method. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, the reflection type liquid crystal display device is an amorphous silicon TFT-LCD having a bottom-gate structure. Referring to FIG. 1B, a reference symbol P shows a pad region; a reference symbol D indicates a display region; and a reference symbol B shows a boundary region located between the pad region and the display region.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, after sequentially depositing a chrome (Cr) layer 11 and an aluminum-neodymium (AlNd) layer 12 on a substrate 10 composed of an insulating material such as glass, quartz or sapphire, these layers are patterned by a photolithography process to form a gate wiring. The gate wiring includes a gate line 13 prolonged in a first direction, a gate electrode 12 of a thin film transistor branched from the gate line 13 and a gate terminal 15 connected to the end of the gate line 13.
A gate insulation layer 16 composed of silicon nitride is formed on the substrate 10 on which the gate wiring is formed, and then, an amorphous silicon layer and an n+ doped amorphous silicon layer are successively deposited on the gate insulation layer 16. Subsequently, the amorphous silicon layer and the n+ doped amorphous silicon layer are patterned via a photolithography process to form an active pattern 17 and an ohmic contact pattern 18. Thus, the active pattern 17 is composed of amorphous silicon and the ohmic contact pattern 18 is made of n+ doped amorphous silicon.
After depositing a second metal layer, e.g., chrome (Cr) layer, on the ohmic contact pattern 18 and the gate insulation layer 16, the second metal layer is patterned through a photolithography process to form a data wiring. The data wiring includes a data line 19 prolonged in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, source/drain electrodes 20 and 21 branched from the data line 19 and a data terminal 22 connected to the end of the data line 19.
Then, a portion of the ohmic contact pattern 18 exposed between the source electrode 20 and the drain electrode 22 is dry-etched away to complete the thin film transistor.
After forming an inorganic passivation layer 24 comprised of silicon nitride on the data wiring and the gate insulation layer 16, a portion of the inorganic passivation layer 24 over the drain electrode 21 is removed. At the same time, there are formed a first pad contact hole 25 for exposing the gate terminal 15 and a second pad contact hole 26 for exposing the data terminal 22.
After forming an organic passivation layer 26 on the entire surface of the resultant structure, a portion the organic passivation layer 26 over the drain electrode 22 and the pad regions is removed by exposure and development processes to form a contact hole 29 exposing the drain electrode 22. At the same time, numerous grooves 30 for scattering a light are formed at the surface of the organic passivation layer 26.
After depositing a reflective layer composed of metal having high reflectivity such as aluminum-neodymium (AlNd) on the entire surface of the resultant structure, the reflective layer is patterned by a photolithography process to form a reflective electrode 32 connected to the drain electrode 21 through the contact hole 29. At the same time, there are formed a gate pad electrode 33 connected to the gate terminal 15 through the first pad contact hole 25 for applying a scanning voltage to the gate electrode 14 and a data pad electrode 34 connected to the data terminal 22 through the second pad contact hole 26 for applying a signal voltage to the source electrode 20.
According to the above conventional reflection type liquid crystal display device, the pad electrodes 33 and 34 are simultaneously formed when forming the reflective electrode 32 composed of aluminum alloy such as aluminum-neodymium (AlNd). Thus, during a subsequent chip on glass (COG) bonding process by which integrated circuits are directly mounted on the substrate of the LCD panel, COG (chip on glass) block defects may be caused due to aluminum corrosion. Therefore, there is suggested a method where a pad electrode is formed of an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) used as a transparent electrode.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a reflection type liquid crystal display device manufactured by another conventional method. Here, a reference symbol P shows a pad region; a reference symbol D indicated a display region; and a reference symbol B shows a boundary region located between the pad region and the display region.
Referring to FIG. 2, after sequentially depositing a chrome (Cr) layer 51 and an aluminum-neodymium (AlNd) layer 52 on a substrate 50 composed of an insulating material such as glass, these layers are patterned by a photolithography process to form a gate wiring. The gate wiring includes a gate line 53 prolonged in a first direction, a gate electrode (not shown) branched from the gate line 53 and a gate terminal 54 connected to the end of the gate line 53.
A gate insulation layer 55 composed of silicon nitride is formed on the substrate 50 on which the gate wiring is formed. Then, an active pattern (not shown) composed of amorphous silicon and an ohmic contact pattern (not shown) composed of n+ doped amorphous silicon are successively formed on the gate insulation layer 55.
After depositing a second metal layer, e.g., a chrome (Cr) layer, on the ohmic contact pattern and the gate insulation layer 55, the second metal layer is patterned by a photolithography process to form a data wiring. The data wiring includes a data line 56 prolonged in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, source/drain electrodes (not shown) branched from the data line 56 and a data terminal 58 connected to the end of the data line 56. Successively, a portion of the ohmic contact pattern exposed between the source electrode and the drain electrode is dry-etched away.
After forming an inorganic passivation layer 60 on the data wiring and the gate insulation layer 55, a portion of the inorganic passivation layer 60 over the drain electrode is removed by a photolithography process. At the same time, there are formed a first pad contact hole 61 exposing the gate terminal 54 and a second pad contact hole 62 exposing the data terminal 58. In general, ITO and Al cannot be in contact with each other due to a galvanic corrosion. Thus, during the formation of the pad contact holes 61 and 62, the entire exposed AlNd layer 52 of the gate terminal 54 is etched away using a wet etching process. By doing so, an ITO pad electrode being formed in a subsequent process is in contact with the Cr layer 51 of the gate terminal 54. However, when the AlNd layer 52 exposed through the first pad contact hole 61 is etched away, the side of the AlNd layer 52 is etched away due to the isotropic property of wet etching to thereby generate an undercut 64.
Next, an ITO layer is deposited on the pad contact holes 61 and 62 and the inorganic passivation layer 60 and then, patterned by a photolithography process to thereby form a gate pad electrode 65 and a data pad electrode 66. The gate pad electrode 65 is connected to the gate terminal 54 through the first pad contact hole 61 and the data pad electrode 66 is connected to the data terminal 58 through the second pad contact hole 62. At this time, step coverage of the date pad electrode 65 becomes poor on a stepped portion in the first pad contact hole 61, i.e., the undercut region 64.
After forming an organic passivation layer 68 on the pad electrodes 65 and 66 and the inorganic passivation layer 60, the organic passivation layer 68 is patterned by an exposure process and a development process to thereby form a contact hole (not shown) for exposing the drain electrode. At the same time, numerous grooves 69 are formed in the surface of the organic passivation layer over the display region.
After sequentially depositing a barrier metal layer 70 composed of molybdenum-tungsten (MoW) and a reflective layer composed of aluminum-neodymium (AlNd) on the contact hole and the organic passivation layer 68, the reflective layer and the barrier metal layer 70 are patterned by a photolithography process to thereby form a reflective electrode 72 connected to the drain electrode through the contact hole.
According to the above conventional method, in order to prevent the galvanic corrosion caused between ITO and Al, the entire AlNd layer 52 of the gate terminal 54 is etched away using a wet etching process when the pad contact holes 61 and 62 are formed. Thus, the undercut 64 is generated in the AlNd layer 52.
Further, two photolithography processes for forming the organic passivation layer 68 and the reflective electrode 72 are carried out after the pad electrodes 65 and 66 are formed. Moreover, in order to improve the pixel contact characteristics, an etching process using an aluminum etchant is added before forming the reflective electrode 72. Accordingly, during performing the above processes, chemicals such as a develop solution or an etchant penetrate through the stepped portion (portion "A" in FIG. 2) in the first pad contact hole 61 to thereby corrode the AlNd layer 52. In addition, such chemicals serve as an electrolyte to cause a battery effect between Al and ITO, thereby generating a lifting of the gate pad electrode 61.

