An apparatus for changing power direction for a bicycle is provided. The apparatus for changing power direction roughly including a shaft housing, a change ring, a carrier, a sun gear and a sprocket cap is located between a pedal shaft and a driving sprocket. The shaft housing supports the rotating pedal shaft and controls the carrier by using a plurality of pawls to be released from and inserted into a plurality of openings formed at the inside of a rim of a right cap of the shaft housing when pedaling rearward. The change ring releases and inserts the pawls from and into the shaft housing when pedaling rearward, and the carrier having a first ratchet and a second ratchet at the outside and inside of a left portion thereof, respectively, and a plurality of planetary gears to be rotatably set at a right portion maintains or changes the direction of power from the pedal shaft, thereby transmitting the power to a driving sprocket. The sun gear transmits the driving force of the pedal shaft to the carrier while being coupled with the pedal shaft. Also, the sprocket cap having a gear at the right of the inside of the rim thereof receives the power from the carrier to travel the bicycle forward at all times regardless of forward and backward pedaling directions. Therefore, the bicycle travels forward when pedaling forward and rearward in the state where the apparatus for changing power direction is installed to the bicycle. Also, an idling may occur if required when pedaling rearward in the state where the apparatus for changing power direction is installed to the bicycle.

Generally, a bicycle includes front and rear wheels before and after a bicycle frame, and a pair of pedals as a power supply source between two wheels. The driving force for bicycle is obtained through pedaling and then the force is transmitted to the rear wheel via a driving sprocket, a chain and a driven sprocket. This general bicycle travels forward when pedaling forward by a rider and the rear wheel of the bicycle rotates without load by an one-directional ratchet of a hub of the rear wheel when pedaling rearward, wherein the rotation of the rear wheel without load is called "idling".
Also, inventions for new parts of bicycle which can allow of bi-directional pedaling to the general bicycle to which only one-directional pedaling is allowed have been disclosed. Particularly, those of Mantzoursos et al. and Foster et al. will be introduced as follows.
According to the invention of Mantzoutsos et al. (EPO Publication No. 0,369,925), two gears are installed on a pedal shaft and an auxiliary gear is installed between two gears to be detachable. Here, the bicycle of this invention can travel like a general bicycle when pedaling in the state where the auxiliary gear is detached. However, the bicycle can travel forward through the change of rotation direction of the pedal shaft by the auxiliary gear when pedaling rearward while the auxiliary gear is attached.
On the other hand, according to the invention of Forster et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,583), a gear box is installed on a pedal shaft, including two gears, two clutches therebetween and a bevel gear between two gears' teeth. Here, the bicycle of this invention can travel like a general bicycle when pedaling while the clutch is coupled with the right gear. However, the bicycle can travel forward through the change of the rotation direction of the pedal shaft by the bevel gear when pedaling rearward while the clutch is coupled with the left gear.
The above two inventions are meaningful in the aspect of the bi-directional pedaling apparatus which can drive the bicycle forward by adopting a mid gear when pedaling rearward. However, life span of the bi-directional pedaling apparatus is shortened due to abrasion of a specific portion to which a force required for changing the power direction is applied and there is inconvenience in the operation of the apparatus for changing power direction.
A bi-directional pedaling apparatus obtained by solving the above defects is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 94-13391. According to this application, a predetermined closed space is formed between one end of a pedal shaft and a driving sprocket, and two one-directional ratchets are installed at the outer and inner portions of the space. Also, a ratchet wheel to which a plurality planetary gears are rotatably set, and a changing lever for controlling the locking and unlocking of the outer one-directional ratchet are provided in the closed space. The bi-directional pedaling mechanism of the bicycle in the bi-diredtional pedaling apparatus is as follows.
When pedaling forward, the pedal, the ratchet wheel and the driving sprocket integrally rotate to travel the bicycle forward. Meanwhile, the outer one-directional ratchet instead of the inner one-directional ratchet functions by the changing lever when pedaling rearward. Here, there are two cases where the outer ratchet is locked and unlocked. First, when pedaling rearward while the outer ratchet is locked, the plurality of planetary gears rotate around own shafts thereof, so that the rotation direction of the pedal shaft is changed and then power from the pedal shaft is transmitted to the driving sprocket, thereby driving the bicycle forward. Second, when pedaling rearward while the outer ratchet is unlocked, the planetary gears rotate and simultaneously revolve around the pedal shaft in cooperation with the ratchet wheel. As a result, power from the pedal shaft cannot be transmitted to the driving sprocket, resulting in the idling of the pedal.
According to the above-described Korean Patent Application No. 94-13391, the concentration of force on a specific portion by the changing of power direction is prevented by dispersing the force using the plurality of planetary gears. Thus, life span of the bi-directional pedaling apparatus is prolonged and the rotation direction of the pedal shaft can be simply changed by using the changing lever. Also, the bi-directional pedaling apparatus can operate actively by adopting small and precise parts.
However, in the above-described Korean Patent Application No. 94-13391, mass production of the parts and assembling of each part are difficult and the bi-directional pedaling apparatus cannot be attached directly to a conventional bicycle, so that the parts thereof should be improved partially. Also, each constituent part may be broken by a reverse-load caused when pulling back the bicycle.

203-405, Samic Apt. Gaeshin-dong, Cheongju-si


A buoyancy system (10) for an aircraft (1), the buoyancy system (10) being provided with at least one inflatable float (15). The buoyancy system (10) has at least one inflator (25) and at least one actuator (30) interposed between the inflator (25) and a float (15), the actuator (30) having a cylinder (35) and a rod (40) partially received in the cylinder (35). The rod (40) is secured to a piston (50) defining a first chamber (61) within the cylinder (35) and in fluid flow communication with the inflator (25), and a second chamber (62) within the rod (40) and in fluid flow communication with the float (15), and the piston (50) has a channel (63) to put the first chamber (61) into fluid flow communication with the second chamber (62), the deployment device (20) having a shutter (70) for shutting the channel (63).

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a buoyancy system for an aircraft, and to an aircraft having such a buoyancy system.
Under such circumstances, the invention relates to the technical field of buoyancy systems enabling an aircraft to land on water and be stable thereon, and in particular making that possible for a rotary wing aircraft.
(2) Description of Related Art
Such a buoyancy system contributes to providing an aircraft with buoyancy and stability after landing on water. The buoyancy system may be used for example as a result of a forced landing on water (ditching), in order to enable the occupants to evacuate the aircraft. All aircraft that perform missions of transporting people over areas of sea should in principle be provided with such a buoyancy system.
Certification regulations also specify that an aircraft must be capable of landing on water and of remaining stable thereon when using its buoyancy system. Stability should be ensured for water surface states and wind levels that are defined in certification regulations.
Those water surface states are known as "sea conditions" and they apply to any liquid surface. The term "landing on water" thus covers an aircraft "landing" on any free water surface, whether at sea, or on a lake, for example.
The buoyancy system may comprise floats that are deployed either by the pilot and/or the copilot, for example, or else by automatic triggering, in particular by using one or more immersion sensors. The floats may comprise bags that are inflatable by explosive or electric deployment means, for example.
By way of example, Document EP 0 193 265 B1 discloses a buoyancy system having inflatable buoyancy bags that are fastened to landing gear.
Document US 2003/0057322 also discloses a buoyancy system attached to landing gear.
A buoyancy system may also comprise structural floats that are not inflatable.
Thus, buoyancy systems are known that are provided with floats fastened to an aircraft fuselage.
Document JP 61-171699 and Document US 2003/0057322 disclose a buoyancy system attached to a helicopter skid.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,343 describes a buoyancy system having vertical floats that are inflated with compressed air. The floats are provided with wheels operated by hydraulic actuators.
Document JP 2010 064697 (Nat Univ Yokohama) describes an aircraft having a fuselage and two floats. Resilient means serve to move the floats outwards.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 2,271,065 (Dornier Jr Claudius) describes an aircraft having two retractable floats that move away from a fuselage before landing on water.
Also known are Documents U.S. Pat. No. 3,321,158 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,240,449.


An organic light emitting display device includes a display unit including pixels coupled to scan lines and data lines, first and second power lines coupled to the pixels, a DC-DC converter configured to output first and second power sources to the pixels via the first and second power lines, respectively, and a short-circuit-sensing circuit configured to detect whether a short-circuit between the first and second power lines occurs, and configured to control an operation of the DC-DC converter when the short-circuit is detected, wherein voltage levels of the first and second power sources are configured to be changed in a frame period, the frame period including a reverse voltage application period in which the voltage level of the second power source is higher than that of the first power source.

