A scroll type fluid machinery which is provided with: a first scroll and a second scroll which moves with respect to the first scroll, where the base of the first scroll is provided with suction bores perforating through the base from the rear surface thereof to the front surface, and open at the outer peripheral portion of the front surface of the base, so that fluid released into an internal space of the body casing passes through the suction bores, and into the suction sides of compression volumes formed between spiral members of the scrolls, whereby suction pressure in the compression volumes is maximized and volumetric efficiency is improved.

Scroll type fluid machinery is well-known, an example of which is Japanese Patent Publication Gazette No. (Hei 1-35196, filed on Jul. 24, 1989) as shown in FIG. 6.
The scroll type fluid machine shown in FIG. 6 is provided with a first rotary shaft D1, a second rotary shaft D2 having a second rotation axis 02 eccentric to a first rotation axis 01 of the first rotary shaft D1, a first scroll S1 which is provided with a first base P1 and a spiral member R1 erected at the front surface thereof and is rotatable around the first rotation axis 01, a second scroll S2 which is provided with a second base P2 and a second spiral member R2 erected at the front surface thereof and is rotatable around the second rotation axis 02, a motor M of a drive source for driving the first rotary shaft D1, a synchronous mechanism S comprising an Oldham's ring for synchronizing the rotation of the first scroll S1 with that of the second scroll S2, a body casing or housing C having an internal space in which the first and second scrolls S1 and S2 are located. The housing including an upper housing U and a lower housing G, and an open suction port L which is in fluid communication with the interior of the housing C and allows fluid to pass into the internal space and then flow into a compression pocket or volume V, formed between the first spiral member R1 and the second spiral member R2.
The motor M rotates the first scroll S1, and the second scroll S2 is rotated at the synchronous speed with the first scroll S1 following the rotation thereof. Low pressure fluid flowing through the suction port L into the internal space of the body casing C flows through the outer peripheries of the first spiral member R1 and second spiral member R2 into the compression pocket or volume V and is sequentially compressed as it moves toward the center of the first spiral member R1 and second spiral member R2. High pressure fluid, after compression, flows to the exterior through a discharge port E provided in the first rotary shaft D1. An oil tank T is provided below the body casing C, and a discharge port H is located at the side wall of the oil tank T.
In the above-mentioned scroll type fluid machine, the first and second scrolls S1 and S2 rotate together and the fluid in the internal space of the body housing C is subjected to the centrifugal force generated as a result of the rotations of the first and second scrolls S1 and S2, thereby causing it to flow radially outwardly therefrom. Therefore, the fluid is inhibited by the centrifugal force from entering the compression pocket or volume V and the suction pressure at volume V is relatively lower than the pressure at the suction port L, thereby reducing volumetric efficiency of the machinery.
It is an object of the present invention is to provide a scroll type fluid machine which can facilitate entry of fluid into compression volumes, minimize suction pressure reduction, and improve volumetric efficiency.
It is a further object of this invention to increase the volumetric efficiency of a scroll type fluid machine by utilizing the centrifugal forces generated by the rotation of the scrolls, to increase the pressure of fluid entering into the compression pockets or volumes, thereby improving volumetric efficiency.

Scroll apparatus with reduced inlet pressure drop


A method, system and computer program product for flushing packets between a master wireless communications device and a slave wireless communication device. The method includes linking a transmit (Tx) packet list and a receive (Rx) packet list at the master and slave wireless communications devices. A Tx data structure is generated for each of a plurality of anchor points and a Rx data structure is generated for each of the plurality of anchor points. Each Tx data structure is added to the Tx packet list, and each Rx data structure is added to the Rx packet list. A packet may then be flushed based on contents of the data structures.

The present disclosure relates generally to short-range protocol wireless communications, and more particularly, for flushing packets in a Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) connected isochronous stream (CIS).
BLE is a wireless personal area network protocol that has a wide array of applications, such as for connecting electronic devices used in, for example, applications such as healthcare, fitness, beacons, home entertainment systems, and the like. Compared to a typical classic Bluetooth® classic device, BLE provides reduced power consumption and incurs lower cost while providing at least a similar, and often greater, communication range between connected devices. BLE radio operates in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical radio band (ISM) band. The low energy (LE) system employs a frequency hopping transceiver to combat interference and fading and provides a plurality of frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) carriers. LE radio operation utilizes a shaped, binary frequency modulation, to minimize transceiver complexity. LE uses terminology that differs from basic rate/enhanced data rate (BR/EDR) and alternate mac/physical (AMP/PHY) to describe supported PHYs with regard to differences in modulation, applied coding, and the resulting data rates. The mandatory symbol rate is 1 mega symbol per second (Msym/s), where 1 symbol represents 1 bit, consequently supporting a bit rate of 1 megabit per second (Mb/s). This is referred to as the LE 1M PHY. The 1 Msym/s symbol rate may optionally support error correction coding, which is characterized as the LE Coded PHY. This implementation may use either of two coding schemes: S=2, where 2 symbols represent 1 bit and support a bit rate of 500 kb/s, and S=8, where 8 symbols represent 1 bit and support a bit rate of 125 kb/s. An optional symbol rate of 2 Msym/s may also be supported, with a bit rate of 2 Mb/s, which is referred to as the LE 2M PHY. The 2 Msym/s symbol rate supports uncoded data only. LE 1M and LE 2M are collectively referred to as the LE Uncoded PHYs.
LE employs two multiple access schemes: Frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and time division multiple access (TDMA). Forty (40) physical channels, separated by 2 MHz, are used in the FDMA scheme. Three (3) channels are used as primary advertising channels, and 37 are employed as secondary advertising channels, data channels and connected isochronous channels. A TDMA based polling scheme is used in which one device transmits a packet at a predetermined time and a corresponding device responds with a packet after a predetermined interval.
In accordance with the present disclosure, there is provided an improved scheme for flushing packets in an CIS.

Bluetooth low energy connected isochronous stream acknowledgement and flush algorithm and implementation


An automated handling machine for bills and securities which automatically processes bills and securities such as checks in the same apparatus. Sheets set in a bill depositing/dispensing mechanism are conveyed at a bill reading speed v1 in a first processing mode, and when they are passed through a discriminator for bills and checks, each sheet is discriminated whether it is a bill or check. If the sheet is a bill, it is subjected to authentication discrimination, denomination discrimination and validity discrimination, and temporarily stored in a temporary stocker. If the sheet is a check, it is temporarily returned to a deposit/withdrawal port and temporarily stored there. Then in a second processing mode, the temporarily stored check is conveyed to the discriminator at a check reading speed v2 (v2<v1). MICR characters described on the check are read with high accuracy with a magnetic sensor of the discriminator, and contents of description on the check are obtained as image data by an image sensor, and recognition is performed on the data.

The present invention relates to an automated machine for handling bills and securities, and more particularly, to an automated cash transaction machine which automatically performs check/bill deposit and bill withdrawal.
In accordance with wide use of automated cash transaction machines such as an ATM (Automated Teller Machine), in a bill depositing/dispensing mechanism, downsizing and cost reduction, while ensuring conventional functions and performance are studied, thus there are increasing needs for convenience. Further, a high value-added machine which handles securities such as checks as well as bills is required. Conventionally, an automated transaction machine to handle bills and checks is known, however, as a bill depositing/dispensing mechanism and a check processing mechanism have separate case structures, the automated transaction machine has a large size and the cost is high.
For example, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-348240 discloses a customer-operative type automated transaction machine which automatically handles both checks and bills. According to this technique, operation guidance and transaction processing are made based on at least one of place of payment/payer and payee's account of a promissory note/check recognized by recognition means, thereby the promissory note/check is subjected to transaction processing in correspondence with the content of the payee's account and issuer.


In a NAND type nonvolatile memory device, a first insulating layer covers a common drain region formed in a string active region and a peripheral active region. A second insulating layer covers the first insulating layer. A bit line plug penetrates the first and second insulating layers and is connected to the common drain region. A peripheral lower plug penetrates the first insulating layer and is connected to the peripheral active region. A peripheral upper plug penetrates the second insulating layer and is stacked on the peripheral lower plug.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to semiconductor memory devices and related methods of manufacture. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to NAND-type nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices and related methods of manufacture.
A claim of priority is made to Korean Patent Application No. 2006-97315 filed on Oct. 2, 2006, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
2. Description of Related Art
Nonvolatile memory devices are capable of retaining stored data even when disconnected from an external power source. Among nonvolatile memory devices, flash memory is one of the more popular types due at least in part to its ability to be electrically programmed and erased, its relatively high degree of integration, resistance to physical stress, and low power consumption.
Two common forms of flash memory include NOR-type flash memory and NAND type flash memory. NOR type flash memory provides high-speed random-access, and therefore NOR type flash memories are often used in applications requiring fast read performance. For example, NOR flash memories are commonly used to store microcode for controlling devices. NAND-type flash memories, on the other hand, tend to have a relatively higher level of integration and program/erase performance than NOR flash memories, and therefore NAND flash memories are often used, for example, to provide mass data storage.
A NAND type flash memory comprises a plurality of cell strings, where each cell string comprises a plurality of flash memory cells connected in series. Each cell string is connected at one end to a common drain region via a bit line and at another end to a common source region. The common drain region provides each cell string with a voltage used for programming, erasing and/or sensing operations. The common source region provides a reference voltage used in the programming, erasing and/or sensing operations.
NAND type flash memory devices are typically formed through a large number of processing operations. Among these operations, there are usually steps for depositing various layers on a substrate and other intermingled steps for creating various openings such as grooves, holes, and trenches in the various layers and in the substrate. The openings can be formed with a variety of sizes and shapes, e.g., with a large plane area and/or a small plane area. At least some of the openings will generally penetrate insulators to expose underling conductors. Other conductors can then be formed in the openings to electrically connect the underlying conductors with other features in the NAND type flash memory devices.
Proper formation of the openings tends to require very precise processing conditions. Moreover, different types, shapes, and sizes of openings tend to require different processing conditions. Unfortunately, if required processing conditions for a particular opening are not precisely met, the opening may not be properly formed. For example, the opening may not adequately expose underlying features, or the opening may be formed wider than a desired width, creating possible electrical shorts.
As the degree of integration in NAND type flash memory devices increases to new levels, line widths in the devices tend to decrease accordingly and the depths of the openings tends to increase accordingly. Unfortunately, however, conventional manufacturing techniques are not well suited to forming openings with the dimensions required for next generation NAND type flash memory devices.

