A method for detecting fraud in a cellular radio telephone system. Fraud is suspected when the system detects a multiple access from a mobile station, when an activity collision occurs, when the system receives a premature registration from the mobile station, when auditing or operator-initiated locating of the mobile station reveals the existence of the mobile station in two locations simultaneously, or when tracing of mobile subscriber activity reveals unusual activity.

This invention relates to wireless communications systems and, more particularly, to a method and system for fraud detection and supervision in a cellular radio telephone system.
Historical Perspective
The cellular mobile telephone system, a technology that took over forty years to conceive, develop and deploy, was launched in North America in the early 80s. The first American commercial cellular system went into operation in Chicago in 1983. By the late 1980s, cellular systems were operational in virtually every major metropolitan area in the United States. At present, the industry enjoys tremendous growth spurred by the decline in the costs of cellular phones and the fees for cellular service subscription. The future looks even brighter as the industry adopts new spectrum digital technologies to solve the problems of lack of system capacity and high operational costs (cost of infrastructure equipment per subscriber). The potential of these new technologies for providing evolutionary and invaluable communication services (e.g., data transmission for the "mobile office") is likely to attract millions of new subscribers.
Unfortunately, the booming cellular industry has also attracted alarming numbers of criminals and hackers who are draining profits from the industry and abusing the legitimate subscribers. Accurate estimates on the inflicted monetary loss are difficult to obtain. The consensus, however, is that the cost of cellular fraud may amount to billions of dollars for the entire industry if left unchecked. A general discussion of cellular fraud and the resultant revenue and service losses appears in the article entitled "Cellular Fraud" by Henry M. Kowalczyk in Cellular Business, dated March 1991, at 32-35. Further background on the subject can be found in the article entitled "Spoofers can Defraud Users and Carriers" by Geoffrey S. Goodfellow et al., in Personal Communications Technology dated November, 1985.
Historically, the development of some of the modern communication techniques, such as digital time division and spread spectrum radio transmission, have been heavily influenced by the security and privacy concerns of the early communication system designers, particularly in the military arena. By contrast, the early analog cellular telephone system designers did not consider security related concerns as important as the other aspects of the wireless communication, e.g., voice quality. At the same time, the regulating government authorities, e.g., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), considered the airwaves, for the most part, to be "public property." The result is that, with some exceptions, everyone has enjoyed the right to tune to and pick up any radio signal. Encouraged by this freedom and the curiosity of the general public, an "eavesdropping" industry has emerged marketing openly a wide range of scanners that can monitor the airwaves.
However, as more and more cellular systems were deployed and the subscriber base grew, concerns over the lack of security measures in the existing analog cellular telephone systems began to surface. These concerns have centered not only on the lack of voice privacy, but also on the widespread ability to steal cellular service. In recent years, the industry has witnessed a significant increase in the number of mobile stations gaining access to cellular services by illegally identifying themselves as legitimate subscribers. These illegal activities are possible, in large part, due to certain limitations of existing cellular systems which are best understood after a brief description of the structure and operation of a typical cellular system.
Typical Cellular System
Conventional cellular phone systems are implemented by dividing the system service area into physical cells. Typically, each cell may be of a size from a few city blocks to 30 miles in radius. Each cell is served by a dedicated base station which communicates with the system through an exchange known as a mobile switching center (MSC). Calls are made to and received from the system by individual mobile stations (portable, transportable or vehicular radio telephone units) via these base stations. As each individual mobile station moves from cell to cell, or "roams" from system to system, it is served by the particular base station which covers the cell in which the mobile station is then located. Each of the base stations in the system has at least one dedicated control channel through which the system coordinates service. The other radio channels at the base station are used for voice conversations. Each of the control and voice channels is full-duplex (two-way) in nature and consists of a forward frequency channel from the base station to the mobile station and a reverse frequency channel from the mobile station to the base station.
In order to route incoming calls to a mobile station, the location of the mobile station must be known to the system. To facilitate the locating of mobile stations, a cellular phone system service area may be divided into "location areas" each of which consists of one or more cells. A cellular phone system tracks the location of the mobile station in any location area through the process of "registration." In registration, a mobile station transmits a registration request message on the reverse control channel to which it has tuned (generally that of the base station nearest to its location). If the registration request is accepted, the base station will transmit a registration confirmation message on the forward control channel to the mobile station. This confirmation message confirms that the system has registered the mobile station in the location area containing the cell which that base station serves. Registration can be either time-based or location-based.
Time-based or periodic registration occurs independently of other activities of the mobile station and is performed periodically at predefined time intervals. The system periodically transmits certain registration time constants in an overhead message train (OMT) on the forward control channels of the base stations serving the cells in which the mobile units happen to be located. The mobile units then transmit registration request messages to the system, as they move about the system, at time periods calculated by the mobile station according to these time constants. The registration request message is received by the system at the base station serving the cell in which a particular mobile unit is located at the time of transmission. Upon receipt of the registration request message, the system registers that particular mobile in the location area containing the cell of the base station which received the registration request, and that base station will transmit a registration confirmation message back to the mobile station.
Location-based registration occurs as a result of a mobile station moving from one location area to another and/or from one system area to another. Each base station will periodically transmit in the OMT data identifying the location area and/or system in which the base station is located. A mobile station periodically scans the control channels as it moves throughout the system and, by tuning to the control channel with the strongest signal strength, receives the location area and/or system identifying data for the location area and/or system in which it is then located. The mobile station compares the latest received location area and/or system identifying data with data in its memory identifying the last location area and/or system from which it received a registration confirmation message. If the corresponding sets of identifying data match, the mobile is located in the location area and/or system in which it is currently registered. However, if the mobile station has moved to a new location area or system and, hence, the sets of data do not match, the mobile will transmit a registration request message which is received at the base station serving the cell contained in the new location area and/or system in which it is now located. The system will then register the mobile station in this new location area and/or system and send a registration confirmation to the mobile station.
The mobile station can access the system to make a call at any time by transmitting an originating call access request. The call access request is received by the base station serving the cell in which the mobile station is then located. The system will then register the mobile station in the relevant location area (i.e., call originations are treated like registrations for location identification purposes) and transmit an initial voice channel designation message (IVCD) for an analog voice channel, or an initial digital traffic channel message (IDTC) for a digital voice channel, to assign the mobile to an available voice channel. When the system receives an incoming call for a mobile station, the system will send a paging message over the control channels of the location area in which the mobile is registered. The mobile responds by transmitting a page response message back to the system. Upon receipt of the page response message from the mobile, the system will assign an available voice channel to the mobile by transmitting an IVCD or IDTC message.
Subscriber Identification and Validation
In current analog systems, several information elements are used to identify and validate a legitimate subscriber. These elements include the mobile identification number (MIN), which identifies the service subscription, and the electronic serial number (ESN), which identifies the mobile station. In the United States, the MIN is a digital representation of the area code and directory telephone number of the mobile subscriber (i.e., the MIN is a digital representation of NPA/NXX-XXXX, where NPA is a 3-digit number identifying the numbering plan area in which the cellular system is located, NXX is a 3-digit number identifying the cellular operator and the mobile exchange, and XXXX is a 4-digit number which identifies an individual mobile subscriber). The MIN is assigned by the service provider (cellular operator) and is usually programmed into a mobile station either when purchased by the original user or when sold to another user. The ESN is supplied by the mobile manufacturer and is intended to uniquely identify a mobile station to any cellular system and to allow the automatic detection of stolen mobiles for which service can be denied permanently. According to the analog air interface industry standard known as EIA-553, the ESN must be "factory-set and not readily alterable in the field." Furthermore, the circuitry that provides the ESN must be isolated so that it is tamper-proof and any attempt to alter the ESN circuitry should render the mobile inoperative.
Besides the MIN and ESN, each mobile station is also identified by a station class mark (SCM) which designates the transmit power class, mode and bandwidth for the mobile station. Mobile stations in different power classes (portable, transportable or vehicular) will transmit at one of several specified power levels within different output power ranges (0.6, 1.6 or 4.0 Watts). The transmit power level within a given range can be increased or decreased by a power change command from the base station. Furthermore, some mobile stations have the ability to operate in a "discontinuous" transmission (DTX) mode in which they can switch autonomously between two transmitter power level states ("DTX high" and "DTX low"). In addition, some mobile stations are set to operate within only the "basic" frequency range initially allocated to cellular systems while others are also set to operate in the "extended" frequency range which was later allocated. Like the MIN and ESN, the relevant SCM information is stored in each mobile station.
User authorization for cellular service is usually performed at every system access (e.g., registration request, call origination or page response) by a mobile station. When making an access, the mobile station forwards the MIN, ESN and SCM to the system. Each exchange maintains a "white list" containing the MIN/ESN pairs of the valid subscribers and a "black list" containing the ESNs of stolen or otherwise unauthorized mobile stations. The system validates the received MIN to ensure that it belongs to a known subscriber and compares the received ESN with the one stored in the system in association with the MIN. If these validations are successful, the user is considered legitimate and the access is accepted. Service is then provided and controlled according to the received SCM information.
Cellular Fraud