1. Field
An aspect of an embodiment of the present invention relates to an organic light emitting display device and a driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting display device, which has recently attracted the most attention among flat panel display devices, displays images using organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) that emit light through recombination of electrons and holes.
The organic light emitting display device is a self-luminescent display device that does not require a separate backlight unit. Hence, the organic light emitting display device is advantageous in terms of power consumption, and has excellent response speed, viewing angle, and contrast ratio.
The OLED includes an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, and an organic emission layer formed therebetween. Electrons injected from the cathode electrode are coupled in the organic emission layer with holes injected from the anode electrode to form excitons. The excitons emit light while emitting energy. The organic emission layer is formed into a multi-layered structure including an emission layer (EML), an electron transport layer (ETL), and a hole transport layer (HTL) to improve emission efficiency by optimizing the balance of electrons and holes. The organic emission layer may additionally include an electron injection layer (EIL), and a hole injection layer (HIL).

Organic light emitting display device and driving method thereof


The clothing iron holder with water reservoir (10) is a protective accessory for use with a clothing iron (12) or the like. The holder (10) includes a water reservoir (16) and is sized and shaped to receive a clothing iron (12). The holder (10) has an opening (30) for releasably covering the iron's water fill opening (14) so that if the iron (12) is inadvertently tipped over or falls, water exiting the water fill opening (14) is received within the water reservoir (16). Further, when received within the holder (10), a lower face (42) of the clothing iron (12) is supported by an upper surface of the central portion (22), and the upper surface preferably has a heat-resistant padded layer (40) formed thereon.

Clothing irons are typically heavy pieces of equipment which operate at relatively high temperatures. When not ironing clothing, users typically rest the clothing iron on its rear face, such that the heated contact plate is positioned substantially orthogonal to the clothing or ironing surface. This position, however, is not particularly stable, and the iron may be easily tipped over or dropped. The weight of the iron may cause injury to the user, or may damage nearby furniture or the floor surface. Further, the iron operates at relatively high temperatures, and the user could be easily burned, or nearby furniture or carpeting, for example, could burn or catch on fire. Additionally, steam irons typically include an open water filling port adjacent the handle portion, and upon falling, the heated water contained therein will spill out.
It would be desirable to provide a holder for a clothing iron which not only allows the iron to be stably positioned and stored, but also offers protection from injury due to the iron's weight, and from the high temperature of the iron. It would be further desirable to provide a holder which also prevents water spillage during an accidental fall. It would be additionally desirable if spilled water could be collected within the holder for later re-usage.
Thus, a clothing iron holder with water reservoir solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Clothing iron holder with water reservoir


The present disclosure provides a method for touch-region calibration. The method includes controlling a switch of a camera assembly in an electronic device to turn off an infrared filtering function of an infrared filter of the camera assembly, according to a calibration instruction; detecting a plurality of calibrated objects using the camera assembly; and determining a range of a touch region on the electronic device according to the plurality of calibrated objects.

With the development of intelligence, human-computer interaction technology changes on a day-to-day basis. Using a combination of a sensor and a display region to form a simulated touch-control system provides a new interaction method. The method can directly change a display region that originally does not have any touch-control function to a touch-control screen, through which, interactions with the computer can be achieved.
Before the simulated touch system can be used, however, the touch region needs to be calibrated, which requires human involvement for the calibration process and affects the user experience.
The disclosed method, apparatus, and device for touch-region calibration are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems in the art.

Method, electronic device, and apparatus for touch-region calibration


A method for automatic matching of planar point patterns in a reference pattern with a test pattern includes course mating, calculation of a mated possibility for one point in each pattern using fuzzy relaxation, preliminary selection of mated pairs based on these possibilities, and calculation of a similarity value based upon the number of mated pairs, the mated rate of the reference and test patterns, and the average mating possibility and average distance between mated points.

The matching of two or more planar point patterns is an important technique in the field of computer vision technology and in the image processing technology. When an image is input into a computer in a digitized format, the "feature points" of the image can be abstracted with the conventional feature abstracting technologies, according to the characters of the image or to the purposes of the processing. The feature points, more concretely, the coordinates of the points, so obtained can be used in the recognition of the image. For example, by matching the distribution of the feature points, the similarity of the patterns comprising the feature points can be calculated, so that the similarity of the images can be decided.
A good example of the application of the pattern matching technology is the recognition of fingerprints. When the image of a fingerprint is scanned by an image scanner, the image is digitized and input to a computer. The computer uses a software to abstract the distribution of the feature points of the fingerprint, usually the terminals and the cross points of the lines of the fingerprint. By matching two patterns comprising feature points obtained in different time or places, whether the two fingerprints came from the same finger, can be decided.
In the matching of two planar point patterns so obtained, several problems will be faced. One is, the number of feature points of two patterns could be different, even if they were abstracted from a same image or image source. Another is, the possibility that the same feature point exists at the same position in both patterns can not be forecast. The third is, while the images (patterns) were obtained at different time and/or places, the distribution of the feature points in one pattern could be shifted, rotated and/or distorted (enlarged or reduced), if compared with the other pattern.
Taiwan patent application No. 79109743 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,367) related to a "Planar Pattern Point Matching and Recognition Method and Device thereof" wherein a "fuzzy relaxation" approach is introduced.
According to said patent, the matching of two planar point patterns are conducted in two steps. The first step is to mate the points of one pattern (the reference pattern) with the points of another pattern (the test pattern). The second step is to calculate the similarity of the two patterns.
In the mating process, a "course matching" approach is used to exclude pairs of points that are impossible to be mated. The "mating possibility" of one point from the reference pattern to be mated with one point from the test pattern is set at 0 for those pairs that can not be mated and is set at 1 for other pairs. The mating possibility of a pair is then adjusted according to "the value of other mated pairs to support such mating, given that such one pair is mated". The mating possibility of one mated pair is calculated to the following equation: ##EQU1## wherein S.sup.(r) (pi,qj) represents the mating possibility of points pi and qj, when it is adjusted for the r.sup.th time, pi represents a point from the test pattern P, qj represent a point from the reference pattern Q, Cij(h, k) represents the value that another mated pair ph and qk to support the mating of pi and qj wherein ##EQU2## l's represent distances between pi and ph or between qj and qk and m represents the least number of points in patterns P and Q.
While the mating possibility of every point from the reference pattern with every point from the test pattern is calculated, the best mated pairs can be selected with a "sequential forward selection method".
In the second step, the similarity of the reference pattern and the test pattern can be calculated employing the following components. They are: the mated rate (number of mated pairs/minimum number of points of the two patterns), the average mating possibility, the average distance of mated pairs and the scaling factor.
In order to solve the problem of distortion, including shift, rotation and proportional scaling, a "least mean-square-error" value was introduced to adjust the distribution of the test pattern.
Although the above-said patent taught an automatic matching method for planar point patterns with high efficiency, it inherits the problem of relatively high rejection rate. If the "false acceptance rate--FAR" is set at 0.1%, in matching 800 fingerprint images, its "false rejection rate--FRR" will be about 25%. This means, when two images are from the same fingerprint, the possibility that the system decides they are not from the same fingerprint is 25%.
It is then necessary to develop an automatic matching device and method for planar point patterns wherein the FRR can be reduced. It is also necessary to have an automatic matching device and method that provide higher efficiency.

Automatic matching device for planar point patterns and method thereof

3F, 54 Park Ave. II, Science Based Industrial Park


A shaft sealing module is proposed for sealing a shaft which extends driving rotationally from a normal pressure chamber into a high vacuum chamber. It is essential for the shaft sealing module according to the invention that the dynamic seal of the shaft takes place not on the shaft itself but on a bushing mounted rotatably in a housing through which is guided a shaft and which is held on the shaft in friction connection, statically sealed, by elastic rings so that the bushing rotates with the shaft. The dynamic seal between the bushing and the housing is achieved by several radial shaft sealing rings which are preferably arranged so that between them is provided a prevacuum chamber with intermediate evacuation so that a two-stage dynamic seal is provided, where the prevacuum acts on the static seal between the bushing and the shaft in the sense of a gas penetration barrier towards the high vacuum chamber.

The present invention relates generally to a shaft sealing module for sealing a shaft which extends, driving rotationally, from a normal pressure chamber into a high vacuum chamber. As an example, manufacturing processes in the semi-conductor field largely take place under vacuum, in particular coating processes. During these processes the substrates to be coated must be moved. As the drive elements for these are usually mounted on the atmospheric or normal pressure side of these machines or devices, the substrates can only be moved if rotational movements are transmitted into the evacuated system via a sealed shaft.
These processes often take place at very high vacuum pressures, often of the order of 10−8 mbar. In order, however, to be able to work with small vacuum pumps and avoid the penetration of gases (O2, N2, CO2) harmful to these processes into the high vacuum chamber from the normal pressure chamber via the shaft arrangement, very high requirements are imposed on the shaft seal.
In such shaft seals it is known to use a "magnetic fluid" comprising a suspension of ferritic nanoparticles in an oil with high vapor pressure which is maintained in a gap about the rotating shaft via a particular arrangement of magnets and pole shoes. However, many coating processes involve the use of high frequency electric field. In such instances, the use of "magnetic fluids" is not possible because the magnets of the shaft seals makes it difficult or impossible to control the high frequency currents flowing on the surfaces. Additionally, the magnetic fluid shaft seals can be damaged by the flowing currents and hence become ineffective.

