A light-emitting element and a display device having a resonator structure which has a small luminance fluctuation, even if a film thickness is deviated from a designed value, thereby resulting in a variation in resonator optical path length. There are included: a first reflective member; a second reflective member; and a light-emitting layer provided therebetween, and there is provided a resonator structure that transmits part of light by the first reflective member or the second reflective member, the light being resonated between the first reflective member and the second reflective member. The resonator structure has at least two or more resonance spectral peaks at respective wavelengths in a visible light range with a wavelength of a maximum value relative luminosity being a border line and an emission output spectrum has at least two or more peaks at respective wavelengths based on the resonance spectral peaks.

As a light-emitting element forming a display device such as a display unit or an illuminating device, there has been known an EL element utilizing a substance which self-emits light in the presence of an applied voltage due to an electroluminescence (EL) phenomenon. The EL element is a thin-film light-emitting element including a light-emitting layer which is provided between an upper electrode and a lower electrode and is made of an organic material or an inorganic material. The EL element has a structure such that the upper and lower electrodes apply a voltage to the light-emitting layer so as to cause light emission.
In recent years, there has been developed a light-emitting element having a resonator structure (what is referred to as a microcavity structure) in which light emitted in the light-emitting layer is resonated by using a total reflection mirror as one of the upper electrode and the lower electrode and using a semi-transmissive mirror that transmits light at some of wavelengths as the other electrode (see Patent Literature 1, for example).
Patent Literature 1 discloses a blue light-emitting element including a light-emitting layer formed from a light-emitting material having internal emission spectral peaks (a first peak and a second peak) in a blue wavelength range and a green to red wavelength range, respectively, and a resonator structure having a single resonance spectral peak in the blue wavelength range. The blue light-emitting element of Patent Literature 1 outputs the first and second peaks while strengthening the first peak in the blue wavelength range and weakening the second peak in the green to red wavelength range by the resonator structure.
The technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 may be effective for a display device such as a large display which requires wide viewing angle characteristics. However, in a personally-used small display such as a mobile terminal, a personal computer, or a car navigation system, in some cases a variation in luminance in a front direction cannot be tolerated.
That is, in a case where the resonator structure is employed, a luminance in the front direction increases due to its filter characteristics and strong directional characteristics of an emission output. A personally-used display device which does not require wide viewing angle characteristics, for example, utilizes such directional characteristics. Therefore, as compared to a television set which requires a wide viewing angle, the personally-used display device requires a less variation in luminance in the front direction. In a thin-film light-emitting element having such a resonator structure, however, the filter characteristics thereof are sensitive to a distance between mirrors (a resonator optical path length), and in some cases chromatic coordinates (color purity) or a luminance fluctuation in the front direction cannot be tolerated if a variation occurs in the resonator optical path length due to a manufacturing error in the manufacturing process. In the case of the light-emitting element disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a luminance fluctuation due to an increase or a decrease in resonator optical path length is large. As a result, in some cases a variation in luminance in the front direction cannot be tolerated.

Light-emitting element and display device


A substrate washing apparatus includes a cooling system for cooling a substrate to below zero, a wet gas supplying system for supplying a gas containing atomized water to the surface of the substrate cooled by the cooling means to form ice on the surface of said substrate, and an ice removing unit for removing the ice formed on the surface of the substrate. This apparatus removes not only relatively large particles but also fine particles from the substrate.

This invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for washing a substrate such as semiconductor wafer, glass substrate for liquid crystal, and substrate for photomask.
A brush scrub method has been generally used to remove particles such as dust attached to the surface of a substrate. According to this method, particles are removed by rubbing the surface of the substrate placed on a rotary substrate support by a nylon brush or the like while wash water is supplied to the surface of the substrate.
In the brush scrub method, however, there has been the problem that particles having been removed from the surface of a substrate, e.g., an oxide layer of a semiconductor wafer, are liable to reattach to the substrate due to electrostatics produced on the surface of the substrate by friction of the brush and the surface.
Also, particles attach to the brush due to the electrostatics produced by the friction. Accordingly, there is the problem that attached particles are liable to attach to a new substrate.
Further, dust is generated by bristles of the brush by rubbing the substrate by the brush. This causes the brush to be a source of dust.
Relatively large particles, having a diameter of about 0.3 .mu.m, can be removed by the brush scrub method. However, it is difficult to remove fine particles having a diameter of about 0.1 .mu.m because they pass between the bristles of the brush.
These problems have occurred in production of a variety of substrates such as semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for liquid crystals, and substrates for photomasks.

Method of and apparatus for washing a substrate


A control apparatus detects a misalignment between an irradiation position of a transdermal treatment device and a target irradiation position. When the misalignment is detected, the control unit stops irradiation of the transdermal treatment device or moves the irradiation position closer to the target irradiation position.

A HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) treatment system includes an irradiation unit that irradiates the ultrasound. The ultrasound emitted from the irradiation unit focus on a focal point. Before irradiating the ultrasound, the operator moves the irradiation unit such that the irradiation position of the ultrasound coincides with a target irradiation position. The target irradiation position is an affected portion to be treated. Methods of confirming the irradiation position include a method using an ultrasound diagnostic probe, a method using MRI, and the like.


In a fluid control apparatus having coil-supporting protruding portions on one end surface of a case, where each coil-supporting protruding portion is deformed by pressing a coil portion with a pressing jig to the coil-supporting protruding portion, in a state where the other end surface of the case is supported by a supporting jig, the fluid control apparatus includes jig-supporting protruding portions on the other end surface of the case, such that the supporting jig abuts with the jig-supporting protruding portions only. When an area that abuts with the supporting jig is narrow, it is easy to increase accuracy in flatness even in a case of resin molding. Furthermore, when accuracy in flatness of the jig-supporting protruding portions is enhanced, a necessity for adjusting the supporting jig so as to match waviness of the case as in the conventional case is eliminated, whereby the supporting jig can be easily produced.

In a conventional ABS actuator, a fluid passage through which brake fluid flows is formed in a housing, and opened and closed by a solenoid valve. Furthermore, the solenoid valve is retained between the housing and a case (i.e. cover) made of resin. The case is provided with a protruding portion for supporting a coil (hereinafter referred to as coil-supporting protruding portion), which protrudes towards a brim portion of a yoke so as to abut with the brim portion. A coil height, that is, a distance between a contact surface (i.e. datum surface) and an end surface of the yoke on a side of the housing is adjusted to a predetermined value by pressing the coil-supporting protruding portion (for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.2002-243056).
The coil height is adjusted before the solenoid valve is retained between the housing and the case. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, a punch 104 of a pressing jig 103 is caused to abut with a yoke 43 in a state where a case 8 is supported by a supporting jig 101. Then, the yoke 43 is pressed toward a side of a coil-supporting protruding portion 81 until the pressing jig 103 abuts with a datum plate 102, whereby the coil-supporting protruding portion 81 is deformed.
However, in the conventional ABS actuator as described above, since the case 8 is a resin mold product, waviness (concave and convex) appears on a contact surface 89 of the case 8 with the supporting jig 101, in other words, accuracy in flatness of the case 8 is not high. Therefore, it is difficult to cause the contact surface 89 of the case 8 and a contact surface of the supporting jig 101 to be in contact with each other before the case 8 is pressed by the pressing jig 103. Accordingly, the case 8 is bent when pressed by the pressing jig 103, and it returns to an original wavy shape when a press load is removed. This bending and restoration of the case 8 causes a wrong coil height.
Meanwhile, in resin molding, it is difficult to adjust a die to be used for molding (hereinafter referred to as molding die) such that accuracy in flatness of an entire wide surface becomes high. Therefore, an attempt is made to reduce bending of the case 8 when it is pressed, by adjusting the supporting jig 101 so as to match the waviness of the case 8, whereby the contact surface of the case 8 and that of the supporting jig 101 are in contact with each other as close as possible. Despite this attempt, it is not easy to adjust the supporting jig 101 over the entire contact surface thereof with the case 8.


In a general aspect, a multi-piece vessel can include a body defining an interior volume, and a base. The body can include a closed end, and an open end opposite the closed end. The base can have a foot arranged in a plane. The base can include a stem arranged along a longitudinal axis that is orthogonal to the plane, and a first magnetic element disposed at an end of the stem. The multi-piece vessel can also include an attachment assembly coupled with the closed end of the body, the attachment assembly having a second magnetic element configured to form a magnetic coupling with the first magnetic element, and a retention feature defined on a surface of the attachment assembly distal from the body.

