A disposable lid for mounting upon the substantially circular lip of a personal beverage container and a method for making the same, the lid having an annular mounting portion for anchoring upon the circular cup lip; a top plate portion coupled to the annular mounting portion; a drink-through opening within the top plate portion and adjacent to an outer portion thereof adjacent to the annular mounting portion and enabling drinking from the cup without removal of the lid and permitting the lips of a user drinking from the cup to substantially encompass the drink-through opening, the drink-through opening further including a liquid permeable membrane formed of a first plurality of perforations; and a vent opening within the top plate portion spaced away from the drink-through opening, the vent opening further including an air permeable membrane formed of a second plurality of perforations.

Disposable splash resistant cup lids with a drink-through opening that affix to disposable beverage cups of both dome and non-dome types are generally well-known for a wide variety of carry-out hot and cold beverages. U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,880, Splash Resistant Cup Lid, to Horner, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, discloses a splash resistant cup lid designed to prevent spills and splashes caused by beverage sloshing. Horner recognizes the dynamics of sloshing liquids and the benefit of vertical drink-through openings. Horner describes a lid having an opening that comes generally sealed by means of a raised canopy with drink-through slits that remain closed until the canopy is depressed into the lid causing the slits to open and becoming somewhat vertically positioned. Horner teaches that sloshed liquids have a vertical component to their motion with respect to the cup lid, and by creating vertical rather than horizontal drinking openings, much of the fluid will be deflected back into the cup.
In the alternative, the many benefits of dome lids have been described in detail within prior art and are well-known to the general public.
Generally, disposable dome lids are designed to grip and seal upon an outwardly projecting peripheral bead formed for this purpose around a lip of disposable cups. Two methods for attaching disposable dome lids to cups have been described in prior art and are believed to be commonly used in practice. One method provides an annular outwardly projecting groove that snaps into place when pushed over the peripheral bead around the lip of the cup. The annular groove is formed in an annular apron adjacent to a base of the lid. Because of the flexibility of the plastic material used in the manufacture of disposable lids, the annular apron containing the groove is able to momentarily expand while sliding over the bead surrounding the lip of the cup. When in place the annular groove grips the annular bead thereby holding and sealing the lid to the cup. Rather than having an outwardly projecting groove, many disposable dome lids employ a second method of attachment having an inverted annular groove surrounding the lid's base and forming what is referred to as a "plug fit". When attached, the lip of the cup extends into the inverted groove which applies pressure not only to the cup lip's outer edge but to the inner edge as well. The plug fit method, by applying pressure to both sides of the cup's edge, eliminates the possibility of the cup's lip caving inward causing the seal to break. For this reason, the plug fit can be applied to less expensive cups having a weaker sidewall.
As discussed by Cleveland Benedict Crudgington, Jr. in published United States Patent Application 20050173443, Disposable Drinking Cup Lid, filed Jan. 31, 2005, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, regardless of the means for attaching to a cup, disposable drink-through dome lids presented in prior art have been grouped into three distinct types: those that provide a comparatively larger drink-through opening by means of a tear-back flap; those that provide a small drink-through opening positioned within a reservoir having a sidewall that aligns with the user's mouth; and those that provide a drink-through opening by means of a small preformed usually elongated opening intended to be enclosed by the user's mouth during consumption.
Each of these three types of drink-through lids has inherent advantages and disadvantages. The fold or tear-back flap permits the beverage to be mostly sealed within the cup while being transported prior to consumption. Additionally, the beverage is consumed in a manner most similar to drinking from a conventional drinking cup. However, once the flap has been opened, the cup cannot be easily moved about without risk of spilling its contents. Since no provision is made for retaining the beverage that sloshes out through the opening, this type of disposable lid is not suitable for users wishing to consume their carry-out beverage while traveling. The second type of disposable drink-through lid addresses this problem by providing a reservoir which surrounds the drink-through opening. Beverage that sloshes out through the opening, is contained within the reservoir and eventually drains back into the cup. This feature arrests most spills that might otherwise occur while the cup is vertically placed within a moving vehicle. However, this lid is vulnerable to spills from the moment the beverage passes through the opening and prior to entering the user's mouth. Thus, if the user were to be jostled during that time, as when riding over a bump while sipping the beverage, the exposed contents would likely be ejected into the air resulting in a spill. For this reason, although this type of lid is improved for travel, neither are preferable for beverage consumption in a moving vehicle.
With many consumers on the go, carry-out beverages are more often than not intended to be consumed in moving vehicles. Disposable lids, of the kind that provide a seal between the user's mouth and the drink-through opening, have proven best suited for prevention of spills during consumption while traveling. This is based on the wide-spread acceptance of this type of lid used by take-out establishments. However, there are limitations with this type of drink-through dome lid, particularly in regard to consumption of beverages within moving vehicles. Of greatest concern is the safety to the user behind the steering wheel. Besides the annoyance of soiling one's clothes, the sudden distraction resulting from a spill could result in an automobile accident.
Dome lids that provide means for a seal between the user's mouth and the drink-through opening have a number of concerns, the most important being that the beverage is vulnerable to spilling out through the drink-through opening when a relatively full cup is being jostled about. A second smaller drain hole is typically placed within the deepest point of a recess provided for the user's upper lip directly behind the drink-through opening so that spilled liquid caught in the recess can drain back into the cup. Also, a third equally small hole is recommended to alleviate the vacuum left by the discharging liquid, but this third vent hole provides another source for accidental spillage. It should be noted that other patents in related art have described this type of dome lid as having another inherent detriment. They are referring to the need to suck the liquid through the small drink-through opening in order to obtain the desired volume of beverage. However, the widespread acceptance of this type of lid would suggest that the need to suck the beverage from the container is not viewed by the user as an irritant nor a detriment.
Published United States Patent Application 20050173443, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, also provides a description of the prior art. Of the references described in published United States Patent Application 20050173443, Clements and Clarke provide certain basic teachings of the features of disposable drink-through dome lids most pertinent to the present invention, namely those having a drink-through opening that is intended to be fully enclosed by the user's mouth during consumption of the beverage contained therein.
As described in published United States Patent Application 20050173443, U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,569 to Clements, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, discloses a dome lid which is placed over the lip of a beverage cup, and which extends above the top of the cup so as to provide additional volume. A punched drinking hole is located in an elevated annular ridge formed at the top of the cup lid. Even though elevated above the cup's lip, the drink-through opening may not preclude spillage due to jostling of the cup. Two other openings are described by Clements, one for draining spilled liquid and another for venting purposes. The introduction of these openings as taught by Clements introduces additional opportunities for spillage. Clements further describes a recess behind the drink-through opening intended for accommodating the user's upper lip, thereby forming an annular ridge about the drink-through opening. This ridge is intended to be sealed by the user's upper and lower lips, yet Clements fails to address the means by which the user's upper and lower lips would best form a seal about the drink-through opening.
As described in published United States Patent Application 20050173443, U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,490 to Clarke, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, teaches a dome lid as taught by Clements with the introduction of a press-out tab formed outside the annular periphery of the lid during manufacturing. Clarke discloses means to prevent accidental spillage by providing a method to plug the drink-through opening during times that the beverage is not being consumed. While this teaching provides novel means for sealing the drink-through opening, the tab must be repeatedly engaged and disengaged with every sip. Additionally, the procedure cannot be easily accomplished without the use of both hands, namely one hand to hold the cup while the other operates the tab. Furthermore, the addition of a tab suspended to one side of the lid may prove annoying to the immobile user who has no need for this feature.
As described in published United States Patent Application 20050173443, U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,781, Disposable Dome Lid For Drinking Cups, to Van Melle, et al., which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, also provides basic teachings that have relevance to the present invention. As described in published United States Patent Application 20050173443, Van Melle discloses a dome lid with a raised volume-extending section and a drink-through spout above the upper surface of the volume-extending section. Van Melle attempts to overcome the disadvantages of prior art particularly in consideration of the accidental spillage of carry-out beverages in moving vehicles. Van Melle teaches spills due to sloshing are further reduced by elevating the drink-through opening above the volume-extending section. Van Melle teaches that a generally rounded spout is more adaptable to the natural shape of the user's lips, therefore enabling the user to generate a liquid-tight seal with less effort.
Thus, despite some improvements to drink-through lids, limitations still exist that result in spillage from sloshing and contact between the lid and the user's mouth. Other limitations include a proliferation of accidental spills. Prevention of vehicle accidents is of paramount importance and presents a safety concern for the carry-out industry. But particularly annoying is the more frequent occurrence of spills resulting in the soiling of business attire while commuting to work or the soiling of evening attire while riding to an important social outing.