NAND-type nonvolatile memory device and related method of manufacture


In a semiconductor memory device and a manufacturing method thereof, a barrier metal layer having a step h.sub.2 which is smaller than the step h.sub.1 at the upper end of a contact hole is formed on the surface opposite to the contact hole. The barrier metal layer has a nitrogen concentration gradient which becomes higher from its lower layer to its upper layer. A semiconductor memory device provided with a highly planer capacitor lower electrode, and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor memory device can thus be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device and a manufacturing method thereof in which material of high dielectric constant is used for a capacitor dielectric film of a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).
2. Description of the Background Art
DRAM has been known as a semiconductor memory device which allows random input and output of memory information. The DRAM generally has a memory cell array portion which is a memory area with a large amount of memory information stored therein, and a peripheral circuit portion which is necessary for the external input and Output.
A plurality of memory cells each for storing unit memory information are arranged on a matrix in the memory cell array portion which occupies a large area on a semiconductor chip. One memory cell generally consists of one MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) transistor and one capacitor connected to the MOS transistor. Such a memory cell is referred to as a one-transistor/one-capacitor type memory cell.
The integration of a memory cell array can be improved easily in this one-transistor/one-capacitor type memory cell because of its simple structure. Such a memory cell is therefore widely utilized in a DRAM of large capacity.
Memory cells of conventional DRAMs can be classified into several types according to their capacitor structures. One of them is referred to as a stacked type capacitor. The stacked type capacitor is structured such that the main portion in the capacitor structure is extended over a gate electrode of MOS transistor and a field oxide film, thereby increasing the opposing areas between capacitor electrodes.
Owing to such a characteristic of the stacked type capacitor, certain capacitance of a capacitor could be secured even if circuit elements are miniaturized as a semiconductor memory device is highly integrated. The stacked type capacitor is thus widely utilized as the integration of a semiconductor memory device is promoted.
However, when the elements are further miniaturized, securing the certain capacitance of a capacitor is difficult in, for example, a DRAM of 256 Mbit, even if the stacked type capacitor is used.
In an attempt of increasing the capacitance of a capacitor, a capacitor dielectric film formed of material having high dielectric constant (e.g. Barium Strontium Titanate (BST)) is used.
With reference to FIG. 19, a description will be given as to a cross sectional structure of a memory cell of a DRAM in which material having high dielectric constant is used for a capacitor dielectric film.
A source region 6 and drain regions 7a, 7b formed of impurity diffusion regions are provided at a major surface of a semiconductor substrate 1. On the major surface of semiconductor substrate 1, a gate electrode 4a is formed with a gate oxide film 5a therebetween, and a gate electrode 4b is further formed with a gate oxide film 5b therebetween. A field oxide film 2 is provided at a prescribed region of the major surface of semiconductor substrate 1 for defining an active region.
In source region 6, a buried bit line 9 is provided for gate electrodes 4a and 4b with gate protection oxide films 8a and 8b interposed, and is covered with an oxide film 10.
An MOS transistor 3a is constituted by gate electrode 4a, source region 6 and drain region 7a, and an MOS transistor 3b is constituted by gate electrode 4b, source region 6 and drain region 7b.
A polysilicon plug 12 is provided within a contact hole 11a formed in an interlayer insulating film 11, and electrically connected to drain region 7b.
Barrier metal layers 13a, 13b are formed on polysilicon plug 12 to cover interlayer insulating film 11, and capacitor lower electrodes 14a, 14b are formed on barrier metal layers 13a, 13b.
A dielectric film 15 of material having high dielectric constant is further provided on capacitor lower electrodes 14a and 14b to cover barrier metal layers 13a, 13b and the surface of interlayer insulating film 11. An upper electrode 16 is further provided to cover high dielectric constant material 15. It is noted that platinum is used for lower electrode 14b and upper electrode 16.
On upper electrode 16, first aluminum interconnections 18a, 18b, 18c are formed with an interlayer insulating film 17 therebetween, and a first aluminum interlayer insulating film 19 is provided to cover first aluminum interconnections 18a, 18b, 18c. A second aluminum interconnection 20 is provided on first aluminum interlayer insulating film 19.
An operation of a memory cell in a DRAM structured as above will be next described.
The stacked type capacitor shown in FIG. 19 is utilized as a cell capacitor or the like in a semiconductor integrated circuit. In this case, information is stored by accumulating charges of signals controlled by MOS transistor 3b, for example, in capacitor lower electrode 14b formed on the same substrate as MOS transistor 3b.
The amount Q of accumulated charges can be expressed as follows using a relative dielectric constant .di-elect cons. between a capacitor region S and dielectric film 15 and a film thickness t of dielectric film 15. EQU Q=.di-elect cons..sub.o .multidot..di-elect cons..multidot.S.multidot.V/t
where .di-elect cons..sub.o denotes a dielectric constant under vacuum and V denotes voltage applied to a capacitor.
The amount Q of charges should be sufficiently large but should not cause a memory error called a soft error due to excess charges generated by ionizing radiation.
In a semiconductor circuit of lower integration, a silicon oxide film formed by thermally oxidizing silicon, or a silicon nitride film formed by CVD method has been conventionally used as a dielectric film. However, as circuit elements are highly integrated and capacitor region S is decreased, to obtain charge accumulation large enough but will not cause a soft error becomes impossible with above described silicon oxide film or silicon nitride film.
As shown in FIG. 19, the high dielectric constant material having high relative dielectric constant, such as barium strontium titanate, tantalum oxide, lead titanate, or strontium titanate is utilized as a dielectric film.
For example, the high relative dielectric constant of lead titanate is 1000 or more, and that of strontium titanate is approximately 200. An enhanced insulating property could be obtained when a film of above material is formed avoiding oxide defects. Other than the lead titanate, barium titanate is known as material for a dielectric film.
A thin film of, e.g., strontium titanate is usually formed using the reactive sputtering or CVD method. In this case, a film is often formed in an oxidation ambient at a high temperature of approximately 500-700.degree. C. in order to prevent an increase of leak current due to the oxide defect.
As described above, platinum having high resistance to oxidation is utilized as material for lower electrode in a thin film capacitor in which the lead titanate is used. Barrier metal layers 13a, 13b are further necessary between lower electrode 14b and polysilicon plug 12 as barrier metal (diffusion preventing films) having the conductivity which prevents diffusion of silicon and oxygen, in order to prevent oxidation of that portion of a silicon substrate which is electrically connected to the lower electrode.
However, in the capacitor structure in the conventional DRAM shown in FIG. 19, there is a step portion of height h.sub.1 on the top of contact hole 11a.
The step portion is generated in the steps of forming a polysilicon film according to CVD and etching back the polysilicon film in order to form a polysilicon plug 12 within contact hole 11a.
Although the height of the step portion could be reduced by adjusting etching conditions, it is impossible to eliminate the step portion because the polysilicon film has a higher etching rate than interlayer insulating film 11.
Accordingly, there are step portions also on the surfaces of barrier metal layer 13b, lower electrode 14b and dielectric film 15 according to the step portion in contact hole 11a.
An almost right-angled portion is accordingly formed in lower electrode 14b in the step portion as enclosed by X in FIG. 19. Electric field is concentrated in the right-angled portion upon an application of voltage, producing a high electric current. As a result, a degradation of dielectric film 15 contacting with the upper surface of the right-angled portion is accelerated, resulting in a shorter lifetime and a lower reliability of the capacitor.

Method of manufacturing a semiconductor memory device with a high dielectric constant capacitor


A method of obtaining at least one representation of a characteristic function of a sensor from a test fluid during calibration of the sensor according to a sensor model having a transfer function operating on flow rate, at least one sensor property and at least one fluid property and employing the at least one representation of the characteristic function to determine flow rates through the sensor during operation with an arbitrary fluid.