Vessels, such as stemware vessels, etc., with detachable bases (bases, stemmed bases, etc.) can provide certain advantages over conventional stemware that include permanently attached bases. Such advantages can include the ability to store the base and body separately, or in a more compact arrangement, the ability to wash and clean the body separately from the base, the ability to manufacture the base from materials that are different from the body material, and/or the ability to replace individual elements if either the body or base is damaged or misplaced.
However, current implementations of multi-piece vessels with detachable bases, which can be referred to herein as collapsible stemware, have certain disadvantages. For instance, a number of current implementations employ compression, friction or threaded connections for attachment of a base with a corresponding vessel body. Such approaches involve rotating, snapping, and or press-fitting the base and/or vessel to effect attachment for use of the vessel, e.g., to hold and/or consume liquids or other substances. Such attachment approaches can result in damage to the base or vessel, such as at an attachment point of the base and vessel body, and/or can limit the materials that are suitable for producing such collapsible vessels. Also, such approaches may not allow for secure storage of the base and vessel body, when separated, which can result in damage to the base and/or the body vessel.
Current approaches can have other disadvantages, such as insufficient strength of coupling between a vessel's base and body, susceptibility to damage at a connection point between the base and body, damage due to difference in thermal expansion properties of different material, inability to use body vessels separately from their corresponding bases, e.g., as freestanding vessels, lateral sliding of the base relative to the vessel body, and/or limited stability of the vessel due to the sizing of a foot included in the base, e.g., where the foot is sized to fit within and inner perimeter of an opening in the vessel body when storing the vessel in a collapsed arrangement.


A high pressure liquid nozzle housing encloses a self-rotating speed-controlled nozzle. A cylindrical sleeve in the housing forms an inwardly facing friction surface engageable by a nozzle-driven friction generating speed control mechanism to provide increasing retarding force on the nozzle as nozzle speed increases for controlling maximum nozzle rotational speed. The speed control mechanism includes a radially expandable helical coil spring rotatable with the nozzle with its windings at low nozzle speeds slightly spaced from the sleeve. An input end of the coil spring is driven by the nozzle structure in a direction tending to unwind the spring and increase its outer diameter in response to rotation of the nozzle. An output end of the coil spring rotatably drives a cluster of centrifugal weights which are spring biased away from the sleeve and which at low nozzle rotation speeds also remain spaced from the sleeve. At higher speeds of nozzle rotation the weights move outwardly and frictionally engage the sleeve and provide a drag on the output end of the spring to aid in unwinding the spring, increasing its diameter and moving it with progressively increasing force into friction creating engagement with the sleeve to provide progressively increased retarding force against nozzle rotation as nozzle speed increases. The weights and spring retarding forces combine, but the spring retarding force is several times the retarding at the weights when an equilibrium between retarding forces and opposing jet stream nozzle reaction is reached at maximum nozzle speed.

In the field of high pressure rotary liquid handling devices where the operating parameters can exceed 10,000 psi, rotating speeds of 1,500 rpm and flow rates of 25 gpm, operating parameters relating to construction, cost, durability and ease of maintenance of rotating small nozzles present many problems. Combined length and diameter of such nozzles may not exceed a few inches. The more extreme operating parameters and great reduction in size compound the problems. Pressure, temperature and wear factors affect durability, ease of maintenance and attendant cost, and inconvenience and safety in use of such nozzle devices. Simple durable low cost and easily maintained speed controlled nozzles are most desirable.

High pressure liquid rotary nozzle with coil spring retarder


Apparatus having corresponding methods and computer-readable media comprise: a wireless receiver configured to scan for a beacon in one or more of a first plurality of predetermined wireless channels, wherein each of the first plurality of predetermined wireless channels has the same carrier frequency in a plurality of different geographical regions; and a controller configured to identify, based on a beacon scanned by the wireless receiver in one or more of the first plurality of predetermined wireless channels, a first geographical region of the plurality of different geographical regions, wherein the controller is further configured to select a second plurality of wireless channels associated with the first geographical region, wherein the wireless receiver is further configured to scan for a beacon in one or more of the second plurality of wireless channels selected by the controller.

Rapid developments in the use of wireless network communications technology have necessitated the development of additional frequency bands. Such developments include technologies commonly referred to as the Internet-of-Things (IoT), Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, and the like, and will support sensor devices such as wireless smart meters and the like. In response, the IEEE 802.11ah standardization task group is developing a global Wireless LAN (WLAN) standard that will allow wireless access using carrier frequencies below 1 GHz in the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) band.
One challenge with such networks results from the fragmented nature of the allocated spectrum below 1 GHz, with different countries using different portions of the band. For example, available bands below 1 GHz for use in China, the European Union, and the United States do not overlap. Such fragmentation, if not addressed, could lead to reduced deployment.

Common channels for wireless network access


The invention features protected linker compounds which comprise at one terminus a protected amino group and at another other terminus a phosphorous activating group, such as a phosphoramidite group. These protected linker compounds are introduced chemically at the 5′-end of oligonucleotides for the purpose of preparing 5′-amino modified oligonucleotides. After deprotection, the thereby introduced amino group then allows further modification (e.g. attachment of dyes) or immobilization (on surfaces or beads) of the oligonucleotide. Specifically, the presented amino protecting group is designed to provide such protected linker compounds in a solid form, which facilitates efficient purification by precipitation or crystallization and aliquoting for distribution and storage.

The chemical synthesis of nucleic acids involves step-wise assembly of suitable, protected phosphoramidite building blocks on solid phase, followed by the removal of protecting groups and the detachment from the solid phase. In addition to the incorporation of ribo- or deoxyribonucleotides, this method allows the introduction of further compounds including nucleotide analogs (containing modified sugar moieties and/or modified nucleobase moieties) as well as other compounds which allow specific detection (e.g. dyes) or specific binding (e.g. biotin). Ideally, the methods for introduction and final deprotection of these further compounds would be identical to methods used for the preparation of the unmodified (physiological) ribo and deoxribo oligonucleotides (RNA and DNA).
However, a variety of useful and routinely employed dyes and reporter groups are not stable under the conditions of assembly and deprotection of oligonucleotides and are therefore introduced post-synthetically by so-called conjugation reactions. Conjugation reactions are also carried out for the immobilization of nucleic acids on surfaces or beads. Such reactions require the presence of a specific chemical group on the oligonucleotide, which has a unique reactivity towards suitably activated dyes/binders or surfaces/beads. These specific chemical groups are usually amino or thiol groups and the materials, required for their introduction into oligonucleotides are called "amino linkers" or "thio linkers", respectively. They typically contain a phosphorous activating group such as a phosphoramidite moiety for the attachment to the nucleic acid, a linker (e.g. alkyl chains or oligoethylenglycol chains of various lengths) and the suitably protected amino or thiol group, respectively.
The presently known amino linker compounds can be divided into two groups. In the first group, the amino protecting group comprises an acid labile mono- or dimethoxytrityl group. These acid labile groups can either be removed before or after removal of the other protecting groups which is carried out by ammonia or various amines. In the latter case, purification of the amino-linker modified nucleic acid can be achieved based on the lipophilic properties of the still present trityl group. Therefore, if purification based on lipophilic properties is desired, amino linkers of this first group are chosen.
The second group of amino linkers is characterized by protecting groups which are cleaved during the deprotection step together with the other protecting groups with ammonia or various amines. Advantageously, for linkers of the second group, no additional deprotection steps are required, and therefore the related manufacturing process is more straightforward. Consequently, they are employed on a much greater scale. In particular, these amino linkers of the second group are used in the high-volume routine and parallel synthesis of amino-modified nucleic acids. The most commonly employed and commercially available amino linkers in this group contain an amino group protected by a trifluoroacetyl group (Formula I), but other protecting groups, such as phthalimide (e.g. Formula XI, see FIG. 3) have been reported [U.S. Pat. No. 7,164,014, Huang et al.].
All known amino linkers of this second type are honey-like, viscous oils. As a consequence they are difficult to handle. For example they can only be purified by chromatography, they are difficult to aliquot in accurate portions and they are difficult to dry. Furthermore, they are quite unstable substances, because they are not stabilized by crystal packing and easily degrade by reaction with oxygen or water. As a consequence, they have to be shipped and stored at low temperatures.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide protected linker compounds which overcome disadvantages of this second group of amino linker compounds available in the prior art and which are fully compatible with the standard assembly and deprotection protocols for nucleic acid synthesis. More particular objects of the present invention include to provide such amino linker building blocks which can be purified by precipitation or crystallization, which are easily aliquoted and which do not easily degrade by reaction with oxygen and water.
In a first aspect of the invention, protected amino linker compounds and more particularly protected amino linker phoshoramidite building blocks are provided. In a second aspect, methods of production of amino linker compounds are provided. In a third aspect of the invention, methods of adding a protected amino linker phoshoramidite building block to a previously assembled, protected and immobilized ribo- or deoxyribonucleic acid molecule or to a derivative thereof and methods of deprotecting the protected amino group of the added amino linker compound are provided. The third aspect of the invention also relates to amino functionalized nucleic acids or nucleic acid derivatives comprising an amino protecting group. In a fourth aspect, a use of a diamide substituted protecting group for protecting an amino group is provided. It is in particular the use of a 1,4-diamide group which is covalently bound to an aromatic system, in which two neighbouring C-atoms of an aromatic system are a 2- and a 3-position of the 1,4-diamide amino protecting group (for a detailed definition see Formula II in FIG. 1).
Additional objects and advantages of the invention are set forth in, or will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, from the detailed description as follows. Also, it should be further appreciated that modifications and variations to the specifically illustrated and discussed features and materials hereof may be practiced in various embodiments and uses of this invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, by virtue of present reference thereto. Such variations may include, but are not limited to, substitutions of the equivalent means, features, and materials for those shown or discussed, and the functional or positional reversal of various parts, features, method steps, or the like.
Still further, it is to be understood that different embodiments, as well as different presently preferred embodiments, of this invention may include various combinations or configurations of presently disclosed features, elements, method steps, or their equivalents (including combinations of features or configurations thereof not expressly shown in the figures or stated in the detailed description).
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following descriptions and the appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the descriptions, serve to explain the principles of the invention.