A method and apparatus for recording and reading information in a recording medium comprising a thin film of an organic compound having polymorphisms. The free energy of each polymorphism is different with each other. Information is recorded in the recording medium by applying energy to the recording medium and transferring locally the polymorphism of the organic compound to another polymorphism of the organic compound. The amount of the energy corresponds to the difference in free energy between the polymorphisms. Information is read from the recording medium by optically discriminating between the optical absorption properties of the polymorphisms.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for recording and reading information, and an information recording element used in the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, various types of optical recording elements have been greatly developed. Typical examples of such optical recording elements are of the write once type and the rewritable type. These optical recording elements have a disk comprising a recording medium (typically in the form of a recording thin film) for recording information. It has been proposed to use various substances as a material for a recording thin film, for example, alloys such as TeC, SeTe, and TeOGeInPb, magnetic alloys such as GdTbFe(Co), cyanines, and naphtoquinone organic dyes. These optical recording media record information with a principle based on the magneto-optic effect, photoisomerization, phase transformation effect, etc. Each type of these optical recording media has an advantage.
When information is recorded in an optical recording element of the phase transformation type, a light beam such as a laser beam is used to irradiate a recording film formed in the element to transfer the state of a material consisting the recording film, i.e., from crystal to amorphous. This process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,441 in the name of Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. As a recording film used in this process or similar process, a tellurium-tin-selenium film, a tellurium oxide film, and a selenium-indium-antimony film have been developed. When manufacturing an optical recording element of the phase-change type, a substrate on which a suitable material is deposited is heated, and thereafter gradually cooled so that the state of the material is transferred from amorphous to crystal. Hence, the manufacturing process of an optical recording element of this type requires a prolonged period of time and rather complicated procedures.
An optical recording element of the write once type has a recording film made of an alloy. Information is recorded in the form of a series of pits or grooves which are formed in the recording film by irridiation with a laser beam. Therefore, this process requires a large amount of energy when information is recorded.
In a rewritable optical recording element, which has been put into a practical use, information is recorded and read out using the photomagnetic effect. When information is read out from the rewritable optical recording element, changes in the polarizing angle of material in the recording film which are caused by the Kerr effect are detected by a suitable detecting means. Such a detecting means must detect the changes with very high precision and stability because the Kerr rotational angle of a material is very small (usually, smaller than 1 degree). However, materials showing a larger Kerr effect and also having a smaller coersive force have not yet been developed.

Method and apparatus for recording and reading information, and an information recording element


A formulation free of protein which stabilizes pharmaceutical active proteins, peptides, or mixtures thereof in large scale production processes comprising a mixture of a hydrophilic polymer and a non-ionic detergent, and a mixture of a polyalcohol and a sugar. In some embodiments the polyalcohol is absent.

Protein formulations, which are free of stabilizing proteins are known in the art. WO 2006/020208 relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising Botulinum toxin and a non-proteinaceous stabilizing agent, which retains the activity of the Botulinum toxin in an aqueous solution.
WO 2006/005910 relates to solid or liquid pharmaceutical compositions comprising Botulinum toxin complex or high purity Botulinum toxin and a surfactant. A maximum of six months stability at 23° C. to 27° C. is reported therein.
WO 2007/041664 relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising a Botulinum toxin and a polyvinylpyrollidone (PVP) and optionally a disaccharide.
WO 2004/006954 relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising a stabilized Botulinum toxin and at least one enhancing agent for facilitating transdermal delivery of the Botulinum toxin into a human patient by enhancing the permeability of the patient's skin.
WO 01/58472 discloses a pharmaceutical composition suitable for injection into a human patient, comprising a Botulinum toxin and a polysaccharide. It also discloses a pharmaceutical composition comprising a neurotoxin and hydroxyethyl starch.
WO 2006/079722 relates to the use of liquid compositions for implementing the method of freeze-drying proteins, to stabilize said proteins, said compositions comprising; a filler agent having a collapse temperature between −18° C. and 0° C., a stabilizer, a buffer solution, and, as the case may be, a nonionic surfactant.
European application 09005470.1-1219 also relates to stable compositions free of HSA.
US 2007/122476 A1 (Hanshew Dwight D. JR. et al.), 31. May 2007, (2007 May 31) refers to a thyroid hormone (thyroxine) stabilized by a formulation comprising microcrystalline cellulose, mannitol, sucrose and lauryl sulfate as a detergent.
WO 2007/041664 (Allergan, Inc.), 12 Apr. 2007 (2007 Apr. 12), refers to a lyophilized formulation comprising Botulinum toxin, PVP, sucrose or mannitol and Poloxamer 188.
FR 2 881 139 (Agronomique Inst. Nat. Rech.), 28 Jul. 2006 (2006-07-28), refers to formulations comprising in one case protein, mannitol, PVP and TRIS HCI; in another case protein, glycine, PVP and TRIS HCI; and in a third case protein, maltodextrine, saccharose, Polysorbate 80 and TRIS HCI
The present invention, however, refers to certain formulations which result in even more stable formulations rendering them especially suitable when produced under large scale industrial production processes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Formulation suitable for stabilizing proteins, which is free of mammalian excipients