Shaft sealing module for sealing vacuum chambers


There is provided a method and apparatus that monitors and records the status and cargo inventory of a shipping container. The shipping container includes a container control unit that records and monitors the status and inventory particular to that container. Sensors are provided within the container to determine the container status. A piezoceramic actuator provides power to rechargeable batteries in the container control unit. Thus the container includes a self contained power source. A bridge control unit monitors and records the status and inventory of every container on a vessel. A remote control unit monitors and records the status and inventory of every container worldwide.

The events of 9/11 provided a startling wakeup call to the expanding horizon of tactics, methods and weapons that the myriad of terrorist groups could use to damage United States financial and commercial assets, critical infrastructure and its people. As a result of this heightened awareness, various border and shipping channel security efforts were launched.
Shipping containers are typically 8′×8′×20′ in the shipping industry. These containers are loaded and then three dimensionally stacked for shipment from a far way point of origin. It has been identified that these container can carry many different types of hazardous cargo, including the terrorists themselves. Consequently, there are now conscience efforts to closely monitor the shipping industry and the cargo of the containers.
Many of these efforts comprise deploying more manpower to inspect more ports. In the shipping industry these inspectors can physically inspect more shipping containers than ever before. However, it is impossible to inspect all of the containers.
Further, by the time a container can be physically inspected it may already be too late. For example, a container containing significant radiological explosive material may be detonated prior to its inspection causing massive damage in and around a particular port.
Another problem with the current system is that there exist certain unfriendly nations and ports or easily compromised ports. Thus, these containers and there cargo are only as secure as the personnel at the ports where they are loaded.


A tamper response system to protect intellectual property is provided. In one embodiment, the tamper response system includes at least one sensor adapted to sense tamper activity and a tamper circuit. The tamper circuit is coupled to receive tamper signals from the at least one sensor. Moreover, the tamper circuit is adapted to clear at least one field programmable gate array (FPGA) upon receipt of a tamper signal.

A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an integrated circuit that is capable of being reprogrammed in the field after manufacture. In particular, an FPGA is made up of logic gates whose connections are readily programmed into specific configurations by the user. The design, which is resident in the FPGA, is proprietary information that can be very valuable. Accordingly, the ability to keep others from obtaining the programming information is important for both business and military reasons. Typical non-volatile FPGAs come with a test mode and a read back mode. Bedsides their intended functions, these modes enable reverse engineering of the FPGA device.
Some manufactures of non-volatile FPGAs protect important or sensitive information in the FPGA by disabling the test and read back modes with the use of security bits. However, the use of thermal imaging can be used to locate these security bits. Once located, they can be disabled with a high energy light source. In addition, other proprietary information that is stored in memory devices in communication with associated FPGAs can be obtained by reverse engineering techniques.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a tamper response system that protects proprietary information from reverse engineering techniques.

Tamper response system for integrated circuits


A display substrate and a manufacturing method thereof. The display substrate includes a display region, a barrier region and an opening region, the barrier region is located between the display region and the opening region. The barrier region includes a first barrier wall, a first barrier wall, and a second barrier wall which are sequentially arranged from the display region to the opening region. The first barrier wall includes a first metal layer structure, at least one lateral surface of the first metal layer structure surrounding the opening region is provided with a notch; the first intercepting wall includes a first insulating layer structure; the second barrier wall includes a second metal layer structure and a first stacked structure, at least one lateral surface of the second metal layer structure surrounding the opening region is provided with a notch.

At present, display screen of a display device is developing towards a direction of large screen and full screen. Generally, a display device (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet computer, etc.) has an image pick-up device (or an imaging device), which is usually disposed outside a display region of the display screen. However, installation of the image pick-up device requires a certain position, which is not conducive to the full screen and narrow frame design of the display screen. For example, the image pick-up device can be combined with the display region of the display screen to reserve a position for the imaging pick-up device in the display region so as to maximize the display region of the display screen.

Display substrate with opening region and barrier region surrounding opening region and manufacturing method thereof

CHENGDU BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A packet processing apparatus includes a processor configured to execute a process. The process includes: determining a memory from which packets are read, out of a first memory that stores the packets and a second memory that stores the packets, in accordance with number of pointers indicative of storage locations of the packets in the first memory; and reading the packets stored at the storage locations indicated by the pointers, from the memory determined at the determining.

A packet processing apparatus such as switches and routers has been used. The packet processing apparatus generally includes a plurality of interface cards that input and output packets, switch cards that control packet input and output between respective interface cards, and a control card that manages an apparatus status based on control information. The interface cards receive optical signals via optical fibers from an external device. The optical signals are converted into electrical signals by an optical module and then inputted into a device having a function to perform physical/media access control (PHY/MAC) processing. This device extracts packets from the electrical signals and inputs them into a subsequent packet processing circuit. Examples of the packet processing circuit include a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a network processing unit (NPU).
The packets that have reached an interface card on the packet receiving side are subjected to flow control by a policer, so that their input rate is limited to a specified rate or lower. The packets which passed the receiving-side interface card travel through a switch card and then reach an interface card on the packet transmitting side. The transmitting-side interface card performs copy processing, and then executes quality of service (QoS) processing. In the QoS processing, the packets are subjected to bandwidth control processing (shaping) and/or priority control processing based on contracts. In the priority control processing, voice packets are outputted in priority to Web packets, for example.
Hereinafter, the packet control in the QoS processing (hereinafter referred to as "QoS control") will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating input and output orders changed by the QoS control. As illustrated in FIG. 20, the packets inputted in order of alphabets A to G are divided into flows F0 to Fn (n being natural numbers) per QoS control unit (hereinafter referred to as "flow"), and queued into the packet processing circuit. Each of the queued packets is subjected to priority control processing (such as Strict Priority (SP)) by a scheduler SC. Packets are outputted in sequence from the flow selected based on a scheduling result. In the example illustrated in FIG. 20, the priority is set in an ascending order of flow IDs. Accordingly, packets of alphabets A, C, E, and G are outputted from the flow F0 first. Next, a packet of the alphabet F is outputted from the flow F1. Next, a packet of the alphabet D is outputted from the flow F2. Then, a packet of the alphabet B is outputted from the flow Fn. In this manner, the scheduler SC changes the order of the packets from an input order (order of alphabets A to G) to an output order (order of alphabets A, C, E, G, F, D, and B), and outputs the packets in the output order.
However, packets have various packet lengths, and some packets have an information amount as large as about 10 K bytes. Accordingly, it is inefficient for the packet processing apparatus to queue the packets themselves inside the packet processing circuit. Therefore, the packet processing apparatus generally queues into the packet processing circuit only the minimum information (for example, a flow ID, a packet length, and a buffer address) for use in the QoS control as a packet pointer (hereinafter simply referred to as "pointer"). In this case, the packets are stored in a large-capacity dynamic random access memory (DRAM) constituted separately from the packet processing circuit. The buffer address is information indicative of a storage location of a packet inside the DRAM that is used as a packet buffer. For example, the buffer address includes an ID of a cell array (hereinafter referred to as "bank") in the DRAM and an address in each bank.
FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating processing to write and read packets by using pointers. As illustrated in FIG. 21, in QoS control, the packet processing apparatus queues not the packets themselves but only their pointers, and then reads out the pointers in the ascending order from the flow F0 selected by the scheduler SC based on the QoS scheduling result. Further, a read unit reads the packets stored in the addresses based on the buffer addresses indicated by the pointers read out by the scheduler SC.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-88102 and Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-157680 are introduced as the Rerated Art Documents.
It is possible to produce DRAMs with larger capacity and higher speed by forming a plurality of banks therein. However, because of the structure of the DRAMs, successive access to the same bank is made at a specified interval called random cycle time (tRC). Accordingly, it is desirable to execute sequential access to the banks as much as possible so as to demonstrate the maximum access speed of the DRAMs. Hereinafter, such access is referred to as a bank sequential access. While the tRC varies depending on operating frequencies, grades, and types of the DRAMs, the tRC is about ten clk (clock) cycles.
For example, assume the case where a DRAM includes eight banks and tRC=10 clk as illustrated in FIG. 21. In this case, if the packet processing circuit can read or write one pkt (packet) per access, and all the different banks in the DRAM are accessed during ten clk cycles, write or read access of 8 pkt/10 clk can be executed at the maximum. However, when the packet processing circuit successively accesses a plurality of packets stored in the same bank (for example, the bank B0 in FIG. 21) in the DRAM, it is difficult to execute write or read access of about 1 pkt/10 clk since there is a limitation of the above-stated latency time of tRC(=10 clk). Hereinafter, the situation wherein the same bank is successively accessed during the tRC is referred to as "bank conflict."
Here, assume a 100-gigabit Ethernet (registered trademark) for example. In this case, when packets have a shortest length of 64 bytes, the packet processing circuit theoretically needs to process the packets with the packet processing performance of about 150 M pkt/s. Accordingly, when the packet processing apparatus uses a DRAM having an operating frequency of, for example, 300 MHz (number of banks=8, tRC=10 clk), the packet processing circuit needs to process the packets with the processing performance of 1 pkt/2 clk, i.e., 5 pkt/10 clk. Therefore, if the packet processing circuit can uniformly access all the banks as in the bank sequential access, the performance requirement of 5 pkt/10 clk can be fulfilled. However, when the banks are not uniformly accessed, bank arbitration is performed.
FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating the bank arbitration performed at the time of writing and reading the packets. As illustrated in FIG. 22, when a bank conflict occurs in the bank B1, it is difficult for the packet processing circuit to access the bank B1 and then access again the same bank B1 in a predetermined period of tRC. Accordingly, the packet processing circuit momentarily waits (waits for bank arbitration) in a FIFO (First In First Out) queue, and then access the bank B1 anew. This creates a delay equal to the tRC(=10 clk) between the packets. As a result, the performance of the packet processing apparatus is degraded to less than the above-stated performance requirement (for example, about 1 pkt/10 clk).
The performance requirement of 5 pkt/10 clk can be fulfilled at an access speed of 1 bank/10 clk if the DRAM which operates on a frequency (for example, 1.5 GHz) about five times as large as the current frequency is mounted on the packet processing apparatus. However, this is not feasible. Or an alternative way to avoid the bank conflict is to mount a static random access memory (SRAM) that is a single array memory on the packet processing apparatus as a memory other than the DRAM. However, the SRAM is smaller in capacity than the DRAM, and therefore it is difficult to cover the entire packet buffer with the SRAM in actuality. Mounting a plurality of SRAMs on the packet processing apparatus is not feasible because costs, power consumption, and the number of input-output (IO) pins are increased accordingly.
Accordingly, the packet processing circuit writes the packets to the DRAM in a packet input order in the bank sequential manner, so that the bank conflict at the time of writing is avoidable. FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating packet processing executable without bank arbitration on the writing side. In FIG. 23, numeric characters in the pointers and packets represent bank IDs. As described in the foregoing, the bank conflict can occur at the time of both packet writing and reading. As illustrated in FIG. 23, the bank conflict at the time of writing is avoidable if the packet processing circuit performs bank-sequential access simply in the input order without taking the flow type into consideration. Therefore, the bank arbitration on the writing side can be omitted.
Contrary to this, the packet output order on the reading side is dependent on the QoS scheduling result. Therefore, bank-sequential access is not performed in some cases and there is a high possibility that the bank conflict occurs. Accordingly, bank arbitration is executed on the reading side as necessary. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 23, when four packets of the flow F0 are uninterruptedly stored in the same bank B0, the scheduler SC reads these four packets from the flow F0 in succession. As a result, the bank conflict occurs three times, and a delay of the tRC(=10 clk) between read packets is generated three times. As a result, the performance of the packet processing apparatus is degraded to less than the above-stated performance requirement (for example, about 1 pkt/10 clk).