A novel thermally reworkable die attach adhesive composition for attaching a semiconductor device to a substrate is provided. The composition comprises. (a) a thermally reworkable crosslinked resin produced by reacting at least one dienophile having a functionality greater than one and at least one 2,5-dialkyl substituted furan-containing polymer, and PA1 (b) at least one thermally and/or electrically conductive material present in an effective amount up to about 90% by weight of the die attach composition to provide a conducting medium.

Die attach adhesives are used to bond the semiconductor device such as a silicon die or chip to a substrate such as a lead frame or a printed circuit board. During assembly of the semiconductor package, the die attach adhesive holds the device firmly in place during wire bonding and encapsulation. They can provide electrical and/or thermal contact between the device and the substrate by means of incorporating electrically and/or thermally conductive fillers in the adhesive formulation.
Examples of commonly used die attach adhesives are eutectic solders, conductive epoxies, and conductive polyimides. Eutectic solders are metal alloys typically made with gold. A "preform", which is a metal foil cut to the shape and size of the semiconductor chip, is deposited on the desired substrate of the package and is heated to a temperature near the melting point of the preform. The chip can then be placed onto the preform with a scrubbing motion. The eutectic solders are expensive and difficult to process. Conductive epoxies are typically low viscosity pastes containing electrically conductive fillers. The epoxy is applied to the substrate by conventional means and the device is then placed in contact with the coated substrate. The epoxy can then be cured in one step. Conductive polyimides are similar to conductive epoxies.
Thermosetting die attach adhesives, primarily epoxy-based formulations are used to bond semiconductor devices to substrates. Rework processes to replace defective chips usually involve the use of heat both beneath the substrate and on top of the device accompanied by a shearing force to remove the die from the substrate. Historically, rework has been relatively simple since the devices are small and widely spaced from each other. However, emerging packaging technologies such as multichip modules use both larger devices and smaller spacing between them and therefore raise the possibility of damage to the substrate during rework. Thus, it is desirable to provide a die attach adhesive composition which allows the reworking to be more readily processable.


An adsorptive gas separator incorporates a stator having plurality of a fluid passages where a thermal conductivity between a plurality of fluid passages is below a threshold thermal conductivity, to reduce the transfer of heat across the stator. A stator of an adsorptive gas separator may employ a port assembly having a low thermal conductivity and a floating seal which provides for sealing of heat and a fluid stream.

Conventional temperature swing adsorptive gas separation processes are known in the art for use in adsorptive separation of multi-component gas mixtures. During an adsorption step, a feed stream such as a multi-component fluid mixture at a lower temperature may typically be admitted into an adsorptive gas separator and contactor comprising an adsorbent material, where the adsorbent material may adsorb a component of the feed stream, separating the adsorbed component from the remaining components of the feed stream. During one or more subsequent regeneration steps, typically at least one fluid stream at a higher temperature may be admitted into the adsorptive gas separator and contactor to increase the temperature of the adsorbent material, causing the adsorbed components to release or desorb from the adsorbent material, and to allow for cyclic reuse of the adsorbent material. During an optional cooling or conditioning step, typically a fluid stream at a lower temperature may be admitted into the adsorptive gas separator and contactor to decrease the temperature of the adsorbent material in preparation for a subsequent adsorbing step. In general, the adsorbing, regenerating and conditioning steps may then be sequentially repeated.
A conventional adsorptive gas separator may typically be configured with multiple adsorbent beds, multiple adsorbent contactors or multiple zones, such as for example, a plurality of discrete adsorbent beds or contactors, or at least one contactor where a point on a contactor may move through a plurality of substantially fluidly separated zones within an adsorptive gas separator, where adsorbent beds, adsorbent contactors or zones are located in close proximity and/or adjacent to each other while performing different steps of an adsorptive gas separation process, typically at different temperatures. An adsorptive gas separator having at least one adsorbent bed, adsorbent contactors or multiple zones may also be configured where the various fluid streams supplied to and recovered from the adsorptive gas separator are at a fixed location while the at least one adsorbent beds or contactors moves, for example, in a rotary configuration the at least one adsorbent bed or contactor may rotate through the various fluid streams and zones. A conventional adsorptive gas separation process employing an adsorptive gas separator with at least one adsorbent bed or adsorbent contactor may typically face several competing design challenges including, for example, short cycle time of the adsorptive gas process, sealing of the various fluid streams between dynamic and static components, and undesirable heat transfer between zones with an adsorptive gas separator which may undesirably result in thermal lag, and reduced performance of an adsorptive contactor and overall separator. Furthermore, the thermal cycling of a typical conventional adsorptive gas separation process may undesirably reduce the life expectancy of some conventional separator components.


Embodiments of the invention involve modifying non-volatile data fields in the integral memory components of consumable cartridges (and, in some embodiments, data fields in the utilizing device memory) such that the consumable cartridges become compatible with only a small subset of utilizing devices, thereby substantially reducing their potential value to a thief or unauthorized borrower.

Many types of equipment, apparatus, or devices require a supply of a consumable substance. The substance may be needed for the equipment to operate properly, such as a fuel or lubricant; or the substance may be utilized by the equipment as a component or ingredient in forming a final product or output. Consumable substances may be provided in replaceable containers that are changed when the substance is depleted.
Printers with user-replaceable consumables (and related devices, such as facsimile machines and copiers) are well known in the art. For example, inkjet printers typically utilize replaceable ink supplies, either integrated with a printhead or in the form of separate supplies. In laser printers, toner is typically supplied in a replaceable cartridge, which may include the photosensitive drum on which images are formed.
It is increasingly common for containers of consumable substances to have integral electronic memory devices, which may be used for a variety of purposes by the utilizing equipment. The memory device may be used as a "keying" feature to differentiate between different substances, may contain calibration information, or may be used to indicate a status condition of the consumable, such as the substance level within the container. The memory devices may also be used for many other purposes, such as enabling specialized features of the utilizing device or providing other value to the equipment user. While earlier memory devices typically had electrical contacts that had to connect to mating contacts in the utilizing equipment, newer devices are often wireless and rely on radio frequency (RF) communication.
Replaceable printer consumables, such as inkjet cartridges, tend to be both relatively small and moderately costly to replace. The small size and relatively high cost can make the consumables tempting targets for theft, which tends to discourage the placement of printers in public or semi-public places, such as libraries, schools, restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels. The cartridges in an unattended printer are prone to be appropriated for use in another printer, such as in home computer system.
Even in more private and secure settings, such as office environments and homes, printer consumables have a tendency to "disappear", since it can be more convenient to "borrow" a consumable from an unattended printer than to acquire a replacement consumable through appropriate channels.
Misappropriation of a cartridge of a consumable substance can result in expensive "downtime" of the utilizing equipment; replacing the cartridge can add significant additional costs, as well as being an inconvenience to the user.

Consumable cartridge with theft deterrence features

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method is provided for pre-fetching data into a cache memory. A first cache-line address of each of a number of data requests from at least one processor is stored. A second cache-line address of a next data request from the processor is compared to the first cache-line addresses. If the second cache-line address is adjacent to one of the first cache-line addresses, data associated with a third cache-line address adjacent to the second cache-line address is pre-fetched into the cache memory, if not already present in the cache memory.

Throughout the development of modern computer systems, one important facet of system performance has been memory access time. While reducing access times to the actual memory devices, such as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), has had a profound effect on system throughput, architectural advances have also increased memory system performance. Perhaps the most important of these advances is the use of cache memory residing between a processor and a main memory of the computer system.
Generally, a cache memory resides in a memory system hierarchy between one or more processors and a main memory. The cache is relatively small and fast memory compared to the main memory and holds copies of a portion of the data residing within the main memory address space. Since the cache is smaller than the main memory, the cache is not capable of holding all of the data that may reside in the main memory. Instead, the cache typically is designed to hold data which the processor most often accesses. Moreover, multiple cache levels are often employed between the processor and the main memory, with higher levels of cache (i.e., those cache levels located closer to the processor) being relatively smaller and faster than lower cache levels. As an example, the use of three or four cache levels in commercial computing systems is now commonplace.
Typically, data is stored within the cache memory in response to the processor reading data from the main memory. As the data passes through the cache, the data may be stored therein so that subsequent requests for the same data may be satisfied via the cache instead of the slower main memory. In other cases, data written by the processor to the main memory may be stored in the cache as it passes to the main memory. Given the limited amount of storage space within the cache, any of several caching algorithms, such as "least recently used" (LRU) and "least frequently used" (LFU), have been devised to determine which data is to be stored in the cache, and which is to be discarded. The primary goal of such an algorithm is to maximize the cache "hit ratio," or the percentage of processor read requests for data that the cache may satisfy.
To further increase computer system performance, some caching memory systems utilize "pre-fetching." More specifically, rather than wait for the processor to request data before retrieving that data from the main memory and storing it in the cache, the memory system may retrieve the data from the main memory and store it in the cache prior to the processor requesting the data, thus eliminating the latency between the request and the storing of the data in the cache. To implement pre-fetching, caching memory systems often presume data requests will follow in a linear or sequential fashion, continuing with the next memory address following the most recent data request.
Unfortunately, many data access patterns do not follow a linear or sequential pattern. For example, multiple software threads may be executing on one or more processors coupled with the memory system. Under that scenario, each thread may be requesting data in a sequential fashion, but when the requests are received concurrently and collectively at the memory system, the sequential nature of the memory accesses of each separate thread is not apparent. One example of a system executing several such software threads is a relational database decision-support server. Queries to a relational database are often processed by multiple software threads executing concurrently, with each thread accessing a separate database "relation," or table, often combining the data from the tables in an operation called a "join." However, while each thread may retrieve data sequentially from the system address space, the memory system may only see memory requests that spatially appear to be at least somewhat random, thus defeating any potential benefit from a standard pre-fetching algorithm.