Reflection type liquid crystal display device with a passivation layer directly on the pad electrode


For the purpose of acquiring three-dimensional data for a contrast-enhanced image at an appropriate scan plane distance even for a different moving rate of an ultrasonic probe or for a different subject or imaged region, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprises: an image producing section for producing an image based on received data obtained from one scan plane; a correlation value calculating section for calculating a correlation value between images; a low-MI scan control section for repeatedly conducting a scan with such a low MI value as not break contrast agent until a correlation value between an initial image and a current image becomes smaller than a threshold; and a high-MI scan control section for, when the correlation value becomes smaller than the threshold, capturing one image with such a high MR value as to break contrast agent and returning control to the low-MI scan control section.

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can acquire three-dimensional data for a contrast-enhanced image at an appropriate scan plane distance.
A conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus captures a contrast-enhanced image by alternately conducting a scan with an ultrasonic beam at such a level as not to break contrast agent and a scan with an ultrasonic beam at such a level as to break contrast agent (see Patent Document 1, for example).
Moreover, another conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus acquires three-dimensional data by obtaining images at sequentially abutting scan planes while an operator is moving an ultrasonic probe in a direction orthogonal to the scan plane (see Patent Document 2, for example).
Furthermore, still another conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus employs a sensor for detecting the position of an ultrasonic probe during acquisition of three-dimensional data (see Patent Document 3, for example).                [Patent Document 1]                    Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2002-045360.                        [Patent Document 2]                    Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2000-325348.                        [Patent Document 3]                    Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2001-252268.
If the conventional techniques are combined, three-dimensional data for a contrast-enhanced image can be acquired.
However, since an ultrasonic beam for capturing a contrast-enhanced image is at such a level as to break contrast agent, if the distance between adjacent scan planes is too small in acquiring three-dimensional data, even contrast agent in the current scan plane is broken by a previous scan, and good three-dimensional data for a contrast-enhanced image cannot be obtained. On the other hand, if the distance between adjacent scan planes is too large in acquiring three-dimensional data, the three-dimensional data density becomes insufficient in a direction orthogonal to the scan plane, although contrast agent in the current scan plane is prevented from being broken by a previous scan.
In the conventional techniques, it is difficult to use an appropriate scan plane distance in acquiring three-dimensional data for a contrast-enhanced image.

GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC


The present invention relates to a method for handling poultry, such as chicken, turkey, geese, duck and quail, comprising the steps of (i) taking the poultry; (ii) placing the poultry in a confinement such that the poultry legs extend from the confinement; and (iii) coupling the poultry legs to a handling unit, and to an installation for handling poultry, such as chicken, turkey, duck and quail that takes the poultry and places the poultry in a confinement such that the poultry legs extend from the confinement; and the poultry legs are coupled to the handling unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and installation for handling poultry.
Presently, living poultry, such as chicken, turkey, geese, duck and quail, are delivered at a slaughterhouse in containers or cages.
The living animals are unloaded on a conveyor band or provided in containers or cages. Manually the poultry is taken by the poultry legs and in an downwardly suspended position with force hooked in shackles by the ankles of the animal. In order to keep the animals as quiet as possible the handling of the poultry occurs in a relatively dark environment.
The hooking of the animals with their ankles in the shackles is carried out with force in order to have the animals tightly hooked as to avoid release from the shackles and provide good electro conductivity when the animal is electrically stunned in a water bath.
Hooking of the animals with their legs in the shackles or other hooking means, is generating much stress and pain. Often the legs may be injured, dislocated or broken. In addition, it is possible that one of the legs is not correctly hooked so that the animal is suspended by one leg.
Due to this manner of poultry handling, many animals will have their wings fluttering resulting in undesired movement, excitement and also a possible release or damage of the animal or neighboring animal with one or two legs from the shackles by which they are transported to the slaughtering unit.
Presently it has become hardly acceptable to handle living poultry in the manner described above. Not only because of the impact on the animals, but also in view of the negative influence on the quality of the poultry product obtained. Because due to the stress and muscle contraction bones may be broken and poultry tissue infiltrated by blood.
2. Description of Related Art
US2008/0242208 discloses a method and device for processing a slaughtered animal. The slaughtered or stunned animal is suspended with its neck from a hook and in this position the neck blood vessels are cut. For processing the stunned or slaughtered animal to a higher level than a cut use can be made of a breast and leg support or leg gripper unit. This method and device cannot be used for handling living poultry.