Packet processing apparatus and packet processing method


Embodiments are generally directed to smart impedance matching for high-speed I/O. In some embodiments, a circuit includes an impedance sensing block; a finite state machine to provide impedance tuning for a driver; and a control block, the control block to provide a feedback loop to check and tune impedance of the driver. The impedance sensing block is to sample an output voltage of the driver to determine whether the impedance of the driver is greater than or less than an impedance of the channel; and the finite state machine is to produce a signal to decrease or increase the impedance of the driver based on the determination whether the impedance of the driver is greater than or less than the impedance of the channel.

In high speed IO signaling, the matching of impedances between a driver and channel is critical for effective operation. Mismatch of impedance results in a signal reflection, while proper impedance matching minimizes this signal reflection.
In conventional operation, a system commonly employs a dedicated impedance control circuit, also known as an R-Comp, to calibrate the driver impedance to a design value. The R-Comp employs an external high precision resistor on board to tune an on-chip resistor. The tuned on-chip resistor may then be replicated to all data-lanes.
While the R-Comp will allow for impedance tuning, this technique has several limitations. The R-Comp is an added cost to the package and platform because an extra package pin and a high precision resistor are required for each I/O family that is to be matched, where there are commonly 5 to 10 I/O families for a typical SOC (System on Chip) product. A replica of the R-comp impedance to data lanes may introduce a large error due to the significant silicon variation, especially for the cutting edge silicon process. If the impedance replica fails, a system may be forced to resort to per-lane R-comp, which is cost prohibitive.
Further, the driver impedance is only matched by the R-Comp to a particular design value, which is typically equal to the nominal channel impedance. However, in a real world channel there are manufacturing variations (commonly about 15%) that affect channel impedance. In addition, there are impedance discontinuities that will further affect the channel impedance. The R-Comp concept cannot effectively account for these types of non-idealities.

Smart impedance matching for high-speed I/O


A visual telephone terminal that allows the user to easily designate any desired area to be extracted from an image being shown on a display portion by an area-extracting frame or form prepared by using numeral keys and stored in storing means, requiring no additional cost. On the numeral keys on the visual telephone terminal, the user selects a numeral key corresponding to a start point of area-extracting frame or form, moves the start point to a desired position and fixes it at the position by pressing the start point key, then performs similar operations for selecting and deciding the second point, thus forming the area-extracting form on the image.

The present invention relates to a visual telephone terminal and more particularly to a method for extracting any desired area on an image being displayed on the visual telephone terminal having numeral keys on its operating portion.
With a conventional visual telephone terminal, a user usually designates an image area desired to be extracted from an image being displayed on a display screen by using a drawing control portion with a mouse or a light-pen for easily drawing shapes on the display screen.
However, the drawing control portion must be externally attached to a single-unit type visual telephone or a separate visual display unit connected to a telephone set. Therefore, it requires an additional cost.
The conventional single-unit type or two-units type visual telephone terminal cannot be provided with an image-area extracting facility at a low expense.

Image-area extracting method for visual telephone


A rotary distribution apparatus includes a stationary, cylindrical inner core (27), and a rotatable, cylindrical outer shell (25) disposed about the inner core with the inner core (27) and the outer shell defining a plurality of annular fluid distribution chambers therebetween. The apparatus furthermore includes a rotatable indexing disc (23) having a plurality of flow passages provided therethrough, connection ports of which are in flow communication with ports in the outer shell (25), and a stationary indexing disc (22) having a plurality of flow passages provided therethrough, connection ports of which are in flow communication with suitable process vessels. The rotary distribution apparatus includes a driving arrangement that comprises a stationary shaft (28) to which the stationary core (27) is secured and a rotatable sleeve (24) rotatable about the stationary shaft (28), the rotatable sleeve (24) driving the rotatable outer shell (25) and the rotatable indexing disc (23).