Multiple address sequence cache pre-fetching


A method and apparatus are provided for sensing in low voltage DRAM memory cells. A method according to one embodiment includes: providing a DRAM circuit having a memory cell, a sense amplifier including a pre-charge circuit connected to a first voltage source and a back-to-back inverter including a first and second NMOS transistor, each having a source and a first and second PMOS transistor, each having a source. The method further includes the steps of maintaining the voltage of the sources of the first and second NMOS transistors at a first voltage during normal operation and lowering the voltage of the sources of the first and second NMOS transistors from the first voltage to a second voltage during a read operation.

In a dynamic random access memory ("DRAM"), data is stored as a logic high value (e.g., "1") or logic low value (e.g., "0") by the presence or absence of charge on a capacitor within an individual memory cell. After the data has been stored as a charge on the capacitor, the charge gradually leaks off and the data becomes corrupted. Therefore, a "refresh" cycle must be performed before passage of sufficient time for the data to become corrupted, to maintain the integrity of the data.
To read data from a memory array, the array is typically placed in a read mode to obtain the data currently stored in a row of memory cells. An individual datum is typically accessed through the cell address, which identifies a memory cell by its row and column in the array.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art DRAM circuit 100 having a first storage bit 132 and a second storage bit 126. First storage bit 132 is passed by a first PMOS transistor 130, and second storage bit 126 is passed by a second PMOS transistor 128. PMOS transistor 130 is coupled to sense amplifier 102 via bit line BL, and PMOS transistor 128 is coupled to sense amplifier 102 via bit line bar ZBL. Sense amplifier 102 includes pre-charge circuit 104, back-to-back inverter 112 and two NMOS transistors 122, 124, which have their gates tied to column selection line SL. Pre-charge circuit 104 is comprised of three NMOS transistors 106, 108, 110, which have their gates tied to equalization line EQ.
The back-to-back inverter 112 is comprised of two PMOS transistors 114, 116 and two NMOS transistors 118, 120. Both NMOS transistors 118, 120 have low threshold voltages for reasons discussed below. The gates of NMOS transistor 120 and PMOS transistor 116 are tied together and coupled to both the bit line bar ZBL and the drains of NMOS transistor 118 and PMOS transistor 114, which are also tied together. The gates of NMOS transistor 118 and PMOS transistor 114 are tied together and coupled to the bit line BL, and the drains of NMOS transistor 120 and PMOS transistor 116, which are also tied together. The sources of the PMOS transistors 114, 116 are tied together, as are the sources of the NMOS transistors 118, 120. The sources of the PMOS transistors 114, 116 are also coupled to a high voltage source VDD via line SP and PMOS transistor 134. PMOS transistor 134 has its gate connected to control line CL1. The sources of the NMOS transistors 118, 120 are coupled to ground VSS via line SN.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reading of a "0" from the first storage bit 132 of prior art DRAM circuit 100 is now discussed. Initially at time t=0, DRAM circuit 100 is in normal operation (i.e., retaining previously stored data, but not being written to, read from or refreshed) and equalization line EQ is coupled to a logic "1" signal, When equalization line EQ is coupled to a logic "1," the three NMOS transistors 106, 108, 110 of pre-charge circuit 104 are in the "on" state, and lines ZBL and BL are charged to the voltage of VBL, The voltage of VBL is typically half the voltage of VDD (assuming a VSS voltage of 0.0 volts). Also in this state, control line CL1 is connected to a high voltage signal, which turns PMOS transistor 134 to the "off" state resulting in VDD being disconnected from sense amplifier 112.
The read cycle begins at time t=1, when equalization line EQ is coupled to a logic "0" signal. PMOS transistor 130, which controls the first storage bit 132, is selected by transitioning line WL from a high voltage to low voltage. The transition of line WL from a high voltage to a low voltage turns PMOS transistor 130 from the "off" state to the "on" state. With PMOS transistor 130 on, the voltage of the first storage bit 132 is then coupled to bit line BL. Since bit line BL has a larger bit line capacitance than the capacitance of the capacitor of the first bit 132, the voltage of line BL is pulled down slightly.
Line SP is then coupled to VDD by having control line CL1 transition from a high voltage to a low voltage, which transitions PMOS transistor 134 from the "off" state to the "on" state. With PMOS transistor 134 on, the voltage of VDD is then connected to the gates of both PMOS transistors 114 and 116 of the back-to-back inverter 112, thereby changing the PMOS transistors 114, 116 from the "off" state to the "on" state. The turning on of PMOS transistors 114 and 116 pulls down the voltage of line BL while the voltage of line ZBL is pulled up. The pulling down of line BL and pulling up of line ZBL occurs because VDD pulls up the voltage of line ZBL via PMOS transistor 114, and VSS pulls down the voltage of line BL via NMOS transistor 120.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing voltage versus time and illustrates certain signals of DRAM circuit 100 as they transition during the normal operating phase and the read phase. Of particular interest are the signals of lines ZBL and BL as they illustrate the slow transitioning from their initial voltage level at VBL at time t−1 to their respective voltage levels at VDD and VSS at time t=2. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the transition of both BL and ZBL from their initial voltage to their final voltages is slow, as the slopes of the lines indicate a gradual transition.
Due to the continually shrinking size of integrated circuits, the operating voltage VDD is continually being reduced, which reduces the ability of VDD to pull up ZBL. The reduced ability of VDD to pull up ZBL results in a delay in the transition of ZBL (an increase in the time between t=1 and t=2), and slowing the speed at which the circuit functions.
Some attempts to speed up the pulling up of ZBL by VDD have been made, including boosting the voltage level of VDD during the reading cycle. However, the boosting of VDD during the reading cycle increases power consumption of the DRAM circuit and does not dramatically speed up the reading time of a "0" from the storage bit. To help increase the ability of VSS to pull down the voltage on line BL, NMOS transistors 118, 120 are typically low threshold voltage transistors. Manufacturing circuits with different threshold voltages requires additional manufacturing processing, as all of the transistors of the circuit cannot be formed by the same steps. The additional manufacturing steps, such as additional photolithographic steps, drive up the time and cost of production.
Therefore, it is desirable in the art to provide an apparatus and method which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.

Method for high speed sensing for extra low voltage DRAM

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


The invention proposes a windshield wiper arm of the kind comprising a wiping strip (12) for the glass and a structure acting as a wiping strip support, which is connected to the free end of a driving arm and which comprises a profiled member (10) in a single piece, to which the driving arm is coupled and which receives the wiping strip (12) directly.

The present invention is concerned with a windshield wiper arm for a motor vehicle.
A windshield wiper arm essentially consists of a rubber wiping strip which is connected to a driving arm through a structure which serves as a support, and the main function of which is to ensure the best possible wiping action by giving the wiping strip a spatial configuration which is always adapted to the curvature of the glass to be wiped and to the conditions in which it is to be used.
To this end, the known support structures comprise a rigid, metallic, main arm which is fixed to the free end of the driving arm, together with one or more arms which are articulated together and/or to the main arm, and some of which carry the wiping strip, while the latter may include reinforcing inserts which give it predetermined mechanical properties of transverse stiffness and/or longitudinal flexibility.
The assembly is thus very complex, and necessitates assembly operations, usually by crimping, which are lengthy and costly, with the quality of these operations having a direct influence on the performance and good operation of the windshield wiper.
By way of example, a windshield wiper arm operating over a length of 60 centimeters generally comprises a dozen components.
In addition, this design of windshield wiper arm has the effect of making each model that is produced different from the others, in terms of either the nature and dimensions of their components or of their number and method of assembly. As a result, large stocks have to be carried by the manufacturers, and it is impossible to rationalise mass production.
In order to reduce manufacturing costs, which are also due to the operations required to protect the product against corrosion, and operations of painting metallic components, it has been proposed to make these components out of plastics material, but the appearance of such an assembly is thought unfavourable to its commercial exploitation because customers see it as being a product of inferior quality.


A system for erasing data stored on an optical storage medium includes a housing, a guiding means mounted within the housing for guiding the optical recording medium on which the data is stored, and a heating means mounted in spaced-apart opposition to the guiding means for heating the optical recording medium to, thereby, thermally erase optical data stored on the medium.