Method and installation for handling poultry


The present invention relates to healthy foods and cosmetics. More particularly, it relates to healthy foods and cosmetics containing a polyisoprenylated benzophenone derivatives as effective ingredients and having a variety of functions for maintaining health such as anti-ulcer activity, the Maillard reaction inhibiting activity, anti-oxidation activity, reactive oxygen species scavenging activity, and anti-tumor promotion activity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to healthy foods and cosmetics. More particularly, it relates to healthy foods and cosmetics containing a polyisoprenylated benzophenone derivative as an effective ingredient and having a variety of functions for maintaining health such as anti-ulcer activity, the Maillard reaction inhibiting activity, anti-oxidation activity, active oxygen scavenging activity, and anti-tumor promoting activity.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
There have hitherto been used synthetic anti-oxidants such as BHA (tert-butylhydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylhydroxytoluene), and natural anti-oxidants such as vitamin E and vitamin C for the purpose of enhancing the storage stability of high fat foods.
In recent years, among substances having anti-oxidizing activity, those having an activity of scavenging reactive oxygen species or radicals, or an activity of inhibiting the generation of reactive oxygen species in the presence of a metal ion (Fenton reaction) has attracted attention, because reactive oxygen species or radicals are responsible for a variety of diseases as well as the aging of skin such as hardening, development of wrinkles and pigmentation, and the generation of reactive oxygen species in the presence of metal ion causes the oxidative disorders in the body which are responsible for a variety of diseases and the aging of skin described above.
Thus, vitamin E and vitamin C which have hitherto been used as natural antioxidants harmless to the body have been attempted to be used as active oxygen scavenging agents in the body. These materials, notwithstanding their strong anti-oxidizing activities, are not sufficient in relation to their activities for scavenging reactive oxygen species (or radicals) and inhibiting the generation of reactive oxygen species in the presence of metal ion, and thus materials derived from natural substances which have both anti-oxidizing activity and reactive oxygen species scavenging activity such as flavonoids have been searched.
Also, referring to the Maillard reaction, the non-enzymatic browning reaction of proteins with reducing sugars such as glucose has been described by L. C. Maillard, Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol., 72, 599 (1912) and investigated primarily in the field of food science. Since it has been suggested that similar reactions were also observed in the body by S. Rahber, Clin. Chem. Acta, 22, 296 (1968), it has been revealed that the Maillard reaction is intimately responsible for various diseases. Thus, a variety of pharmaceutical agents have been developed on the basis of the anticipation that the inhibition of the Maillard reaction will be effective for the prevention or treatment of these diseases and the aging of skin such as hardening, development of wrinkles and pigmentation.
It has been proposed to use as such agents for example guanidine derivatives such as aminoguanidine, D-penicillamine, quercetin, flavonoids and water soluble carboxyl derivatives of benzophenones, (Japanese Patent Kokai Nos. 249908/1987, 249909/1987, 56614/1989, 83059/1989, 240725/1991 and 368320/1992, and Biosci. Biotech. Biochem., 59, 2018-2021, 1995). These agents have however the defect of less effectiveness.
In addition, referring to the ulcer-preventive effects, protective anti-ulcer agents such as sodium hydrogen carbonate and cetraxate hydrochloride, aggressive anti-ulcer agents such as H2 blockers including cimetidine and ranitidine, proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole (see Bioindustry, 12(2), 50-58, 1995), and the like are clinically used for the prevention or treatment of peptic ulcers including gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer. Also, there have still been desired other novel substances effective for these ulcers.
Furthermore, referring to the inhibition of tumor promotion, tumorigenic substances have been classified into two groups in the two-stage process of tumorigenesis proposed in recent years. The two groups comprise the substances which damage DNA and change the normal cells into potential tumor cells (initiator) and the substances which develop the potential tumor cells into tumor (promoter). The typical examples of the former include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and the typical examples of the latter include phorbol esters. These tumorigenic substances such as the initiator and the promoter are contained in food and drink, air, and the like, and are difficult to remove them completely.
Thus, a method for reducing the risk of tumorigenesis has attracted attention which comprises chemically inhibiting the effects of either one or both of the two stages (see "Chemoprevention of Cancer", Lee W. Wattenberg, Cancer Research, 45, 1-8, 1985). Particularly, the inhibition of the promotion process is very effective for adults, since they are believed to have potential tumor cells which have already been initiated.
For evaluating the effect of anti-tumor promotion, a short-term in vitro method for testing the inhibition of the induction of the Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA) induced by a phorbol ester as a tumor promotor has been developed (see Y. Ito, S. Yanase, J. Fujita, T. Harayama, M. Takashima and H. Imanaka, Cancer Letters, 13, 29-37, 1981).
From the viewpoint described above, substances having the EBV-EA induction inhibiting activities are currently searched particularly with components ingestible everyday. Particularly, substances which have a strong EBV-EA induction inhibiting activity and can be easily produced and processed in an industrial scale are desired. However, no substances have hitherto been found which well satisfy such requirements.


A feeding apparatus for feeding livestock. The apparatus includes a feed container having an upper opening. The container has two projecting lips extending along portions of a perimeter surrounding the upper opening. A sliding cover has two retaining channels formed thereon. The projecting lips of the container are configured to slidably engage within the retaining channels of the cover in an interlocking configuration to prevent removal of the cover other than by sliding. The cover may be a solid lid member or a creep feeder cage having passages formed therein. A pair of blocking tabs are secured to the cover at proximal ends of the projecting lips to block the cover from sliding beyond a closed position.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to feed containers. More particularly, it concerns a mountable livestock feed container having a slidable cover lid and creep feeder cage.
2. The Background Art
The livestock industry has sought the development of efficient feeding devices and methods. In particular, calves, horses and other livestock have been fed pellets, grains and hay in conventional dry feeding buckets, and liquids such as milk or water in conventional wet feeding buckets.
There is a need in the field of livestock feed buckets to selectively restrict access to the contained feed to young animals only, or to restrict access to the feed by all animals, with a minimum of time and effort. Resiliency of the feed container to bunting motions by livestock is also needed. Prior art feed containers are rigid in material and in attachment to their support structure. Lids and creep feeder cages have been designed for restricting access to the feed but are either too easily bunted off by the livestock, or require too much time and effort to secure.
There is also a need for convenient attachment and replacement structure to permit fast, efficient removal and replacement of the feed container. Many prior art feed containers are held in place by a rigid, circumscribing ring, or are nailed or wired to a support.
It is also common practice in the livestock industry to transport feed containers which contain feed. The feed can be jostled about and thrown from the containers during transport. It would be desirable to transport portable animal carriers without having to remove the feed from the containers or the containers from the carriers.
Unfortunately, the prior art feed buckets are characterized by a number of disadvantages. They are rigid in structure and are often rigidly secured to the wall of a stall, and thus insufficiently resilient to bunting. The container lid or creep feeder cage often cannot withstand bunting from the livestock and becomes knocked off.