This invention is a method of determining set temperature trajectories for a heat treatment system that conducts a first heat treatment process and a second heat treatment process to an object to be processed. The method comprises the steps of: conducting the first heat treatment process to a first test object to be processed, by using a temporary first set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process produced on the first test object to be processed; and determining a first set temperature trajectory for the first heat treatment process by correcting the temporary first set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process. The method also comprises the steps of: conducting the second heat treatment process to a second test object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined first set temperature trajectory, by using a temporary second set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process produced on the second test object to be processed; and determining a second set temperature trajectory for the second heat treatment process by correcting the temporary second set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of determining a set temperature trajectory for a heat treatment system for conducting a heat-treating process, such as a film deposition process, to an object to be processed. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of determining a set temperature trajectory for a heat treatment system to enable the heat treatment system to form a film accurately.
2. Description of the Related Art
A heat treatment step for heat-treating a wafer to form a specific film thereon is one of essential processes for fabricating a semiconductor device or the like. The heat treatment step is carried out by a heat treatment system in a high-temperature environment of a comparatively high temperature in the range of about 750 to 900xc2x0 C. Chemical vapor deposition processes (CVD processes) and oxidation/diffusion processes are such heat treatment processes.
Generally, the heat treatment system is provided with a wafer holding device (called a wafer boat) for holding a plurality of wafers in a vertically layered (tier-like) arrangement, a tubular reaction tube for containing the wafer holding device therein, a plurality of heaters formed so as to surround the side wall of the reaction tube and arranged at axial intervals, a gas supply line for carrying reactant gases to the reaction tube, and an exhaust line through which gases are discharged from the reaction tube.
Power is supplied at a predetermined rate to the heaters to maintain the wafers at a temperature suitable for film formation. It is practically impossible to measure the temperatures of the wafers during a film forming process. Therefore, usually, the measured temperature of a part other than the wafers is used for controlling the process temperature.
The control of the respective outputs of the heaters is essential to accurately achieving a heat treatment process, such as a process for depositing a film on wafers. A film deposition process will be described as an example of such a heat treatment process.
The thickness and quality of a film deposited on a wafer deviate from set values when the temperature of the wafer differs even slightly from a set wafer temperature. For example, in a certain film deposition process, a temperature difference of 1xc2x0 C. of the temperature of a wafer from a set wafer temperature causes a thickness difference of 0.1 nm of the thickness of a film from a set thickness. If the thickness of a film is in the range of several nanometers to several tens nanometers, the temperature of the wafer must be controlled in an accuracy of several degrees centigrade when the set temperature of the wafer is several hundreds degrees centigrade.
The distribution of the concentration of the reactant gas in the reaction tube is not uniform when the reactant gas flows in a constant flow from the gas supply side toward the gas discharge side of the reaction tube. If the temperatures of different zones in the reaction tube are controlled in the same way while the distribution of the concentration of the reactant gas in the reaction tube is not uniform, films respectively having different thicknesses are deposited on different wafers, respectively. Therefore, different set temperatures are set for the plurality of heaters arranged in the direction of arrangement of the plurality of wafers, respectively, and the respective temperatures of the plurality of heaters are controlled individually.
Optimum set temperatures must be determined for zones in the reaction tube respectively corresponding to the plurality of heaters through the repetition of correction of forming a film of a thickness in an allowable thickness range, in order to deposit films having accurate and uniform thicknesses on the wafers in the reaction tube.
An optimum set temperature can be determined by, for example, a method including the steps of placing a plurality of test wafers in the reaction tube, depositing films on the wafers at a set temperature, measuring the thicknesses of the deposited films by means of a measurement instrument, adjusting a set temperature condition in the reaction tube corresponding to the outputs of the plurality of heaters on the basis of the differences of the measured thicknesses from a desired thickness, and depositing films on test wafers under the adjusted set temperature condition. These steps are repeated until the differences of the measured thicknesses of the films from the desired thickness are reduced below a predetermined level. The set temperature condition thus determined is used as a set temperature condition in the reaction tube corresponding to the outputs of the plurality of heaters.
In some cases, films of different types are deposited in layers by film deposition processes when fabricating a semiconductor device. In such a case, optimum set temperature condition in the reaction tube corresponding to the outputs of the plurality of heaters is determined for each of the film deposition processes.
Suppose, for example, that a first film is deposited on a wafer and then a second film is deposited on the first film. An optimum set temperature condition in the reaction tube corresponding to the outputs of the plurality of heaters is determined by the aforesaid method for a first film deposition process for forming the first film. Then, an optimum set temperature condition in the reaction tube corresponding to the outputs of the plurality of heaters for a second film deposition process for forming the second film is determined by the aforesaid method using the wafers on which the first films are deposited under the optimum temperature condition as determined above. Thus, the optimum set temperature conditions are determined individually for the films to be deposited on the wafers.
However, in some cases, the semiconductor device fabricating process needs to continuously form the first film and the second film. When forming the first film and the second film continuously, the first film is deposited on wafers loaded to a heat treatment system, and then the second film is deposited on the first film without unloading the wafers from the heat treatment system after the first film has been deposited.
When the first film and the second film are thus formed continuously, only data on the result of film deposition on the wafer on which both the first and the second film are formed can be measured by a measuring instrument, and hence the foregoing method that determines optimum set temperature conditions individually for the first and the second film cannot be used.
There are two different cases of measuring data on the result of the deposition of the first and the second film. In a first case, such as a case where both the first and the second film are nitride films, the respective thicknesses of the first film and the second film cannot be individually measured and only the sum of the respective thicknesses of the first and the second film can be measured. In a second case, such as a case where the first film is an oxide film and the second film is a nitride film, the respective thicknesses of the first and the second film can be individually measured.
In the first case, an optimum set temperature condition can be determined for the film deposition process for depositing either the first or the second film. In this case, the sum of the respective thicknesses of the first and the second film can be managed, but the respective thicknesses of the first and the second film cannot be individually managed. In addition, optimum set temperature conditions may be determined for the film deposition processes respectively for depositing the first and the second film by properly dividing data on the result of film deposition. However, practically, it is unknown whether the division (assignment) is proper. Consequently, such a film thickness management is unable to achieve the film thickness management for the individual films.
In the second case, the optimum set temperature conditions for the film forming processes for forming the first and the second film must be determined in proper order. For example, if an optimum set temperature for the film deposition process for depositing the second film is determined after forming the first and the second film, and then an optimum set temperature condition for the film deposition process for depositing the first film is determined, it is possible that the determination of the optimum set temperature condition for the film deposition process for depositing the first film affect the optimum set temperature condition for the process for depositing the second film. Thus, the optimum set temperature condition for the film deposition process for depositing the second film must be readjusted. In this case, efficient determination of the optimum set temperature conditions is difficult.
Although the film deposition process has been described as an example of the heat treatment process, the foregoing problems reside generally in heat treatment processes which are carried out by heat treatment systems.
The present invention has been made in view of such problems and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of determining a set temperature condition for a heat treatment system for carrying out a heat treatment process, such as a film deposition process for depositing a film on an object to be processed, capable of determining optimum set temperature conditions respectively for a plurality of heat treatment processes to be continuously carried out in a reaction tube.
The invention is a method of determining set temperature trajectories for a heat treatment system that continuously conducts a first heat treatment process and a second heat treatment process to an object to be processed, said method comprising the steps of: conducting the first heat treatment process to a first test object to be processed, by using a temporary first set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process conducted to the first test object to be processed; determining a first set temperature trajectory for the first heat treatment process by correcting the temporary first set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process; conducting the second heat treatment process to a second test object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined first set temperature trajectory, by using a temporary second set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process conducted to the second test object to be processed; and determining a second set temperature trajectory for the second heat treatment process by correcting the temporary second set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process.
According to the above feature, the temporary second set temperature trajectory is corrected on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process. The first set temperature trajectory for the first heat treatment process has already been corrected before this time point and, consequently, the second set temperature trajectory for the second heat treatment process is optimized.
Preferably, the first set temperature trajectory is fixed, and the second set temperature trajectory is fixed.
In this case, difference between the objects processed simultaneously by the heat treatment system in the result of the heat treatment process, such as difference in the thickness of the films, can be reduced. The mean thickness of films formed on objects to be processed is dependent on the process temperature.
Alternatively, the first set temperature trajectory is variable, and the second set temperature trajectory is variable.
In the case, difference between parts of each object in the result of the heat treatment process, such as the thickness of the film, can be reduced in addition to the reduction of difference between the objects processed simultaneously by the heat treatment system in the result of the heat treatment process, such as difference in the thickness of the films. A proper temperature gradient can be created between a peripheral part and a central part of an object to be processed by changing the set temperature during the heat treatment process by utilizing the rate of thermal conduction in the object. Thus, the difference in the film deposition condition, such as the concentration of the source gas, between the peripheral part and the central part of the object to be processed can be offset.
In addition, preferably, the heat treatment system is divided into a plurality of zones capable of being individually heated; first set temperature trajectories are determined for the zones of the heat treatment system, respectively; the first set temperature trajectories for the zones are different from each other; second set temperature trajectories are determined for the zones of the heat treatment system, respectively; and the second set temperature trajectories for the zones are different from each other.
Thus, the method is able to effectively deal with a case where different heat treatment conditions need to be set in the direction of arrangement of the tier-like objects to be processed.
In addition, preferably, the first heat treatment process is a gate-oxide-film forming process by using thermal oxidation, and the second heat treatment process is a nitriding process for nitriding the gate-oxide-film.
Alternatively, the invention is a method of determining set temperature trajectories for a heat treatment system that continuously conducts a first heat treatment process, a second heat treatment process and a third heat treatment process to an object to be processed, said method comprising the steps of: conducting the first heat treatment process to a first test object to be processed, by using a temporary first set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process conducted to the first test object to be processed; determining a first set temperature trajectory for the first heat treatment process by correcting the temporary first set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process; conducting the second heat treatment process to a second test object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined first set temperature trajectory, by using a temporary second set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process conducted to the second test object to be processed; determining a second set temperature trajectory for the second heat treatment process by correcting the temporary second set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process; conducting the third heat treatment process to a third test object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined first set temperature trajectory and to which the second heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined second set temperature trajectory, by using a temporary third set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process, the second heat treatment process and the third heat treatment process conducted to the third test object to be processed; and determining a third set temperature trajectory for the third heat treatment process by correcting the temporary third set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process, the second heat treatment process and the third heat treatment process.
In the case, based on the result of the first heat treatment process, set temperature condition in a reaction tube for the first heat treatment process can be optimized, and based on the result of the first and the second heat treatment process by using the set temperature condition, set temperature condition in the reaction tube for the second heat treatment process can be optimized. And then, based on the result of the first, the second and the third heat treatment process by using the set temperature condition, set temperature condition in the reaction tube for the third heat treatment process can be optimized. Thus, the set temperature conditions for the first, the second and the third heat treatment processes can be managed. Set temperature conditions for four or more heat treatment processes can be optimized in a similar fashion.
Preferably, the first set temperature trajectory is fixed, the second set temperature trajectory is fixed, and the third set temperature trajectory is fixed.
Alternatively, the first set temperature trajectory is variable, the second set temperature trajectory is variable, and the third set temperature trajectory is variable.
In addition, preferably, the heat treatment system is divided into a plurality of zones capable of being individually heated; first set temperature trajectories are determined for the zones of the heat treatment system, respectively; the first set temperature trajectories for the zones are different from each other; second set temperature trajectories are determined for the zones of the heat treatment system, respectively; the second set temperature trajectories for the zones are different from each other; third set temperature trajectories are determined for the zones of the heat treatment system, respectively; and the third set temperature trajectories for the zones are different from each other.
In addition, the invention is a method of determining set temperature trajectories for a heat treatment system that continuously conducts a first heat treatment process and a second heat treatment process to an object to be processed, said method comprising the steps of: conducting the first heat treatment process to a first test object to be processed, by using a temporary first set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process conducted to the first test object to be processed; determining a first set temperature trajectory for the first heat treatment process by correcting the temporary first set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process; conducting the second heat treatment process to a second test object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined first set temperature trajectory, by using a temporary second set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the second heat treatment process conducted to the second test object to be processed; and determining a second set temperature trajectory for the second heat treatment process by correcting the temporary second set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the second heat treatment process.
In this case, set temperatures in a reaction tube concerning the result of each of the continuous heat treatment processes can be optimized. In this case, an optimum set temperature is determined for the first heat treatment process, i.e., the preceding heat treatment process, and then an optimum set temperature is determined for the second heat treatment process, i.e., the succeeding heat treatment process. Thus, readjustments of the optimum set temperature for the first heat treatment process is unnecessary, and hence the optimum set temperatures for the interior of the reaction tube can be efficiently determined.
In addition, the invention is a method of continuously conducting a first heat treatment process and a second heat treatment process to an object to be processed, said method comprising the steps of: conducting the first heat treatment process to a first test object to be processed, by using a temporary first set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process conducted to the first test object to be processed; determining a first set temperature trajectory for the first heat treatment process by correcting the temporary first set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process; conducting the second heat treatment process to a second test object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined first set temperature trajectory, by using a temporary second set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process conducted to the second test object to be processed; determining a second set temperature trajectory for the second heat treatment process by correcting the temporary second set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process; conducting the first heat treatment process to the object to be processed, by using the determined first set temperature trajectory; and conducting the second heat treatment process to the object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted, by using the determined second set temperature trajectory.
Alternatively, the invention is a method of continuously conducting a first heat treatment process, a second heat treatment process and a third heat treatment process to an object to be processed, said method comprising the steps of: conducting the first heat treatment process to a first test object to be processed, by using a temporary first set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process conducted to the first test object to be processed; determining a first set temperature trajectory for the first heat treatment process by correcting the temporary first set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process; conducting the second heat treatment process to a second test object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined first set temperature trajectory, by using a temporary second set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process conducted to the second test object to be processed; determining a second set temperature trajectory for the second heat treatment process by correcting the temporary second set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process; conducting the third heat treatment process to a third test object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined first set temperature trajectory and to which the second heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined second set temperature trajectory, by using a temporary third set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process, the second heat treatment process and the third heat treatment process conducted to the third test object to be processed; determining a third set temperature trajectory for the third heat treatment process by correcting the temporary third set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process, the second heat treatment process and the third heat treatment process; conducting the first heat treatment process to the object to be processed, by using the determined first set temperature trajectory; conducting the second heat treatment process to the object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted, by using the determined second set temperature trajectory; and conducting the third heat treatment process to the object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process and the second heat treatment process have been conducted, by using the determined third set temperature trajectory.
Alternatively, the invention is a method of continuously conducting a first heat treatment process and a second heat treatment process to an object to be processed, said method comprising the steps of: conducting the first heat treatment process to a first test object to be processed, by using a temporary first set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the first heat treatment process conducted to the first test object to be processed; determining a first set temperature trajectory for the first heat treatment process by correcting the temporary first set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the first heat treatment process; conducting the second heat treatment process to a second test object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted by using the determined first set temperature trajectory, by using a temporary second set temperature trajectory; measuring a result of the second heat treatment process conducted to the second test object to be processed; determining a second set temperature trajectory for the second heat treatment process by correcting the temporary second set temperature trajectory on the basis of the measured result of the second heat treatment process; conducting the first heat treatment process to the object to be processed, by using the determined first set temperature trajectory; and conducting the second heat treatment process to the object to be processed to which the first heat treatment process has been conducted, by using the determined second set temperature trajectory.