Optical recording technology has been suggested as an alternative to magnetic storage techniques for storing data on a recording tape. More particularly, technology has been suggested for recording information by directing a scanning beam of laser light onto a moving data storage medium, such as a flexible optical tape, to produce unique domains on the tape that represent binary data bits. Such technology is described, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,719,615 and 4,912,696.
Also, techniques have been suggested for erasing data that has been stored on an optical data storage medium. For example, it has been proposed to remove data stored on an optical disk by placing the optical disk in an oven or similar heating device. In that way, the entire disk is heated and the data on the disk is erased. The disadvantage of such a system is that it results in the complete removal of all of the data on the disk. Thus, such a system is not well suited for erasing only selected data from an optical recording medium.
In another erasure method that has been suggested for erasing data from an optical recording medium, a laser beam is focused on the optical data storage medium to heat the surface of the medium and thereby cause erasure of the stored data. In other words, according to this method, data erasure is performed in very localized areas on an optical recording medium. Consequently, this method is not well suited for erasing large quantities of data over a relatively large section of an optical recording medium.

System for thermally erasing data stored on an optical recording medium


An arrow shaft includes an arrow shaft body, a plurality of first fletching indication patterns formed with extending to the longitudinal direction of the arrow shaft body on the outer circumferential surface of the arrow shaft body and spaced apart each other in the circumferential direction of the arrow shaft body, and a plurality of second fletching indication patterns formed in a direction of intersecting with the first fletching indication patterns and spaced apart each other in the circumferential direction of the arrow shaft body. The arrow shaft provides an accurate and easy fletching thanks to fletching indication patterns formed on the outer circumferential surface of the arrow shaft body, and also provides an easy aligning of fletchings to any position of the arrow shaft body with the fletching indication patterns depending on characteristics of users.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an arrow shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
An arrow includes an arrow shaft with a hollow cylindrical shape and an arrow head being mounted in front of the arrow shaft, an arrow nock coupled to the rear end of the arrow shaft for fitting an arrow in the string, and a plurality of fletchings being mounted to a rear side of an outer circumferential surface of the arrow shaft and being radially spaced apart each other by two to four sheets.
In general, an arrow leaving a bow or a crossbow flies in an arc towards the target. During flying, the arrow is subject to shaking in every direction based on the center of gravity. In other words, the arrow does not fly straight toward the target and flies wobbly as fishes swim. This is referred to the paradox phenomenon. In order to prevent such a phenomenon, fletchings are provided for an arrow to fly straight by air resistance. Further, the arrow flies while rotating due to the effect of air resistance influenced by the fletchings, and the arrow with rotating is capable of flying much more stable than that of without rotating. That is, provision of a slight pitch to the direction of fletchings to be mounted to the arrow shaft causes the arrow with rotating to fly stably. This is referred to the gyro effect.
As described above, fletchings play an important role in the arrow. In general, fletchings may be mounted on the rear side of the outer circumferential surface of the arrow shaft with spacing apart by two to four sheets using adhesive, etc.
By the way, as most of tasks of mounting fletchings on the outer circumferential surface of the arrow shaft are carried out manually, it is difficult to mount fletchings by adhesive on the exact positions for fletching on the arrow shaft.
In connection with such a problem, Korean utility model Registration No. 20-0250124, entitled "MOUNTING DEVICE OF FLETCHING FOR ARROW" discloses a device of automatic mounting of fletchings. However, such a device still has a problem that arrows are not always used as manufactured.
In other words, many users who use arrows for hunting or competition not only use arrows which were manufactured and finished in the factory, but also use arrows with different configurations, shapes, positions and types of fletchings being mounted to arrow shafts according to shooting habits and skills of users. Thus, shapes and mounting positions of fletchings, as well as numbers and types of fletchings may be different each other for each user.
Accordingly, it has been needed to develop devices for users to mount fletchings accurately to the desired position of the arrow shaft.
In response to such a need, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2008-0082878, entitled "SHAFT OF AN ARROW" discloses an arrow shaft having a plurality of fletching indication patterns with straight-line forms in parallel to the longitudinal central axis on the rear side of the circumferential surface of the arrow shaft.
However, there still remains a problem in the above approach with fletching indication patterns of straight lines, because it is not easy to set accurately the position around the front and the rear of axis direction where the fletchings will be mounted.

Arrow shaft with fletching indication patterns for better fletching and aligning


A system for thermal cycling a material to be thermal cycled including a microfluidic heat exchanger; a porous medium in the microfluidic heat exchanger; a microfluidic thermal cycling chamber containing the material to be thermal cycled, the microfluidic thermal cycling chamber operatively connected to the microfluidic heat exchanger; a working fluid at first temperature; a first system for transmitting the working fluid at first temperature to the microfluidic heat exchanger; a working fluid at a second temperature, a second system for transmitting the working fluid at second temperature to the microfluidic heat exchanger; a pump for flowing the working fluid at the first temperature from the first system to the microfluidic heat exchanger and through the porous medium; and flowing the working fluid at the second temperature from the second system to the heat exchanger and through the porous medium.