Feed container with sliding cover lid and creep feeder cage


A network communication system and a method of controlling the network communication system are provided. The network communication system includes: a member reading at least one piece of data stored in an access point (AP); a member giving priority to the data; a member re-transmitting the data having the priority to the AP; and a member processing the data in the AP according to the priority. Thus, data can be efficiently processed according to predetermined priority using a low-end type AP as a high-end type AP is used.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network communication system and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a network communication system using a priority processor to use a low-end type access point as a high-end type access point and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) does not use a cable to build a network system but uses air waves as a communication channel for a wireless medium, such as radio waves or infrared rays. Such an IEEE 802.11 WLAN transforms frames of an IEEE 802.11 network into another type of frame to transmit the frames of the IEEE 802.11 network to other networks. The IEEE 802.11 WLAN includes an access point for building a bridge between wireless and wired networks and stations such as a notebook, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a desktop computer interfacing with the wireless network.
The access point can be classified into a low-end type access point and a high-end type access point. The low-end type access point provides a simple communication mode to process data of a corresponding station in the order of accessing the stations, without an additional option, so as to transmit the data to a destination. The high-end type access point provides various options and processes data of a corresponding station according to a predetermined priority to transmit the data to a destination.
In general, the low-end type access point uses a first come, first serve method to allocate priorities to the stations in the order of transmitting response signals to broadcast beacon signals to the stations and allow access according to the priorities to process data. Thus, the low-end type access point supports only the simple communication mode and enables a network to be built at a low cost. However, in a case where a corresponding station accesses the low-end type access point in a low order (e.g., later in a queue) to process urgent business, processing of the urgent business is delayed.
The high-end type access point includes multiple buffers whose priorities have been determined to store data transmitted from each station in a buffer corresponding to a priority of a corresponding station, so as to first process the data stored in the buffer having a high priority. A buffer having a high priority is not guaranteed first access to a network to process data. However, the buffer having the high priority is given an opportunity. Thus, if the buffer does not access the network at the given opportunity, data stored in a buffer having a next priority is processed. As a result, if the data stored in the buffer failing to have accessed the network at the given opportunity is related to important business, processing of the important business is likely to be delayed. Also, multi-buffers must be installed in the high-end type access point, and the system additionally requires equipment such as a router and the like, which increase cost.
Low-priced, low-end type access points are more widely used in specific organizations such as hospitals, schools, companies, and the like during building of a network than high-end type access points requiring a large amount of cost. Thus, in a case where a low-end type access point is installed, a demand for solving a delay of urgent business according to access order due to a limited infrastructure is gradually increased.
To satisfy the demand, a method of using a low-end type access point as a high-end type access point instead of using a high-priced, high-end type access point to build a network is required.

Network communication system and control method thereof


Disclosed herein are methods and compositions for reducing or inhibiting spray drift and driftable fines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to agricultural compositions and tank mix adjuvants, which exhibit reduce amounts of fine particles when sprayed through spray nozzles used in agriculture to disseminate agrochemicals.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the agricultural arts, various agrochemicals are applied to growing areas by spraying. The growing areas may be crop areas in the field, which can be very large, or smaller growing areas such as those in greenhouses. The agrochemicals applied as sprays include fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, pesticides, miticides, micronutrients, and the like. These materials can be applied to the target surfaces including the plants, seeds, crops, and/or the soil. The agrochemicals must be applied via a carrier and reach the target surfaces to exert their desired biological effects. As the term is used herein, "pesticide" includes herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, miticides, and plant growth regulators. Fertilizers include macronutrients (containing Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur, Calcium, Magnesium), and micronutrients.
Certain pesticides (particularly those containing 2,4 D, dicamba and glyphosate salts, esters, and acids) are known to cause adverse effects if these pesticides inadvertently come in contact with non-target plants. When agricultural chemicals are sprayed, a distribution of spray particle sizes is formed and this distribution depends on the nature of the spray mix, type of nozzle used, spray system pressure and other variable factors such ground speed of the applying system, natural wind speed, temperature, and humidity. One possible side effect of the spraying process is an undesirable effect commonly called spray or pesticide drift. Controlling spray drift of these pesticides is especially important as genetically modified crop plants resistant to these pesticides are commercialized.
The importance of drift control is well recognized by the agricultural industry as a number of technologies have been developed based on the following technologies: 1) polyacrylamide polymers, 2) invert emulsion technology, 3) Guar gums, and 4) Lecithin. Each of these technologies is used in practice, but each technology has limitations on their use. Furthermore, the importance of drift control is such that regulatory agencies such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency have promulgated rules to minimize such drift. As a consequence, pesticide products often have labels detailing use restrictions so as to reduce drift potential of a pesticide spray.
Therefore, a need exists for methods and compositions for controlling spray drift of pesticides and other compositions to adjacent crops.

Methods and compositions for reducing or inhibiting spray drift and driftable fines


A roll of grid material for mine roof support, and a mining machine in combination with such a roll, in which the roll has bands of adhering material injected or otherwise forced into the roll in spaced locations along the roll's width. The adhering material interconnects the overlapped layers within the roll and is sufficiently strong to hold the grid material in the rolled configuration for transport and storage, and yet is readily pulled apart in response to sufficient manual or mechanical pressure applied against the roll, or tension applied to the unwound portion thereof, so as to enable the grid material to be incrementally unwound and installed in the mine. The rolls can be installed using a range of mining machines without need for any specialized dispensing or other apparatus mounted on the machine and without the need for any mechanical device to control unwinding.

Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of mining and, more particularly, to rolls of polymeric mesh or grid material for support of mining tunnels, which rolls are self-resistant to unrolling, a method of making such rolls, and a method of using and installing the same including installation of the rolls with a mining machine.
Description of the Related Art
Mining practices have long included the use of a continuous miner having integrated roof bolters to support the ceiling or roof of a mine tunnel both during and after a cutting operation. In addition, supplemental roof supports in the form of continuous lengths or sheets of metallic mesh or wire grids have been installed on the mine tunnel roof. While the roof bolts provide the workers with their primary protection, the mesh mats or grids are used to support loose strata and thereby provide secondary protection against material that may fall between the roof bolts.
Installation of the supplemental roof support meshes or grids may be performed manually, either while the continuous miner is in place or after the continuous miner has been withdrawn from the tunnel that is to be supported. Meshing mine tunnels with welded metal wire or mesh mats has always been a very time consuming and dangerous task as they are heavy to manipulate and, when damaged, can inflict puncture injuries on the installers.
The elimination of wire meshes or mats in favor of rolled polymeric mesh materials represented an improvement for workers in the mining industry as the polymeric mesh materials enable the mine roof to be meshed without the need to handle wire panels. In addition, mechanized methods of meshing the roof further ease the burden on mine workers.
Many systems have been developed that allow polymeric mesh rolls to be held and controlled by attaching a deployment apparatus to the continuous miner or other mining machine. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,750 ("the '750 patent"), which is commonly owned by the assignee of the present application and is hereby expressly incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
The '750 patent discloses a grid layout system including a grid dispenser for rolls of polymeric mesh or grid material. The grid dispenser is mounted on the boom of the continuous miner and, in response to tension on the roll created by forward and rearward movement of the continuous miner during a cutting operation, incrementally dispenses or retracts the polymeric mesh or grid material above the continuous miner which is then bolted to the mine tunnel roof. To prevent the roll from unwinding when the continuous miner stops, the grid dispenser of the '750 patent is provided with a motor that exerts a retractive force on the roll which holds the mesh material under tension in the dispenser.
As noted, the grid layout system disclosed in the '750 patent requires a grid dispenser attached to the mining machine, such that the machine must be modified to include the dispenser. Therefore, a need exists for a method of deploying and controlling the unrolling of mesh rolls during installation of such rolls for mining roof support that does not require a special deployment device attached to the mining machine but which can use the mining machine's existing structure to hold the roll. A need also exists for a method of deploying mesh rolls that can accommodate not only horizontal orientations, but vertical and diagonal orientations as found on mine walls or other surfaces.

Free-wheeling-resistant rolls for mining roof support and the combination of a mining machine and such rolls


The base station, which is installed in an aircraft and is capable of communicating with a terminal, comprises a wireless communication component that can be connected to the terminal, and a controller that controls the wireless communication component. The controller acquires regional information indicating at least the destination of the aircraft, determines time zone information corresponding to regional information, produces a time correction instruction according to the time zone information, and transmits the time correction instruction through the wireless communication component to the terminal.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to technology for correcting time information in a terminal located in a mobile body, on the basis of information from a base station located in the mobile body.
Background Art
There has been known a technique for automatically revising the clock time of a terminal to a time based on the standard time of the region where the terminal is used, by making use of position information from GPS or the like. This technique is disclosed by, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2006-029960, and the following non-patent literatures.    Non-Patent Literature 1: 3GPP TS22.042 V11.0.0, "Network Identity and Time Zone (NITZ); Service description; Stage 1 (Release 11)," September 2012, and    Non-Patent Literature 2: 3GPP TS24.008 V12.1.0, "Mobile radio interface Layer 3 specification; Core network protocols; Stage 3 (Release 12)," March 2013

Communication device for mobile body, communication system for mobile body, and automatic time correction method featuring communication device for mobile body