Method of determining set temperature trajectory for heat treatment system


A multi-stage adjustable spring resistant belly massager comprises a belly massaging pad, a push-pull rod, a resistance adjusting mechanism and two handle grips. The belly massaging pad rests on the human belly, the push-pull rod is mounted in a barrel to perform the up and down movement, the resistance adjusting mechanism surrounds the push-pull rod and the handle grips are for the player to practice the push-pull exercise on the belly. The resistance adjusting mechanism is composed of a plurality of pulling guides, spring straps, a top decorative cover and a lock ring. The player operates the handle grips to carry out the up and down movement on the belly in one way and rotates the push-pull rod around the belly in other way to accomplish the weight reduction and fat removal in the belly.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a belly massager, in particular the novel multi-stage resistance adjustable belly massager.
2. Description of the Related Art
In most cases, the white-collar workers are doing sedentary jobs, a chair-warmer, deficient of physical exercise; the fat therefore builds up gradually in belly, and lion size become more and more corpulent. Due to the lack of time to take physical exercise and inconvenience to go the gymnastics, the belly massager is the simplest tool to solve the fat building problem on the belly.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art of the belly rubbing exerciser which contains a belly massager 1′, a T form handle 2′ where the belly massager 1′ is a lateral bar 11′ and the T form handle 2′ provides two grips 21′. Between the belly massager 1′ and the T form handle 2′, there installs a resistance mechanism 3′ which composed a pair of lugs 31′ fixed to both side of the upper end of the massager 1′ and another pair of lugs 32′ fixed to both side of the lower end of the handle 2′ with a recoil spring 33′ between two pairs of lug 32′ and locked in place by two pair of lock bolts 331′. When the handle is pressed, the lug 32′ will slide down along the slide groove 12′ on the massager 1′ so as to compress the recoil spring 33′ between lug 32′ and lug 31′. After the pressing is released, the spring will recoil the handle 2′ upward. This downward movement of the handle 2′ will attain the fat partial reduction. However, this single downward pressing movement is very dull, not challengeable and the effect of fat reduction is limited requiring much improvement.

Multi-stage adjustable spring resistant belly massager


A luggage rack (14) of the type suitable for installation on the roof (12) of an automotive vehicle (10) is improved through the addition of a mechanism for reducing the noise generated by wind passing over cross members (16,18) of the luggage rack (14). The mechanism is a strip (34) having irregular outer surfaces (40,42) secured to outer surfaces of at least one of the cross members (16,18). The irregular surfaces (40,42) operate to vary the cross section of the cross member (16,18) as it extends transversely of the vehicle (10), and the strip (34) may be formed as a tape having an adhesive layer (36) for securement to the luggage rack (14).

The present invention relates generally to automobile luggage racks and more specifically to structure reducing wind noise propagated by movement of vehicles carrying such luggage racks.
While the mounting of luggage racks on the roofs or deck lids of automotive vehicles has been found to be useful in expanding the load carrying capability of the vehicle, such devices particularly those mounted on roofs have the adverse effect of presenting a surface set off from the originally designed surface of the vehicle which is not consistent with the desired air dynamic approach of the vehicle design. The luggage racks generally include one or more transversely extending cross members which tend to disturb the flow of air over the roof of the vehicle and create perceptible noises within the vehicle, such as high pitch whistles or buzzes. This is particularly pronounced when the frequency of the wind load imposed on the cross member matches the natural frequency of the cross member.


A clipped input speech waveform is divided into a plurality of a series of signals by means of a wavelet transform such as the Daubechies wavelet transform, which are then scaled or otherwise processed to reduce the effects of clipping, prior to reconstruction of the speech waveform using the inverse transform.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with processing of speech signals, particularly those which have been distorted by amplitude-limiting processes such as clipping.
2. Related Art
Apart from its obvious effect on perceived speech quality, clipping in a telecommunications system is disadvantageous in that it reduces the dynamic range of the signal which can adversely affect the operation of echo cancellers. According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for processing speech comprising: means to apply to a speech signal a wavelet transform to generate a plurality of transformed components each of which is the convolution of the signal and a respective one of a set of wavelets g(t/a.sub.i) where a.sub.i is a temporal scaling factor for that component and g(t) is a temporally finite waveform having a mean value of zero; means to modify the components; and means to apply to the modified components the inverse of the said wavelet transform, to produce an output signal; wherein the modifying means is operable to scale at least some of the components differently from one another such as to increase the dynamic range of the output signal.
Other, preferred, aspects of the invention are defined in the claims.

British Telecommunications public limited company


A container (21) for storing and shipping produce is reinforced with at least one cross beam (20) extending across the bottom wall (26) of the container to form a bridge under loose product placed in the container to support at least a portion of the weight of the product and prevent sagging of the container bottom. The cross beam is positioned and held in place by engaging the ends of the cross beam in recesses (71) formed by crushed areas (82) on an inner surface of opposing side walls, or cut-outs (93) in the side walls, and/or by flaps (42, 43) folded upwardly from the container bottom wall and to which the cross beam is attached.