Mass flow sensors are used in a wide variety of applications to measure the mass flow rate of a gas or other fluid. One application in which a mass flow sensor may be used is a mass flow controller. In a conventional mass flow controller, the mass flow rate of a fluid flowing in a main flow path is regulated or controlled based upon a mass flow rate of a portion of the fluid that is diverted into a typically smaller conduit forming a part of the mass flow sensor. Assuming laminar flow in both the main flow path and the conduit of the sensor, the mass flow rate of the fluid flowing in the main flow path can be determined (and regulated or controlled) based upon the mass flow rate of the fluid flowing through the conduit of the sensor.
A flow sensor, in general, refers to any device or combination of devices that responds to fluid flow by providing an output indicative of the fluid flow rate. A thermal mass flow sensor refers to a flow sensor that provides an output that varies with the flow rate of a fluid in a flow path based on heat convection, conduction and/or flux resulting from the flow of the fluid. The term "fluid" is used herein to describe any type of matter in any state that is capable of flow. It is to be understood that the term fluid applies to liquids, gases, and slurries comprising any combination of matter or substance capable of flow.
One conventional thermal mass flow sensor is illustrated in FIG. 1. Thermal mass flow sensor 10 includes a conduit 12 having an upstream resistance coil 14 and a downstream resistance coil 16 wound about the conduit 12 at a predetermined spacing such that the conduit has a characteristic length related to the length l. The upstream and downstream coils are coupled to sensor electronic circuit 18. Typically, coils 14 and 16 are of the variety wherein the resistance of the coil is a function of temperature. When no fluid is flowing through conduit 12, the sensor is in a balanced state. For example, coils 14 and 16 may comprise one leg of respective Wheatstone bridge configurations such that the balanced state may be achieved by having electronic circuit 18 drive upstream coil 14 and downstream coil 16 to the same temperature. When both coils are at the same temperature their resistances are equal such that the voltage drop across each resistor is also equal (i.e., V1 is equal to V2). Electronic circuit 18 may be configured to detect differences between voltage V1 and V2 and output the difference as a voltage signal 20, referred to as the sensor output signal or simply the sensor output.
As fluid flows through the conduit, the fluid transfers heat from the upstream coil 14 toward the downstream coil 16 according to properties of heat convection. As a result, the temperature of the downstream coil 16 becomes greater than that of the upstream coil 14, thereby varying the respective resistances and unbalancing the sensor electronic circuit 18. The voltage drop V2 will no longer equal the voltage drop V1 and sensor electronic circuit 18 will detect the difference in voltage drops and output the difference as the sensor output signal 20. The amount of heat transferred by convection, and thus the sensor output, is proportional to the mass flow rate of the fluid.
It should be appreciated that a sensor output need not be a voltage signal but may be any of various other signals and may depend upon the design of the flow sensor. For example, a sensor output may be a voltage signal as illustrated in FIG. 1, a current signal, a digital or analog signal or any other signal capable of indicating fluid flow through a conduit of the sensor.
Many applications, for example, semiconductor fabrication processes, may require that a particular flow sensor operate with a variety of different fluids and/or combinations of fluids. In practice, providing such a flow sensor is a difficult task. For example, the sensor output of conventional thermal mass flow sensors may depend both on the mass flow rate of the fluid in the flow path and, in part, on the type of fluid. That is, the thermal and/or physical characteristics of a fluid in the flow path may affect how the sensor output voltage changes with flow rate.
FIG. 2 illustrates sensor response curves for eight different types of fluid. A sensor response curve refers generally to any representation based on sensor output as a function of or in association with flow rate. In FIG. 2, the horizontal axis represents the actual fluid flow rate of the respective fluid through the flow path. The vertical axis represents the normalized sensor output voltage resulting from the fluid flow rate. The normalized sensor output voltage is the sensor output voltage divided by the sensor output voltage resulting when a fluid is flowing at its maximum flow rate through the flow path, referred to as full scale flow. That is, the vertical axis represents the fraction of the full scale sensor output voltage.
Ideally, each sensor response curve would be a linear function of flow rate. However, in practice it can be seen that the sensor response curves have varying degrees of curvature and that the curvature itself may be a fluid dependent function of flow rate. Conventionally, it is not well understood how the sensor response curves vary from fluid to fluid. This unpredictability makes it difficult to develop a flow sensor that responds satisfactorily to a range of fluids over an adequate range of flow rates. More particularly, it is difficult to provide a flow sensor that operates satisfactorily with an arbitrary fluid over an adequate range of flow rates.


An improved baseball game reduces idle time between successive pitches by having two pitchers pitch sequential pitches to two batters. The pitchers are stationed at two spaced pitching mounds on one playing field and the batters are positioned in spaced batters boxes, each with an associated batter's plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the sport of baseball and more particularly to an improved game and playing field wherein the pace of play is increased.
2. Antecedents of the Invention
Baseball has been an integral component of American culture for more than a century. Walt Whitman's 1855 epic, Leaves of Grass, foretold the significance of this sport: "I See Great Things in Baseball, It's Our Game—The American Game".
While baseball has gained immense popularity since its inception, the popularity of the sport in recent years has declined. Among young sports fans, games having a more accelerated pace such as basketball have eroded some of the popularity of baseball. The decline in favor of more exciting games is believed to be attributable, in part, to the pace and length of professional baseball games.
In a March 2002 CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, 29% of baseball fans indicated that major league baseball games were too long and 31% of the fans indicated specifically that the length of time between pitches was an annoyance.
A baseball commentator has indicated that one of the best ways to complete a game in less than 3 hours is to have pitchers work more efficiently. By cutting the pitch count from 285 pitches to 270 pitches would reduce playing time by approximately 9 minutes and bring the average playing time down to 2 hours, 47 minutes.
Attempts have been suggested to increase the pace of baseball by raising the pitcher's mound to 13″ above home plate, rather than the standard 10½″, in order to shorten the game and make pitches more difficult to hit.
It has also been considered to shorten the time between innings and reduce the number of warm-up pitches to quicken the pace of the game.
By reducing the 15 to 20 second idle time between successive pitches, which can account for up to an hour of a 3 hour game, the length of a baseball game can be reduced considerably and the pace of the game increased to provide a more enjoyable experience for spectators.

Fastball; Twice the Action. . . Half the Time Inc.


A speed of service system includes a ground layer, a sensor positioned within the ground layer, a radio communicatively coupled to the sensor, a sign controller receiving a signal from the wired radio, and a visual display displaying information obtained by the sensor.

When a professional driver drives his or her truck into a travel center and pulls up to a fuel lane, it impossible to determine the length of time a previous truck has occupied the fuel lane. When all fuel lanes are full, it is a guessing game about which fuel lane to wait for because the occupancy time is almost impossible to know. Unlike an automobile, it is not reasonable for a 80 foot long and 80,000 lb. truck to easily back up and pull into another fuel lane. Instead, the professional driver usually must stay in line at the fuel lane initially chosen.
As such, it is the intention of the present invention to provide the professional driver with a visual display showing the amount of time a truck has occupied a specific fuel lane. Additionally, data associated with occupancy of fuel lanes and time of occupancy may be collected by a central data system.


Provided are an anodic bonding structure, a fabricating method thereof, and a method of manufacturing an optical scanner using the same. Provided anodic bonding structure having a substrate and a glass substrate arranged above the substrate, includes at least one dielectric and at least one metal layer deposited between the substrate and the glass substrate, with a dielectric arranged uppermost, wherein the uppermost dielectric and the glass substrate are anodic bonded. Provided method of fabricating an anodic bonding structure having a substrate and a glass substrate arranged above the substrate, includes an act of depositing at least one dielectric and at least one metal layer between the substrate and the glass substrate, with dielectric arranged uppermost, and an act of anodic bonding the uppermost dielectric with the glass substrate. In the provided structure of depositing the metal layer and the dielectric between the substrate and the glass substrate, the dielectric and the glass substrate or the dielectric and the metal layer are anodic bonded so that a stable performance is attained to manufacture various micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anodic bonding structure, a fabricating method thereof, and a method of manufacturing an optical scanner using the same, and more particularly, to an anodic bonding structure of a dielectric and a glass substrate or a dielectric and a metal layer, a fabricating method thereof, and a method of manufacturing an optical scanner using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Anodic bonding is a technique of bonding a silicon substrate widely used in the fabrication of a micro sensor device and a glass substrate having a thermal expansion coefficient similar to that of a silicon substrate. Pyrex glass, i.e., Corning glass 7740, generally used in an anodic bonding process includes predetermined amounts of sodium (Na) and potassium (K) so that when the Pyrex glass is heated at a temperature of over 200° C., elements are charged and easily moved by a voltage. When a silicon substrate and a glass substrate are aligned and a voltage of over 600 V is applied to the substrates, movable charges move rapidly. Thus, strong dielectric charges occur on the interfaces of the silicon substrate and the glass substrate to bond the silicon substrate with the glass substrate. A plurality of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) processes use an anodic bonding method that realizes a stable silicon structure.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional anodic bonding structure. A conventional anodic bonding structure is formed of a substrate 13 placed on a base plate 11 and a glass substrate 15 installed above the substrate 13. When the structure is heated at the above-described temperature, and a cathode and an anode are connected to an upper portion of the glass substrate 15 and a lower portion of the base plate 11, respectively, to apply the above-described voltage, charged ions move between the substrate 13 and the glass substrate 15 to perform a strong anodic bonding.
An anodic bonding process may be used in a method of manufacturing an optical scanner. In a conventional method of manufacturing an optical scanner, only thin silicon substrates are used, thereby an automation process is difficult. Also, a torsion bar is driven in an unstable manner and is easily broken, and the yield is lowered. Although a silicon substrate and a glass substrates are bonded to obtain a stable device, it is impossible to obtain the perfect torsion bar. Therefore, a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate has been used to stably realize a bonding structure; however, an electrical isolation problem within the SOI substrate occurs.