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


Provided is a method and apparatus for transmitting an HARQ ACK/NACK. The method includes: in a TDD-FDD CA scheme; recognizing a 2-bit downlink (DL) downlink assignment index (DAI) field configured in a DL downlink control information (DCI) format, the DL DCI format indicating a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmission on the second serving cell, and the 2-bit DL DAI field indicating that ten downlink subframes for the second serving cell are associated with one uplink subframe; in response to received data, generating a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) Acknowledgement/Negative Acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) signal, the HARQ ACK/NACK signal being indexed based on a value of the 2-bit DL DAI field; and transmitting the HARQ ACK/NACK signal through one uplink subframe of the first serving cell.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to wireless communication, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transmitting an HARQ ACK/NACK.
2. Discussion of the Background
Automatic repeat request (ARQ) is one of the schemes that enhance reliability of a wireless communication. The ARQ refers to a scheme in which a transmitter retransmits a data signal if a data signal reception is failed at a receiver. Further, there is a scheme, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), which is a combination of Forward Error Correction (FEC) and ARQ. A receiver that utilizes HARQ generally attempts an error correction for a received data signal and determines whether a retransmission needs to be performed by using an error detection code. As the error detection code, Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) scheme may be used. If data signal error is not detected from the detection process of CRC scheme, the receiver determines that a decoding process for the data signal is successful. In this case, the receiver transmits an Acknowledgement (ACK) signal to a transmitter. If data signal error is detected from the detection process of CRC scheme, the receiver determines that a decoding process for the data signal is not successful. In this case, the receiver transmits a Not-Acknowledgement (NACK) signal to a transmitter. If the transmitter receives the NACK signal, the transmitter may retransmit the data signal.
A wireless communication system may support Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) scheme and Time Division Duplex (TDD) scheme. In the FDD scheme, an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission may be simultaneously performed in a cell because a carrier frequency for an uplink (UL) transmission is different from a carrier frequency for a downlink (DL) transmission exists. In the TDD scheme, with respect to one cell, an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission are distinguished from each other based on different time slots. In the TDD scheme, a base station and a user equipment perform switching operations between a transmission mode and a reception mode because the same carrier is used for both an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission. In the TDD scheme, a Special Subframe may be added to provide a guard time for switching between the transmission mode and the reception mode. The Special Subframe may include Downlink Pilot Time Slot (DwPTS), Guard Period (GP), and Uplink Pilot Time Slot (UpPTS). According to the TDD scheme, resource amounts for the uplink transmission and resource amounts for the downlink transmission may be asymmetrically assigned through various uplink (UL)-downlink (DL) configurations.
Currently, remaining frequency resources are scarce and various technologies have been utilized in wide frequency bands because of the frequency resource scarcity. For this reason, in order to provide a wideband bandwidth for supporting higher data-rate requirements, each of scattered bands has been configured to satisfy basic requirements to operate an independent system and a carrier aggregation (CA) scheme, which aggregates various frequency bands into one system, has been adopted. Here, each frequency band or carrier capable of an independent operation may be defined as a component carrier (CC). According to the adoption of the carrier aggregation system, ACK/NACK signals corresponding to a plurality of component carriers (CCs) need to be transmitted.
Recently, a Time Division Duplex (TDD)-Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) Carrier Aggregation (CA) that supports a CA and/or dual connectivity of a FDD band (or carrier) and a TDD band (or carrier) has been considered. The TDD-FDD CA is referred to as a TDD-FDD joint operation. However, when it is assumed that a plurality of serving cells that are aggregated by the CA exist, and a first serving cell is configured as TDD and a second serving cell is configured as FDD, there may be difficulty in transmitting a HARQ ACK/NACK for downlink (DL) transmission on all subframes of the second serving cell according to the TDD-FDD CA. For example, in a circumstance that allows only a control channel of the first serving cell (that is, a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)) for transmitting a HARQ ACK/NACK of the second serving cell, a large number of DL subframes of the second serving cell may exist in association with a single UL subframe of the first serving cell. Therefore, there is desire for a method of effectively transmitting a HARQ ACK/NACK, for the TDD-FDD CA.

Apparatus and method for transmitting HARQ ACK/NACK


A gas turbine engine includes a low speed spool mechanically interconnecting a low pressure turbine and at least one of a fan and a prop, a high speed spool mechanically interconnecting a high pressure turbine and a high pressure compressor, and an epicyclic gear system mechanically coupled to the high speed spool. The gas turbine engine also includes a low pressure compressor mechanically coupled to the high speed spool via the epicyclic gear system. The low pressure compressor may be mechanically independent of the low speed spool. The gas turbine engine may include a plurality of motor-generators for transferring power between the high speed spool and the low pressure compressor.

Conventional two-spool gas turbine engines (e.g., two-spool turbofan engines) typically include a low pressure compressor configured to be rotated by a low pressure turbine via a low speed spool, and a high pressure compressor configured to be rotated by a high pressure turbine via a high speed spool. In such conventional engines, transient engine power demands may cause one of the spools, and the associated rotors, to operate away from an optimal operating condition. For example, a rotational speed of a high speed spool operating at a high power condition (take-off) may involve operating the low speed spool at a speed that is suboptimal for purposes of efficiency. Thus, conventional two-spool gas turbine engines often sacrifice thrust and/or efficiency due to competing operating speed demands of the two spools.

Low pressure compressor control for a gas turbine engine


Connections between implanted regions in a semiconductor substrate, such as the sources or drains of adjacent transistors, are made by buried conductive implants rather than upper level metalizations. The presence or absence of a connection between two implanted regions is camouflaged by implanting a conductive buried layer of the same doping conductivity as the implanted regions when a connection is desired, and a field implant of opposite conductivity to the implanted regions when no connection is desired, and forming steps into the substrate at the boundaries of the buried layer or field implant that mask the steps formed between different conductivity regions during a selective etch by a reverse engineer. The masking steps are preferably formed by field oxide layers that terminate at the boundaries of the buried layers and field implants.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the prevention of reverse engineering of integrated circuits (ICs), and more particularly to security techniques in which the conductive or nonconductive nature of interconnections between circuit elements is made camouflaged.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several techniques have been used to reverse engineer Ics. Electron (e)-beam probing with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), either through SEM photographs or voltage contrast analysis, is a standard reverse engineering mechanism, although secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), spreading resistance analysis and various other techniques have also been used. A general description of e-beam probing is provided in Lee, "Engineering a Device for Electron-beam Probing", IEEE Design & Test of Computers, 1989, pages 36-49.
Numerous ways to frustrate unwanted attempts to reverse engineer an IC have also been developed. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,516 to Ozdemir et al. (assigned to Hughes Electronics, the assignee of the present invention), additional circuit elements that do not contribute toward the desired circuit function are added to an IC, and disguised with the visible appearance of being an ordinary part of the IC. The elements have physical modifications that are not readily visible but cause them to function in a different manner, inhibiting the proper functioning of the IC in case of an attempted copying or other unauthorized use. When the apparent function rather than the actual function of the disguised elements is copied, the resulting circuit will not operate properly.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,011 to Pechar a pseudo-MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) device is given a depletion implant that is not readily visible to a copier, who would infer from the device's location in the circuit that it would be enhancement-mode. A somewhat related approach is taken in French patent publication no. 2 486 717 by Bassett et al., published Jan. 15, 1982; the circuit doping is controlled so that some devices which appear to be transistors actually function as either open or short circuits. And in U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,381 to Guttag the memory of a central processing unit is programmed by the doping of its channel regions, rather than by the presence or absence of gates, to protect permanently programmed software.
Instead of disguising circuit elements, some systems have a mechanism to protect the circuit from operating until a correct access code has been entered. Such systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,139,864 to Schulman and 4,267,578 to Vetter.
Each of the above protection schemes requires additional processing and/or uses additional circuitry that is dedicated to security and does not contribute to the basic functioning of the circuit. This increases the cost of circuit production and complicates the circuitry.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,096 to Koeppe uses doped implants to connect the sources and drains of different transistors to improve circuit reliability and testability, but the circuit function can be determined from the transistor arrangement. U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,197 to Kuwana connects different transistors in an address decoder array with doped implants, but circuit functions can be determined from clearly visible elements such as gate electrodes and circuit interconnects. Japanese patent publication 58-190064 to Sawase provides a metalization over a diffused source to block light from the source/substrate junction and thus reduce leakage current. While this tends to camouflage the source, the nature of the circuit can still be determined from its visible elements.
In related application Ser. No. 08/532,326, filed Sep. 22, 1995 by the present inventors, heavily doped implant interconnections that are difficult for a reverse engineer to detect are used to provide interconnections among the transistors of various types of logic cells, with the pattern of interconnections determining each cell's logic function. The transistors of the different cells are arranged in a common pattern and a uniform pattern of interconnections among transistors is provided for each cell; different logic functions are implemented by interrupting some of the interconnections with the addition of opposite conductivity channel stop implants. The channel stops are quite small, making the interrupted and thereby non-conductive interconnections appear the same to a reverse engineer as the conductive interconnections. CMOS digital circuits such as NAND and NOR gates are camouflaged so that they appear identical under an optical microscope. However, when all of the device layers on top of the bare semiconductor substrate have been removed by a reverse engineer and an etchant applied to the underlying substrate, the pattern of channel stops may be brought out by selective etching of the substrate. If an etchant is used which etches N and P type material at different rates (typically N-doped material will etch faster than P-doped), a height differential or "step" will be formed at the boundaries between the channel stop and the adjacent oppositely doped interconnection line. If they are large enough, such steps can be detected by either optical microscopes or SEMs, thereby revealing which interconnections have blocking channel stops and which are true conductive interconnections.