1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to thermal cycling and more particularly to a rapid microfluidic thermal cycler.
2. State of Technology
U.S. Pat. No. 7,133,726 for a thermal cycler for PCR states: "Generally, in the case of PCR, it is desirable to change the sample temperature between the required temperatures in the cycle as quickly as possible for several reasons. First the chemical reaction has an optimum temperature for each of its stages and as such less time spent at non-optimum temperatures means a better chemical result is achieved. Secondly a minimum time is usually required at any given set point which sets minimum cycle time for each protocol and any time spent in transition between set points adds to this minimum time. Since the number of cycles is usually quite large, this transition time can significantly add to the total time needed to complete the amplification." U.S. Pat. No. 7,133,726 includes the additional state of technology information below:                "To amplify DNA (Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid) using the PCR process, it is necessary to cycle a specially constituted liquid reaction mixture through several different temperature incubation periods. The reaction mixture is comprised of various components including the DNA to be amplified and at least two primers sufficiently complementary to the sample DNA to be able to create extension products of the DNA being amplified. A key to PCR is the concept of thermal cycling: alternating steps of melting DNA, annealing short primers to the resulting single strands, and extending those primers to make new copies of double-stranded DNA. In thermal cycling the PCR reaction mixture is repeatedly cycled from high temperatures of around 90° C. for melting the DNA, to lower temperatures of approximately 40° C. to 70° C. for primer annealing and extension. Generally, it is desirable to change the sample temperature to the next temperature in the cycle as rapidly as possible. The chemical reaction has an optimum temperature for each of its stages. Thus, less time spent at non optimum temperature means a better chemical result is achieved. Also a minimum time for holding the reaction mixture at each incubation temperature is required after each said incubation temperature is reached. These minimum incubation times establish the minimum time it takes to complete a cycle. Any time in transition between sample incubation temperatures is time added to this minimum cycle time. Since the number of cycles is fairly large, this additional time unnecessarily heightens the total time needed to complete the amplification.        In some previous automated PCR instruments, sample tubes are inserted into sample wells on a metal block. To perform the PCR process, the temperature of the metal block is cycled according to prescribed temperatures and times specified by the user in a PCR protocol file. The cycling is controlled by a computer and associated electronics. As the metal block changes temperature, the samples in the various tubes experience similar changes in temperature. However, in these previous instruments differences in sample temperature are generated by non-uniformity of temperature from place to place within the sample metal block. Temperature gradients exist within the material of the block, causing some samples to have different temperatures than others at particular times in the cycle. Further, there are delays in transferring heat from the sample block to the sample, and those delays differ across the sample block. These differences in temperature and delays in heat transfer cause the yield of the PCR process to differ from sample vial to sample vial. To perform the PCR process successfully and efficiently and to enable so-called quantitative PCR, these time delays and temperature errors must be minimized to the greatest extent possible. The problems of minimizing non-uniformity in temperature at various points on the sample block, and time required for and delays in heat transfer to and from the sample become particularly acute when the size of the region containing samples becomes large as in the standard 8 by 12 microtiter plate.        Another problem with current automated PCR instruments is accurately predicting the actual temperature of the reaction mixture during temperature cycling. Because the chemical reaction or the mixture has an optimum temperature for each of its stages, achieving that actual temperature is critical for good analytical results. Actual measurement of the temperature of the mixture in each vial is impractical because of the small volume of each vial and the large number of vials."
United States Published Patent No. 2005/0252773 for a thermal reaction device and method for using the same includes the following state of technology information:                "Devices with the ability to conduct nucleic acid amplifications would have diverse utilities. For example, such devices could be used as an analytical tool to determine whether a particular target nucleic acid of interest is present or absent in a sample. Thus, the devices could be utilized to test for the presence of particular pathogens (e.g., viruses, bacteria or fungi), and for identification purposes (e.g., paternity and forensic applications). Such devices could also be utilized to detect or characterize specific nucleic acids previously correlated with particular diseases or genetic disorders. When used as analytical tools, the devices could also be utilized to conduct genotyping analyses and gene expression analyses (e.g., differential gene expression studies). Alternatively, the devices can be used in a preparative fashion to amplify sufficient nucleic acid for further analysis such as sequencing of amplified product, cell-typing, DNA fingerprinting and the like. Amplified products can also be used in various genetic engineering applications, such as insertion into a vector that can then be used to transform cells for the production of a desired protein product."
United States Published Patent No. 2008/0166793 by Neil Reginald Beer for sorting, amplification, detection, and identification of nucleic acid subsequences in a complex mixture provides the following state of technology information:                "A complex environmental or clinical sample 201 is prepared using known physical (ultracentrifugation, filtering, diffusion separation, electrophoresis, cytometry etc.), chemical (pH), and biological (selective enzymatic degradation) techniques to extract and separate target nucleic acids or intact individual particles 205 (e.g., virus particles) from background (i.e., intra- and extra-cellular RNA/DNA from host cells, pollen, dust, etc.). This sample, containing relatively purified nucleic acid or particles containing nucleic acids (e.g., viruses), can be split into multiple parallel channels and mixed with appropriate reagents required for reverse transcription and subsequent PCR (primers/probes/dNTPs/enzymes/buffer). Each of these mixes are then introduced into the system in such a way that statistically no more than a single RNA/DNA is present in any given microreactor. For example, a sample containing 106 target RNA/DNA would require millions of microreactors to ensure single RNA/DNA distribution.        An amplifier 207 provides Nucleic Acid Amplification. This may be accomplished by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) process, an exponential process whereby the amount of target DNA is doubled through each reaction cycle utilizing a polymerase enzyme, excess nucleic acid bases, primers, catalysts (MgCl2), etc. The reaction is powered by cycling the temperature from an annealing temperature whereby the primers bind to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) through an extension temperature whereby the polymerase extends from the primer, adding nucleic acid bases until the complement strand is complete, to the melt temperature whereby the newly-created double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) is denatured into 2 separate strands. Returning the reaction mixture to the annealing temperature causes the primers to attach to the exposed strands, and the next cycle begins.        The heat addition and subtraction powering the PCR chemistry on the amplifier device 207 is described by the relation:Q=hA(Twall−T∞)        The amplifier 207 amplifies the organisms 206. The-nucleic acids 208 have been released from the organisms 206 and the nucleic acids 208 are amplified using the amplifier 207. For example, the amplifier 207 can be a thermocycler. The nucleic acids 208 can be amplified in-line before arraying them. As amplification occurs, detection of fluorescence-labeled TaqMan type probes occurs if desired. Following amplification, the system does not need decontamination due to the isolation of the chemical reactants."
U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,037 for a Peltier-effect heat pump provides the following state of technology information:                "The Peltier-effect has been used heretofore in heat pumps for the heating or cooling of areas and substances in which fluid-refrigeration cycles are disadvantageous. For example, for small lightweight refrigerators, compressors, evaporators and associated components of a vapor/liquid refrigerating cycle may be inconvenient and it has, therefore, been proposed to use the heat pump action of a Peltier pile. The Peltier effect may be described as a thermoelectric phenomenon whereby heat is generated or abstracted at the junction of dissimilar metals or other conductors upon application of an electric current. For the most part, a large number of junctions is required for a pronounced thermal effect and, consequently, the Peltier junctions form a pile or battery to which a source of electrical energy may be connected. The Peltier conductors and their junctions may lie in parallel or in series-parallel configurations and may have substantially any shape. For example, a Peltier battery or pile may be elongated or may form a planar or three-dimensional (cubic or cylindrical) array. When the Peltier effect is used in a heat pump, the Peltier battery or pile is associated with a heat sink or heat exchange jacket to which heat transfer is promoted, the heat exchanger being provided with ribs, channels or the like to facilitate heat transfer to or from the Peltier pile over a large surface area of high thermal conductivity. A jacket of aluminum or other metal of high thermal conductivity may serve for this purpose."
International Patent Application No. WO2008070198 by California Institute of Technology published Jun. 12, 2008 entitled "thermal cycling system" provides the following state of technology information:                "Invented in 1983 by Kary Mullis, PCR is recognized as one of the most important scientific developments of the twentieth century. PCR has revolutionized molecular biology through vastly extending the capability to identify and reproduce genetic materials such as DNA. Nowadays PCR is routinely practiced in medical and biological research laboratories for a variety of tasks, such as the detection of hereditary diseases, the identification of genetic fingerprints, the diagnosis of infectious diseases, the cloning of genes, paternity testing, and DNA computing. The method has been automated through the use of thermal stable DNA polymerases and a machine commonly referred to as "thermal cycler."        The conventional thermal cycler has several intrinsic limitations. Typically a conventional thermal cycler contains a metal heating block to carry out the thermal cycling of reaction samples. Because the instrument has a large thermal mass and the sample vessels have low heat conductivity, cycling the required levels of temperature is inefficient. The ramp time of the conventional thermal cycler is generally not rapid enough and inevitably results in undesired non-specific amplification of the target sequences. The suboptimal performance of a conventional thermal cycler is also due to the lack of thermal uniformity widely acknowledged in the art. Furthermore, the conventional real-time thermal cycler system carries optical detection components that are bulky and expensive. Mitsuhashi et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,255) discloses a liquid metal PCR thermal cycler.        There thus remains a considerable need for an alternative thermal cycler design. A desirable device would allow (a) rapid and uniform transfer of heat to effect a more specific amplification reaction of nucleic acids; and/or (b) real-time monitoring of the progress of the amplification reaction in real time. The present invention satisfies these needs and provides related advantages as well.        In one embodiment, a thermal cycler body (101; 151) comprises a fan (103; 153) and a removable heat block assembly, or swap block (105; 155) (FIG. 1). The swap block (105; 155) is inserted into and removed from the thermal cycler body (103; 153) by optionally sliding the swap heat block on sliding rails (113;163). After the swap block (105; 155) is inserted into the thermal cycler body (103; 153) the door of the thermal cycler (115;165) may be closed. The swap heat block (105; 155) comprises a liquid composition container (111; 161) and a heat sink (107;157) and optionally capped samples (109;159). In one embodiment the swap heat block (FIG. 2) comprises a receptacle with wells that seals the in the liquid composition so that the sample vessels do not contact the liquid (metal, metal alloy or metal slurry). In another embodiment the swap block (105; 155) comprises a receptacle barrier with wells (307;407) that is sealed to a liquid composition container housing (311;411), wherein the seal is liquid tight and may optionally comprise a gasket (309;409), (FIGS. 3 and 4). Further, the liquid composition container housing (311;411) is sealed to a base plate (313;413), which may be a metal plate (such as copper or aluminum), wherein the seal is liquid tight and may optionally comprise a gasket (312;412). The base plate (313;413) is in turn thermally coupled to a Peltier element (315;415), heats and cools the liquid composition and is in turn coupled to a heat sink (417). Optionally, a heat spreader (such as a copper, aluminum, or other metal or metal alloy that has high thermal conductivity) is sandwiched between the base plate (313;413) and the Peltier element (315;415). In some embodiments the swap block (105; 155) is held together by fasteners, such as screws (301;401). In one embodiment the swap block comprises a first piece, such as a receptacle with 48 wells (307;407), that is occupied by a second piece, such as a sample vessel, including but not limited to a sample plate (305;405), a single sample vessel or a strip of sample vessels, into which a third piece, such as a transparent cap plate (303;403), a single cap or strip of caps is inserted In one embodiment the a transparent cap plate (303;403), a single cap or strip of caps optionally comprises an extrusion, such as a light guide."

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Rapid microfluidic thermal cycler for nucleic acid amplification

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC

The Regents of the University of California


A method and system for controlling shift in an automatic transmission that can establish a plurality of gear ratios by selectively supplying a hydraulic pressure for a plurality of frictional engaging elements. The shift control system for the automatic transmission includes a device for selecting either an automatic shifting mode, in which predetermined gear ratios are established depending upon a vehicle driving condition, or a manual shifting mode, in which predetermined gear ratios are established by manual operation; a learning control unit for optimizing hydraulic pressure for the frictional engaging elements on the basis of an actual shifting condition; a learning control inhibiting unit for inhibiting learning control by the learning control unit when the manual shifting mode is selected; and a learning control inhibiting release unit that enables learning control by the learning control unit and disables inhibition of learning control by the learning control inhibiting unit when a shifting operation in the manual shifting mode is taken place under a vehicle driving condition falling within a predetermined zone. The invention prevents increasing of shift shock in the manual shifting mode without using RAM having large capacity.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shift controlling method for an automatic transmission and a system therefor.
In an automatic transmission which can establish a plurality of gear ratios by selectively supply hydraulic pressure to a plurality of friction engagement elements, there has been known the automatic transmission, in which either an automatic shifting mode to automatically establish a predetermined gear ratio from a preliminarily set map of shifting range on the basis of a vehicle driving condition, such as an engine load represented by a throttle opening, and a vehicle speed, or a manual shifting mode, in which the driver establishes a desired gear ratio by manual operation, can be selected.
In order to prevent shift shock from increasing due to fluctuation of shifting performance of respective individual automatic transmissions due to tolerance in spool valves, springs and so on, for selectively supplying a hydraulic pressure to the friction engagement elements, or secular change of the friction engagement elements, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-92863 (1988) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 1-169164 (1989) disclose system which performs learning control so that an actual shifting period converges to a targeted shifting period to from initiation of shifting to completion of shifting. In the learning control of the shifting period, the target sifting period and the actual shifting period are compared to correct a hydraulic pressure value preliminarily stored in a map or the like to output the corrected hydraulic pressure upon next shifting so as to converge the actual shifting period to the target shifting period.
When the learning control of the shifting period is performed in the automatic shifting mode, since the vehicle driving conditions to cause shifting operation are determined univocally, required storage capacity of RAM to be used for storing the content of learning is relatively small. However, when learning control of the shifting period is attempted during manual shifting mode, huge amount of storage capacity is required for RAM to be used since shifting operation tends to be performed in arbitrary vehicle driving condition and all vehicle driving conditions where the manual shifting operation is taken place. Furthermore, control logic becomes too complicate.
In order to avoid such problem, in the conventional shift control system for an automatic transmission, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 5-332437 (1993), learning control of the shifting period is inhibited while manual shifting mode is selected to simplify control logic to permit use of RAM having small storage capacity.
In case of the conventional shift control system of the automatic transmission disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 5-332437, if automatic shifting mode is rarely selected and manual shifting mode is continuously used for a long period, learning control of the shifting period is substantially not performed. As a result, it becomes impossible to prevent increasing of shift shock or degradation of durability of the frictional engaging elements.
The foregoing problem will not be happened when a proportion of driving of the vehicle in the automatic shifting mode is sufficiently large and when manual shifting mode is selected for a short period.