Anodic bonding structure, fabricating method thereof, and method of manufacturing optical scanner using the same


Corrosion resistant coatings are formed on aluminum by immersion in aqueous olutions containing chromic salts, a fluoride ion from compounds such as a fluosilicate with an alkali added near or slightly beyond the precipitation of the insoluble basic compounds. Trivalent chromium films formed on the aluminum surface when tested in 5% NaCl salt spray chamber showed corrosion resistance in excess of 96 hours. After a post-treatment with peroxide or permanganate solutions, the corrosion resistance for the aluminum substrates exceeded 168 hours. Trivalent chromium coated aluminum serves as an effective base for paint primers. Anodized aluminums were also afforded excellent corrosion resistance, after being treated in dilute/basic chromic sulfate solutions and post-treated with peroxide.

This invention relates to a method of treating metal surfaces to enhance corrosion resistant and paint bonding characteristics and more particularly, relates to trivalent chromium coatings for aluminum and aluminum alloys and, sealers for anodized aluminum substrates.
It is generally known to treat the surfaces of metals, such as zinc, cadmium, or aluminum with aqueous chromate (hexavalent chromium) solutions which contain chemicals that dissolve the surface of the metal and form insoluble films known as "chromate conversion coatings." These chromium coatings, are corrosion resistant and protect the metal from various elements which cause corrosion. In addition, it is known that chromate conversion coatings generally have good paint bonding characteristics and, therefore, provide an excellent base for paint or other finishes.
Although the aforementioned coatings enhance corrosion resistant and paint bonding properties, the coatings have a serious drawback, i.e., the toxic nature of the hexavalent chromium constituent. This is a serious problem from two viewpoints, one being the handling of the solution by operators and the other, the disposal of the used solution. The disposal problem, however, can be mitigated by reducing the hexavalent chromium to the comparatively innocuous trivalent form before disposal. This method is expensive and therefore can be a major cost factor in the overall metal treating process. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have coatings which are substantially free of hexavalent chromium, but at the same time capable of imparting corrosion resistant and paint bonding properties which are comparable to those imparted by conventional chromium coatings.
Of particular interest is the use of chromate conversion coatings on aircraft aluminum alloys due to the excellent corrosion resistance and the ability to serve as an effective base for paint. The baths used to develop these coatings contain chromates, i.e., hexavalent chromium, and it is the residual chromates in the coating that is largely responsible for the high degree of corrosion inhibition. However, these same chromates are highly toxic and their presence in waste water effluents is severely restricted. It would therefore, be desirable to provide a coating for aluminum and its alloys and for sealing of anodized aluminum utilizing relatively non-toxic chemicals that could serve as an alternative to the toxic hexavalent chromate coatings.
In the prior art, trivalent chromium baths (U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,231) have been used to produce coatings on zinc and zinc plate to provide a decorative "clear to light blue finish" which are characterized as having superior corrosion resistance. These baths contain "trivalent" chromium as substantially the only chromium ion, with a fluoride ion, an acid other than nitric acid and an oxidizing agent. The operating range of the baths is at a pH between about 2 to 4 and preferably between 1 to 3. The baths are used to achieve a single-dip chromate finish on all types of zinc plate. The implication is that the presence of the oxidizer, in situ, produces hexavalent chromium on the zinc surface without any oxidation or conversion of the trivalent chromium in the bath to the hexavalent form. Patentee discloses that without the oxidizing agent in the bath, corrosion resistance was poor, i.e., extensive corrosion after 24 hours with a 5% salt spray exposure, whereas with the oxidizing agent in the bath there was 0-10% of white corrosion and some panels were free of white salt after 50 hours of salt spray exposure.
This invention, in comparison, utilizes trivalent chromium as the only chromium ion in the bath with a fluoride ion, preferably from a complex compound such as a fluosilicate at a specific pH range. It was found that the addition of an oxidizing agent such as peroxide to the bath, in situ, slowly oxidized the trivalent chromium to the toxic hexavalent form. This conversion to the hexavalent form is contrary to the method used by this invention; namely, utilization of a bath composition completely free of hexavalent chromium.

Trivalent chromium conversion coatings for aluminum

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A system for supplying turbine cooling air flow includes a turbofan engine, a heat exchanger, and a door. The turbofan engine includes an engine case that has an inner volume within which at least a gas turbine engine is mounted, and a bypass flow passage that is defined by an outer fan duct and an inner fan duct and that is configured to direct fan air flow therethrough. The heat exchanger is disposed within the turbofan engine, is coupled to receive fluid and cooling air from the bypass flow passage, and is configured to transfer heat between fluid and the cooling air. The door is movably mounted in the turbofan engine and is movable between a closed position, in which the cooling air will not flow through the heat exchanger, and an open position, in which the cooling air may flow through the heat exchanger.

In the field of gas turbine technology a great deal of effort has been, and continues to be, directed toward improving thermodynamic efficiency by operating gas turbine engines at ever increasing temperatures. These temperatures may exceed the temperatures that some materials within the turbine engine structure can normally tolerate. As such, cooling air may be provided to various turbine engine components using cooling air extracted from other parts of the engine. For example, in some gas turbine engines cooling air is extracted from a plenum at the discharge of the compressor, and is then directed to certain portions of the turbine.
For some gas turbine engines, the air that is extracted from the engine for turbine cooling may be at temperatures that require the air to be cooled before being directed to the turbine. In some turbofan gas turbine propulsion engines, a portion of the fan air flowing in the bypass duct may be continuously redirected and used to cool the extracted turbine cooling air. During some operational levels of the turbofan engine, fan air is not needed to adequately cool the extracted air, resulting in parasitic losses.
Hence, there is a need for a system that will ensure the flow rate of redirected fan air is sufficient to adequately cool air that is extracted for turbine cooling air, while substantially reducing, if not eliminating, parasitic engine losses. The present invention addresses at least this need.

Gas turbine engine in-board cooled cooling air system


Extensible bicomponent fibers and webs particularly adapted for disposable personal care product component applications. Sheath/core configurations providing desirable feel properties for elastic embodiments when compared with conventional elastic fibers and webs are obtained with specific olefin polymer combinations and sheath configurations.

The manufacture of low cost fibers and webs has become a well developed industry making possible many innovative products such as disposable diapers, child swim pants, child training pants, and adult incontinent wear, just to name a few. As these products evolve and improvements are made, the requirements of the fiber and web components have also changed placing ever increasing demands on these materials. In particular, elastic properties are sought for improved comfort and fit as waistbands, leg cuffs, and even overall backing or absorbent components of such products as well as others like surgeon's gown cuffs and the like. Traditional rubber and other textile elastic materials have found only limited use for these applications due to cost and difficulties in processing on high speed equipment used for manufacturing many of these disposable products.
Polymer manufacturers have made available new classes of olefin polymers that are melt-processable in much the same manner as traditional polyolefins but have elastic properties approaching those of traditional rubber and textile elastic and that can be cost effective for disposable fiber and web applications such as those previously described. Acceptance of these olefin polymers for many applications has been retarded, however, due to a tacky and uncomfortable feel that makes the fibers and webs undesirable for skin contact uses.
There is, therefore, a need for elastic fibers and webs that take advantage of low cost olefin polymers which do not have the associated tacky feel. This invention provides such fibers and webs of olefin polymers in conjugate fiber form as further described in detail below.

Extensible and elastic conjugate fibers and webs having a nontacky feel


The present disclosure relates to esters of 8-[2-(2-pentyl-cyclopropylmethyl)cyclopropyl]-octanoic acid (“DCPLA”). The disclosure further relates to compositions, kits, and methods for treatment using the esters.