THIS invention relates to a rotary distribution apparatus and more particularly, but not exclusively, to a rotary distribution apparatus suitable for use in a sugar refinement process.
In many processes it is necessary sequentially to connect different feed conduits and discharge conduits to process chambers of equipment. One typical approach is to use a plurality of conduits and valves to achieve the desired flow distribution between the various chambers. However, as the numbers of feed and discharge conduits and/or the number of process chambers are increased, the use of conventional piping and valves becomes cumbersome due to complexity, space and cost considerations. Although the number of valves may be reduced, through the use of multi-port valves at each process chamber, the complexities of the piping arrangement remains.
An alternative manner in which the above process requirements can be achieved is by utilizing a rotary distribution apparatus, as disclosed in the Applicant's prior patent. WO2004/029490 entitled "Rotary Distribution Apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Further refinements and variations of such rotary distribution apparatus is also disclosed in the Applicant's patents WO2007/031857 entitled "Indexing Arrangement", and WO2009/127978 entitled "Rotary Distribution Apparatus Incorporating Interstage Pumps", the contents of which is also incorporated herein by reference.
One embodiment of an existing rotary distribution apparatus, which has applications in continuous ion-exchange, adsorption and chromatographic separation processes, is shown in FIG. 1. The apparatus has a stationary, cylindrical central core 1 into which fixed feed and product pipes 2 extend. A set of annular fluid distribution chambers 3 are defined between the core 1 and an outer barrel (or shell) 4 which rotates around the core with, in practice, one distribution chamber per feed or product stream. Pipes 5 which rotate with the barrel 4 are connected between selected distribution chambers and selected ports in the indexing disc 6 which rotates with the barrel. The indexing disc 6 rotates relative to a stationary disc 7 which is connected by stationary piping 8 to multiple process chambers 9. Fluid streams enter the rotary distribution apparatus through pipes 2 within the central core 1 and are then supplied via the rotating piping 5 to the indexing disc 6, and then via the stationary disc 7 and the stationary piping 8 to the selected process chambers 9. The fluid streams return from the process chambers and follow a similar route in reverse and are eventually discharged from the apparatus through the fixed pipes 2. Rotation of the indexing disc 6 results in the flow being directed to selected process chambers, which are in flow communication with the stationary disc.
A bearing and drive arrangement is required to maintain alignment and a sealing pressure between the indexing and stationary discs. In the standard rotary distribution arrangement design a slew ring 10 is bolted to the stationary disc and the indexing disc. The slew ring has an external gear 11 which is used to drive the unit. The use of a slew ring has the advantage that the area at the centre of the discs is left clear for the feed and product pipes to enter the central core from either or both the top or the bottom. In the standard design the barrel is mounted on top of the discs.
A consequence of this design (and the sealing system) is that pipes connecting the rotating and stationary discs have to be orientated in a vertical direction, as the slew ring prevents horizontal, side-entry of pipes into the indexing discs. In certain, typically small scale, applications it becomes advantageous to have horizontal connections into the indexing or stationary discs, due to cost, complexity and space considerations. However, the use of a slew ring bearing makes this impractical.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a new rotary distribution arrangement, and in particular a drive arrangement therefor, which that will, at least partially, alleviate the above disadvantages.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a new rotary distribution arrangement and in particular a drive arrangement therefor, which will be a useful alternative to existing rotary distributions arrangements and drive arrangements.


A nonvolatile memory device includes a bit line, a pair of data lines and a plurality of scalable two transistor memory (STTM) cells. The memory cells are arranged between a pair of datalines so as to share the bit line. The memory device further includes a data line selection circuit and a sense amplification circuit. The data line selection circuit selects one of a pair of data lines, and the sense amplification circuit senses and amplifies a voltage difference between the bit line and the selected data line. Operation speed is increased, while improving device cell array structure.

1. Field of this Invention
This disclosure relates to semiconductor memory devices, and more particularly, to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device with scalable two transistor memory (STTM) cells.
2. Description of the Related Art
Compared to other memory devices such as SRAM semiconductor devices, DRAM semiconductor devices have an advantage of being able to achieve a higher integration density. But DRAM semiconductor devices cannot maintain a stored charge, as required by scaling, due to leakage current from memory cells, internal noise, and soft errors caused by incident alpha particles. Therefore, the memory cells of such devices require constant refreshing in order to maintain stored data. Thus, power consumption is large even in stand-by mode.
ON the other hand, flash memory devices, or EEPROM devices, have a merit in that there is no need to refresh the memory cells in order to maintain data stored in the memory cells. However, a primary drawback of flash memory devices is that it is difficult to improve its relatively slow access time because it takes a relatively long time to program the memory cells. Moreover, a high voltage is necessary to program (write) or erase memory cells of flash memory devices. The high electric field applied during erase/write cycles degrades the SiO2 tunneling barrier to the floating gate over a predetermined number (typically about 105) of erase/write cycles and, as a result, limits the operational life of the memory device. Thus, there is a need for a novel memory cell device that combines the advantages of DRAM and flash memory. In other words, there is a need for a semiconductor memory device having memory cells that allow scalable memory charge relative to cell density of the device long-term retention, low voltage, high speed, and highly reliable operational characteristics. One such novel memory cell, which can be named as a Scalable Two-Transistor Memory cell, has been proposed by Nazato et al. (refer to IEDM 97, pp. 179–182 and U.S. Pat. No 5,952,692). Nazato et al. referred to their device as a Planar Localized Electron Device Memory (PLEDM) cell. This memory cell has non-volatile, high-speed, very low-power dissipation, and high cell density characteristics. It also has an isolated memory node, which provides immunity against soft errors, and a gain property, which provides a large S/N ratio. It is a quantum tunneling device that works at room temperature with no hot carrier degradation effects, and can be fabricated by exsiting silicon processing technology. Using the STTM cell, the following invention discloses an improved cell array structure so that operation speed is increased.

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device with scalable two transistor memory cells


A vector editor for providing an integrated circuit datapath layout. For one aspect, vectors may be extracted from an integrated circuit design input file using a name-based vector extraction approach, a bus/connectivity-based vector extraction approach or another approach. Each vector may be represented as one of a row and a column, wherein the representation differs from that of the associated physical layout. Each bit slice associated with the integrated circuit layout is represented in an orthogonal manner to the vectors. For one aspect, instances of similar master cells may be represented using similar visual representations.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to the field of integrated circuit design, and, more particularly, to an approach for datapath layout.
Due to aggressive density and performance goals of many integrated circuit datapath designs, conventional computer aided design (CAD) automation tools that are not designed with datapath layout requirements in mind may produce unacceptable datapath layout results. High-performance datapath layout is, therefore, often performed manually. Using this approach, layout design of datapaths may consume a large portion of layout resources for some current integrated circuit design projects. For a typical high-performance microprocessor, for example, required layout resources may be on the order of hundreds of layout designer years with the result that datapath circuit and layout design is often the critical path of a corresponding project timeline.
The layout effort needed for a particular project is roughly proportional to the number of drawn devices in the integrated circuit design. As integrated circuit design size grows exponentially (per Moore's law), the manpower needed for manual datapath design will soon become prohibitively expensive and time-consuming and therefore, impractical.

Method and apparatus for integrated circuit datapath layout using a vector editor


A rotary-type carburetor (1) according to the present invention includes a body (4) having a bore (2) with a circular cross section, and a valve element (6) to be contained in the bore (2). The valve element (6) rotates between a closed position where the valve passage (16) is blocked from communicating with the body passages (10a, 10b), and a fully-opened position where the valve passage (16) and the body passages (10a, 10b) are aligned. When the valve element (6) is located in an idle position, an air flowing through the body passages (10a, 10b) and the valve passage (16) is prevented from being flown into the bore end part (12). When the valve element (6) is located in a fully-opened position, a portion of the air flowing from an upstream part (10a) of the body passage is bypassed into the upstream communication part (32).

A rotary-type carburetor having a rotary throttle valve is often used in mixture passage which supplies a fuel-air mixture to an engine.
The rotary throttle valve in the rotary-type carburetor includes a block-type body having a bore with a circular cross section extending along an axis, and a valve element with a circular cross section to be contained in the bore. The body includes body passages extending from an upstream side to a downstream side so as to extend through the bore, while the valve element includes a valve passage extending through the valve element in a direction across the axis. The valve element is configured to rotate about the axis between a closed position where the valve passage is blocked from communicating with the body passages, and a fully-opened position where the valve passage and the body passages are aligned so as to define a maximum communication area.
The rotary-type carburetor also includes a carburetion nozzle unit disposed along the axis. The carburetion nozzle unit includes a cylindrical needle receiving part extending from a bore end part of the body through the valve element to the valve passage, and a needle extending from the valve element and being inserted into the needle receiving part. The needle receiving part includes a port for ejecting fuel into the valve passage. When the body passages and the valve passage are in communication with each other, fuel ejected from the port and vaporized is mixed with air flowing through the body passages and the valve passage and supplied to the engine (Please refer to the Patent Publications 1 and 2).
The valve element is also configured to move along the axis in a direction where the valve end part moves away from the bore end part when the valve element rotates from the closed position to the fully opened position so that the needle increases an opening area of the port. A small gap is provided between the valve element and the needle receiving part, enabling the rotation and the movement of the valve element.


An X-ray CT apparatus, as one example, includes at least one X-ray irradiation source configured to irradiate an X-ray to a volume of interest, at least one X-ray detector including a plurality of detection element segments configured to detect the X-ray penetrated through the volume of interest, at least one collimator configured to create an opening that is movable in at least one of a slice direction and a channel direction, at least one image processing part configured to extract a portion of the volume data, a controller configured to set the opening of the at least one collimator to a second opening size according to a cylinder-like second scanning range that is set to limit the volume of interest and configured to perform a second scan, and at least one reconstruction part configured to reconstruct image data based on data collected by the second scan.