Shift control method for automatic transmission and system therefor


A high performance radio frequency receiver includes a low noise amplifier with large binary and stepped gain control range, controlled impedance, and enhanced blocker immunity, for amplifying and converting a radio frequency signal to a current; a pulse generator for generating in-phase and quadrature pulses; a crossover correction circuit and pulse shaper for controlling a crossover threshold of the pulses and interaction between in-phase and quadrature mixers; and a double balanced mixer for combining the RF signal with the pulses to generate an intermediate frequency or baseband zero intermediate frequency current-mode signal. The in-phase and quadrature pulses have a duty cycle of 20-35%. The intermediate frequency signal and second order harmonics may be filtered with a high frequency low pass filter and a current injected complex direct-coupled filter. Decreased die size, current drain, cost, and complexity, as well as improvements in gain, 1/f noise, noise figure, sensitivity, and linearity may result.

1. Field
The present embodiments relate generally to communications, and more specifically, to radio frequency receivers in communications.
2. Related Art
Radio frequency (RF) receivers used in modern communication systems may support multiple modes and networks, such as 3G wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and 2G Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) using time division multiple access (TDMA). A received RF signal in a certain mode may be translated into a specified frequency band and processed to retrieve the information contained in the RF signal. For example, an RF receiver may amplify, filter, and mix an analog received RF signal into in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signals that may be converted into digital signals for further processing.
The multiple modes may utilize the same RF receiver architecture but have different frequency ranges and linearity, noise figure, and sensitivity requirements. Noise figure is a measure of degradation of a signal to noise ratio caused by components in the RF receiver. In particular, a WCDMA system has full duplex functionality where separate receive and transmit signals may be active simultaneously. A higher power transmitted signal may leak into the receive signal in such a system. To relax linearity and noise requirements due to the transmit signal leakage, a conventional WCDMA system may include a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter prior to a mixer and downstream processing stages. In addition, a conventional WCDMA system may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) to meet sensitivity, noise figure, and gain control requirements. Using a SAW filter, LNA, amplifiers, and other components may result in increased die size, current drain, cost, and complexity, and reduced performance of an RF receiver.
A mixer may combine the received RF signal with the I and Q pulses. The I and Q pulses may be generated by a pulse generator based on a periodic signal from a local oscillator. The pulse generator in a conventional RF receiver may generate pulses with a 150% duty cycle, including I pulses 0 and 180 degrees out of phase from the periodic signal, and Q pulses 90 and 270 degrees out of phase from the periodic signal. The I and Q pulses may control switches in the mixer to combine the received RF signal with the I and Q pulses. The switches may not be on at the same time if the rise and fall times of the I and Q pulses are ideal. However, if the 50% duty cycle I and Q pulses have non-ideal rise and fall times, the switches in the mixer may be partially on when an amplitude of the I and/or Q pulse is above a crossover threshold, resulting in degraded performance and increased current drain.
Large transmit signal leakages may also affect the gate voltage bias of a mixer, leading to degraded noise figure, 1/f noise, gain, and second order input intercept point (IIP2). Moreover, a conventional RF receiver including operational amplifiers and voltage mode mixers may have poor IIP2 and third order input intercept point (IIP3). A conventional RF receiver may also include transimpedance amplifiers that may have a pole in the modulation bandwidth. Such transimpedance amplifiers may increase current drain, integrated noise, and die area.

High performance CMOS radio frequency receiver


An electrical connector assembly having a front and a back side has an electrically insulating connector housing having a front side and a back side and at least one aperture extending from the front side to the back side, an electrically conductive unitary spring clip connector extending from the front side of the housing through the aperture to the back side of the housing, the spring clip connector having a connecting terminal on one end and a resiliently deflectable spring contact on the other end and an insulating retention plate to retain the spring clip connector in the housing, the retention plate being fastened to and on the back side of the connector housing and having at least one aperture therein with the connecting terminal on one end of the spring clip connector extending therethrough.

The present invention relates to electrical connectors and in particular to a versatile simple inexpensive reliable electrical interface which enables electrical contact in two directions perpendicular to each other.
There are many machines in use today wherein a functional module is inserted and withdrawn from the main machine frame. For example, in electrostatographic printing apparatus it is common to have various of the subsystems in the imaging machine be removably mounted in the machine. Accordingly, the individual modules such as, for example, a developer housing or a cleaner housing may be mounted such that it is removably inserted in the machine and can be withdrawn for replenishment, repair, etc. In such applications, typically the developer housing, for example, has to be positioned very close to, if not in contact with the photoreceptor to enable adequate development of the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor. To minimize damage to the delicate photoreceptor, the developer module is inserted on a track or rail type of arrangement which spaces it slightly from the photoreceptor until it reaches its end position where it is moved into developing engagement with the photoreceptor by being moved in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction into the main machine. Upon insertion, electrical contact between the developer housing, for example, and the main machine must be made to provide operational power to the developer housing as well as signal level control.
It has previously been proposed to provide an electrical connector assembly attached to a module, such as a developer housing, at one end which contacts an electrical power source on the main machine through the use of a spring clip contact in a plastic housing. While the one end of the electrical connector may take the form of a spring clip having a large contact area, typically the other end of the electrical connector is connected to a wire on the module or developer housing by means of a screw, weld or other type of physical connector. In addition, typically the wires connected to such a connector come out the sides of the connectors assembly which constrains the positioning of the connector assembly to the module and more importantly, if the connections are made on both sides of the connector housing, one of the connections must be substantially modified to enable the spring clips to face in the same direction to enable the lateral positioning. Typically, this geometry then requires additional parts and manufacturing operations to provide such a connector.


A system and method for transmitting data over a channel, in which the data are categorized in at least two different categories. For example, the data are categorized according to the effect on perceived degradation on the data when error mitigation is performed on the data. Corrupted data of the first category are replaced using a first replacement method, such as retransmission and forward error correction. The corrupted data of the second category are replaced using a second replacement method different from the first replacement method, e.g., error mitigation or interpolation.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to transmission of data streams with time- or spatially dependent correlations, such as speech, audio, image, handwriting, or video data, across a lossy channel or media. More particularly, the present invention relates to the transmission of packets of multimedia data over a lossy channel.
2. Description of Related Art
When packets, or frames, of data are transmitted over a communication channel, for example, a wireless link, the Internet, or radio broadcast, some data packets may be corrupted, i.e., modified by the channel delayed so that they are not available when needed or altogether lost. Currently, when a data packet is corrupted, an error correction algorithm can be employed to provide replacement data to an output device in place of the corrupted data. Such error handling algorithms are particularly useful when the data packets are processed in real-time, since an output device will continue to output a signal, for example to loudspeakers in the case of audio, or video monitor in the case of video. The correction algorithm employed may be trivial, for example, repeating the last output sample or last output data packet or frame in place of the lost sample or packet or frame. Alternatively, the algorithm may be more complex, or non-trivial.
Three generally employed non-trivial techniques for providing replacement data are retransmission (RETX), error mitigation (EM) and forward error correction (FEC). Retransmission can be either automatic, i.e., built into the communication protocol, as with the transmission control protocol (TCP), or optional as in user datagram protocol (UDP). In the latter case, the decision to request a retransmission is left to the receiver.
Error mitigation relates to techniques for replacing corrupted data with interpolated data. In the case of audio signals, a trivial approach to mitigating errors has been to set all input bits to zero in an indicated corrupted sequence. This approach mutes the entire signal for the duration of the corrupted sequence since silence is preferable to loud pops and clicks. In the case of image signals, a number of image processing methods are known for interpolating the corrupted pixels. Error mitigation is sometimes known as error concealment.
Forward error correction is a set of redundancy techniques used to increase the probability that enough data will reach the receiver that the receiver will be able to re-construct the information data stream faithfully. Forward error correction, more particularly, relates to an error correction scheme using redundant codes that permits errors to be detected and corrected without requesting a retransmission from the transmitter. Several forward error correction codes are well known in the art, including block codes such as Hamming codes or Reed Solomon codes, and non-block codes such as convolutional codes.
It is well known that it is important to protect certain control bits, for example of an audio stream, such as the bits relating to volume control. This can be done by applying a higher rate of redundancy to control data than is used for other data in the same audio stream. This modulation of the level of protection depends on the importance and position of the specifically protected bits in the stream, and is known as unequal error protection.
A considerable amount of work has gone into techniques for dealing with packet corruption during multicast transmission. However, although various techniques have been used, each of these techniques requires additional bandwidth. Accordingly, there exists a need for providing the capability of reducing the amount of additional bandwidth required to communicate data streams over lossy channels while maintaining acceptable levels of degradation.