Protein kinase C is one of the largest families of protein kinase enzymes and is composed of a variety of isoforms. Conventional isoforms include α, βI, βII, γ; novel isoforms include δ, ε, η, θ; and atypical isoforms include ξ, and l/λ.
PKC enzymes are primarily cytosolic but translocate to the membrane when activated. Once activated and translocated, PKC is anchored into the membrane by the anchoring protein RACK1. See, e.g., Mochly-Rosen et al. (1991) Proc Natl Aced Sci USA 88, 3997-4000; Nishizuka, Y. (1995) FASEB J 9, 484-496; Sklan et al. (2006) Prog Neurobiol 78, 117-134. RACK1 localizes PKC to its corresponding substrates for phosphorylation, thus making PKC functionally active and physiologically relevant.
Activated PKC participates in a variety of biological pathways. For example, PKC activates ELAV mRNA-stabilizing proteins and cAMP-response-element-binding ("CREB") proteins. PKC isoforms also play a regulatory role in amyloid precursor protein ("APP") processing and amyloid accumulation. For example, PKC-α and PKC-ε regulate APP processing by the non-amyloidogenic pathway, suggesting that decreases in these enzymes may lead to increases in A-beta synthesis and accumulation. Thus, PKC activators may be able to reduce levels of soluble A-beta and increase levels of soluble APP-α. PKC activators may also be able to reduce or eliminate amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.
PKC activators have been associated with prevention and treatment of various diseases and conditions. For example, PKC activators may allow for prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and conditions, neuroaffective diseases and disorders, cognitive impairments, and diseases and conditions associated with neuronal or synaptic loss. Indeed, PKC activators have been found to induce synapse formation. Moreover, PKC activators have been associated with improvement in, for example, memory and learning, including long-term memory.
In one example, PKC activators have demonstrated neuroprotective activity in animal models of Alzheimer's Disease ("AD"). See Etcheberrigaray et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 1992, 89: 7184-7188. AD is a neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized clinically by progressive decline of memory, cognition, reasoning, judgment, and emotional stability that gradually leads to profound mental deterioration and ultimately, death.
Pathologically, AD is associated with the accumulation of aggregated β-amyloid ("Aβ"), a 4 kDa peptide produced by the proteolytic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein ("APP") by β- and γ-secretases. Oligomers of Aβ are considered to be most toxic, while fibrillar Aβ is largely inert. Monomeric Aβ is found in normal patients and has an as-yet undetermined function.
PKC activators can reduce the levels of Aβ and prolong survival of AD transgenic mice. See Etcheberrigaray et al., 1992, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 89: 7184-7188. PKC-ε has been shown to be most effective at suppressing Aβ production. See Zhu et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 2001, 285: 997-1006. Accordingly, isoform-specific PKC activators are highly desirable as potential anti-AD drugs.
The earliest consistent cytopathological change in AD is loss of synapses. See Scheff et al., Neurobiol. Aging, 2006, 27: 1372-1384; and Marcello et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 2008, 585: 109-118. In fact, synaptic loss appears to be the only pathological finding in the brain that is closely correlated with the degree of dementia in AD patients. See Terry et al., Ann. Neurol., 1991, 30: 572-580. Evidence suggests that Aβ is involved in synaptic loss.
Other diseases and conditions are associated with synaptic loss and/or Aβ. Persons who have suffered from a brain injury, for example, show increased synthesis and expression of APP and its proteolytic product Aβ. See, e.g., Zohar et al., Neurobiology of Disease, 2011, 41: 329-337; Roberts et al., Lancet, 1991, 1422-1423; Gentleman e al., NeuroReport, 1997, 8: 1519-1522; Iwata et al., J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 2002, 61: 1056-1068. In animal models, the PKC activator Bryostatin 1 was shown to protect against traumatic brain injury-induced learning and memory deficits. See Zohar et al., Neurobiology of Disease, 2011, 41: 329-337.
Additionally, some forms of stroke are caused by Aβ, such as those associated with cerebral amyloid angiopathy ("CAA"). See U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0022645 A1. This disorder is a form of angiopathy in which the same Aβ deposits as found in AD accumulate in the walls of the leptomeninges and superficial cerebral cortical blood vessels of the brain. Amyloid deposition predisposes these blood vessel to failure, increasing the risk of a hemorrhagic stroke. CAA is also associated with transient ischemic attacks, subarachnoid hemorrhage, Down's syndrome, post irradiation necrosis, multiple sclerosis, leucoencephalopathy, spongiform encephalopathy, and dementia pugilistica.
Both PKC-α and PKC-ε are important for synaptogenesis—i.e., the formation of synapses. The high abundance of PKC-ε in presynaptic nerve fibers suggests a role in neurite outgrowth, synaptic formation, and neurotransmitter release. See Shirai et al., FEBS, 2008, 29: 1445-1453. Nontoxic drugs activating PKC-α and PKC-ε can promote synaptogenesis under non-pathological conditions and actually prevent synaptic loss under pathological conditions. See Nelson et al., Trends Biochem. Sci., 2009, 34: 136-145; Hongpaisan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2007, 104: 19571-19576; Sun et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2008, 105: 13620-13625; Sun et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2009, 106: 14676-14680.
For example, PKC activators have demonstrated neuroprotective activity in animal models of stroke. See Sun et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol., 2005, 512: 43-51. Several PKC isoforms play a central role in mediating ischemic and reperfusion damage following stroke. Studies with experimental stroke models, mouse genetics, and selective peptide inhibitors and activators have demonstrated that PKC-ε is involved in induction of ischemic tolerance and prevents damage, while PKC-δ and PKC-γ are implicated in injury. See Takayoshi et al., Stroke, 2007, 38(2): 375-380; and Bright et al., Stroke, 2005; 36: 2781. Postischemic/hypoxic treatment with Bryostatin 1 effectively rescued ischemia-induced deficits in synaptogenesis, neurotrophic activity, and spatial learning and memory. See Sun et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 2008, 105(36): 13620-13625
PKC activation has a crucial role in learning and memory enhancement and PKC activators have been shown to increase memory and learning. See Sun et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 2005, 512: 43-51; Alkon et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 2005, 102: 16432-16437. For example, Bryostatin increased the rate of learning in rodents, rabbits, and invertebrates. See Sun et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol., 2005, 512: 43-51; Wang et al., Behay. Pharmacol., 2008, 19: 245-256; and Kuzirian et al., Biol. Bull., 2006, 210: 201-214. Additionally, Bryostatin-induced synaptogenesis for long-term associative memory was shown to be regulated by PKC activation. Hongpaisan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2007, 104: 19571-19576.
PKC activation has been associated with a variety of other conditions. For example, PKC activators have demonstrated neuroprotective activity in animal models of depression. See Sun et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol., 2005, 512: 43-51. PKC activators are also associated with prevention and treatment of Parkinson's disease, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, mental retardation (and related diseases like autism).
PKC activators can be broad-spectrum activators, acting on multiple isoforms of PKC, or can be selective for certain isoforms. While all types of PKC activators are of interest, selective PKC activators may offer unique advantages because different isoforms perform different, and sometimes opposite, functions. For example, PKC-δ and PKC-θ are often regarded as having a pro-apoptotic function because they are components of the caspase apoptosis pathway. PKC-ε, by contrast, has an opposite role: its activation promotes proliferation and cell survival, and inhibits apoptosis. See Nelson et al., Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 2009, 34(3): 136-145.
A variety of different PKC activators are known. Bryostatin, for example, is a macrolide lactone that competes for the PKC 1,2-diacylglycerol ("DAG") binding site with very high affinity, producing a brief activation period followed by a prolonged downregulation. Other PKC activators include phorbol esters, naphthalene sulfonamides, and oxidized lipids.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids ("PUFAs"), such as arachidonic acid and 2-hydroxy-9-cis-octadecenoic acid (i.e., minerval), are also known PKC activators. PUFAs are interesting molecules in that they are essential components of the nervous system. They are known to increase membrane fluidity, rapidly oxidize to highly bioactive products, and produce a variety of inflammatory and hormonal effects. In addition, they are of low molecular weight and are able to cross the blood-brain barrier. Further, PUFAs are stable to acid and base, making them potentially effective for oral administration. On the other hand, PUFAs are rapidly degraded and metabolized in the body.
Like PUFAs, certain derivatives of PUFAs have been shown to be PKC activators. For example, certain cyclopropanated PUFAs such as DCPLA (i.e., linoleic acid derivative), AA-CP4 methyl ester (i.e., arachidonic acid derivative), DHA-CP6 methyl ester (i.e., docosahexaenoic acid derivative), and EPA-CP5 methyl ester (i.e., eicosapentaenoic acid derivative) may be able to selectively activate PKC-ε. See Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2009, 284(50): 34514-34521; see also U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0022645 A1.

Esters of DCPLA and methods of treatment using the same

Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Insitute


The reliability with which data can be read from a storage medium, such as flash memory storage medium, is enhanced by updating an upper limit of a reading threshold voltage window for a respective portion of the storage medium. For each memory cell in the respective portion of the storage medium, a memory controller is configured to perform a plurality of sensing operations and obtain results from the plurality of sensing operations, where the plurality of sensing operations includes sensing operations using a predefined range of offsets from a previously established reading threshold voltage. The memory controller is further configured to determine the updated upper limit of the reading threshold voltage window based on the-results from the plurality of sensing operations, and store the updated upper limit of the reading threshold voltage window for the respective portion of the storage medium.

Semiconductor memory devices, including flash memory, typically utilize memory cells to store data as an electrical value, such as an electrical charge or voltage. A flash memory cell, for example, includes a single transistor with a floating gate that is used to store a charge representative of a data value. Increases in storage density have been facilitated in various ways, including increasing the density of memory cells on a chip enabled by manufacturing developments, and transitioning from single-level flash memory cells to multi-level flash memory cells, so that two or more bits can be stored by each flash memory cell.
A drawback of increasing storage density is that the stored data is increasingly prone to being stored and/or read erroneously. In order to limit errors, a default reading threshold voltage for flash memory may be adjusted to compensate for deviations in the voltage distributions of the flash memory cell due to electrical fluctuations, defects in the memory cell, operating conditions and cell history. However, in some cases, successive adjustments to the default reading threshold voltage may lead to further errors.