X-rays being irradiated to a patient by an X-ray CT apparatus that reconstructs image data from the penetration data is known. With a multi-slice X-ray CT apparatus, it is possible to collect two or more slices of data at once from different positions (multi-slice scanning), using the X-ray detector which has two or more segments of detection elements, such as a combination of a scintillator and a photodiode, which detects the X-rays. By using the multi-slice scan (it is also called a cone beam scan) together with a helical scan, data from a large scanning range can be collected in short time, and the multi-slice X-ray CT apparatus has become popular.
When using the multi-slice scan together with a helical scan, an important issue is the reduction of the X-ray dose. For example, Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-17716 and Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 10-248835 describe that a scanning range is set on a scanogram to include an object, such as an internal organ of a patient, an opening of a collimator is set according to the scanning range and a scan is performed of the internal organ. However, in fact, a part of the internal organ may not be included in the scanning range. As a result, insufficient data may be collected and a repeated scan may be necessary.


Crystallization Photoresist (PR) apparatus and methods which allow for fast screening and determination of protein crystallization conditions with small protein quantities and rapid crystallization. The apparatus comprise a first region comprising a first nucleation catalyst material and a second region comprising a second nucleation catalyst material, with the first and second regions positioned adjacent to each other and configured to support at least one crystal, and with the first region having a variation in a nucleation property of the first nucleation catalyst material in the first region. The crystal may be supported at an interface of the adjacent regions. The methods comprise providing a first region of a first nucleation catalyst material and a second region of a second nucleation catalyst material adjacent said first region, with the first region having a variation in a nucleation property of the first nucleation catalyst material, exposing the first and second regions to a solution of a selected molecule, and growing at least one crystal of the molecule in association with the first and second regions.

The recent progress in molecular biology and its application to medicine, agriculture, and industrial processes has been crucially dependent on structure determinations at the atomic level of macromolecules such as nucleic acids, viruses, large macromolecular complexes and in particular proteins. Redundancies of structural elements now emerging from recently determined protein structures suggests that the number of structural motifs and substructures (domains) naturally occurring in many proteins may be finite, and that these molecular motifs may be classified and catalogued according to specific polypeptide folds. With the majority of protein motifs being determined, structural and functional predictions based primarily on the amino acid sequence may be possible for unknown proteins. With the influx of genomic information presently available, there is more interest being placed in determining the three dimensional structure of proteins encoded by newly identified gene sequences.
The three dimensional structures of proteins has had a dramatic impact on biotechnology and in particular the therapeutic treatment of certain diseases. Determining the three dimensional structure of proteins provides the essential information necessary for identifying and developing new drugs and pharmaceutical products which interact with these proteins (McPherson, Proceedings of Frontiers in Bioprocessing II, (American Chemical Society Boulder, Colo., 1992, pp. 10–15; McPherson, Rational Drug Design, CRC Press, 1994, Chptr. 6, p 170). The three dimensional structure of proteins and other macromolecules is the basis for identifying lead compounds to treat a host of human ailments, veterinary problems, crop diseases in agriculture, and other uses. For example, if the three dimensional structure of the active site of a salient enzyme in a metabolic or regulatory pathway is known, then chemical compounds, such as regulatory drugs, can be rationally designed to inhibit or otherwise affect the behavior of that enzyme.
Another area of biotechnology that also requires knowledge of three-dimensional macromolecular structure is the area of protein genetic engineering. Although recombinant DNA techniques provide the essential synthetic role that permits modification of proteins, protein structure determination provides the analytical function. A three-dimensional protein structure serves as a structural guide or template for intelligent and purposeful protein modifications rather than random and chance amino acid substitutions. Obtaining a three-dimensional structure of the genetically engineered protein is also useful in determining what future chemical and physical enhancement would be profitable endeavors.
Presently, and in the foreseeable future, the only technique that can yield atomic level structural images of biological macromolecules is X-ray diffraction analysis as applied to single crystals. While other methods may produce important structural and dynamic data, for the purposes described above, only X-ray crystallography is adequate. X-ray crystallography is absolutely dependent on crystals of the macromolecule of interest, and not simply crystals, but crystals of sufficient size and quality to permit accurate data collection. The quality of the final structural image is directly determined by the perfection, size and physical properties of the crystalline specimen, hence the crystal becomes the keystone element of the entire process, and the ultimate determinant of its success (McPherson et al., Scientific American, 260 (3) 62–69 (1989).
A considerable degree of success has been achieved recently in the area of macromolecular crystallization. Many new protein structures are rapidly being completed. Unfortunately, some major problems still remain, and in particular, the crystallization of a protein is still the primary obstacle in structure determination. This is particularly true of some major classes of proteins, such as the immunoglobulins, highly dynamic and mobile multidomain molecules, lipophilic molecules, membrane proteins, multimeric protein complexes as well as many small proteins and polypeptides, including hormones.
In the crystal growth of small, non-polymeric molecules, the problem of nucleation is frequently obviated by using seed crystals of the material under study, and in those cases the problems of crystallization arise principally arise from control of growth mechanisms and kinetics. Unfortunately, with macromolecules and proteins whose structures remain undetermined, simple seeding is not possible due to the lack of the availability of preexisting crystals. When a protein is being crystallized for the first time, nucleation is of particular significance.
One aspect of crystal growth, which has been useful in the nucleation of macromolecules, is the recognition that surfaces that contact the solution (mother liquor) from which crystals are formed, are of substantial importance in accelerating the nucleation process. Molecules, and especially macromolecules having extensive surfaces with diverse charge distributions, adsorb to, and are concentrated at surfaces in contact with their solutions. In addition, many surfaces, because of their own charge properties and microstructure, help to organize the macromolecules into more ordered assemblies and unit structures. Such surfaces thus serve to promote the formation of critical nuclei. Thes surfaces tend to act as catalysts to lower the activation energy for macromolecular nucleation and increase the probability that nuclei will form to initiate the crystallization process.
One method of crystal growth has been developed where the electrical state of the nucleant has been shown to encourage macromolecular nucleation (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,273 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,331). In this method, a substrate with a layer of n-type silicon on p-type silicon provides adjacent layers of contrasting electrical properties. The substrate is patterned lithographically using a photoresist to defme grooves or channels of varying depths and with different cross-sectional shapes or patterns. Valence electrons are controlled in the substrate such that the concentration of holes or electrons in the substrate surface can be controlled in response to the environment of the solution (containing the macromolecule) that is exposed to the substrate. The valence electron control facilitates crystallization of the macromolecule inside, rather than outside, of the grooves in the substrate.
There has also been an effort to develop a crystal growth apparatus that facilitates the crystallization of biological macromolecules. One such apparatus involves a liquid reservoir for crystal growth, with passages for transferring the liquid from the first reservoir to a second liquid reservoir. The first reservoir holding the liquid for growing crystals is made of general-purpose material such as glass while the second liquid reservoir is formed on a doped silicon substrate. The material of the second reservoir has valence electrons that are controllable so that the concentration of holes or electrons can be controlled in response to the environment of the solution containing the macromolecule. This allows for the crystals to be grown on a silicon substrate that has been placed in a predetermined electric state.
One of the most serious problems in protein crystallization is the high supersaturation concentrations of the protein which are required for spontaneous nucleation. These high supersaturations are often above the solution stability of the protein, resulting in the formation of numerous small, disordered, unusable crystals instead of a few large, well diffracting, x-ray quality crystals. One crystallization technique that avoids the need for high supersaturation concentrations involves the use of heterogeneous nucleants for protein crystal growth. Shlicta et al., J. Crystal Growth 174 (1997) 480–486, reported the effect of heterogeneous substrates to promote protein crystallization at lower protein supersaturation concentrations. In this study, inorganic substrates were utilized to grow protein crystals. These inorganic substrates had a far smaller unit cell than the proteins examined but gave a precise lattice match. Shlicta et al. have prepared a database for lattice-matches for the inorganic substrates tested which can help expidite the search for candidate exptiaxial substrates. Unfortunately, for this database to be useful, some structural information about the protein to be crystallized must still be known, (e.g. unit cell dimensions).
"Heterogeneous nucleants" such as are provided by some mineral surfaces, have served as efficient nucleants for a number of different proteins (McPherson et al., Crystal Growth 85 (1987) 206–214). McPherson et al. studied such minerals as apophyllite and magnesium oxide, which were capable of inducing nucleation of lysozyme, concavalin and bovine catalase. McPherson et al. (Science (1988) 238, pp. 385–387) have also investigated the heterogeneous and epitaxial nucleation of protein crystals using a combinatorial library of solid state inorganic materials having a variety of compositions of varying crystallinity and structure types. McPherson et al. demonstrat the use of heterogeneous nucleants to promote epitaxial growth of proteins. They demonstrated the heterogeneous nucleation of proteins on mineral surfaces can occur at lower levels of critical supersaturation, but that true epitaxial growth of protein on mineral crystals can also occur. They rationalized that other ordered two-dimensional arrays, as obtained from synthetic materials, might serve as nucleants as well.
McPherson et al., J. Crystal growth, 85 (1987) 206–2140, also investigated the facilitation of the growth of protein crystals by heterogeneous/epitaxial nucleation by using inorganic crystals for the nucleation of protein crystals. The four proteins crystallized were examined by vapor diffusion techniques in the presence of 50 species of inorganic crystals employed as a "combinatorial library" of different surfaces. This study demonstrated that a substantial decrease in critical supersaturation was caused by certain nucleants for some of the proteins tested which facilitated nucleation of protein crystal growth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,869,604 discloses the use of an exogenous nucleating agent having a close lattice match to a polypeptide of interest, for nucleation and growth of high purity polypeptide crystals. In order for effective nucleation, the lattice dimensions of the crystal face of the nucleating agent must substantially match an integral multiple of a unit cell component of the polypeptide of interest. This sort of lattice matching is difficult or impossible without some structural knowledge of the polypeptide. Thus, there has been far more interest in use of non-epitaxial heterogeneous nucleants, mainly because these do not require any prior knowledge of a protein's unit cell constants.
Determining the correct conditions for crystallization of biological molecules can be labor intensive, and large quantities of biological material may be needed which may not be readily available. There have been recent efforts to develop methods for screening crystallization conditions which minimize the overall amount of biological material utilized as well as lend themselves to high throughput crystallization using picogram to microgram quantities of proteins (see, e.g., WO 00/60345). One such method allows for the screening of multiple samples simultaneously, each screening sample having picogram to microgram amounts of protein in a picoliter to nanoliter volume. These micro-chambers containing the protein may be passive, or a combination of passive micro-chambers that are connected with miniaturized active control elements such as valves, pumps and electrodes. This type of protein crystallization apparatus allows for a protein solution to be automatically dispensed into the micro-chambers, where each micro-chamber contains a slightly different crystal growth condition. Protein crystal growth in the micro-chambers is then analyzed based on both the qualitative amount of crystallization and the quality of the crystals formed. Unfortunately, use of this type of apparatus and method is labor intensive, since a different solution must be added into each micro-chamber.
The development of suitable heterogeneous substrates effective in promoting crystallization of a wide variety of proteins would provide substantial advantages in the field of protein X-ray crystallography. Any ffort at carrying out high throughput crystallization of macromolecular structures will unquestionably encounter the basic and crucial obstacle of crystallization. The other elements of the high throughput efforts, such as target selection and expression, protein purification, data collection and structure solution, have all received far more attention than the actual critical and essential crystallization event. Effective heterogeneous substrates for protein and macromolecule crystallization, however, have heretofore been unavailable.
Thus there is a need for apparatus and methods for rapid and assured crystallization of target macromolecules as well as apparatus and methods which can be automated to allow for high throughput screening of crystallization conditions for one or more molecules in parallel. There is also a need for a crystallization apparatus and methods which require minute or minimal amounts of protein for inducing nucleation. The present invention satisfies these needs, as well as others, and overcomes the deficiencies found in the background art.