Unauthorized access to a cellular system is possible because of the ability to fraudulently obtain or generate mobile identification information (MIN/ESN) which is then used to "fool" the system into providing service. There are many ways in which valid MIN/ESN information can fall into the hands of a cellular service thief. Since the MIN/ESN is transmitted over the air by each mobile unit at access, it is easily accessible to anyone with the proper scanning equipment. In addition to radio interception, there are much simpler means to obtain the identification information. For example, there are reports of off-the-shelf ESN chips, ESN bulletin boards, and of employees of cellular service shops, who have access to the MIN/ESN information, selling this information.
The tools of the trade for the cellular thief may also vary. Some of the mobile stations being sold today do not comply with the tamper-proof requirement for ESN and, consequently, these mobiles can be easily programmed with a new ESN (there is no tamper-proof requirement for MIN and, hence, all mobile stations are easily programmed with a new MIN). There are also reports of so-called "doctored" phones that are programmed to either automatically scan the reverse control channel and capture the identification information, or to use a different MIN/ESN identity at every access. Other reports have described "cellular cache boxes" operating on computers which are automating fraud.
Fraud control solutions based on encryption and authentication schemes are being introduced for the next generation "dual-model" (combined analog and digital) systems as specified in the industry standard known as IS-54. Similar functionality is to be supported by a revision of the EIA-553 standard for analog systems. For the existing analog mobile station population, a number of security measures have been used to counteract the problem of unauthorized access. These measures have had varying degrees of success depending on the form of fraud in question. To date, the following fraud techniques have been identified: subscription fraud, roaming fraud, tumbling fraud, cloning fraud, and channel grabbing (or hijacking) fraud.
Subscription Fraud
Subscription fraud is one of the earliest forms of fraud. The perpetrator obtains a service subscription using false personal identification information (fake name, address, etc.). This form of fraud is discovered when carriers fail to receive payments for the services. Although this form of fraud is most difficult to detect, the solution is rather simple. Cellular carriers and/or their sales agents can authenticate subscriber identity prior to issuance of subscription.
Roaming Fraud
Roaming fraud was made possible by the roaming agreements between cellular carriers operating different systems. These agreements allow a subscriber to roam outside of his/her subscription ("home") area and conveniently receive services in a cooperating ("visited" or "serving") system area. In order to receive service in the visited area, each subscriber qualifying under a roaming agreement was issued a temporary roaming number from the number series used in the visited area. Callers wishing to reach the subscriber while roaming in the visited area could dial the temporary roaming number and be connected to the roamer by the exchange in the visited system. Calling privileges were generally made available to the roamer after placing his first call in the visited area. This first call was usually routed to an operator who verified the eligibility of the roamer to receive service (e.g., roaming number, credit card number, etc.).
A fraudulent mobile subscriber could obtain roamer service by illegally obtaining the roaming number of a legitimate subscriber. Armed with this information, the fraud perpetrator could, for example, program his mobile station with the roaming number, have a call placed to this number and a voice channel assigned to the mobile station, and then issue a third party service request over the voice channel requesting connection to a desired phone number. To the visited system, the fraudulent subscriber appeared as a legitimate roamer from another system. Because of the lack of intersystem communication facilities between the visited system and the home system of the legitimate roamer, information concerning roaming subscribers (e.g., their MIN/ESN identity) was not readily available to the visited system. Lacking a proper validation means, the serving system accepted all roamer calls so as not to deny service to legitimate roaming subscribers. Again, this form of fraud was normally discovered only when the legitimate subscriber detected discrepancies in the service bills.
The industry has successfully reduced the roaming type of fraud to a manageable level by installing subscriber identification validation systems, such as a central clearing house, and updating the switching systems (MSCs) with instantaneous roamer validation facilities. The early validation systems, however, were too slow (i.e., did not operate on a "real time" basis). Consequently, and in order not to risk denial of service to a legitimate subscriber, the strategy used was to accept the first call from a roamer and then initiate an identification verification process, either through the clearing house or some other means (e.g., the home exchange). If the validation fails then the associated ESN could be placed on a "barring list" to deny access permanently. Otherwise, all subsequent accesses associated with that ESN were accepted without contention.
These anti-roaming-fraud systems typically worked as follows: On call origination from a roamer, the serving mobile exchange sent (e.g., by X.25 signalling) the MIN/ESN pair received from the mobile station to the home exchange of the roamer or to a clearing house and requested verification. To avoid denying service to a valid roamer, the MIN/ESN pair was initially assumed to be valid and this first call from the roamer was allowed to proceed pending the outcome of the verification request. The home exchange or the clearing house compared the MIN/ESN pair received from the serving exchange to a list of valid MIN/ESN pairs and reported to the serving exchange. If the MIN/ESN pair was not verified by the home exchange or the clearing house, as applicable, the serving exchange disconnected any call-in-progress and blacklisted the corresponding ESN (blacklisting the corresponding MIN for other than a short period of time, e.g., a few hours, would have risked denial of service to the valid MIN holder).
Because of signalling and processing time delays in obtaining the reply to the verification request, however, a fraudulent roamer could enjoy several minutes or, in some instances/ several hours of free calling before being disconnected. Newer cellular systems will support so-called "automatic roaming" (no operator intervention) and will be connected with "real time" signalling links operating according to a common signalling protocol, e.g., S. S.7 or IS-41 protocol. In these systems, the validation of a roamer MIN/ESN through the home exchange is virtually instantaneous.
Tumbling Fraud
Tumbling fraud is actually an advanced form of the roamer fraud technology that emerged to circumvent the roamer fraud control solutions deployed by the switching systems. The tumbling concept took advantage of the "post-first-call" validation limitation by changing (tumbling) the ESN, the MIN, or both the ESN and MIN after placing one or more successful roamer calls with the first MIN/ESN combination. A fraudulent mobile subscriber using MIN/ESN tumbling selected a roamer MIN (a MIN in which the NPA/NXX belonged to a carrier which had a roaming agreement with the local carrier) and a random ESN to generate a MIN/ESN pair and make at least one call until the selected ESN value is barred through verification, at which time another MIN or ESN value was selected and another call could be made.
A typical MIN/ESN tumbling scenario would proceed as follows: A perpetrator would first place a successful roamer call. Since it took some time for the serving system to validate the roamer identity, the perpetrator could escape with at least a few free calls. If the roamer validation was successful, the roamer identity could be used repeatedly until service was denied. At that point, the perpetrator would request services by changing the MIN. If the ESN becomes barred, the perpetrator would change to another ESN and then another MIN and so on. The MIN/ESN tumbler, therefore, was capable of changing its identity at every access, making every call look like a first call from a roamer.
Initial solutions to tumbling fraud included removing abused NPA/NXX combinations from system use, pre-call validating of ESN for format conformation, diverting roamer calls to an operator (0+dialling), and even eliminating roaming agreements. As a long term solution, the industry has sought to expedite the exchange of subscriber and call information between switching systems through the development of a common intersystem communication protocol, such as that specified in the industry standard known as IS-41.
Cloning Fraud
Cloning fraud occurs when a perpetrator programs a duplicated mobile station with the identity of a legitimate mobile station. Service requests from this cloned mobile station will pass the user authorization procedures of the current analog system. Fraudulent mobiles that are permanently programmed with a particular identification, or that have the capability to automatically adopt any identity when making calls (i.e., the so-called "doctored" phones), fall into this fraud category.
It should be observed that, from a system point of view, when a mobile illegally gains access, regardless of the specific fraud technique being used, the mobile has adopted the identity of a valid subscriber. Thus, all of these fraudulent mobiles could be considered clones. At present, there is no known switch-based solution for this form of fraud.
Hijacking Fraud
Hijacking or channel grabbing fraud occurs when a perpetrator "grabs" a voice channel which is being used for a conversation involving a legitimate subscriber. The hijacker usually scans the frequencies in the cellular system to find an active voice channel being used for a call by a valid mobile station. The hijacker then tunes to this voice channel and "overpowers" the valid mobile station by increasing the transmit output power of the hijacker's mobile station. At this point, the hijacker has effectively taken over the voice communication with the base station and can issue a third party service request to obtain a connection to a desired phone number (this is normally done by pressing a button on the mobile station keypad to send a hook flash during a call). The base station will interrupt the call and connect the hijacker to the desired number (meanwhile, the legitimate mobile subscriber terminates the prior call because of the interruption). Again, there is no known switch-based solution for this form of fraud.
Fraud Summary
From the foregoing discussion, it can be seen that there are several dimensions to the fraud problem: The availability of mobile identification information, the mobile manufacturers' lack of compliance with the security related standards, the switching systems' inability to exchange subscriber/call related information, and the issuance of subscriptions without sufficient credit/identity checks. From a technology standpoint, long term solutions to these problems are not beyond reach. Having the mobile manufacturers comply with the security requirements would make it difficult, if not impossible, to alter a mobile's identity in the field. Encryption and authentication schemes, such as the one used in the dual-mode standard (IS-54), will make it difficult to access the mobile's identification information off the airwaves. The current analog specification (EIA-553) is also being revised to include security related functions. Furthermore, with the implementation of IS-41, dissimilar systems should be able to exchange subscriber/call related information and validate subscriber authenticity. In addition, future mobile communication systems are likely to become "more intelligent" (i.e., enhanced with anti-fraud measures) to detect, deter and prevent fraud.
Today, however, there are over fifteen million analog mobile stations in North America alone. The long term solutions mentioned above will bear fruit only when the mobile stations are also modified to adhere to the technical requirements of these solutions. Thus, while newer mobile stations become more secure, an interim switch-based solution is required to counter the threat of unauthorized accesses by the existing analog mobile population, while avoiding the need to recall and upgrade these mobiles. The present invention provides this solution by detecting anomalies in subscriber behavior which may indicate fraud. The indications of fraud are reported to the operator and repeated indications of fraud may result in the denial of service requests from the suspected fraudulent mobile stations.