Device and method for resolving an LM flag issue


A steerable wheel diverter system having a plurality of diverter wheels pivotally mounted at least partially within a common assembly and a powered roller mounted external to the common assembly may be provided in series with an ingress conveying apparatus and one or more egress conveying apparatuses. Providing the powered roller outside of the common assembly enables maintenance evaluations on the powered roller, or on a motor associated with the powered roller, to be performed quickly and easily, and without having to disassemble the common assembly.

Conveyor systems are mechanical systems for transporting large objects or materials from one location to another. Such systems may be employed in a variety of throughput applications. For example, conveyor belts are regularly used for translating suitcases, bags or other luggage through airports, for moving parts or components along an assembly line, or for transferring items or packages through a shipping facility. Typically, a conveyor system includes one or more movers for conveying objects in a single dimension or direction, such as a conveyor belt, e.g., a system of two or more pulleys or pulley-like wheels causing motion of a continuous loop band, as well as one or more machines or features for changing a direction of travel of objects being conveyed, as well as for moving objects from one conveyor to another, or for transferring objects into a bin, chute or other like apparatus. Such machines or features are sometimes called "diverters," "divert mechanisms," or, simply, "diverts."
Various types of diverters are used to modify the directions of travel of objects within a conveyor system. One common divert is a steerable wheel divert, which may be provided in series with a branch or branches of a conveyor system, and includes one or more rows of commonly aligned and motorized rotating wheels. When objects are being conveyed through the conveying system, one or more rows of the rotating wheels rotate in a manner consistent with a primary direction of travel, i.e., about an axis perpendicular to the primary direction of travel, and thereby cause objects passing over the wheels to travel in a straight line through the conveyor. When an object is to be diverted from the conveying system, however, one or more control signals may be transmitted to a control system associated with the steerable wheel divert, thereby causing each of the wheels within a row to pivot in common by a defined angular extent, and increase in rotational velocity, thereby causing the rotating wheels to rotate in a manner that points away from the primary direction of travel, and toward a secondary direction of travel, according to the defined angular extent. In this regard, a steerable wheel diverter may be provided in a manner that causes objects passing over such wheels to be diverted from the conveying system into a predetermined chute or a nearby bin, cart or storage vessel, or from one branch of the conveying system into another branch of the conveying system.
Steerable wheel diverters typically include a common assembly having one or more motors, e.g., induction motors, which power one or more roller devices, each of which may cause a row of wheels to rotate at a predetermined or adjustable rate of rotation, and in directions that may be defined by one or more control signals. Upon a receipt of one or more of such signals, an actuator may cause the respective wheels in the row to pivot about the axes of rotation of by a predefined amount, e.g., nominal angles such as thirty (30°) degrees, forty-five (45°) degrees or the like. The actuator may operate in any manner, e.g., through the use of any type of device, such as pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical or mechanical devices. Steerable wheel diverters are provided in series between conveying devices, such as conveyor belts, that are typically mounted at elevated heights in order to permit a conveying system to include chutes or other components that rely on gravity as an energy source. A steerable wheel diverter may thus act as a junction between various segments of a conveying system, and cause items arriving via ingress to be routed to one or more points of egress.
When a steerable wheel diverter requires maintenance, however, the operation of a conveying system may be adversely impacted for extended periods of time. An entire branch of a conveying system that includes a steerable wheel diverter must be taken offline in order to repair or replace one or more of the wheels or rows of wheels, or to otherwise perform maintenance on or replace one or more of the motors, actuators, or other critical parts. Because the components of a conveying system are often large and unwieldy, and may be provided in elevated locations or in locations where access is limited, maintenance to a single steerable wheel diverter may shut down a branch of such a conveying system, or the entire conveying system, for extended periods of time.


There is disclosed a non-coated base fabric for air bag characterized in that maximum value of inner pressure of a woven fabric in measurement of dynamic air permeability at 50 to 65° C. is 70 to 100 kpa and biaxial strain rate of the base fabric at that time is 2.9 to 4.0%. Preferably, a yarn which constitutes the woven fabric is Nylon 66 fiber, content of an oil component remaining in the woven fabric is 0.04 to 0.60% by weight to the woven fabric, main ingredient of the oil component is an olefin type polymer having a melting point of 60° C. or lower, and the woven fabric contains 20 to 200 ppm of a phosphorus component.

An air bag has been quickly increasing in its installing rate in recent years as one of the safety parts for cars. The air bag is used for such a purpose that, in car crash, a sensor perceives the shock, gas of high temperature and high pressure is generated from an inflator and the air bag is quickly developed by the gas whereby the collision of the bodies or, particularly, the heads of a driver and a passenger to steering wheel, windshield, door glass, etc. is prevented and protected. At present, not only an air bag for a driver seat and a passenger seat coping with the collision from the front side of a car but also a knee air bag which protects the knee, a side air bag or a side curtain air bag which copes with the collision from the lateral side and an air bag which is provided for collision from back side have been adopted. Further, in recent years, an air bag which protects a collided pedestrian has been also known and the using sites of air bags have been steadily increasing now.
While production amounts of air bags are increasing, simplification of an inflator which is combined therewith so as to form an air bag module has been in progress for lowering the cost. As to an inflator, there have been known the so-called stored gas inflator wherein a plug of a metal container in which inert gas such as helium is sealed at high pressure is destroyed by gunpowder so that the gas is released therefrom; the so-called hybrid inflator wherein the gas filled in a relatively small amount is warmed by heat of combustion of gunpowder and the gas generated from gunpowder is combined with the filled gas; and a simple inflator called a pyro-inflator wherein gunpowder which is a gas generator in a solid form is burned. Recently, switching to the pyro-inflator has been in progress.
The pyro-inflator can be made into small size and light weight but, there are a lot of incomplete combustion products generated from gunpowder and floating microparticles due to the residue after combustion of gunpowder. Therefore, temperature of the gas flown into an air bag is higher than that in the conventional inflator and thermal load to a base fabric for air bag is high. Particularly in the so-called impactor evaluation (a method wherein a thing is collided with a developing air bag and the moved distance of the thing is evaluated), the moved distance of a thing is long in the case of an air bag using the conventionally used base fabric for air bag whereby there sometimes happens a phenomenon called "bottoming" (a phenomenon wherein the thing collides with a joining part of a base fabric for air bag).
Up to now, as to an index for succeeding in the impactor evaluation, air permeability of a woven fabric is adopted and it has been common that a base fabric having a low air permeability succeeds in the evaluation (refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2). With regard to air permeability, there have been known the so-called static air permeability in which the air permeability is measured with a constant differential pressure and the so-called dynamic air permeability in which inner pressure and deformed amount of a base fabric changing every moment are measured upon instant application of compressed air to the base fabric. In any of those methods, measurement is carried out at ordinary room temperature. However, in the recent air bag used in combination with a pyro-inflator, it is not always true that a base fabric for air bag having low air permeability at ordinary room temperature (i.e. a base fabric exhibiting high inner pressure as an air bag at ordinary room temperature) succeeds in the impactor evaluation.
It goes without saying that, when an air bag is made of a silicone-coated fabric, it does not fail in the impactor test even if it is used in combination with a pyro-inflator. However, a silicone-coated fabric lacks lightness and compactness and, in view of interior design in a car, such a one is a bit difficult to be used for the areas demanding the compactness such as a driver seat and a passenger seat. Therefore, a non-coated fabric has been still preferably used.
On the other hand, investigations for measures for high temperature inflator gas have been partially carried out as well. As one of them, investigation for a sewn portion of an air bag is also being carried out. However, even in this investigation, no evaluation at high temperature has been conducted and there is a problem that the measure for a pyro-inflator which has been used recently is difficult (refer to Patent Document 3).

Base fabric for air bag which hardly causes “bottoming” upon collision


Techniques for managing feedback control systems are provided. By way of example, a method of controlling performance of a managed system by a controller includes the following steps/operations. The controller issues a control value to the managed system to affect a performance of the managed system. The controller maintains a measurement time period having a variable start time within which the performance of the managed system is measured, such that the control value is given time to take effect on the managed system and a performance metric fed back to the controller from the managed system reflects the effect of the control value on the managed system.

Performance management of a computing system is one example of a feedback control system. Most performance management systems make resource management and allocation decisions based on feedback of performance metrics. More particularly, a resource manager component of the performance management system submits a resource action to the computing system being managed (the managed system), in response to the performance metric feedback information. The resource action is typically intended to affect the performance of the managed system.
Herein, we consider resource actions where there is some a-priori unknown delay between the time that the resource action is submitted by the resource manager and the time that it takes effect in the managed system. Such a delay is typically caused by queuing or buffering in the managed computing systems. As a result, the effect of the resource action is not visible in the feedback metrics for an unknown period of time.
Such unknown or unmodeled delays can be dangerous from the point of view of a feedback-based control system. In particular, well-known linear control theory suggests that adding delays to a feedback loop can make the system unstable. Intuitively, this happens because the controller (in particular, the resource manager) may over-react because the effects of its control actions may not show up in the feedback metric in a timely fashion. Such over-reactions can, in the best case, lead to a poorly-performing controller which is not able to meet its performance objectives effectively. For example, the performance metric (e.g., response time) may oscillate over a wide range around the desired value rather than being stable at the desired value. In the worst-case, the closed-loop system may be unstable, which typically results in the well-known limit cycle behavior. Here, the resource actions oscillate between the maximum and minimum resource setting, and the performance metric shows a very undesirable thrashing behavior.
When delays can be known or modeled, designers of control (or resource management) algorithms can redesign the controller so as to take such delays into account. However, when faced with unknown delays, designers must make their systems slow enough so that the effects of delay are not visible. For example, if the control delays are in the seconds range, one may choose to change the resource settings only once every few minutes, thus making the delay a negligible aspect. One limitation of this approach is that by limiting the control frequency, one loses the ability to adapt quickly to changing scenarios. Further, it is possible to encounter situations where the actual delay exceeds the values for which the resource manager is designed.