Camouflaged circuit structure with step implants


An inertial instrument such as an accelerometer or gyroscope having scale factor functionality, and that lies generally in a plane. The gyro detects rotation rate about a gyro input axis. The gyroscope has a substrate, a generally planar scale factor gimbal flexibly coupled to the substrate such that it is capable of oscillatory motion about the input axis, a generally planar support member coplanar with and flexibly coupled to the scale factor gimbal such that the support member is capable of oscillatory motion about a drive axis that is orthogonal to the input axis, and a generally planar gyro member coplanar with and flexibly coupled to the support member such that it is capable of rotary oscillatory motion relative to the support member about an output axis that is orthogonal to the plane of the members. There are one or more first drives for oscillating the support member about the drive axis, and one or more second drives for oscillating the scale factor gimbal about the input axis. One or more gyro output sensors that detect oscillation of the gyro member about an output axis that is orthogonal to both the input axis and the drive axis.

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscopes and accelerometers, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,725,719 and 6,859,751, are generally planar instruments. Due to their very small size, and materials and methods of construction, such MEMS inertial instruments are relatively sensitive to ambient temperature and other environmental factors. These sensitivities makes them relatively unstable. Accordingly, it has been necessary to extensively test such instruments under a variety of conditions in order to develop a priori compensation schemes that can then be built into systems employing such instruments. This testing is time consuming and expensive, and also may not anticipate every possible condition that the instrument may be exposed to, which can lead to errors.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Scale factor measurement for mems gyroscopes and accelerometers


The present invention comprises a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) circuit having high power supply noise rejection. The VCO circuit includes a VCO input for receiving a control voltage. A level shifter circuit is coupled to the VCO input. A first and second VCO cell are coupled to the level shifter circuit and are coupled to each other. The VCO circuit also includes a VCO output for transmitting a VCO output signal. A first source follower transistor is coupled to the first VCO cell to transmit a first voltage from the power supply to the first VCO cell. A second source follower transistor is coupled to the second VCO cell to transmit a second voltage from the power supply to the second VCO cell. A first and second load transistor are included in each VCO cell. They are directly coupled to receive the control voltage such that the VCO output signal is less sensitive to noise on the power supply and the VCO output signal remains stable. Additionally, the level shifter is coupled to control the first source follower transistor and the second source follower transistor such that the first voltage and the second voltage are insensitive to noise on the power supply.

Voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) are well known and widely used in the electronics industry Within the digital communications field, VCOs are used in a variety of applications. Such applications include, for example, frequency synthesizers, signal generation, (e.g., serial transmission clock recovery) and the like. VCOs are typically designed to perform within a given set of boundary conditions and to perform to a specified standard. Typical conditions include, for example, performance over operating temperature ranges, sensitivity to vibration, output sensitivity to interference, and the like. Typical performance standards include, for example, output signal frequency stability, output signal programmability, and the like.
A typical prior art VCO generates an oscillating output signal having a specified frequency. The signal can have several different wave forms (e.g., square, saw tooth, triangular, etc.). The frequency of the output is tunable and is a function of an input voltage, an external resistance or capacitance, or the like. The type of application in which the VCO is used dictates its operating conditions and performance requirements. However, as in most VCO applications, it is usually important that the output frequency of the VCO is stable and is a consistent function of the control inputs (e.g., voltage, capacitance, and the like).
For example in a case where a prior art VCO is used in an application for clock recovery in a serial transmission system, it is important that the output frequency remain stable. The output frequency is used to reconstruct a serial transmission clock signal, which in turn, is used to sample data on a serial transmission line. Distortion or variation in the VCO output frequency, and hence, the reconstructed clock signal, could lead to sampling errors, lost data, decreased throughput, or other such problems. Consequently, for these applications it is important that the VCO provide a very stable, noise free output signal having a controlled frequency.
One of the main problems prior art VCOs need to contend with is power supply noise. Noise in the power supply can have a detrimental effect on the VCO's output stability. As a typical VCO draws current from a power supply, noise with this current (or voltage), or noise from other external devices (e.g., electromagnetic interference), can affect the output frequency. Such noise typically manifests itself as jitter on the rising and falling edges of the output signal, frequency skew in the output signal, or other distortions in the fidelity of the output. This noise typically includes low, mid-band, and high frequency components. VCOs need to be designed such that they are tolerant of power supply noise, including each of its components.
One approach to the power supply noise problem is to prefiltering. The current and voltage transmitted from the power supply is carefully filtered to remove noise. However, prefiltering is often insufficient in removing all component frequencies of noise. Some components of noise often remain. Hence, VCOs need to be designed to tolerate such noise.
Accordingly, in most VCOs, a large portion of their circuitry is devoted to power supply noise rejection in order to enhance the stability of the output. These solutions, however, are only partially effective. As applications have become more complex and as noise sensitivity has increased, VCO sensitivity to power supply noise has increased. In addition, as integration levels increase, performance standards for circuits incorporating VCOs become more exacting.
Thus, what is required is a circuit which solves the power supply noise problems associated with the prior art. The required circuit should not be adversely affected by noise in the power supply. The required circuit should exhibit higher power supply noise rejection. The present invention provides a novel solution to the above requirements.