Method of detecting fraud in a radio communications network by analyzing activity, identification of RF channel data for mobile stations in the network


A door bolt is constructed to include a jam plate fixedly fastened to a doorjamb, and a doorplate assembly installed in the free end of a door panel and adapted to secure the free end of the door panel to the jamb plate, the doorplate assembly having a lock cylinder controlled by a key to move a movable frame bar in a fixed locating frame bar and to further move two locking straps relative to each other between a first position where the doorplate assembly is prohibited from escaping out of the constraint of the jamb plate and a second position where the doorplate assembly is released from the constraint of the jamb plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to door bolting devices and, more particularly, to a door bolt adapted to lock the door, enabling the door to be slightly opened without letting people outside the house pass to the inside of the house.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various door locking devices have been disclosed for use to lock the door, and have appeared on the market. In order to let the door be slightly opened without allowing people outside the house to pass to the inside of the house, a door bolt may be used. A conventional door bolt is known comprised of doorplate and a jamb plate. The doorplate is fixedly fastened to the free end of the door panel, having an elongated sliding slot. The jamb plate is fixedly fastened to the doorjamb, having a chain and a slide bolt at the end of the chain for coupling to the sliding slot of the doorplate. There is known another design of door bolt in which the jamb plate has a hinged retainer bar; the doorplate has a hook. When the door closed, the hinged retainer bar is turned toward the hook of the doorplate, enabling the longitudinal sliding slot of the hinged retainer bar to be coupled to the hook of the doorplate.
The aforesaid prior art door bolts are still not satisfactory in function. If the person inside the house meets with an accident and is unable to open the door, any person outside the house cannot unlock the door bolt from the outside. In this case, a person outside the house must destroy the door to get into the inside of the house.


A durable tympanic thermometer that resists damage from a drop comprises an IR thermometer probe having a reinforced speculum for reception within a human ear near the tympanum, a metal brick holding the probe to the body of the infrared thermometer, a barrel within the speculum acting as an infrared waveguide, an insulating and shock absorbing seal surrounding the barrel, a window within the barrel remote from the end of the speculum nearest the tympanum, a thermometer housing, an infrared responsive sensor, and electrical components to translate and display a sensor-generated signal into a visible temperature reading.

Recent progress has been made in developing systems for tympanic membrane temperature measurement. By way of background, mammalian temperature has long been of keen interest to doctors and others involved in diagnosis and treatment of patient pathologies. On the other hand, accurate temperature measurement, accomplished in a quick, non-intrusive and inexpensive manner has remained a considerable task. Measuring the temperature of the tympanic membrane of the ear has been found to provide a highly accurate body temperature reading. By collecting the infrared emissions from the tympanic membrane, an accurate temperature reading can be ascertained in an non-intrusive procedure.
As stated above, many systems have been proposed for temperature measurement based on tympanic IR emissions. Exemplary patents in this field include U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,164 to Wood, 4,797,840 to Jacob Praden, Ph.D. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,436 to Pompei, et al.; the contents of these patents are incorporated herein by reference. These systems vary in both accuracy and complexity, but in large have been found to be very useful for their intended purposes, and are now enjoying commercial popularity. Notwithstanding these past successes, a common and significant handicap resides with even the most expensive of these systems. This handicap relates to the durability of tympanic thermometers in connection with predicable wear and tear. Referring to FIG. 1, which shows a typical fragile probe 100, the most vulnerable component of such tympanic thermometers is the probe, or nose portion intended for insertion in the ear channel. The vulnerability stems from its necessary protuberance coupled with the sensitivity of several components within the probe, specifically the barrel 102, or wave guide, and the attached window 104.
Typically, dropping an infrared tympanic thermometer from a height as low as one foot can destroy the thermometer's ability to read temperatures accurately, or completely. In a fall of one foot, tympanic thermometers typically sustain bending of the barrel or IR wave guide, and/or braking of the window at the remote end 106 of the barrel 102. Broken windows constitute the primary reason for customer dissatisfaction with tympanic thermometers.
Previous designs placed a hard window on top of and covering the end 106 of the barrel 102. This exposed the window 104, with little or no protection, to damage by placing it closer to the point of impact 108 in a nose-first fall. The composition of the speculum 110, or funnel shaped portion that supports the thermal sensing components within the ear channel, further contributing to the problem of fragility. Typically the speculum is composed of non-reinforced polycarbonate that will dent at the tip 112 and cause the window 104 to break. When the speculum flexes during a drop, most of the force of the fall translates from the speculum through a solid rubber seal 114 to the barrel 102, and can cause barrel bending and subsequent thermometer inaccuracy. This seal 114 serves to prevent cleaning fluids from running down the outside of the barrel 102 and degrading the performance of the thermometer due to evaporative cooling.
Mechanical energy of a fall tends to deform the speculum 110, the barrel 102 and the window 104, in part because the front brick 116 is not directly connected to the speculum 110. Such direct connection would allow some of the energy to dissipate through the housing of the thermometer and away from the speculum 110, barrel 102, and window 104.


The invention provides a filtering and centrifugation device, comprising a barrel, a volume in the barrel for receiving a fluid sample to be processed, a filter medium, at least one piston movable in the barrel to force fluid in the volume through the filter medium to produce a filtrate, and a space for pelleting particulate material. The device is centrifugeable, and said space is located in or communicates with the volume and is located preferably away from the filter medium such that the particulate material does not or at least not completely clog the filter medium during such centrifugation of the device. The invention also provides a method for the sterile filtration of a sample, comprising the steps of introducing the sample into the volume of such a device, subjecting the device to centrifugation to pellet particulate material contained in the sample at the space away from the filter medium, and applying force to the piston(s) to force fluid of the sample in the volume through the filter medium to produce a filtrate. By providing the space for pelleting the particulate material under the influence of the centrifugation force, the clogging of the filter medium can be avoided or considerably delayed. Further, the entire process can be performed in the same device without having to remove the sample for any intermediate clarification steps.