Methods and apparatus for managing deadtime in feedback control queuing system

International Business Machines Corporation


An aeroplane includes an escape opening passing through an external skin and an internal bulkhead. The escape opening is closed off by an external escape hatch having an external opening controller. The aeroplane further includes an internal escape hatch that closes off said escape opening flush with the internal bulkhead, and kept closed by at least one catch movable between a locked state and unlocked state, a first opening controller that controls the passage from the locked state to the unlocked state of the catch being accessible from inside the aeroplane, and a second opening controller that controls the passage from the locked state to the unlocked state of the catch being positioned such that the actuation of the external opening controller of the external escape hatch or the passage of the external escape hatch from the closed position to the open position causes the second opening controller to be actuated.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, an aeroplane comprises a skin 10 that forms the fuselage, a passenger cabin (not shown) delimited by an internal bulkhead, and a pilot cabin 12 delimited by an internal bulkhead 14. Various components are disposed between the skin 10 and the internal bulkhead 14, for example insulation blankets 16.
In order to evacuate the passengers and/or the pilots, the aeroplane comprises an opening 18 for bringing the inside of the cabin 12 into communication with the outside 20 of the aeroplane, and at least one escape hatch 22 for closing off or freeing the opening 18. According to an example that is visible in FIG. 1, this escape hatch 22 is positioned in the upper part of the fuselage, vertically above the pilot cabin 12. This escape hatch 22 comprises a wall having an external surface 24 flush with the external surface of the skin 10 of the fuselage. This escape hatch 22 comprises locking/unlocking means 25 that are controlled by an internal opening controller 26 that is actuable from inside the fuselage, and by an external opening controller 28 that is actuable from outside the fuselage. Inside the fuselage, at the opening 18, it is necessary to provide a lining element 30 in the opening 18 against the escape hatch in order to ensure the continuity of the internal bulkhead 14 of the cabin 12.
This lining element 30 should be secured correctly in order not to fall accidentally. However, it should be able to be removed rapidly in the event of an emergency evacuation, in order to allow access to the escape hatch 22 from the inside. According to another constraint, it should be possible to remove this lining element 20 with one hand.
Finally, in the event of intervention from the outside, it should be possible to remove the lining element 30 from the outside.
Thus, the present invention proposes a solution that aims to meet at least these constraints.

Aeroplane equipped with an internal escape hatch having a double opening controller


An integrated module for extracorporeal blood treatment has a flat-shaped support element which exhibits on an internal face thereof a complex of fluid distribution lines and on an external face thereof a high-flow dialyzer. The support element has a base body which exhibits fixture seatings, each of which houses an axially extended tract of a fluid distribution line. The tract of the fluid distribution line, with respect to adjacent tracts, has an increased diameter due to the presence of a junction collar made of a rigid material. Each fixture seating exhibits two axial locators for positioning the axially extended tract of a fluid distribution line in a fixed position. The locators interact with the junction collar, and the distribution lines can be fixed to the base body by a resilient fixture of the junction collars in the seatings without gluing. The module is configured to be mounted on an apparatus for intensive treatment of renal insufficiency.

The invention relates to a support element, to an integrated module for extracorporeal treatment of blood comprising the support element, and to an apparatus for extracorporeal treatment of blood equipped with the integrated module. The invention further relates to an assembly process of an integrated module for extracorporeal treatment of blood.
Specifically, though not exclusively, the invention can be usefully applied to the field of extracorporeal treatment of blood for treatment of renal insufficiency.
The prior art teaches apparatus for blood treatment which remove blood from the patient in a line, carry out an extracorporeal treatment on the blood and then return the treated blood to the patient. Apparatus of this type are used for various treatments; for example therapeutic and non-therapeutic plasmapheresis, extracorporeal oxygenation of blood, purification of blood and removal of water in cases of renal insufficiency. The present invention will be described with particular reference to intensive treatment of renal insufficiency, without any limitation being placed on the ambit of the invention to this specific application thereof.
EP 0 611 227 teaches a multifunctional integrated module for application to a multifunction apparatus for intensive treatment of renal insufficiency, in particular for hemodialysis, hemofiltration and hemodiafiltration. The integrated module comprises a support element, a blood treatment device mounted on the support element and a complex of fluid distribution lines cooperating with the treatment device and associated to the support element. The blood treatment device comprises a semi-permeable membrane which separates two chambers. The distribution line complex comprises a blood withdrawal line from the patient (or arterial line) connected to an inlet of a first chamber of the treatment device, a return line (or venous line) of the treated blood to the patient, connected to an outlet of the first chamber, an infeed line of a treatment fluid (for example a dialysis liquid) connected to an inlet of the second chamber of the treatment device, a waste fluid discharge line connected to an outlet of the second chamber, an infusion line of a substitution liquid which is introduced into at least one of the blood lines, an anticoagulant infusion line which is introduced into the arterial line. The support element comprises a plate-shaped body made of press-formed plastic material. The complex of fluid distribution lines is fixed to the support element at gluing points and zones which are predefined on an internal face of the plate-shaped body, while the treatment device is mounted on the external face of the plate-shaped body itself.
During use, the integrated module is mounted on the blood treatment device and set up following a predefined and simple interconnection procedure so that the treatment device is connected, by the distribution lines, to the cardiovascular system of the patient as well as to suitable containers for access and collection to and of the fluids used in the process. Some distribution lines of the module are coupled with respective peristaltic pumps which the apparatus is equipped with. The pumps invoke circulation of the fluids in the lines; the lines are each provided with a U-shaped arched segment, preformed during assembly of the module and intended for coupling to a pump. On mounting the integrated module on the apparatus the various arched segments of the distribution lines are easily couplable about the peristaltic pumps, so that the latter are immediately operative.
The integrated module is of a disposable type, i.e. destined to be disposed of, usually after a first use, and substituted by another.
The above-described integrated module has the advantage of being easily and rapidly installed on the treatment device. The simple and rapid set-up of the module is particularly advantageous for renal insufficiency intensive treatments, in which the personnel at work is often not expert in the use of machines for blood treatment and where the urgent readying and application of the machine is often of vital importance. Similarly, the dismounting of the module is equally rapid and simple.
The prior art as described above is susceptible to improvement at various levels:                firstly, the fact that the integrated module has to be totally eliminated after use, including parts such as, for example, the plastic support element, which does not come into direct contact with bodily fluids;        secondly, the assembly of the integrated module, which is a rather delicate stage, as high precision of positioning of the U-segments of the distribution lines on the support element is required, so that correct coupling with the peristaltic pumps can be achieved;        thirdly, in relation to the long set-up times and high costs of assembly of the integrated module, which must include a relatively complicated and laborious stage of precise positioning and gluing of the various distribution lines in predetermined gluing zones on the support element.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Support element, an integrated module for extracorporeal blood treatment comprising the support element, an apparatus for extracorporeal blood treatment equipped with the integrated module, and an assembly process for an integrated module for extracorporeal blood treatment


Disclosed is an absorbent article for pet animals. The article has a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, a body-facing surface, a non-body-facing surface and first and second ends opposed to each other in the longitudinal direction. The article includes: a tail facing area facing a pet animal's tail; a first section to cover one side of a pet animal's rump, extending from the tail facing area to the first end; a second section to cover the other side of the pet animal's rump, extending from the tail facing area to the second end; and an absorbent core disposed between the first and second sections.

Conventionally, absorbent articles to put on the body of a pet animal are known. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an absorbent article having a ventral region, a dorsal region, an intermediate region extending between the ventral and dorsal regions, a liquid-permeable interior layer sheet, a liquid-impermeable exterior layer sheet, and an absorbent core interposed between the interior and exterior layer sheets.
Patent Literature 2 discloses an absorbent article having a liquid-permeable interior layer sheet, a liquid-impermeable exterior layer sheet, and an absorbent core interposed between the interior and exterior layer sheets, wherein the absorbent article is put on a pet animal with its body encircled thereby.