Methods and devices for high throughput crystallization


The electroanalytical method for determination of phenols is a method for determining the concentration of phenolic compounds and their chloro-derivatives, on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and/or square-wave stripping voltammetry (SWASV) using a redox active polymer film that is formed on the surface of the GCE when the electro-polymerization potential is reached. The electroanalytical method comprises contacting an aqueous sample containing a phenolic compound(s) with an electrode assembly having a working electrode; generating a voltammogram of the analyte by varying an applied accumulation potential or applied potential, and measuring the size of voltammogram peaks corresponding to a redox-active polymeric film that develops at the working electrode at the electro-polymerization potential in order to determine the concentration of the phenolic compound.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electroanalytical methods, and particularly to an electroanalytical method for determination of phenols by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave stripping voltammetry (SWASV).
2. Description of the Related Art
There is considerable interest in the determination of phenolic compounds in industrial, environmental or food samples. Additionally, detection of phenolic compounds is of considerable importance owing to their presence in a broad range of disinfectants. Chlorophenols (hereinafter, CPs), which are phenolic compounds, are ubiquitous and affect several organs in humans, and therefore CPs are considered to be a serious problem due to their known toxicity at low concentration levels. Thus, the analytical determination of CPs is of great interest in the field of environmental protection, as well as industrial process control.
Various analytical techniques have been described for determining CPs. These include chromatographic, spectrophotometric and electroanalytical methods. The chromatographic techniques, however, take longer time for separation before detection and/or need efficient compatible mobile phases with the stationary phase, and therefore consume a lot of reagents, and may even lead to environmental pollution. Similarly, the spectrophotometric methods are easily disturbed by turbidity and the color of detected components. In view of the drawbacks of the foregoing methods, electroanalytical methods for determination of phenol have attracted considerable interest, owing to their simplicity, speed, convenience and low cost. However, electroanalytical studies have shown that the electrochemical oxidation of phenols at various types of solid electrodes leads to a remarkable lowering in the phenol's oxidation rate, namely, the phenomenon of "electrode fouling" due to the low permeability and strong adhesion of a layer (film) that is formed at the electrode surface.
Moreover, it appears that in previous studies, the primary oxidation peak of phenol, which is obtained at a mild accumulation potential (+400 mV), was the only peak that was used in the electrochemical investigation and analytical determination of 2-chlorophenol when using an acetylene black film-modified glassy carbon electrode. Other phenol polymerization peaks that may be produced due to redox polymerization of phenolic compounds were never considered for any analytical investigation of phenols. Their fouling effects were considered as obstacles toward sensing of the phenolic compounds. As such, present electroanalytic methods so far have not addressed the use of the formed phenol-polymeric film that occurs during electrode fouling for a more sensitive, facile, and direct electroanalytical determination of CPs at unmodified glassy carbon electrode (hereinafter GCE) surfaces.
Thus, an electroanalytical method for determination of phenols solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Electroanalytical method for determination of phenols

KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND MINERALS


A foundation system includes metal framing members that support a reinforced, lightweight, dimensionally stable cementitious panel. The foundation system is non-combustible, water durable, mold and rot resistant, and termite resistant. The panels employ one or more layers of a continuous phase resulting from the curing of an aqueous mixture of inorganic binder, for example, calcium sulfate alpha hemihydrate, hydraulic cement, an active pozzolan and lime. The continuous phase is reinforced with glass fibers and contains lightweight filler particles, for example, ceramic microspheres.