Researchers, especially in the biotech field, frequently need to know if a bioreactor of a specific setup will produce the desired final product.
Due to an occasionally high particulate content of a bioreactor sample, the sample is currently clarified in the lab by multiple centrifugations. Subsequently, in order to simulate a sterile final product, the supernatant is filtered in a separate device. At this step it is possible to use a 0.22 μm filter membrane (i.e. a MILLEX™ 0.22 μm membrane from MILLIPORE) combined with a syringe. Assuming that the filter membrane is not clogging, the maximum processed volume is the volume of the syringe which is typically 50 ml.
Furthermore, this process is a multi-step protocol where the personnel has to walk several times to the centrifuge and a laminar flow hood, and it is an "open" protocol which increases the risk of contamination of the sample.
One current approach to reduce the number of steps is co use so called "syringeless filters" commercially available from WHATMAN under the tradenames UNIPREP™ and AUTOVIAL™.
Autovial™ syringeless filters are preassembled filtration devices fox removing particulates from samples. They replace syringe-coupled filtration devices with single, disposable units. These devices are comprised of two parts; a graduated filter barrel and a plunger. The design features an integral filter, built-in air purge and a support stand that protects a recessed slip-luer tip. The devices are available in a 5 ml and 12 ml volume capacity.
The filter is selected according to membrane compatibility with the sample. In practice, the sample is poured into the 5 ml or 12 ml capacity filter barrel. The plunger is inserted into the barrel until the bottom is securely in place; there is a gap of air between the sample and plunger. Then, the tip of the device is placed into the mouth of an autosampler vial or container and the plunger compressed. Filtration begins immediately and, as the plunger is compressed until it reaches the bottom, the membrane is purged with air for maximum sample recovery. For direct instrument injection, a needle is placed on the slip-luer outlet.
UniPrep™ syringeless filters are preassembled filtration devices, too, for the filtration and storage of laboratory samples. These devices include a plunger, filter and vial in one unit. They replace syringe-coupled filtration devices with single, disposable units. These devices consist of two parts: a test tube and a filter-plunger where a membrane is mounted into the tip of the plunger. When the filter plunger is pressed through the liquid placed in the test tube, positive pressure forces the filtrate up into a reservoir of the filter-plunger. The devices can be used to filter only small sample volumes in the range from 1 to 5 ml.
A still further range of products are available under the name Mini-UniPrep™ which is a preassembled filtration device consisting of a 0.4 ml capacity chamber and a plunger. The plunger contains a filtration membrane at one end and a preattached cap/septum at the other. The plunger is pressed through the sample in an outer chamber and positive pressure forces the filtrate into a reservoir of the plunger. Air escapes through a vent hole. The device can be used either individually manually or with a manually operated compressor unit which comprises a manually operated lever that can be pressed on up to 6 samples standing on a base. This device is designed to fit into an autosampler accommodating 12×32 mm vials. Alternatively the septum can be pierced with a needle and the sample drawn off for manual injection into an analyzer.
Filter membranes of such devices are typically made from the following materials depending on the intended sample to be processed: cellulose acetate (CA) (a low nonspecific protein binding and high loading capacity membrane for biological solutions), glass microfiber (GMF) (a depth filter for samples in aqueous or organic solutions), nylon (NYL) (for aqueous and organic samples within a pH range between of 3 to 10), polyethersulfone (PES) (a low non-specific protein binding membrane for samples in aqueous solutions), polypropylene (PP) (a hydrophobic membrane which is resistant to a wide range of organic solvents), polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) (a Teflon® membrane for samples with >50% organic solvent), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) (a low nonspecific protein binding membrane for samples in aqueous solutions and/or organic solvents).
In order to allow the filtration of difficult samples, the design incorporates a glass fiber prefilter. Although these devices are easy to use they are even more limited by the sample size (i.e. only 12 ml maximum) and are subject to the clogging of the final membrane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,003 discloses a manually operable blood drawing syringe having a barrel with a hollow cylindrical bore with an open rear end and a reduced diameter front end for the attachment of a needle. A pushrod is disposed for slidable movement within the barrel and a disc-shaped plunger or piston is attached to the forward end of the pushrod. A filter which will pass air but is impervious to fluids is disposed between forward and rear perforated plates of the plunger and a sealing flange is disposed around the periphery of the plunger and dimensioned to fit slidingly within the cylindrical bore of the barrel. A flapper seal which is impervious to both gas and fluids is located in abutting contact with the rear face of the plunger and allows air that has passed through the filter in the plunger to escape from an upstream volume into a downstream volume as the pushrod and the plunger move forward in the barrel.
EP-A-0294185 discloses a filtering device for fluids which is similar to the above described Autovial™ syringeless filters. It comprises a barrel with an open end sod a flow discharge end with a nipple that is in communication with the interior volume of the barrel. A plunger is slidable disposed in the barrel through the open end towards the discharge end. A filter is disposed adjacent the barrel inwardly of and adjacent to the discharge nipple. In operation the sample fluid to be filtered is poured into the volume of the barrel so as to be disposed above the filter. The plunger is then inserted into the open end of the barrel and pushed towards the flow discharge end. The sample will have been fully filtered and dispensed from the nipple when the plunger is fully depressed and the forward face of the plunger engages a bottom end of the barrel. This device suffers from the premature clogging of the membrane surface if samples with a larger particulate material load are to be processed.
WO 97/15399 discloses a portable and disposable centrifugal cell separation device for biological fluids like blood. The device comprises a hollow centrifugal processing chamber rotatable about an axis of rotation and having a common axial inlet/outlet port for the fluid to be processed. The processing chamber contains a movable plunger which defines a separation space of variable size and a vacuum/pressure space and being movable to intake the selected quantity of a sample fluid into the separation space via the inlet/outlet port, and to express processed sedimented fluid components after centrifugation from the separation space via the inlet/outlet port. The plunger is moved towards the inlet/outlet port end of the processing chamber by pressurized air introduced into the vacuum/pressure space.

Method and device for centrifugation and filtration


A two-phase or three-phase claw-pole type rotary machine comprises two or three coaxially arranged single phase rotary machine elements. Each of the rotary machine elements has a magnet rotor, a claw-pole type stator, and an annular stator winding. Claw poles of the stator are divided into a plurality of blocks and are circumferentially separated from one another. A distance between adjacent claw poles of the same polarity in each block is (β0−Δβ), substantially, where β0 is a reference pitch when the claw poles of the same polarity are arranged equidistantly apart from one another in a range of 360°, Δβ is π/2q, or π/3q and q is a number of claw poles of the same polarity in each block. The first and second rotary machine elements are circumferentially shifted from each other by 90° or 120°.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-phase claw-pole type rotary machine and, more particularly, relates to a two-phase or three-phase permanent magnet (PM) type stepping motor reduced in cogging torque.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B show a two-phase PM type stepping motor comprising first and second rotary machine elements each for single phase arranged coaxially with each other. Each of the first and second rotary machine elements comprises an inner magnet rotor magnetized in a circumferential direction thereof so as to form N pole and S pole alternately, a claw-pole type outer stator arranged concentrically with the inner magnet rotor with an air gap therebetween, and an annular stator winding. The claw poles of the stator are formed on one side and the other side of the stator as shown in FIG. 1B. The claw-poles of each side are the same in number with magnetic poles of the rotor, and a magnetic flux entered into the claw pole of one side is returned to the claw pole of the other side passing through the annular winding. In case of a two-phase motor, two single-phase motors are connected coaxially with a phase difference of 90° (electric angle). In case of a three-phase motor, three single-phase motors are connected coaxially with a phase difference of 120° (electric angle).
In the conventional claw-pole type motor, the pitch of the claw poles of the stator is equal to the pitch of the magnetic poles of the rotor, so that the cogging torque becomes large.
A PM type stepping motor reduced in cogging torque by varying the pitch of the claw poles of the stator is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 136631/1998 and the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 161055/2001.
However, in such conventional stepping motor, the magnetic attraction force becomes unbalanced because the interval of the claw poles is varied so as to form a too narrow portion unreasonably or the position of the claw poles becomes asymmetric with respect to the shaft, so that a large vibration and noise are produced.