Containers formed of corrugated paperboard are used in many different applications, such as, for example, to store and ship agricultural produce. These containers typically have a bottom wall, opposite side walls, and opposite end walls, and are formed from a blank of corrugated paperboard scored with score lines or cut lines. The paperboard blank is folded along the score lines or cut lines to form a container, and may be folded into the container by an automated machine, or the consumer may erect them manually. A removable top may be placed on the container, although it is not required.
Containers made of corrugated paperboard usually are recyclable, and generally are less expensive than containers made of wood, metal or plastic, but they must have sufficient strength to withstand the stresses imposed on them by vertical stacking, and the wear and tear of shipping and handling, particularly to avoid damage to the contained product. Thus, paperboard containers are sometimes reinforced with additional structures. Other reinforcement structures may take the form of beams or ridges that are integrally formed in the side or bottom walls, or in an interior lining of the container. These supports, however, limit the interior space of the container and require excessive amounts of additional material.
Other reinforced containers have beams or other rigid structures that extend over an upper portion or top of the container. This type of reinforcement is more commonly used in containers that are especially short and wide, and/or have a removable cover, wherein the removable cover bears an undue amount of stress. However, these types of reinforcements are often bonded to the cover and do not come in significant contact with the side walls, lessening the strength of the reinforcement system.
Further, agricultural produce normally is packed in shipping containers in a cool damp environment, and tends to pool in the bottom of the container, causing the container bottom to sag. This sag tends to transfer from one container to another when the containers are stacked on top of one another for storage and handling. Top reinforcements tend to obscure or impair the visibility of the product contained in the container unless they are removable.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a paperboard container with a reinforcement structure that at least partially supports the product held in the container to prevent sagging of the container bottom, and that does not unduly restrict the interior volume of the container, or impair the visibility of the product.

Paperboard container with bottom support


A process for producing an optically active 1-substituted-1,3-propanediol is disclosed, comprising hydrogenating a 3-substituted-3-oxopropanol or 3-substituted-3-oxopropanal in the presence of a ruthenium-phosphine complex represented by formula (I): EQU [RuI(p-cymene)(R.sup.1 BINAP)]I.sub.3 (I). wherein R.sup.1 -BINAP represents an optically active tertiary phosphine represented by formula (II): ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 represents a phenyl group which may be substituted with a lower alkyl group or a halogen atom at the p-position and/or m-position.

A large number of organic synthetic reactions using a transition metal complex as a catalyst have hitherto been developed and made use of for various purposes. In particular, many reports have been made on enantioselective catalysts used for enantioselective synthetic reactions, such as enantioselective hydrogenation and enantioselective isomerization. Among them, metal complexes in which an optically active tertiary phosphine compound is coordinated to metallic rhodium or ruthenium are well known as catalysts for enantioselective hydrogenation reactions.
For example, a rhodium-phosphine complex using 2,2'-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1'-binaphthyl (hereinafter abbreviated as BINAP) as a ligand is disclosed in JP-A55-61937 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application").
With regard to ruthenium, ruthenium complexes obtained by using BINAP or 2,2'-bis(di-p-tolylphosphino)-1,1'-binaphthyl (hereinafter abbreviated as Tol-BINAP) as a ligand, such as Ru.sub.2 Cl.sub.4 (BINAP).sub.2 NEt.sub.3 (wherein Et represents an ethyl group) and Ru.sub.2 Cl.sub.4 (Tol-BINAP).sub.2 NEt.sub.3 have been reported (Ikariya et al., J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., p. 922 (1985)). Also, Ru(O.sub.2 CR.sup.4).sub.2 (BINAP) and Ru(O.sub.2 CR.sup.4).sub.2 (Tol-BINAP) (wherein R.sup.4 represents a lower alkyl group or a lower alkyl-substituted phenyl group) have been disclosed in JP-A-62-265293; and [RuH.sub.l (R.sup.5 -BINAP).sub.m ]Z.sub.n (wherein R.sup.5 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group; Z represents ClO.sub.4, BF.sub.4, or PF.sub.6 ; when l is 0, then m represents 1, and n represents 2; and when l is 1, then m represents 2, and n represents 1) has been disclosed in JP-A-63-41487. However, these ruthenium complexes were complicated in their preparation and had such disadvantages as low yield and poor stability.
Furthermore, JP-A-2-191289 has reported [RuX.sub.l (S).sub.m (R.sup.6 -BINAP)]Y.sub.n (wherein R.sup.6 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group; X represents a halogen atom; S represents benzene which may be substituted or acetonitrile; Y represents a halogen atom, ClO.sub.4, PF.sub.6, BPh.sub.4 (wherein Ph represents a phenyl group), or BF.sub.4 ; in the case where S is benzene which may be substituted, l is 1, m is 1, and n is 1; and in the case where S is acetonitrile, when l is 1, then m is 2, and n is 1, and when l is 0, then m is 4, and n is 2). However, even when these phosphine complexes are used, there were sometimes problems in their practical applications on an industrial scale, such as insufficiency in catalytic activity, duration, and enantioselectivity depending on the reactions and reaction substrates.
On the other hand, optically active 1-substituted-1,3-propanediols are useful intermediates in enantioselective synthesis for the production of pharmaceuticals, liquid crystal compounds, and natural products. Among these, as a production method of optically active 1-phenyl-1,3-propanediol which is useful as an intermediate of pharmaceuticals such as fluoxetine and tomoxetine, a method in which cinnamyl alcohol is subjected to enantioselective epoxidation to obtain optically active epoxycinnamyl alcohol, which is then reduced by Red-Al (sodium bis(2-methoxyethoxy)aluminum hydride) is reported (Y. Gao, et al., J. Org. Chem., 53, pp. 4081-4084 (1988)). In the above method, however, not only Red-Al which is difficult to handle is employed, but products having a satisfactorily high optical purity cannot be obtained.

Process for producing optically active 1-substituted-1,3-propanediols using ruthenium-phosphine complex as a catalyst


A method and apparatus for coordinating service execution within a shared storage cluster file system environment to optimize cluster performance is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes accessing host information in memory comprising mappings between file data and a plurality of nodes, wherein the mappings indicate at least one portion of the file data that is accessed by at least one node of the plurality of nodes on behalf of at least one application and executing at least one service on the at least one node of the plurality of nodes using at least one processor, wherein the at least one service accesses the at least one portion of the file data in the memory.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to cluster management and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for coordinating service execution within a shared file system environment to optimize cluster performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical computing environment, enterprises utilize one or more resources (i.e., hardware and/or software) to execute various operations (e.g., business transactions, administration, resource management, manufacturing, and/or the like that generate a significant amount of data, which is stored on one or more storage systems (e.g., hard drives, disk drives, disk arrays, Network Attached Storage (NAS) appliances, Storage Area Network (SAN) devices, and the like).
To achieve flexible and optimum utilization of the one or more storage systems, one or more clusters (e.g., computer clusters) are configured to share the storage device amongst one or more nodes (i.e., physical machines, virtual machines and/or the like). Software within the nodes may be configured to mount a particular file system (e.g., a Cluster File System (CFS)) on the shared storage device and access data within a shared file system environment. As a result, one or more applications concurrently share file data through the nodes of the cluster that hosts the particular file system (i.e., the CFS).
It is highly desirable to run various services (e.g., data backup, replication, archiving, data leakage prevention, and/or the like) in order to manage and/or protect file data (e.g., spreadsheets, documents, and the like) that is stored in the shared storage. An administrator may desire to run these services to protect the file data embedded in a NAS appliance. Subsequently, the various services access (i.e., scan and/or read) the file data from the shared storage. For example, during backup operation, the service may read a file from the shared NAS appliance and send a backup image of the file to a backup server.
Within the shared file system environment, the NAS appliance provides non-shared access and shared access to particular file data. In non-shared access, an application running on a node does not share the particular file data with another application running on different node. In shared access, a service may require access to the particular file data via a node that is different from the node through which the application accesses the particular file data. For example, a virus scan service running on a particular node may look for a virus signature within a file (e.g., document file) that is accessed by an application (e.g., MICROSOFT Word) running on other node. As a result, the particular file data needs to be shared amongst the applications and services running on different nodes of the cluster.
In order to achieve shared access, the file data must maintain point-in-time consistency within the shared file system environment. As a result, overhead information (e.g., appropriate locking, ownership, and the like) is communicated between two or more nodes accessing a same set of files, which consumes various computer resources (e.g., a network bandwidth capacity, a processor capacity and/or the like). Sharing the same file data with a service (e.g., a file scanning service) running on a node causes a longer access time for the application that is running on a different node. If a particular service running on the particular node is accessing the particular file data, then the application running on the different node cannot access the particular file data because access is locked by the particular service. Consequently, sharing access to the file data amongst the services and the user applications degrades a performance and a stability of the cluster within the shared cluster file system environment.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for coordinating service execution within a shared file system environment to optimize cluster performance.