Interior residential and light commercial foundation systems commonly include cast in place poured concrete slabs and poured concrete or masonry walls supported on cast in place footings.
Typical foundation floors are cast in place slabs resting on cast in place footings.
Framing in metal, both when building out commercial spaces and when erecting entire structures, is becoming more and more common. Probably the best known and most prevalent method of framing in metal involves the use of metal channeling, typically rolled from sheet steel and sometimes aluminum. These metal framing members or studs, often used to erect and reinforce commercial and residential structures, are channels having a substantially U-shaped cross section with a broad base and narrow sides of uniform height. To enhance the stud or framing member's strength and rigidity, the edges of the sides of the U-channel component are bent over to form lips parallel to the plane of the U-channel base to form a C-shaped component.
The outside dimensions of the metal framing members and studs, and the weight or gauge of the member or stud, vary. Typically the members are fabricated to be approximately 4 inches (10 cm) wide by 2 inches (5 cm) deep, corresponding thereby to the width and depth of wood framing and stud members, in which case the lips may extend ¼ to ½ inch (0.63 to 1.3 cm) from the sides of the studs. Eighteen to 20 gauge metal may be used for light gauge, residential construction and commercial wall construction. A heavier range of metal gauge is used in some residential and commercial framing and particularly in multiple story commercial construction.
There has developed a variety of methods for connecting and securing metal frames and wall studs. At the most basic level, metal studs are inserted into and secured within metal tracks by drilling and screwing, from the outside wall of the track into an adjoining metal stud. Similarly, commercially available devices for interconnecting metal framing members, as for example tie brackets, shear connectors and plate connectors, typically use screws and bolts applied from the outside of the track or stud member inwards.
Metal studs and framing members have been modified to include saw or punch slots, tabs and brackets intended to facilitate the interconnection of these studs and framing members to adjoining studs and framing members and/or to cross-bars and other non-framing members that serve to reinforce the studs and framing members. Known connectors, including bracket, plate and tie connectors, presently used to tie together and interconnect metal studs, are generally drilled and screwed on site. Drilling and screwing unsecured connectors pose a safety risk to the worker since the connectors tend to be small and light, and thus easily grabbed and spun by a hand drill.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,407 discloses, a system for interconnecting metal framing members, tracks and studs by way of a variety of connectors and tracks. The connectors are specially configured and designed to fit within and interlock with the framing members, tracks and studs. The connectors serve to secure one member, track or stud to another member, track or stud, by fasteners applied from within the connector outwards into the non-surface aspects of the member, track or stud. The tracks are specially configured to interconnect with other tracks or studs using fasteners applied from both the inside out, and the outside in, in three dimensions, while still leaving the surface aspects of tracks and studs free of fastener heads or other protrusions. It employs traditional U-channel shaped framing members or studs, made of sheet steel or aluminum. According to the system, the U-channel members comprise many or all framing components for commercial and residential construction as, for example, wall studs, tracks, headers, hips, floor joists, ceiling joists, roof trusses, fascia, stud blocking, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,538 discloses a structural framing member with a C-shaped cross section comprising of a main planar surface and two planar side walls at right angles. The side walls present an inwardly turned lip formed substantially parallel to the base. The capacity of the metal framing joist sections is increased by embossing longitudinal stiffeners perpendicular to the top and bottom side walls, with a minimum depth of 0.01 inch (0.025 cm), continuous along the face of the main planar surface for the full length of the section. By bridging these longitudinal stiffeners with, but not limited to, diagonal embossed stiffeners, a series of adjoining geometric shapes between longitudinal chords has been created to increase the rigidity of the web via adjoining geometric stiffeners which will carry the load by axial deformation rather than pure shear deformation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,487 to Tonyan et al., incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a reinforced, lightweight, dimensionally stable structural cement panel (SCP) capable of resisting shear loads when fastened to framing equal to or exceeding shear loads provided by plywood or oriented strand board panels. The panels employ a core of a continuous phase resulting from the curing of an aqueous mixture of calcium sulfate alpha hemihydrate, hydraulic cement, an active pozzolan and lime, the continuous phase being reinforced with alkali-resistant glass fibers and containing ceramic microspheres, or a blend of ceramic and polymer microspheres, or, if desired, additional water may be used instead of polymer microspheres to adjust density and nailability (for example by forming the continuous phase from an aqueous mixture having a weight ratio of water-to-reactive powder of 0.6/1 to 0.7/1), or a combination thereof. At least one outer surface of the panels may include a cured continuous phase reinforced with glass fibers and containing sufficient polymer spheres to improve nailability or made with a water-to-reactive powders ratio to provide an effect similar to polymer spheres, or a combination thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,815 to Bonen, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, also discloses formulations useful for SCP panels.
US patent application publication number 2005/0064164 to Dubey et al (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/666,294), incorporated herein by reference, discloses a multi-layer process for producing structural cementitious panels (SCP's or SCP panels), and SCP's produced by such a process. After one of an initial deposition of loosely distributed, chopped fibers or a layer of slurry upon a moving web, fibers are deposited upon the slurry layer. An embedment device mixes the recently deposited fibers into the slurry, after which additional layers of slurry, then chopped fibers are added, followed by more embedment. The process is repeated for each layer of the board, as desired.
For use in construction, SCP panels should meet building code standards for shear resistance, load capacity, water-induced expansion and resistance to combustion, as measured by recognized tests, such as ASTM E72, ASTM 661, and ASTM C 1185 or equivalent, as applied to structural plywood sheets. SCP panels are also tested under ASTM E-136 for non-combustibility—plywood does not meet this test.
The panel when tested according to ASTM 661 and American Plywood Association (APA) Test Method S-1 over a span of 16 inches (40.6 cm) on centers, should have an ultimate load capacity greater than 550 lbs (250 kg) under static loading, an ultimate load capacity greater than 400 lbs (182 kg) under impact loading and a deflection of less than 0.078 inches (1.98 mm) under both static and impact loading with a 200 lb (90.9 kg) load.                The racking shear strength of a 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) thick panel measured by the ASTM E72 test using the nail size and spacing described above should be at least 720 lbs/ft (1072 kg/m).        A 4×8 foot, ½ inch thick panel (1.22 m×2.44 m, 12.7 mm thick) should weigh no more than 99 lbs (44.9 kg) and preferably no more than 85 lbs (38.6 kg).        The panel should be capable of being cut with the circular saws used to cut wood.        The panel should be capable of being fastened to framing with nails or screws.        The panel should be machinable so that tongue and groove edges can be produced in the panel.        The panel should be dimensionally stable when exposed to water, i.e., it should expand as little as possible, preferably less than 0.1% as measured by ASTM C 1185.        The panel should not be biodegradable or subject to attack by insects or rot.        The panel should provide a bondable substrate for exterior finish systems.        The panel should be non-combustible as determined by ASTM E136.        After curing for 28 days, the flexural strength of a 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) thick panel having a dry density of no more than 65 to 95 lb/ft3 (1041 to 1520 kg/m3) after being soaked in water for 48 hours should be at least 1700 psi (11.7 MPa), preferably at least 2500 psi (17.2 MPa), as measured by ASTM C 947. The panel should retain at least 75% of its dry strength.
There is a need for an economical, easy to assemble, durable and non-combustible foundation system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Non-combustible reinforced cementitious lightweight panels and metal frame system for building foundations


A method, device and computer program product for monitoring data transmission connections. The method comprises monitoring data transmission connections between a cellular radio network and a subscriber terminal with two analyzers. With the first analyzer, first connection information is collected on a first data transmission connection of the subscriber terminal to a first cell. With the second analyzer, second connection information is collected on a second data transmission connection of the subscriber terminal to a second cell. The first connection information is transferred from the first analyzer to the second analyzer. In the second analyzer, the first connection information is used combined with the second connection information for analyzing the second data transmission connection.

In digital data transmission networks, such as in cellular radio networks, different analyzers and simulators for measuring the operation of the network are used. Analyzers can be used for monitoring data transmission connections between a cellular radio network and a subscriber terminal, for example.
Publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,175 discloses a method and an apparatus for monitoring data transmission transactions in a mobile network. The method of the publication comprises monitoring a first signaling channel, and detecting a first signaling transaction, which is transferred out of the monitored cell with handover, and at least one predetermined message parameter is captured from the transaction. In addition, the method comprises monitoring a second signaling channel and detecting a signaling transaction (handover) with which the transfer to the cell takes place, and capturing said at least one predetermined message parameter from the transaction. Further, the method comprises comparing values of parameters captured in the preceding phases, and if the values are the same, it is concluded that the first and the second transaction belong together.
The described method does not function in all mobile networks, because there are not always common parameter values, in which case monitoring handovers with the method fails, and thus monitoring calls by using the method fails too.
It is difficult to monitor the lub interface of a 3G cellular radio network because monitoring protocols used on AAL2 (ATM Adaptation Layer Type 2) connections requires capturing the configuration information of the protocols from the configuration messages transmitted to a mobile phone and from the configuration messages transmitted to a base transceiver station. In a case of handover, the subscriber terminal moves from one base transceiver station to another, whereby configuration messages of a radio link are transmitted to the new base transceiver station, but no configuration messages of the connection are transmitted to the subscriber terminal via the new base transceiver station any more. If the interface monitoring is distributed between two devices and the handover takes place between the devices, the receiving apparatus has no information on configuration messages of the subscriber terminal, so that decoding of protocols cannot be performed.
The problem can be solved in such a way that the device monitoring the new channel attempts to identify the correct configuration of the protocols. However, this takes processor time and can lead to incorrect decoding results. In addition, it is not necessarily possible to specify the signaling of which subscriber terminal is monitored, and so the call tracing fails. Automatic identification of protocols may also be needed because it is not always possible to monitor the signaling transaction from the beginning. Thus, the connections that are not monitored from the beginning cannot be configured with configuration based merely on monitoring messages.
Another possibility is that the monitoring is performed with one device. This is problematic, however, because different interfaces can be positioned far away from each other (e.g. in a case of Abis/lub interfaces), whereby the problem is the transfer of messages from the interfaces to the device to be monitored; the problem is also that the performance of one device is not necessarily sufficient for monitoring all cells.
When tracing calls, it is necessary to be able to monitor the call when handover is taking place. The user identifier is usually visible in the network to be monitored only at the beginning of the call. So in a case where the start of a call is monitored with a first analyzer and where the call is transferred with handover to an interface monitored by a second analyzer, the call cannot be identified on the second interface, and thus call tracing cannot be performed. In call tracing, the problem is both the configuration of the connections to be monitored and the monitoring of handovers.

Method, apparatus and computer program product for monitoring data transmission connections