Multi-phase claw-pole type rotary machine


A gemstone cut is provided with a strategic placement of facets that optimizes the three dimensional optically geometric light interactions to thereby produce unique characteristics. In one embodiment, the gemstone has a crown with 29 facets, a pavilion with 28 facets and a girdle with 32 facets. The crown has a table with an octagonal shape, four first star facets, four second star facets, eight kite facets, eight first upper girdle facets and four second upper girdle facets. The pavilion can have eight pavilion facets, eight intermediate pavilion facets, eight first lower girdle facets and four second lower girdle facets. The girdle can have 32 facets including four sides each having seven facets and four facets at the corners of the gemstone interspaced between the side facets. The gemstone has four-fold mirror-image symmetry.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gemstones and, more particularly, to a unique cut for improving the gemstone's light performance including brightness, scintillation and dispersion.
2. Description of the Related Art
The quality of a gemstone such as a diamond is partially dependent upon the cut of the facets which reflect the brilliance, fire, sparkle and luster of a diamond. Facets are the smooth surface areas of a gemstone which have been cut, polished and positioned at different angles (slope and azimuth) which allow light to enter and reflect back from the gemstone. The depth and width and the uniformity of the facets control the brilliance and the durability of a gemstone. The quality of the facets are the major determining factor in enhancing a gemstone's ability to sparkle or reflect light and play a large part in the resulting brilliance of the gemstone. The following general definitions will help with understanding diamond facets.
Brilliance is the amount of sparkle a gemstone gives off through the reflection and refraction of light. Light enters the gemstone through the crown, hits one pavilion side, bounces to the opposite pavilion side and then is reflected back through the crown to the viewer. All facets must support the critical angle in order to achieve this light interaction. Failure to work around the critical angle will cause light entering the crown to exit the stone through the pavilion, instead of through the crown, resulting in a dark and dull stone. Exiting through the pavilion is termed leakage.
Sparkle is a measure of the light reflected out by a gemstone as it is viewed from different angles.
Dispersion, also known as fire, refers to the prism of light refracted from within a cut and polished gemstone and relates to the sparkling colors that are emitted from the stone as it is viewed from different angles. Dispersion is based upon the refractive index, a measure of the degree to which light bends as it passes from air to the stone. Diamonds have one of the highest refractive indexes for natural transparent gemstones. Dispersion is influenced by the facet angles which control the manner in which light enters and exits the gemstone, the number of internal facets in the stone design and the number of times the light rays spread across the facet junctions of the stone. These factors directly affect the fire produced by a finished diamond and thus dispersion is also affected by the manner in which the stone is cut and the angles employed in that cut.
Fluorescence is an inherent property possessed by diamonds resulting in glowing without an appreciable rise of temperature when exposed to ultra-violet rays, cathode rays, etc.
Luster is used to describe the brightness of an object that shines with reflected light rather than producing its own.
Scintillation occurs when light bounces among the facets creating a sparkling display. Good examples of scintillating diamonds are commonly found in round brilliant cuts. They display an eight-pointed star, radiating from the culet when viewed from the table. Optimal scintillation displays a pleasing even pattern of white flashes that results from proper facet symmetry. This is created by light areas turning dark and vice versa, in which dark areas are created by the observer/viewer obscuring light in the angular range from 75 to 90 degrees. The scintillation effect occurs when the diamond moves, the observer/viewer moves or the light source moves causing facets to alternate from illuminated to obscured or light to dark in varied intensities.
Culet is a tiny flat facet that cutters sometimes add to the bottom of a diamonds pavilion to protect the tip of the pavilion from being chipped or damaged.
Cut, including the facet arrangement, is the human contribution to a gemstones beauty and directly affects the qualities of brilliance, scintillation and dispersion. Modern diamond cuts are the result of hundreds of years of study and experimentation on how to best display these unique features of gemstones. From a business standpoint, it is desirable to create new and recognizable cuts for the discerning buyer as a diamond must stand out as a stylish alternative to traditional cuts in order to attract buyers. As a result, several cuts that most effectively optimize brilliance, scintillation and dispersion have become industry standards. Traditional gemstone cuts may be classified into three general categories: the brilliant cut, the step cut, the hybrid or mixed cut.
The brilliant cut is traditionally used to create a round cut stone. It employs triangular facet patterns that radiate from the central table facet towards the girdle edge. The pavilion mains radiate from the cutlet towards the girdle edge. This arrangement produces maximum brilliance, forcing all of the light that enters the crown to be reflected and refracted back through the crown. As such, the brilliant cut maximizes the fire, thereby producing a highly recognizable and marketable stone. Many variations of the brilliant cut exist.
A step cut is a rectangular or square shaped cut. The crown is formed of three concentric rows of trapezoidal facets cut parallel to the girdle and radiating outward from an octagonally shaped table facet having beveled corners. There are two pairs of opposing pavilion sides and four pavilion corners. The pavilion also has three concentric rows or steps between the girdle and the cutlet, each step consisting of eight trapezoidal facets cut parallel to the girdle.
Hybrid or mixed cuts employ a combination of brilliant and step cuts to achieve the classic look of a step cut stone with the brilliance and dispersion closer to that of a brilliant cut stone.
Turning now to a few examples, United States Patent Number ("U.S. Pat. No.") 7,146,827 to Mardkha is titled Mixed Cut Gemstone. It illustrates a mixed cut gemstone comprising a girdle, a crown above the girdle and a pavilion below the girdle. The crown has a girdle break, a table break and a table. The table break is cut with triangular shaped facets and the girdle break is cut with triangular and quadrilaterally shaped facets. The present invention also describes a pavilion having a width and a length formed by two pairs of opposing pavilion sides and four pavilion corners. The pavilion is composed of four steps including: a first step descending from said girdle to a first step facet junction, a second step descending from said first step facet junction to a second step facet junction, a third step descending from said second step facet junction to a third step facet junction, and a fourth step descending from said third step facet junction to said culet.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,607 to Davidi is titled Gemstone and Corresponding Method of Cutting. It shows a gemstone having a crown, a girdle and a pavilion, wherein the girdle is shaped such that, when viewed in plan view, it is primarily bounded by four pairs of parallel straight edges. Three of the four pairs of edges are spaced by roughly equal spacing D.sub.1, while the remaining pair of edges is spaced by a spacing D.sub.2, wherein D.sub.2 is greater than D.sub.1 by between 10% and 40%. Also provided is a method for cutting such a gemstone.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,044 to Samuels is titled Gemstone Cut. It illustrates a gemstone cut comprising a crown, a girdle, and a pavilion, wherein the gemstone includes precious gemstones (such as diamonds) and semi-precious gemstones. The crown includes an octagonal table, which is surrounded by eight triangular star facets. Eight table bezels are disposed in-between the star facets and eight mid-bezels are disposed in-between the table bezels. Furthermore, the gemstone's pavilion has eight concentrically arranged culet pavilion facets, a girdle pavilion facet and a bottom small break facet that are disposed in-between the culet pavilion facets. The gemstone's girdle has eight left top half facets and eight right top half facets (located in-between the girdle bezels of the crown), and eight left bottom half facets and eight right bottom half facets (disposed in-between the girdle pavilion facets and bottom small break facets).
U.S. Pat. No. D506,946 to Ishii is titled Brilliant Gemstone, and shows an ornamental design of the gemstone.
A need exists for a gemstone cut that provides improved light returning out of the crown with limited leakage through the pavilion.
A need also exists for a gemstone cut that provides improved optical effects including brightness, scintillation and dispersion.
Thus, there exists a need for gemstone cut with improved characteristics that solves these and other problems.

Gemstone cut with improved characteristics


A wheel with a rim as well as a wheel spider, where the wheel spider has a hub and spokes. The wheel includes spokes including one or more linearly stretched textile strands as reinforcement material of a fiber composite and each linearly stretched textile strand runs at least once from the rim to the hub and back without interruption and thus forms at least one spoke. The textile strands are connected in a positive-locking manner and/or in substance with the hub and the rim. A process is provided for the manufacture of the wheel.

A common wheel design has a well, which consists of a rim well and the wheel flanges. The wheel flanges circulate the rim well on both sides, overlap this rim well and offer the tire lateral support. The wheel spider or wheel disk is used for fastening the wheel. Thereby, a wheel spider has spokes or other connections from the rim to the hub, which is arranged in the center of the wheel. A wheel disk performs the same task without spokes, as an all-over connection of the rim to the hub.
It is a constant endeavor to reduce the weight of motor vehicles, especially of the unsprung masses, in the further development of automobile technology. The use of lightweight materials, especially of fiber composites, is offered for this.
There is already a number of approaches to contribute to weight reduction by means of substituting metal spokes with fiber composites. However, in these substitutions, stability requirements may not fade into the background.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,647 suggests connecting a metallic hub with a ring-shaped surrounding element. Thereby, the hub is wound around with long reinforcement fibers, which run between the hub and the outer ring, or the hub has pin-like elevations for this, around which the reinforcement fibers are placed and then led to the outer ring. The outer ring is itself wound around one or more times, whereupon the reinforcement fiber is led back to the hub. Another embodiment also provides on the outer ring pin-like elevations, which are correspondingly wound around. The long reinforcement fibers have a plastic impregnation and can be hardened after the completion of the winding between the hub and ring. They then form the spokes of the wheel. The drawback of this design is that the reinforcement fibers run unidirectionally between the hub and ring and have a low resistance to stresses parallel to the axial direction. The manufacturing process is complicated and time-consuming because of the complicated winding.
DE 10 2006 051 867 A1 discloses how a wheel spider consisting of a plurality of rings made of a fiber-reinforced material can be constructed. A plurality of rings made of reinforcement fibers are fitted into the space between the rim and the hub. The rings are not yet hardened and are deformed into arc-like shapes with round corners. The circular segment of the arc is positioned in an ideal shape at the inner surface of the rim, while the chords of the arcs are in contact with each other and form the spokes after consolidation. The arcs are connected in substance with each other or with the rim by means of matrix material. The drawback of this design is that the rings made of reinforcement fiber material are wound unidirectionally and hence have a low resistance to forces in the axial direction. In addition, the structure of the spokes only allows straight designs lying in the plane of the hub.