VCO having a low sensitivity to noise on the power supply


An expandable washer apparatus is formed from a resilient elastomeric annular body having an opening therethrough, an upper surface, a lower surface, and an external cylindrical surface. A plurality of cavities extend around the external cylindrical surface. A plurality of cavity sidewalls are associated with the plurality of cavities, the plurality of sidewalls expanding outward to increase the external cylindrical surface circumference when pressure is applied to the upper and lower surfaces.

The present disclosure is directed to sealing washers, and more specifically to sealing washers that expand in circumference when compressed.
A common and recurring issue in fluid connections is leakage. For example, in garden hoses leaks at hose fittings coupling a hose to another hose, a spigot, or nozzle, for example, commonly leak water. The hoses themselves may not always leak, but in many cases the connecting hardware leaks water. Commonly, such connections will leak water regardless of how tightly the two parts, namely the male hose fitting and female hose fitting, of the connection are threaded together. This is largely attributed to the fact that the manufacturers of hoses and other related equipment having female hose fittings generally use one of two main types of washers in the connections, flat or O-ring washers. Such flat or O-ring washers are generally made from natural rubber or plastics.
While the materials of traditional washers may be different, both are similar in size and shape and both have serious shortcomings. The natural rubber washers may work at first, but as time goes on, they become brittle, and can even crack. This often results due to natural rubber being subjected to high pressure water and widely varying temperatures. For example, a garden hose that is left full of water out in the summer's sun, can become extremely hot. This hot water accelerates the breakdown of the natural rubber. Plastic washers commonly have similar performance and can break down after being subjected to high pressures and/or temperatures for an extended period. Furthermore, such washers may become less effective over longer periods of use even without being subject to high pressures and/or temperatures.
Furthermore, the design of hose washers for years has been the same as a common metal washer. Such washers generally comprise a basic, flattened cylinder, or an o-ring. Since hoses use threads on their male and female fittings to enable connections, the threads themselves are many times the source of a water leak. Commonly a shoulder portion of the female hose fitting, or the end portion of a male fitting, have an uneven or otherwise imperfect surface that will contact the main seating area of the washer. In some cases, the hose washer itself has an imperfect seating area. In other cases, dirt or debris may be present in or on the female or male fittings, or on the hose washer itself. In such situations, the main seating area of the hose washer may not properly seal, allowing water to bypass the seal and makes its way out of the connection via the hose connection threads.
Such leaks in some situations may cause a minor nuisance, but in many cases leaks can also present safety concerns, can result in potential property damage (particularly if the hose is used in an interior of a business or residence), and can result in wasted water.


The invention is a method of playing computerized card games against real or virtual players. The cards games are usually variations of poker, where the quality of the players' hands is due to skill and strategy rather than the luck of the draw. Players request desired cards from a computerized dealer without knowledge of which cards other players have requested. A null card, which has no value in determining the outcome of the game, is delivered to players who request the same card as another player has requested regardless of whether the card was requested previously or during the current round. In another embodiment, a null card is delivered only when two or more players request the same card during the current round or if a player requests a card that has already been distributed.

The game of poker is well known and the rules can be found in nearly every card game rule book. In the game of poker cards are dealt to each player. Players may have a chance to improve their hand by discarding some of their cards, and receiving replacements, as in draw poker, or more cards may be dealt than needed and the best cards retained, as in the seven-card variations of poker. Various rounds of betting take place after dealing and after drawing. In five-card stud poker, one card is dealt face down and the four remaining cards are dealt face up one at a time with a round of betting after each face up card is dealt. In all variations of poker, when the betting rounds are completed, the remaining players expose their hands and the winning player collects the money bet. The outcome is determined by the combinations of cards in the exposed hands. Those combinations are well known—high card, one pair, two pair, three-of-a-kind, straight, flush, full house, four-of-a-kind, and straight flush—and are described in nearly every card game rule book.
Unfortunately, in poker good combinations such as a straight flush, four-of-a-kind and full house are rare. Most people are reluctant to bet much when they hold only one or two pair. As a result, too many people drop out of the betting early, which may frustrate even people with good hands. One common solution is to introduce wild cards to increase the chances of receiving a good hand and thus keep the game interesting, but getting a wild card involves more luck than skill.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,637 to A. Pfeiffer discloses a method of playing a card game in which the players select desired cards which are delivered to players unless a player requests the same card that another player has requested during the same round of play or was dealt on a previous round, in which case a null card, having no value in determining the outcome of the game, is delivered to the requesting player. Poker rules are used to determine the outcome of the game.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,959 to A. Pfeiffer discloses a selector unit and card-storage carousel for playing a card game disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,637.
Many games are now played on computers and the concept of playing card games over a network such as the Internet is well-known. Patents have been granted to new card games that include claims which cover playing the game over the Internet. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,012 discloses a poker game where the amount of successive wagers is pre-established by the players; this game may be played on the Internet. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,720 discloses "enhanced features" of the card game Double Hand; this game may also be played on the Internet.
None of the prior art, however, discloses how to play a computerized card game with multiple variations where a player vies with other players, real and/or virtual, to choose cards that will result in the best possible hand.

Computer-based, interactive, real-time card selection game