A novel dietary supplement composition that serves to inhibit FAS for the purpose of controlling body weight and body fat levels. Administration of the composition, particularly to individuals with impaired glucose tolerance, may have the effect of restoring optimal glucose functioning, therefore lessening the likelihood of adipose storage and leading to a reduction in body fat and weight. The supplement may comprise He Shou Wu, parasitic loranthus and green tea. A composition of the dietary supplement, in orally taken capsule form, may include: (a) about 500 mg of an 1:1:1 ratio extract of He Shou Wu, parasitic loranthus and green tea; (b) about 200 mg Caffeine Anhydrous; (c) about 250 mg Cinnulin PF; (d) about 100 mg Evodia Rutaecarpa; (e) about 500 mg tyrosine; and (f) about 100 mg 7-keto DHEA. The supplement may also be administered as a tablet, powdered beverage, bar, gel or drink.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to dietary supplements comprising extracts of He Shou Wu, parasitic loranthus and green tea, or derivatives of the extracts thereof, and to methods of using these dietary supplements to promote weight loss, both in humans and animals.
2. Reference to Related Art
The science of obesity and Type II diabetes involve highly complex systems in human physiology. Both diseases may be approaching epidemic status in the United States. The increased incidence of these conditions has been attributed to diets characterized by high fat intake and repeated ingestion of refined foods and sugars, coupled with low fiber and vegetable intake. Excess amounts of carbohydrate and protein can convert to fatty acids.
Fatty acids are saturated aliphatic monocarboxylic acids that naturally occur in the form of esters in fats, waxes, and essential oils and are stored in the body as triacylglycerols. Triacylglycerols form unstable micelles that coalesce within adipocytes forming a lipid that is stored as a reserve source of energy. The synthesis of fatty acids in humans primarily occurs in the liver and lactating mammary glands, as well as adipose tissue and the kidney.
The first step in fatty acid synthesis is the conversion of acetyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA. This conversion of acetyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA is mediated by an enzyme known as acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). The synthesis of fatty acids from acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA is carried out by the enzymatic process of fatty acid synthase (FAS).
The active enzyme of FAS is a dimer of identical subunits. FAS does, however, have multiple enzymatic functions carrying out a variety of reactions in fatty acid synthesis. Some regulators of FAS include insulin and glucose, both of which stimulate the action of FAS. The inverse is true of glucagon and starvation whereby the enzymes actions are inhibited. Glucagon and epinephrine lead to an inhibition of ACC thus inhibiting fatty acid synthesis. Long chain fatty acids also inhibit FAS.
The primary fatty acid synthesized by FAS is palmitate. Thereafter, palmitate is released from the enzyme and can then undergo separate elongation and/or unsaturation to yield other fatty acid molecules. If FAS is inhibited, the body cannot form fatty acids for storage, hence fat accumulation is inhibited. When this occurs, other physiology is altered as well. Aside from fatty acid synthesis, FAS exerts numerous indirect properties particularly on hypothalamic neurons having a great deal of impact on satiety systems.
Studies on FAS inhibitors show increases in neuropeptide mRNA, but the exact mechanism is unknown. This action is similar to the action of leptin, both increase malonyl-CoA levels, however with leptin a "resistance" is built up. The end result of FAS inhibition appears to be a significant reduction in feeding behavior through the modulation of various hypothalamic neuronal pathways.
A few FAS inhibitors have been reported in previous studies as a therapeutic treatment of obesity. One is cerulenin, an unstable and toxic compound from microbes (Omura, 1976), and the other is C75, a synthetic derivative of cerulenin apparently void of toxicity (Kuhajda et al., 2000). A few trials have also looked at FAS as a therapy to induce weight reduction with success. For example, T. Loftus et al. (2000) reported that the treatment of mice with FAS inhibitors led to inhibition of feeding and dramatic weight loss. Therefore, FAS may play an important role in the regulation of feeding and may be a potential target for the treatment of adiposity through dual, yet synergistic mechanisms.
He Shou Wu (see also, Tuber Fleeceflower, Polygonum multiflorum or Polygoacetophenoside) is an herb used in Chinese medicine, and is produced in all parts of China. More specifically, He Shou Wu is the root of polygonum multiflorum Thunb (pharmaceutical name Radix Polygoni Multiflori). The related plant is called ye jiao teng, which literally means "vines that tangle at night". He Shou Wu is harvested during fall and winter after the leaves of the plant become wilted.
In harvesting, the plant root tuber is dug up, washed clean, sliced and dried. This basic cleaning and drying process yields "unprepared" fleeceflower root. The unprepared fleeceflower root, mixed with black soybean milk, may be steamed and dried alternately and repeatedly until the root becomes black, and a "prepared" fleeceflower root is obtained. The prepared root is bitter, sweet and astringent in flavor, slightly warming in property, acting on the liver and kidney channels. As such, the prepared root may have the effect of replenishing the vital essence and blood, curing malaria, clearing away toxins, moistening the intestines and relieving constipation.
He Shou Wu is found in formulas and tonics. It has recently been popularized by its aid in re-growing hair, keeping hair from turning grey prematurely, and keeping it healthy. This is due to the herb's ability to nourish and replenish blood and nourish the kidneys that in turn promotes healthy growth of hair. Other traditional uses include use against hair loss, dizziness, blurred vision, spermatorrhea, deficiency of vital essence, deficiency of blood, lassitude of the loins and legs, deficiency of the liver-yin and kidney-yin accompanied with hyperactivity of the liver-yang with manifestations of dizziness, blurred vision and numbness of the extremities, chronic malaria due to deficiency of both Qi and blood, sores, swelling, scrofula, constipation due to deficiency of the blood and dryness of the bowels.
Green tea is a compound known for its effect on body weight and as a therapeutic target for adiposity. However, the vast majority of research on green tea focuses on a compound known as EGCG. Dulloo et al. have studied the effects of green tea and shown it to both increase energy expenditure and lead to a decrease in weight circumference. Additionally, green tea is known to have a host of other benefits. Never before has green tea been looked at in respect to having FAS inhibitory properties, nor effects on satiety.
In a recent study, Tian et al. found that Tuber Fleeceflower (Polygonum multiflorum) (see also, He Shou Wu or Polygoacetophenoside), green tea (see also, Camellia sinensis or Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)) and parasitic loranthus (Loranthus parasiticus) were shown to have a significant FAS inhibiting effects similar to the C75 FAS inhibitor. See Tian W X, et al., Weight reduction by Chinese medicinal herbs may be related to inhibition of fatty acid synthase. Life Sci 2004; 74: 2389-99 (2004). In Tian, reversible inhibition and irreversible inhibition was assessed on FAS by ethanol and water extracts of various Chinese herbs. Of the numerous herbs that were screened in the process, these three herbs seemed to stand out with great potential, all showing at or near 100% inhibition of the fat storing enzyme.
In addition to Tian, Chinese Publ. No. CN1088053 disclosed a life-prolonging health tea that includes a mix of prepared Polygonum multiflorum with black tea, green tea or scented tea in certain proportions. The tea is described as having an effect on insomnia, blood deficiency, constipation and other diseases.
Chinese Publ. No. CN1108066 disclosed a health-care beverage for prevention against x-rays. The drink includes green tea filtrate, filtrate of polygonum multiflorum and other ingredients and is described as having an effect on relieving mental uneasiness and resolving phlegm.
Chinese Publ. No. CN1370589 disclosed a sobering-up toxin-eliminating tea and its preparation. Specifically the tea is disclosed as including green tea, mint, galangal fruit, parasitic loranthus, clove, licorice and other ingredients and is described as functioning to detoxify the user.
Chinese Publ. No. CN1398527 disclosed a golden transparent medicated preserved egg and its preservation process that includes fleeceflower root and parasitic loranthus.
Chinese Publ. No. CN1575809 disclosed an antilipemic Chinese herbal medicine that includes 20-30% raw fleeceflower, 10-20% prepared fleeceflower, 10-20% parasitic loranthus and other ingredients.
Chinese Publ. No. CN1608523 disclosed the production process of fleeceflower root tea beverage that includes 3-4% green tea, 0.4-0.6% fleeceflower root and other ingredients.
Finally, International Publication No. WO 2004/002503 to Clavey disclosed compositions and methods for treating gynaecological disorder.

Dietary supplement including He Shou Wu, parasitic loranthus and green tea to promote weight loss


Provided is a polycarbonate resin composition, including: 100 parts by mass of (A) a resin mixture including a specific polycarbonate-polyorganosiloxane copolymer (A-1) and a specific polycarbonate-polyorganosiloxane copolymer (A-2), the component (A) having a content of the siloxane unit in the polycarbonate-polyorganosiloxane copolymer (A-1) of 1.0 mass % to 15.0 mass % and having a content of a siloxane unit in the polycarbonate-polyorganosiloxane copolymer (A-2) of 0.1 mass % to 2.8 mass %; and 0.01 to 0.08 part by mass of (B) at least one kind selected from an alkali metal salt of an organic sulfonic acid and an alkali earth metal salt of an organic sulfonic acid.

A polycarbonate resin has self extinguishability, but in electrical and electronic fields such as OA equipment, information and communication equipment, and household electrical appliances, additionally high flame retardancy is required in some applications. As the polycarbonate resin, there has been known, for example, a flame-retardant resin composition formed of a polycarbonate resin composition using a polycarbonate-polyorganosiloxane (hereinafter referred to as "PC-POS") copolymer and containing a polytetrafluoroethylene having a fibril-forming ability (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, a molded body molded by using the flame-retardant resin composition involves a problem in that its transparency reduces because the polytetrafluoroethylene is used.
In addition, there has been known a method involving blending a resin composition with an organic alkali metal salt or an organic alkali earth metal salt, and an organosiloxane for improving its flame retardancy without impairing its transparency (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Polycarbonate resin composition and molded body