A distal hard part in an insertion portion is provided with an ultrasonic transducer in which a large number of ultrasonic vibrators are arranged in the circumferential direction. The ultrasonic transducer is shaped like a cylinder. Each member that constitutes an endoscopic observation section is passed through this tunnel-like passage. Each ultrasonic vibrator is provided with a single common electrode and individual electrodes the number of which corresponds to the number of the ultrasonic vibrators. Flexible boards and are provided on the proximal and distal end sides of the ultrasonic transducer. Wires are connected to these flexible boards. The wires from the flexible board are extended without changes, whereas the wires from the flexible board are reversely turned from the distal end side, are then passed through the tunnel-like passage, and are extended in the direction of an angle part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic endoscope in which an endoscopic observation section that has an observation visual field ahead of a distal hard part of an insertion portion and an electronic scanning type ultrasonic transducer that has a circumferential or circularly arcuate ultrasonic scan surface perpendicular to an axial line of the distal hard part are attached to the distal hard part.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultrasonic endoscope has a structure in which an endoscopic observation means and an ultrasonic transducer are attached to a distal hard part of an insertion portion that is inserted into, for example, a body cavity. As a scanning manner by this ultrasonic transducer, a so-called electronic scanning type ultrasonic transducer in which a large number of ultrasonic vibrators are arranged in a predetermined direction, and are sequentially driven is widely used in the related art. For example, JP-A-2001-314403 describes a direct-view endoscope in which an area in front of the distal hard part of the insertion portion is observed as an observation visual field in the endoscopic observation means, and an ultrasonic scan surface by the ultrasonic transducer is made to be radial, i.e., circumferential or arcuate within a predetermined angular range.
The ultrasonic endoscope disclosed by this JP-A-2001-314403 is inserted into, for example, body cavity tubes, i.e., upper alimentary canals, such as the esophagus and the duodenum, or lower alimentary canals, such as the large intestine, so that a forward area in the insertion direction is observed by the endoscopic observation means. As a result, if a region of interest, such as diseased parts, is detected, the ultrasonic transducer is positioned to face this region of interest, whereby information on body tissues of the region can be obtained.
Herein, wires are respectively connected to ultrasonic vibrators, which constitute the ultrasonic transducer, in the ultrasonic transducer. However, it is difficult to connect these wires directly to the ultrasonic vibrators. Therefore, in general, flexible boards are connected to the ultrasonic vibrators arranged in the circumferential direction, and terminal parts the number of which corresponds to the number of ultrasonic vibrators are formed on the flexible boards, and then the wires are connected to the terminal parts by, for example, a soldering means.
As described above, a large number of ultrasonic vibrators are arranged in the circumferential direction if the ultrasonic scan surface is in the radial direction. However, to heighten the resolution of an ultrasonic tomographic image, the number of ultrasonic vibrators is increased. From the viewpoint of making the diameter of the insertion portion smaller, the area of the flexible board cannot be widened. Therefore, in the flexible board, the distance between the terminals becomes close even if the wire-connecting terminals are zigzag arranged as a possible design. As a result, it becomes difficult to connect the wires to the terminals, and there is a possibility that connection strength will be weakened. Additionally, there is a possibility that, for example, a short circuit is disadvantageously caused by allowing solder to overflow from the terminal part.


A method of separating or distinguishing proteins by isoelectric focusing (IEF), comprises fluorescently labelling proteins by reacting monobromobimane or monochlorobimane with free sylphydryl groups of proteins, and subjecting the labelled proteins to isoelectric focusing. The IEF may be followed by a second electrophoretic separation step, resulting in 2-D electrophoresis of flourescently pre-labelled proteins in a way that has not hitherto been possible.

Electrophoresis is a well known separation technique which separates charged units on the basis of differential mobility in an electric field (which depends on the size, shape and charge of the units), and is widely used for separation of proteins and other materials. A variant of electrophoresis known as isoelectric focusing (IEF) exploits the fact that the net charge on a protein molecule varies with the pH of the surrounding solution. At a pH that is characteristic for each protein there exists an isoelectric point (IEP) at which the protein has no net charge and therefore will not migrate in an electric field. In IEF, electrophoresis is carried out in a pH gradient established by use of buffer mixtures, commonly using carrier ampholytes, and each protein migrates to the position in the gradient that corresponds to its isoelectric point and then remains there.
Two dimensional (2D) electrophoresis techniques are also known, involving a first electrophoretic separation in a first dimension, followed by a second electrophoretic separation in a second, transverse dimension. The 2D method most commonly used is that based on the work of O'Farrell (reference 1) in which proteins are subjected to IEF in a polyacrylamide gel in the first dimension, resulting in separation on the basis of isolectric point, and are then subjected to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the second dimension in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), resulting in further separation on the basis of size.
Two dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) is at present the most highly resolving method for the analysis of protein mixtures. Using this technique it is possible to separate several thousand individual polypeptide chains from a single sample in a single electrophoretic analysis. Methods which enable this are well established, used widely and all of the necessary equipment and reagents can be obtained readily from commercial sources.
Proteins are detected usually by staining either by a dye, which is most commonly Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 (C.I. 42660), or by deposition of metallic silver. Alternatively proteins which have been radiolabelled before analysis either in vivo or in vitro, for instance by reductive methylation (reference 2), can be detected by autoradiography or fluorography. The radiolabelling method is the only one which is at present available in which proteins can be labelled before analysis by 2D-PAGE in which IEF is used as the first dimension.
Fluorophores have also been used to label proteins both before and after PAGE. Several papers have described prelabelling methods for 1D-PAGE (reference 3). The advantages of pre- over post-electrophoretic labelling are the possibility of viewing the separation during the electrophoresis, the ease of detecting the results at the end without further processing of the gel, the ease of viewing gels of various sizes and thickness, the avoidance of problems associated with handling delicate gels, the avoidance of losing small molecules from the gel during staining, the high sensitivity which can be achieved, and the avoidance of use of radioactive materials.
Recently the fluorophore labelling of proteins present in IEF gels has been described which enabled the subsequent generation of a fluorescent 2D-electrophoretogram. The method allows normal IEF to be combined with the advantages of pre-electrophoretic fluorescent labelling (reference 4).
Another recent paper (reference 5) describes in vivo monitoring of protein sulphydryl (SH) groups of hamster spermatazoa by labelling with the fluorescent material monobromobimane and 2-D electrophoretic analysis. The first dimension uses non-equilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis (NEPHGE), followed by SDS-PAGE in the second dimension. In NEPHGE a pH gradient is generated but proteins are loaded at the acidic end of the gel, are positively charged and do not reach their IEPs. The method is used for analysing proteins with basic IEPs which cannot be analysed by IEF because of the difficulty in obtaining stable pH gradients at alkaline pHs.
Hitherto, no method has been demonstrated which enables useful separations to be obtained after the pre-IEF labelling of proteins with either fluorophores or chromophores. So far no protein derivatization with a fluorophore or chromophore has been demonstrated in which the charge properties (ie pK) of the derivative exactly mimics that of the underivatized protein. Thus, derivatization with such reagents causes changes in the IEPs of the proteins, which leads to the IEF pattern being altered. The reason for this is two fold. It can be difficult to ensure 100% modification of the protein. Partial modification will lead to the focusing at different IEPs of each species of each individual polypeptide carrying a different percentage of modification. Indeed, this property of partially modified proteins has been used to generate a "charge-train", by carbamylation of lysine residues by cyanate. Such charge modifications can be used as a standard for IEF (eg Carbamylyte (Pharmacia-LKB)). Moreover, if 100% modification of one type of reactive residue (eg lysine) is obtained and the charge on it altered then the protein will focus with a new IEP and thus the pattern of separation will be either quite different from that obtained with unmodified protein or it may be impossible to obtain a useful separation pattern (eg if the protein becomes very acidic).
The present invention is based on a novel approach to labelling of proteins for separation by IEF, which enables separating by IEF of fluorescently pre-labelled proteins.


A polyimide film includes a polyimide layer including a polyimide base polymer, and a polyimide powder distributed in the polyimide base polymer, the polyimide powder being obtained by reacting a diamine with a dianhydride at a molar ratio of about 1:0.950 to about 1:0.995. Moreover, the polyimide film may have a multilayered structure including at least a second polyimide layer stacked on a surface of the polyimide layer. The second polyimide can also include the polyimide powder at a weight ratio less than about 20 wt % of the total weight of the second polyimide layer. Embodiments described herein also include methods of preparing the polyimide films.

1. Field of the Invention
The present inventions relate to delustrants composed of polyimide powder, polyimide films incorporating the polyimide powder delustrant, and manufacture methods thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Polyimide films are widely used in electronic products. Owing to high surface flatness, the polyimide film may cause light reflection that may be uncomfortable to viewing and causes eyestrain during extensive use. This effect may be magnified in color films which can render the reflected light even more significant to the viewer.
In order to reduce the gloss of the polyimide film, some approach may incorporate a delustrant into the polyimide film to increase its surface roughness, so that incident light can be scattered. Conventional delustrants may include inorganic and organic compounds.
Examples of inorganic compounds used as delustrant can include silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, calcium carbonate, barium sulphate, titanium dioxide and the like. However, inorganic particles have a relatively high dielectric constant, which may confer poor insulation property to the film.
Examples of organic compounds used as delustrant can include polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), epoxy resin and the like. However, the organic compound cannot tolerate a temperature above 250° C., which is approximately the temperature at which chemical conversion occurs in the manufacture of the polyimide film. As a result, using organic compounds in the manufacture of the polyimide film may produce defects such as cracks or apertures, or form spots of non-uniform color due to uneven melting.
Therefore, there is a need for a polyimide film with desirable properties and low gloss, and address at least the aforementioned issues.

Polyimide film incorporating polyimide powder delustrant, and manufacture thereof


A slit (15) is formed between a feed point and GND point of an inverted-F antenna to make the points electrically distant from each other, and at least three antenna elements (14a, 14b, and 14c) are formed. The at least three antenna elements (14a, 14b, and 14c) generate at least three resonance points. An antenna radiating plate (3) projects outwardly so that at least a major part thereof does not face a ground plate (4). Therefore, a multi-band antenna device capable of achieving a wider bandwidth without using a parasitic element, and a communication terminal apparatus are provided.

A planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) type is mainly used in a multi-band built-in antenna which supports communication in a plurality of frequency bands using a single wireless communication terminal (see Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 7-14714 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-344233).
Furthermore, to achieve a wider bandwidth, antennas including a parasitic element connected to a ground (GND) plate have been dominant (see Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 62-161410).

Multiband antenna device and communication terminal device

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Japan, Inc.


In one embodiment, a network comprises a plurality of nodes that are communicatively coupled to one another using bidirectional, half-duplex links. The network has a logical first channel over which data is propagated along the network in a first direction and a logical second channel over which data is propagated along the network in a second direction. For a given period of time, at least one of the plurality of nodes is scheduled to be a transmitting node that transmits data on both the first channel and the second channel. A first subset of the nodes not scheduled to transmit during the period are scheduled to relay data received from the first channel along the first channel. A second subset of the nodes not scheduled to transmit during the period are scheduled to relay data received from the second channel along the second channel. At least one of the nodes not scheduled to transmit during the period does not relay any data on at least one of that node's outbound links for at least one of the first channel and the second channel.

Distributed, fault-tolerant communication systems are used, for example, in applications where a failure could possibly result in injury or death to one or more persons. Such applications are referred to here as "safety-critical applications." One example of a safety-critical application is in a system that is used to monitor and manage sensors and actuators included in an airplane or other aerospace vehicle
Often safety critical applications are implemented using a time-triggered, table driven communications architecture, for example, SAFEbus, FlexRay or Time-Triggered Protocol (TTP). To provide tolerance to physical faults, robust communications topologies that allow for point-to-point fault isolation (such as star, mesh, ring, and braided ring configurations) are often deployed. However, such topologies may introduce undesirable overhead for in the form of additional components (for example, in star configurations) or extra wiring complexity (for example, in mesh or braided ring configurations).

Systems and methods for fault-tolerant high integrity data propagation using a half-duplex braided ring network


Systems maintain synchronicity among elements intended to be displayed at various points during a live media stream. At a multimedia player, start playback of a live media stream. The systems receive input from a user selecting a new time of the media stream to playback, which is different than the current playback time of the media stream. The systems adjust playback of the media stream to restart at the new selected time, such that the current playback time of the output media stream is updated to the new selected time. The systems monitor the current playback time of the media stream as adjusted. The systems determine a user-initiated command to execute for displaying one or more visual elements at the multimedia player by polling a command manifest file based on the current playback time as adjusted.

As network bandwidth has increased over the years, multimedia technology has made it possible to broadcast multimedia programs and content comprising multiple corresponding media streams, such as a webcast, over the Internet to user devices for viewing. Multimedia technology has further enabled transmitting each of the media streams from different sources through different Internet pathways to the user devices. For example, the multimedia content may be an online video presentation, comprised of a live video image of a presenter streamed over an Internet pathway to viewer/player devices. The content may also comprise a corresponding sequence of presentation slides being discussed by the speaker, which is streamed from a separate device over a separate network pathway to the user devices. However, due to differing latencies, encoding and transcoding times, network and local buffering, and other such delays in the different Internet pathways, the receipt of the media stream and the presentation slides through different pathways are typically out of synchronization when they arrive at a viewing device. For example, the playback of the streamed live video over the first network pathway may be received seconds or even minutes behind the sequence of presentation slides received over the other network pathway. Such time discrepancies between receipt of the corresponding media streams may also vary among the different user devices receiving the media streams. Because the streamed media and the on-screen events that are intended to be viewed in synchronization with the streamed media may arrive at the viewer's computer at different times because of these varying and unpredictable delays, combining them into a unified viewing experience without re-synchronization risks an incoherent viewing experience.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method to re-synchronize live media streams, commands, and on-screen events transmitted through different internet pathways


A first and a second longitudinal bias-applying films are formed via a first mask at both sides of a magnetoresistive effective element film so that the difference in surface level between the magnetoresistive effective element film and the first and the second longitudinal bias-applying films is set within ±20 nm. Then, a first and a second electrode films are formed so as to cover edge portions of the magnetoresistive effective element film and the first and the second longitudinal bias-applying films.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a thin film magnetic head, particularly to a magnetoresistive effective type thin film magnetic head and a method for fabricating the same.
2. Related Art Statement
As a magnetic conversion device employed in a hard disk driving device, a combination type thin film magnetic head, where an inductive type thin film magnetic head element for writing and a magnetoresistive effective type thin film magnetic head element are stacked on a given substrate in turn, is widely available. With the development of the surface recording density of such a hard disk driving device, the performance of such a combination type thin film magnetic head is required to be developed. As a magnetoresistive effective type thin film magnetic head element, an AMR element utilizing normal anisotropic magnetoresistive effect is usually employed, but recently, a GMR element utilizing giant magnetoresistive effect several times as large as the normal anisotropic magnetoresistive effect is developed and widely available.
In the AMR element, surface recording density of several giga bits/inch2 can be realized, and in the GMR element, the surface recording density can be more enhanced. As a result, a large capacity hard disk driving device having a capacity of several ten giga bits or over can be realized.
As of now, various types of GMR element are proposed, but particularly attention is paid to a spin-valve GMR element. In the spin-valve GMR element, longitudinal bias-applying films are formed in both sides of a magnetoresistive effective film (MR film). In some cases, both edges of the MR film are covered with electrode films. In this case, the distance between the electrode films is set smaller than the distance between the longitudinal bias-applying films. Such an element structure is usually called as a "lead overlay structure", and is disclosed in Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open Hei 8-45037 (JPA 8-45037) and Hei 9-282618 (JPA 9-282618). Such a lead overlay structure is employed in an AMR element as well as the spin-valve GMR element. In a magnetoresistive effective type thin film magnetic head having such a lead overlay structure, Barkhausen noise can be repressed effectively and fluctuation in output power can be reduced. Therefore, the sensitivity of the thin film magnetic head can be enhanced.
In fabricating the magnetoresistive effective type thin film magnetic head having the lead overlay structure, two uniform films are formed and patterned to form the longitudinal bias-applying films and the electrode films, respectively. In this case, that is, two photolithography steps are required. Normally, the longitudinal bias-applying films are formed and thereafter, the electrode films are formed. As mentioned above, since the distance between the electrode films is set smaller than the distance between the longitudinal bias-applying films, the above photolithography steps are difficult and thus, the longitudinal bias-applying films and the electrode films can not be patterned precisely.
Particularly, in forming the electrode films, the surface level of the MR film is different from the surface level of the longitudinal bias-applying films. Therefore, it is more difficult to form the electrode films precisely due to the steps created between the MR film and the longitudinal bias-applying films, so that the magnetoresistive effective type thin film magnetic head can not be fabricated stably on a wafer as a substrate.

Method for fabricating thin film magnetic head


In one embodiment, a multi-layer extrinsic gettering structure includes plurality of polycrystalline semiconductor layers each separated by a dielectric layer.

In the processing of integrated circuit (IC) devices, yield is a key economical parameter that IC manufacturers pay close attention to. Poor yielding devices impact manufacturing cycle time, resource allocation, on-time delivery, market share, and profits among other things. Excessive or high leakage current is often one parameter that causes poor yields in IC manufacturing. High leakage current is typically caused by the presence of fast diffusing impurities or defects in active device regions within a semiconductor substrate.
One known method of reducing this problem is referred to as extrinsic gettering, which is a process to remove the unwanted impurities from critical regions of IC devices and prevent formation of impurity related defects. In a typical extrinsic gettering process, a single polycrystalline semiconductor layer is deposited on the back or lower surface (i.e., the surface opposite the surface where active devices are formed) of a monocrystalline semiconductor substrate prior to any high temperature process. The presence of the polycrystalline layer induces stress on the semiconductor substrate, which acts to getter or remove the unwanted impurities during subsequent high temperature processing and prevent formation of impurity related defects. Unfortunately, during the subsequent high temperature process steps the polycrystalline silicon layer itself recrystallizes, and thus loses a significant part of its gettering capability.
Accordingly, an improved gettering structure and method are needed that address the issues associated with prior art gettering techniques including those set forth above.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements in the figures are not necessarily to scale, and the same reference numbers in different figures denote the same elements. Additionally, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description.

Multilayer gettering structure for semiconductor device and method


One embodiment describes an imaging system. The system includes a first imaging system configured to provide first signals to a target area and to receive first response signals. The system also includes a second imaging system configured to provide second signals to the target area and to receive second response signals. The first and second signals can have separate frequency bands. The system further includes a processor configured to correct the first response signals based on the second response signals, and to generate an image based on the corrected first response signals.

A radar system, such as a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar system operating at millimeter wave (MMW) frequencies, can be utilized to image a target area, such as to provide object detection within the target area. As an example, the radar system can send an electromagnetic signal to the target area. If the object is present within the target area, the object can reflect a portion of the transmitted electromagnetic signal back to the radar system. The radar system can construct an image based on the reflected signals, such as to detect an object in the constructed image.