Method and apparatus for coordinating service execution within a shared file system environment to optimize cluster performance


A circuit embodying the invention includes a gating circuit responsive to a first control signal and to a second externally supplied control signal having an active state and an inactive state. The first control signal is produced by a power supply circuit which is responsive to the application of an externally supplied operating voltage for producing an "internal" operating voltage and which produces the first control signal having an active state when the internal operating voltage reaches a predetermined value. The gating circuit has an output for producing a third control signal which is enabling only if the second control signal goes from its inactive state to its active state when the first control signal is already in, and remains in, its active state. The gating circuit prevents a chip from operating in an unintended mode at power-up.

Power-up refers to when power is applied to initialize the chip for operation. Initialization sets the chip's internal signals at the initial logic levels. Logic levels include logic low or 0 and logic high or 1. Generally 0 corresponds to zero volts and 1 corresponds to VDD, which is the chip's operating voltage.
In general, an IC includes different modes of operation, such as normal and test, or performs various functions. The various chip modes or functions are controlled by one or more external control signals. Activation of one or more of these control signals causes the chip to operate in certain operating modes or perform specified functions. These external control signals or system level signals are generated by other ICs within the system. Typically, certain external control signals of the chip are active low signals.
The fact that certain external control signals are active low can be problematic. For example, at least at the system level, various ICs power-up at different times. As the chip is powered-up, the chip's internal signals are initialized and set at their designated levels. A chip ready signal is issued to signify that the chip has been initialized and ready for operation. Typically, the chip ready signal is issued when the operating voltages that are supplied to the various sub-circuits of the IC reach a predetermined level.
However, different chips within the system take different amount of time to power-up. As such, there may be occasions when one (first) chip issues a chip ready signal before another (second) chip. If, for example, the second chip is the chip that generates the external control signals for the first chip, a problem arises. Since certain control signals on the first chip are active low, incomplete initialization of the second chip results in the external control signal of the first chip to be in an active and unintended state. Depending on which control signals are affected, the IC can be caused to enter into, for example, test mode unintentionally. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, this result is undesirable as a user may think that the chip is operating in normal mode.
Conventionally, to ensure that the IC is operating in the intended or normal mode, the control signals are cycled several additional times before the IC is accessed for normal operation. To illustrate the problem discussed above, a description of how such a problem may be encountered in a conventional dynamic random access memory (DRAM) IC is provided.
In the discussion to follow, including the detailed description of the invention, a postscript "n" or "p" may be appended to a control signal or its acronym. The "n" indicates that the signal is active when it is "low" (i.e., active low) and the "p" indicates that the signal is active when it is "high" (i.e., active high).
FIG. 1 shows a DRAM chip 7 and a memory controller 9 of, for example, a computer system. During system power-up, the operating voltages V.sub.DD and ground (GND) are supplied to various circuits including the controller and the memory chip. A boost pump 60 in the chips receives V.sub.DD and GND and generates a "boosted" voltage Vpp in response. Vpp, which generally has an amplitude greater than V.sub.DD, is distributed to various sub-circuits within the chip. Additionally, boost pump 60 provides a CHRDYp signal. When the Vpp reaches a desired level, boost pump generates an active CHRDYp signal, indicating that the respective chip is ready for operation.
The memory chip and controller communicate via RASn, CASn, and WEn signals. The signals originate at the controller and are passed to the memory chip, serving as external control signals to dictate memory chip functions. In particular, the RASn is the external master control signal of the memory chip. As such, the RASn needs to be active to initiate an operation. For example, a regular memory access cycle is initiated by RASn going low with row addresses being active. CASn then goes low with column addresses being activated. Depending on whether WEn is high or low, the access is either a read or write access.
A RAS interface 50 receives RASn and CHRDYp signals as inputs and provides an output RAS internal (RINTp) signal. The RINTp is an internal signal used to control various subcircuits, along with CAS and WEn. As shown, RINTp is active when both CHRDYp and RASn are active.
The memory chip also includes different modes of operation, such as normal and test. The test mode enables user to test the memory chip. In test mode, memory accesses such as reads and writes behave differently than in normal mode. A test mode decoder 80 is provided to control the chip's operating mode. The test mode decoder receives RINTp, CASn, and WEn signals and generates an output signal TMp. An active TMp signal causes the memory chip to operate in test mode. As RINTp is derived from RASn, it effectively plays a role in determining the chip's mode of operation.
In conventional DRAMs, a problem arises during power-up. If RASn, CASn, and WEn signals are active when CHRDYp becomes active, the memory chip enters test mode. Since RASn, CASn, and WEn are active low signals, this scenario can easily occur. For example, if the controller takes longer to initialize than the memory chip, than RASn, CASn, WEn would be low when CHRDYp is active because the controller has not completely powered up yet. This scenario causes the memory chip to enter test mode unintentionally, resulting in the chip to operate differently.
From the above discussion, it is therefore desirable to prevent an IC from inadvertently entering into an unintended mode of operation during power-up.

Apparatus for controlling circuit response during power-up


The dual chamber system and method of operation contains an automatic test for determining an optimum AV interval at a test frequency such as LRL. In a preferred embodiment the test is carried out at nighttime, wherein the implanted pacer is set to asynchronous operation at LRL, and AV interval is sequenced through a range from a predetermined AV.sub.min to a predetermined AV.sub.max. The QT interval corresponding to each respective AV interval is determined and stored; the QT data is analyzed to determine the maximum QT interval; and the optimum AV is determined at that which corresponds to the maximum QT. The optimum AV interval thus found is incorporated into the pacer memory for use in timing out AV interval. The optimum AV data may be utilized for determining AV=f.sub.s (rate) for calculating AV interval following each AS, as well as AV=f.sub.p (rate) for calculating AV interval following an atrial pace. Alternately, a test can be performed to determine whether an incremental adjustment of AV delay is indicated. In accordance with the invention, a DDDR pacer with automatic AV delay control can be achieved, without need for an extra sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to dual chamber cardiac pacemakers and pacemaker systems and, more particularly, to an implantable dual chamber pacemaker having automatic capability of determining an optimum AV interval for the patient and adjusting the pacer AV interval to the determined optimal value.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The advantages of dual chamber pacing, and more particularly pacing in different modes which are selected in response to different patient conditions, is now well recognized in the art. Early pacing systems were solely ventricular, and were sufficient for management of patient with complete heart block and Stokes-Adams attacks. However, ventricular demand pacemakers are not equipped to take advantage of atrial activity, and thus are limited in their efficiency. Subsequently, atrial synchronous, ventricular pacemakers were introduced, having a lead for sensing P signals from the atrium and another for pacing the ventricle after a suitable P-R (AV) interval. Such a pacemaker, e.g. VDI or VDD, allows the atrium to control the heart's response rate, the ventricle being paced at the atrial rate up to a predetermined upper rate limit. Such synchronous pacers have incorporated means for dealing with high atrial rates, including "block" and "Wenckebach" techniques.
Another form of A-V or dual chamber pacer that has been utilized is the sequential pacemaker (DVI), which paces both the atrium and the ventricle with an appropriate AV delay which is timed by the pacemaker. A number of commercial pacemakers have been introduced which are programmable to these and other known pacing modes. Each of the various operating modes is particularly adapted to certain circumstances that may arise in a given patient.
Since the dual sense-dual pace DDD pacemaker became commercially available, it has gained favor for the reason that it compensates for many of the disadvantages of other pacemaker modes. The classic DDD pacemaker is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,965, Funke et al., in some detail. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,539,991 and 4,554,921, incorporated herein by reference, which disclose other forms of DDD-type pacemakers.
More recently, the DDDR pacemaker has come to prominence. In this type of pacemaker, there is provided one or more sensors which enable the pacemaker to be rate responsive, such that the pacing interval, or escape interval, is varied as a function of one or more sensed rate-indicating parameters, rather than being fixed at a programmed value. In the DDDR pacemaker, both atrial and ventricular natural beats may occur so long as they occur prior to the respective rate responsive escape interval. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,467,807 and 4,951,667, which are illustrative of dual chamber rate responsive pacemakers.
There have also been disclosed multi-mode pacemaker designs having means for switching modes in response to changing patient conditions. Most dual chamber pacemakers are programmable to distinct modes, or switch automatically from one mode to another under certain prescribed conditions. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,568, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,965. However, as a general rule it is desirable to operate in a synchronized mode as much as possible, wherein an atrial sense (AS) is followed by a ventricular pace pulse (VP) which is timed to occur at an AV interval, or delay, after the AS. Likewise, if the pacemaker is operating in a mode where it is delivering both paced atrial and ventricular pace pulses, it is desired to have the VP follow the atrial pulse (AP) by an optimized AV interval.
It is known in the prior art that it is desirable to set the AV interval as a function of rate, e.g., as a function of sensed atrial rate or pacing rate. See U.S. application Ser. No. 830,656, Dual Chamber Pacemaker With AV Extension and PMT Control, filed Feb. 4, 1992 and assigned to the same assignee as this application; and Baker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,524. Thus, at lower atrial rates (corresponding to a longer A-A interval) the AV interval is desirably longer; and at higher atrial rates (corresponding to a shorter A-A interval) the AV interval is preferably shorter. Further, it is known in the prior art that pacing parameters such as AV interval can be programmed externally.
The prior art also shows an attempt to adjust AV interval in a pacemaker as a function of a sensed variable. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,075, wherein AV delay is modified in accordance with a sensed measure of stroke volume. However, this disclosure deals with a fixed rate pacer, and does not suggest how AV delay can be optimzied for a rate adaptive pacer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,987 discloses a technique for determining stroke volume and for controlling pacing rate as a function of stroke volume, but makes no suggestion of how to adjust AV delay in a rate adaptive pacer. There thus has remained a need for a pacing system that is capable of dynamic automatic adjustment of AV delay, i.e., a DDDR system where AV delay is adjustable through the pacing rate range.