System and methods for transmitting data


This invention relates to demountable conduction cooled current leads for refrigerated superconducting magnets. Such structures of this type generally either allow the warm section of the current lead to be thermally demounted from the magnet after the magnet is powered or both the cold and warm sections of the current leads to be thermally demounted from the magnet after the magnet is powered. In this manner, the heat load placed upon the cryocooler is signficantly reduced when the magnet is powered.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to demountable conduction cooled current leads for refrigerated superconducting magents. Such structures of this type generally either allow the warm section of the current lead to be thermally demounted from the magnet after the magnet is powered and placed in persistent mode or both the cold and warm sections of the current leads to be thermally demounted from the magnet after the magnet is powered and placed in persistent mode. In this manner, the head load placed upon the cryocooler is significantly reduced relative to that with the leads connected after the magnet is powered and placed in persistent mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
The implementation of refrigerated magnet technology has the potential to revolutionize superconducting magnet design. Simplification of the cryostat by elimination of the liquid helium vessel and one thermal radiation shield, typically found in a conventional superconducting magnet as well as the elimination of helium refilling or liquefaction, are great advantages of this technology.
One limitation of the technology is the cooling capacity of the cryogenic refrigerator or cryocooler, which is used to cool the magnet cartridge and the thermal shield. Since the temperatures of the cryocooler's first and second stages are, usually, inversely proportional to the heat inputs thereto, it is necessary to maintain those heat inputs below the level at which the magnet and shield temperatures are within their operating ranges. For typically commercially available cryocoolers of the 5 kW size which is optimal for application to an MRI imaging magnet, the first and second stage temperatures vs. heat load may be represented by FIG. 1.
Since the heat loads for a typical magnet of the size required for an MRI scanner are about 33 W at the first stage and 2 W at the second, the shield and magnet operating temperatures are about 40 and 11.5K, respectively. Of these loads, the majority of the second stage load, and about half of the first stage load, can come from the conduction cooled leads. Such leads are required to power the main field windings because of the lack of any boil off helium vapor to cool them. Tables 1-4 below show typical heat loads for a 0.5 Tesla magnet and for a design with the gradient coils integrated into the cryostat as set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/757,337. As can be seen, the leads represent a significant portion of the total heat leak, especially at the second stage. T1 TABLE 1-First stage heat inputs for 0.5 Tesla refrigerated magnet? -Radiation 14.3 -Residual gas cond. 1.6 -Conduction 4.4 -Leads 13.2 -Total 33.5 -
TABLE 2 ______________________________________ Second stage heat inputs for 0.5 Tesla refrigerated magnet ______________________________________ Radiation 0.044 Residual gas cond. 0.022 Conduction 0.13 Leads 2.0 Total 2.2 ______________________________________
TABLE 3 ______________________________________ First stage heat inputs for magnet with integrated gradient ______________________________________ coil Radiation 8.0 Residual gas cond. 0.8 Conduction 6.1 Leads 22.5 Generation 26.5 Total 63.9 ______________________________________
TABLE 4 ______________________________________ Second stage heat inputs for magnet with integrated gradient ______________________________________ coil Radiation 0.044 Residual gas cond. 0.022 Conduction 0.13 Leads 2.0 Total 2.2 ______________________________________
While the shield temperature of 40K for the typical magnet is within an acceptable range, the magnet temperature of 11.5K is unsuitable for certain applications because of the limited temperature range of the noibium tin superconducting material usually employed in the field windings. Particularly, magnets which must produce a relatively high field in the bore (>1 T) have a concomitantly high field in the windings (>3 T). The need for some temperature margin, i,e. an operating temperature below the critical temperature, results in an unacceptably low current in a winding at 3 T. By allowing the magnet to operate at a temperature close to its critical value only during the ramping phase of its operation, when the lead heat leak is unavoidable, demountable leads allow a resonable temperature margin during steady state operation.
Another attractive design which is improved by this technology is the placement of the gradient coils inside of the vacuum vessel, so that they operate at the thermal shield temperature of about 40-50 K, generates much less than they would at room temperature, and make the complete magnet/gradient coil package much smaller. In this case, however, the additional head load at the cryocooler first stage from the gradient coil leads and the heat generated in the gradient coils during image sequences results in an unacceptably high first stage temperature or the need for a larger capacity cryocooler. This situation is avoided by use of demountable warm leads, which eliminates 13 of the 22 W of lead heating (the balance being the gradient coil leads, which must remain connected during operation).
The two designs described above are possible if the heat input represented by the conduction cooled leads can be eliminated during routine operation (i.e. after the magnet is ramped up) by the use of such demountable leads. For the high field magnets, the second stage main coil leads would have to be demountable, while for the gradient coil integrated magnet, the first stage leads would have to be demountable. Ideally, both would be designed to be demounted.
Fortunately, MR magnets are typically designed to be operated in a persistent mode, i.e. with a superconducting switch in parallel with the main windings which is heated to a temperature which causes it to be resistive during magnet ramping, and then allowing to cool to a superconducting temperature. The main winding current then flows in a persistent loop through the main windings and the switch, and the current leads may be demounted until the magnet must be depowered. This demountable lead technology is in common use on helium cooled magents.
The realization of a demountable conduction cooled lead is complicated somewhat by the requirement that the cryocooler cold head, which must be thermally attached to the magnet and thermal shield to remove the heat, must at the same time be mechanically decoupled from the magnet and thermal shield. This requirement stems from the vibration induced "motion artifacts" which will appear in images produced by a magnet if it is vibrating during a scan.
Another issue which must be addressed is that if the cryocooler is sized to maintain the magnet and/or thermal shield at the design temperature without the lead heat input(s), the effect of these heat input(s) during magnet ramping must be addressed. Typically, the thermal mass of the magnet cartridge and the thermal shield are sufficient to limit their temperature rises to acceptable levels during ramps of reasonable duration.
It is apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for a current lead for a refrigerated superconducting magnet which eliminates the use of a liquid helium vessel, and which can be thermally decoupled from the first and possibly also the second stage of the cryocooler once the magnet has been placed in persistent mode. It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill this and other needs in the art in a manner more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.

Demountable conduction cooled current leads for refrigerated superconducting magnets


A document retrieval system where a user can enter a query, including a natural language query, in a desired one of a plurality of supported languages, and retrieve documents from a database that includes documents in at least one other language of the plurality of supported languages. The user need not have any knowledge of the other languages. Each document in the database is subjected to a set of processing steps to generate a language-independent conceptual representation of the subject content of the document. This is normally done before the query is entered. The query is also subjected to a (possibly different) set of processing steps to generate a language-independent conceptual representation of the subject content of the query. The documents and queries can also be subjected to additional analysis to provide additional term-based representations, such as the extraction of information-rich terms and phrases (such as proper nouns). Documents are matched to queries based on the conceptual-level contents of the document and query, and, optionally, on the basis of the term-based representation. The query's representation is then compared to each document's representation to generate a measure of relevance of the document to the query.

The present invention relates generally to computerized information retrieval, and more specifically to multilingual document retrieval.
A global information economy requires an information utility capable of searching across multiple languages simultaneously and seamlessly. However, when a scientist, patent attorney or patent examiner, student, or any information seeker conducts an electronic search for documents, that search is usually limited to texts in the searcher's native tongue, even though highly relevant information may be freely available in a foreign language. Searching for information across multiple languages invariably proves daunting and expensive, or fruitless and inefficient, and is therefore rarely done.
Patent searching is but one example where limitations of language pose significant obstacles. In prior art terms, all languages are created equal. As a practical matter, a patent examiner in a given country tends to have the most meaningful access to documents in that country's language. Since the most pertinent prior art may be in a different language, patent examiners are often prevented from carrying out an effective examination of patent applications.
The conventional approach to multilingual retrieval is to translate all texts into one common language, then perform monolingual indexing and retrieval. Such systems have several disadvantages. First, the machine translation process, although fully-automated, is often time-consuming and expensive. It is also highly inefficient, since all documents must be translated even though only a small fraction of documents will be relevant to any given query.
Second, the process of translation inevitably introduces errors and ambiguities into the translated document, making subsequent indexing and retrieval troublesome. For example, translation systems perform poorly with specialized discourse (medicine, law, etc.), and are often unable to disambiguate polysemous words (those words with multiple meanings) correctly.

Multilingual document retrieval system and method using semantic vector matching