A rotary joint for connecting a stationary body to a rotating body. The rotary joint has a rotatable wear plate connectable to the rotating body and a seal ring seated in the wear plate. A spring-biased piston engages the seal ring against the wear plate by compressed springs between an end flange and the piston. The end flange and the piston are at least partially disposed within a shroud, wherein the shroud has at least one aperture extending there through. Alignment rings are formed on the piston and viewable through the aperture in the shroud to confirm the proper distance between the end flange and the piston and the proper force applied to the piston. A seal wear indicator is connected to the piston and moves between an exposed position, wherein the seal ring is not worn, and a non-exposed position, wherein the seal ring is worn.

Rotary joints are commonly used in the paper manufacturing industry to couple sources of steam and condensate with a rotating drying cylinder of a paper-manufacturing machine. The rotary joint provides a pressure-tight joint formed between a revolving journal of the drying cylinder and the stationary construction used to transfer the steam and condensate into and out of the drying cylinder. A seal ring is positioned and pressured against a revolving wear plate attached to the end of the rotating journal of the drying cylinder through the use of a spring-loaded piston and steam pressure. Steam and condensation pipes are passed through the piston, the wear plate, and the journal of the drying cylinder, and the seal ring is fitted to surround the steam and condensation pipes.
The installation of the prior art rotary joints is a time consuming and difficult process. For instance, the rotary joint may provide a piston wherein compression springs are utilized between an end flange and the piston to force the piston against the seal ring, which in turn forces the seal ring against the revolving wear plate and the journal of the drying cylinder. Since the seal ring seals the non-rotating piston from the revolving wear plate and journal, the amount of force applied by the piston to the seal ring is critical. The force applied by the piston to the seal ring is a function of the amount of compression applied to the piston by the compression springs. Therefore, the length at which the compression springs are compressed must be accurately measured upon the assembly of the rotary joint to the drying cylinder. This requires an installer accurately measure the distance between the end flange and the piston, which can be difficult in light of the structure of the rotary joint, and the surrounding equipment as well as the biasing forces of the compression springs.
Due to the revolving wear plate rotating against the seal ring, the seal ring eventually begins to wear. The spring-biased piston continually applies pressure to the seal ring thereby compensating for any wear or loss of material from the seal ring caused from the friction between the seal ring and the wear plate such that the seal ring remains properly seated against the wear plate. Nonetheless, the thickness of the seal ring eventually diminishes thereby requiring that the seal ring be replaced. However, there are few or no effective indicators as to when the seal ring must be replaced. For instance, previous wear indicators have included tabs that are fastened to the spring-biased piston, wherein the tab eventually contacts the wear plate once the seal ring becomes excessively worn. When this occurs, the tab engages the revolving wear plate thereby making a loud squealing noise that is supposed to alert personnel and indicate that the seal ring needs to be replaced. However, papermill facilities are often quite loud, and thus, the noise made by the tab engaging the wear plate may be difficult to hear. In addition, the tab may shear off from the piston once the tab engages the revolving wear plate thereby prohibiting any noise from being made and possibly causing the sheared off tab from damaging the seal ring or other components of the rotary joint. If a wear indicator is not utilized, then the operator may continually measure the distance from the end flange to the piston to determine the amount of wear on the seal ring, or the operator may disassemble the rotary joint to inspect the seal ring. Either way, if a seal ring indicator is not utilized to indicate whether the seal ring is worn, the operator must shut down the entire paper manufacturing process and make the appropriate measurements and inspections. Such measurements and inspections are time consuming, difficult, and create inefficiencies that are undesirable in an industrial environment.
Lastly, the compression springs between the end flange and the piston are typically exposed to the elements of the paper manufacturing process. Since the compression springs are commonly fabricated from metallic materials, the compression springs often rust or become corroded due to the steam and condensate that collect on the compression springs as well as other chemicals that may be utilized in conjunction with the paper manufacturing process. This requires that the compression springs either be replaced or cleaned on a regular basis, which is a time-consuming and costly process that creates inefficiencies in the paper manufacturing process.
It would be desirable to create a rotary joint for the paper manufacturing industry that could be installed and set-up quickly and accurately, while providing a simple indicator as to the wear of the seal ring and providing protection of the compression spring from rust and corrosion created by the steam, condensate, and other chemicals associated with the paper manufacturing process.

Rotary joint shroud having set-up gauge and seal wear indicator


A self-repair device includes an ARE (array rupture electrical fuse) array block configured to store fail addresses; an ARE control block configured to control a repair operation of fuse sets according to the fail addresses, compare a plurality of the fail addresses, and determine a failed state; and a redundancy block configured to store fuse data of the fail addresses, compare an input address with the fail addresses, and control row and column redundancy operations.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments relate to a self-repair device, and more particularly, to a technology for improving the repair efficiency and reducing the area of a semiconductor device including a fuse array.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a semiconductor memory device includes a is number of memory cells. As processing technologies have been developed and thus the degree of integration is augmented, the number of memory cells gradually increases. If a fail occurs in even any one among memory cells, a corresponding semiconductor memory device mis-operates. Therefore, since the semiconductor memory device including a failed cell cannot perform a desired operation, it should be discarded.
However, recently, as processing technologies for manufacturing semiconductor memory devices have been further developed, fails occur probabilistically in only a small number of memory cells. When considering the yield of a product, it is inefficient to discard entire semiconductor memory devices as failed products due to a small number of fails. Thus, in order to cope with this problem, not only normal memory cells but also redundancy memory cells are provided in a semiconductor memory device.
That is to say, a redundancy control circuit is used to perceive in advance the occurrence of a fail through a test and then convert connection to a cell where the fail has occurred into connection to a cell included in a redundancy circuit, when an access to the corresponding cell is requested. The redundancy circuit refers to a set of redundancy memory cells which are separately prepared in addition to normal memory cells and are used as replacement cells of cells in which fails occur.
Redundancy memory cells form a circuit which is provided to is repair failed memory cells (hereinafter, referred to as "memory cells to be repaired") in the case where fails occur in normal memory cells.
In detail, for example, in the case where a memory cell to be repaired is accessed in read and write operations, not the memory cell to be repaired but a memory cell which operates normally is internally accessed. The memory cell accessed in this way is a redundancy memory cell.
Accordingly, when an address corresponding to a memory cell to be repaired is inputted, a semiconductor memory device performs an operation (hereinafter, referred to as "a repair operation") for accessing not the memory cell to be repaired but a redundancy memory cell. Through such a repair operation, the semiconductor memory device is ensured with a normal operation.
In order to perform the repair operation, a semiconductor memory device needs not only redundancy memory cells but also other circuit configurations. One of these circuit configurations is a repair fuse circuit. The repair fuse circuit is to store an address corresponding to a memory cell to be repaired (hereinafter, referred to as "an address to be repaired").
The repair fuse circuit programs an address to be repaired, to fuses. A semiconductor device performs the repair operation using the address to be repaired, which is programmed in this way.
As a net die increases and it is complicated to realize a column redundancy control circuit, an existing self-repair device is performs only a row repair operation. According to this fact, since it is impossible to repair a column-related fail, a repair success rate becomes poor.
Also, in a conventional self-repair device, in order to perform a self-repair operation, an ARE (array rupture electrical fuse) array reads the fuse regions of respective banks. After partial fuse sets which have not been used in the fuse regions are loaded in advance on fuse registers, a memory is tested.
If a failed address occurs as a result of a test, a fuse register of a bank corresponding to the failed address selects a fuse set stored therein and transmits the selected fuse set to the ARE array, and then a repair operation is performed. In this regard, in order to store the information of fuse sets, a number of fuse registers are needed for the fuse regions of the respective banks.


An amplitude-locked loop (ALL) includes: a comparator circuit having a first input, a second input and an output, said first input receiving an electric reference signal; a loop filter having an input connected to said output of said comparator circuit and having an output generating an electric control signal (Vtune); a circuit generating an electric signal to be controlled, transmitted to said second input of said comparator circuit. The circuit comprises an acoustic resonator having a BAW-type resonator having a first and second resonant frequencies and associated with a first inductive partner element for removing said second resonant frequency and with a second capacitive partner element for tuning said first resonant frequency, said at least first resonator component being adjustable via said electric control signal (Vtune).

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to microelectronic circuits and more particularly but not exclusively to an amplitude-locked loop integrable into an integrated circuit and equipped with an acoustic resonator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Amplitude-locked loops are particularly useful circuits in many applications.
They are particularly found in communication systems, and in particular in mobile telephony where integration of the components forming the transmitter and the receiver of a mobile communication system is further developing.
Document "A 1.9 GHZ IMAGE-REJECT FRONT-END WITH AUTOMATIC TUNING IN A 0.15UM CMOS TECHNOLOGY," Mustafa H. Koroglu et al., 2003 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, 0-7803-7707-9/03 describes a control technique using a loop of the ALL type.

Integrable amplitude-locked loop including an acoustic resonator