Dual chamber pacemaker with automatically optimized AV delay


A method by one or more computing devices for detecting application user anomalies in audit logs of database operations performed on one or more databases. The method includes obtaining a first audit log of database operations, wherein the first audit log indicates (1) which application users of an application caused which of the database operations to be performed and (2) which functions of the application caused which of the database operations to be performed, generating, for each of the application users indicated in the first audit log, a profile of that application user that indicates which of the functions that application user is expected to touch, and detecting an anomaly in response to a determination that a second audit log indicates that an application user touched a function that is not one of the functions indicated in the profile of the application user.

Database servers are computer programs that provide database services to database clients. Many web applications utilize database servers (e.g., database servers that host relational databases to store information received from Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) clients and/or information to be displayed to HTTP clients). However, other non-web applications may also utilize database servers, including but not limited to accounting software, other business software, or research software. Further, some applications allow for users to submit ad-hoc or defined queries (often using Structured Query Language (SQL)) to the database server. Database servers typically store data using one or more databases. Thus, in some instances a database server can receive a database query from a database client, execute the database query using data stored in the set of one or more database objects (e.g., a table in a relational database) of one or more of the databases, and may potentially return a result (e.g., an indication of success, a value, one or more tuples, etc.).
Databases may be implemented according to a variety of different database models, such as relational (such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, and certain Oracle® products), non-relational, graph, columnar (also known as extensible record; e.g., HBase), object, tabular, tuple store, and multi-model. Examples of non-relational database models (which are also referred to as schema-less and NoSQL) include key-value store and document store (also known as document-oriented as they store document-oriented information, which is also known as semi-structured data). A database may include one or more database objects that are managed by a Database Management System (DBMS). Each database object may include a number of records, and each record may include a set of fields. A record may take different forms based on the database model being used and/or the specific database object to which it belongs; for example, a record may be: 1) a row in a table of a relational database; 2) a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) document; 3) an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document; 4) a key-value pair; etc. A database object can be unstructured or have a structure defined by the DBMS (a standard database object) and/or defined by a user (custom database object). In the case of relational databases, each database typically includes one or more database tables (traditionally and formally referred to as "relations"), which are ledger-style (or spreadsheet-style) data structures including columns and rows of data adhering to any defined data types for each column.
Enterprises (e.g., businesses, organizations, groups, governmental bodies, or other collective bodies) often use databases to store various data pertaining to those enterprises, some of which may be highly sensitive (e.g., credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc.). An enterprise may use database activity monitoring techniques to monitor the activity of its databases. An enterprise may want to monitor database activity for several reasons. For example, an enterprise may want to monitor database activity to meet regulations and compliance standards for sensitive data accesses, to help with security incident investigations and incident responses, and/or to detect anomalous data accesses.
Database activity monitoring techniques may be used to generate audit logs of the database operations performed on a set of databases. These audit logs may include various information regarding the database operations made on the databases such as the database on which a database operation was performed, the database object (e.g., database table) on which a database operation was performed, the type of database operation performed (e.g., SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT INTO, etc.), the number of records (e.g., rows) affected by a database operation, the type of data affected by a database operation (e.g., credit card data, social security number, name, surname, mail address, zip code, etc.), and/or the database query that was executed. In some cases, application users interact with an application (e.g., a web application or web application programming interface (API)) to cause the application to perform database operations on databases. In these cases, database operations may be recorded in the audit logs as being made by the application itself (e.g., the service account associated with the application), without identifying the application users behind the application that caused those database operations to be performed. Some database activity monitoring techniques are able to identify which application users caused which database operations to be performed on the databases (e.g., based on performing statistical correlations between the application traffic and the database traffic or other means), and include this information in the audit logs, thereby providing user accountability. Also, some database activity monitoring techniques are able to identify which function of the application (e.g., which may correspond to a uniform resource locator (URL) (in the case of web applications and web APIs) or a portion of application code) caused which database operations to be performed on the databases, and include this information in the audit logs.

Detecting behavioral anomalies in user-data access logs


A tunable laser is described in which the gain element is fabricated to produce wavelength dispersion within the laser resonator cavity. Specifically, the laser gain element has Brewster angled entrance and exit faces which allow it to operate as a wavelength dispersive element while simultaneously performing the functions of an optical gain element within a laser cavity. Wavelength tuning is effected by angular rotation of one of the end reflective elements in the cavity. By using suitable dispersive materials for the laser gain element no additional tuning elements are required providing high efficiency, low threshold laser operation for a variety of optical excitation methods. The laser gain element replaces other discrete intracavity laser tuning means required for tunable lasers, including prisms, diffraction gratings, and birefringent filter elements. Solid state crystalline laser gain elements which are doped with impurity ions for laser operation are highly suitable for this type of laser, as are ion doped glasses or other amorphous materials. In addition, a suitable laser gain element can be constructed of a hollow fluid-containing cell where the cell is fabricated in the shape of a Brewster dispersing prism and the cell is filled with a laser gain fluid such as a dye solution or a chelate solution. Optical exciting means and geometries are discussed, as are the conditions for minimizing astigmatism introduced by the prism.

The present invention relates to lasers and particularly to tunable lasers which produce laser emission at one or more wavelengths over a preselected wavelength range. Tunable lasers are lasers which have the capability of emitting one or more wavelengths over a broad range of wavelengths. These lasers are continuously tunable over a preselected range of wavelengths and differ from non-tunable lasers which emit at certain fixed, discrete wavelengths. As a consequence of their continuous tunability, tunable lasers have proven to be extremely useful in a wide variety of applications. Two vital characteristics that determine the utility of a specific tunable laser for a given application are the wavelength range over which the laser is tunable and the bandwidth of the emitted line. The broadest wavelength range for laser operation is determined by the gain bandwidth of the gain medium itself. Generally speaking, the wavelength range over which a tunable laser can operate is limited for a particular resonator configuration to the wavelength range for which the optical gain exceeds the sum of all of the losses, including passive loss, excited state absorption and output coupling loss. For a given laser resonator configuration the tuning range will therefore be affected by the pump intensity, by the wavelength range of the coatings on all of the intracavity optical elements including reflective and anti-reflective coatings, and the absorption of the various optical elements contained within the laser resonator cavity through which the resonator light must pass. The bandwidth of a given line, on the other hand, is controlled by the insertion of various dispersive or linewidth narrowing elements placed within the laser resonator. Dispersive elements would include prisms or diffraction gratings while non-dispersive means of reducing the linewidth would include intracavity etalon plates or birefringent wave plates. If the loss exceeds the gain for any given wavelength the laser cannot operate. Therefore, in determining the types of intracavity elements which may be used one must not insert elements into the cavity whose losses would be high enough to prohibit lasing of the gain material for a given pump power density at the desired wavelength.
Generally speaking, lasers, and specifically tunable lasers, can be excited by either cw (continuous wave) means, or by pulsed means. For pulsed excitation the initial population inversion created by the pumping source is substantially higher than the steady state or cw population inversion. Therefore, the gains that can be realized by pulsed excitation are often much higher than those that can be achieved in cw or steady state excitation. As a consequence, elements with relatively high loss can be inserted into the cavity when using pulsed excitation without eliminating the laser operation of the cavity. However, for cw operation, the population inversion is clamped near threshold and elements inserted into the cavity must have low insertion loss compared to the output coupling. A basic tunable laser consists of several components, including a gain or active medium, two or more reflective surfaces to form a resonator therebetween and a means for tuning or adjusting the wavelength of the laser emission. If no tuning element is inserted into the cavity the laser is described as "free-running" or "untuned" and it will operate at a wavelength close to the wavelength for which the net gain is highest. The net gain is defined as the gain minus the sum of all losses.
In selecting tuning elements for a cw or steady state laser a selection is made among tuning elements with low insertion losses. As mentioned before, suitable tuning elements for cw lasers include prisms and birefringent filters, or etalons can be used to tune over narrow wavelength ranges in a cw laser. Because prisms are dispersive and birefringent filters are not, there are applications for which a prism is a more appropriate tuning element than a birefringent filter. One such application involves multifrequency operation of a tunable laser, as is described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/970,328 U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,695 entitled "A Multifrequency Rapidly Sequenced or Simultaneously Tunable Laser" by Richard Scheps.
There are several sources of optical loss caused by an intracavity prism. One source is due to reflections at the entrance and exit faces of the prism. In addition, diffraction losses occur when the prism aperture is small compared to the beam diameter. Finally, losses occur when the beam undergoes scattering and absorption as it is transmitted through the prism material. The material from which the prism is manufactured should have high dispersion to provide relatively fine wavelength adjustment. The degree of dispersion of a prism material is characterized by the Abbe constant of the material. Thus, the criteria for selecting a prism or prisms to insert into a tunable laser cavity are that the insertion loss due to reflection, diffraction, scattering and absorption by the prism material be kept to a minimum and that the dispersion of the prism be as high as possible.
The highest Abbe constants are generally associated with optical materials that have high Verdet coefficients such as those used in Faraday rotator glasses. Unfortunately these materials generally tend to have high scattering losses and absorb strongly at wavelengths between 800 nm and 1 micron. It is difficult to find a prism material with high dispersion and low insertion loss and design a suitable prism for use in a tunable laser operating at wavelengths from 700 nm to 1 micron. Furthermore, the use of a discrete tuning element in the cavity adds to the resonator passive losses and reduces the net gain.
Thus in accordance with this inventive concept a need has been recognized for an operational tunable laser which can be tuned without requiring a separate, discrete tuning element inside the laser cavity to provide the advantages of a low threshold and high operating efficiency tuning of the laser output wavelength.

Wavelength dispersive gain element for a tunable laser

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


Techniques are provided for high precision scanning of hydrogel microparticles. The high precision is achieved by one or more modifications to the microparticle composition, or microfluidics apparatus that align the microparticles in a detection channel, or method of preparing a sample for introduction into the apparatus, or some combination. An apparatus comprises a body structure having formed therein a central channel and multiple focusing channels in fluid communication with the central channel through multiple junctions. A width of the central channel is smaller in a portion downstream of each junction. A particle comprises a hydrogel matrix and a probe molecule. The particle has an aspect ratio greater than about three. A method includes loading into a sample fluid inlet a mixture, wherein a number of particles lies within a range from about 15 to about 20 particles/μl.

The ability to accurately detect and quantify biological molecules in a complex mixture is crucial in both basic research and clinical settings. Advancements in the fields of genomics and proteomics require robust technologies that can obtain high-density information from biological samples in a rapid and cost-effective manner. High-throughput screening for genetic analysis, combinatorial chemistry, and clinical diagnostics benefits greatly from multiplexed analysis, which is the simultaneous detection of several target molecules. This approach significantly reduces the required assay time, sample volume, and cost. However, it requires an encoding scheme to identify which, of a large number of immobilized probe species that bind with specific labeled target molecules in the sample, is being detected during analysis.

High precision scanning of encoded hydrogel microparticles


A CCD image pickup unit in which at least a part of pulses necessary for driving vertical shift registers and a horizontal shift register of a CCD solid-state image pickup and a reset transistor is formed by decoding performed by a decoder using two kinds of input pulses is arranged to reduce the number of wiring lines for connection. A decoder, a vertical shift register driver for driving the vertical shift registers by receiving an output from the decoder, and a horizontal shift register driver for driving the horizontal shift register by receiving an output from the decoder are formed in one integrated circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to image pickup units and, more particularly, to an image pickup unit using charge coupled devices (CCD) which has a comparatively small number of component integrated circuits (IC) and in which the number of wiring lines for connection between ICs can be reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, CCD image pickup units presently used in video cameras for home and personal use are IT (interline transfer) type CCD image pickup units, which are ordinarily constituted of a timing generator, a vertical transfer register driver, an electronic shutter driver and a CCD solid-state image pickup. Transfer in vertical transfer registers is performed with transfer pulses in four phases, and reading from each of pixels is performed with two read pulses. Transfer in a horizontal transfer register is performed with transfer pulses in two phases. A reset pulse is required for driving a reset transistor for resetting a floating diffusion region, which corresponds to an output point at the time of reading.
If irising is automatically performed by an electronic shutter function, it is necessary to supply electronic shutter pulses to a substrate bias circuit.
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of a conventional CCD image pickup unit for cameras.
In the figure are illustrated a timing generator a, a CCD solid-state image pickup b, a vertical transfer register driver c and an electronic shutter driver d. Each of numerals 3, 4, 6, 1, 1 written at lines in the figure represents the number of kinds of pulses. Pulses H1 and 2 are transmitted directly from the timing generator a to (a horizontal transfer register of) the CCD solid-state image pickup b as transfer pulses for horizontal transfer registers. A reset pulse RG for driving a reset transistor is also transmitted directly to the CCD solid-state image pickup b.
Pulses V1 to V4 for transfer pulses for the vertical transfer registers and pulses SG1 and SG2 are output from the timing generator a to the vertical transfer register driver c. The vertical transfer register driver c forms vertical transfer pulses .phi.V1 to .phi.V4 on the basis of the pulses V1 to V4 and SG1 and SG2 and sends the vertical transfer pulses .phi.V1 to .phi.V4 to (the vertical transfer registers of) the CCD solid-state image pickup b.
Further, a shutter pulse DSUB is sent from the timing generator a to the electronic shutter driver d. The driver d forms a shutter pulse .phi.DSUB on the basis of the shutter pulse DSUB and sends the shutter pulse .phi.DSUB directly to (a substrate bias circuit of) the CCD solid-state image pickup b.
FIG. 15 is a diagram of the configuration of the conventional CCD solid-state image pickup b. The CCD solid-state image pickup b has an image pickup area b, light receiving diodes f which correspond to the pixels. The vertical transfer registers are indicated by g, the horizontal transfer register is indicated by h. The horizontal transfer register h is controlled by the above-mentioned reset pulse RG. The substrate bias circuit, indicated by j, is formed of voltage-dividing resistors R1 and R2 and a diode D1. A voltage divided by the voltage-dividing resistors R1 and R2 is normally applied to the substrate through the diode D1. When shutter pulse .phi.DSUB (e.g., 20 V) is applied, the potential of the substrate becomes equal to such a high level that charge accumulated in each pixel element f is forced to discharge to the substrate. This pulse .phi.DSUB has substantially no influence upon other components because of the reverse current checking function of the diode D1.
The conventional CCD image pickup unit has a drawback in that the number of wiring lines between the CCD solid-state image pickup and the other ICs and between the ICs other than the CCD solid-state image pickup is large and there is, therefore, a limit to the reduction in the size of a video camera using the CCD image pickup unit.
More specifically, the number of the kinds of pulses output from the timing generator a to control the CCD solid-state image pickup b is ten. That is, there are reset pulse RG, horizontal transfer pulses H1 and H2 (transmitted directly to the CCD solid-state image pickup b), vertical transfer pulses V1 to V4, readout pulses SG1 and SG2 (sent to the vertical transfer register driver c), and electronic shutter pulse DSUB (sent to the electronic shutter driver d).
The number of the kinds of pulses input to the CCD solid-state image pickup b is eight, smaller by two than ten, the number of the kinds of pulses output from the timing generator a to control the CCD solid-state image pickup. This is because readout pulses SG1 and SG2 are superimposed on vertical transfer pulses V1 and V3, respectively, to be input to the CCD solid-state image pickup b by being included in .phi.V1 and .phi.V3. Consequently, a total of fifteen pulse lines are provided for wiring between the timing generator, the drivers and the CCD.
A CCD image pickup unit having such a large number of wiring lines between the chips constituting the unit has a large overall size and requires complicated wiring operations, which results are contrary to the present demand for smaller and low-priced CCD image pickup units' for home use and are, therefore, undesirable. The demand for a reduction in the size of CCD image pickup units for use in endoscopes is much stronger than that in the case of CCD image pickup units for home use. Thus, there is a strong demand for CCD image pickup units improved in this respect.

Image pickup unit having reduced signaling lines